Ayurveda is the science of life, a 5,000-year-old traditional holistic system of well-being from

India. ‘ayur’ means ‘of life’ and Veda’ means ‘knowledge’. Ayurveda is the knowledge of longevity which offers healing, rejuvenation and self-realization through balanced food, herbs, yoga, massage, aroma, and meditation. Ayurveda teaches us to pay attention to how and what we eat, and to take responsibility for our health. Ayurveda is very clear when it comes to food. Sattvic (pure) food is needed to heal and maintain good health and must incorporate six tastes in every meal: sweet, sour, salty, bitter, astringent and pungent. Modern medical science also recommends a vegetarian diet for good health and prevention of stress-related , health problems. Vedic food can help you beat stress, increase energy and look great

Ayurveda Food
The Ayurvedic diet is one that not only nourishes the body, but also restores balance of ‘Tridoshas’ which is very much essential for maintaining health.according to Ayurveda the right diet is the foundation of healing for maximum health and vitality, the ideal diet is one that balances the doshas and is a pure vegetarian .

Ayurvedic Science is based on the principles of Bio-energy.

Ayurveda is the ancient medical system of India.  It is one of the oldest and most time tested healing systems known to man and is the point of origination for many world medical systems.  Ayurveda is traditional knowledge drawn from the wisdom of the Vedas, the oldest and most sacred scripts of India.  It is at the same time profound and expansive, both practical and simple.  What is the meaning of Ayurveda?

Ayur (life) + Veda (science) = the science of life 

This body of medical tradition dates back thousands of years.  The Ayurvedic conceptual framework was expounded in the writings of Charaka, Shushruta and Vagbhata prior to 500 B.C.   This is considered a codification of a much more ancient oral tradition.  Ayurveda spread to Arabia, Egypt, Greece and Rome around the beginning of the Christian era influencing medical thought throughout the ancient world.  Ayurveda has been practiced continuously for thousand of years not only as a healing system but as a science on the art of appropriate living.  Ayurveda continues to be practiced today throughout India where at least 100 Ayurvedic colleges remain open.

The basic principal of Ayurveda is that we humans are composed of the same elements or qualities as all of the universe and all parts of our mind, spirit, body and environment are integrally connected.  Ayurveda encompasses herbology, pharmacology, plastic surgery, massage, hatha yoga and psychiatry.  The primary focus is preventative medicine, although unique and effective curative practices exist as well.

Tridosha is the conceptual framework upon which Ayurveda is based.  The doshas are dynamic qualities within an individual.  Health exists when the doshas function harmoniously with each other.  Disease occurs when one or more of these doshas become imbalanced.  The doshas are a metaphoric framework cutting across most western categories of thought.  The three doshas are (see table 1): 

Kapha

Pitta

Vata

Though associated with mucous secretions, bilious secretions and nerve currents, it is important to stress that these are actually universal terms.  All things:  foods, activities and conditions may be categorized in this system. 

Rarely are the humoral activities balanced within an individual; humans have a tendency to over-produce activity in one or more doshas.  In fact, everyone may be categorized as being Kappha, Pitta or Vata predominant.  If these excesses accumulate and are not eliminated, the body is made vulnerable to toxins and harmful bacteria.  According to Ayurvedic theory, a body free of harmful bacteria, toxins and tridosha imbalance will not succumb to sickness.  Dosha excesses can accumulate in any constitution due to poor diet and unhealthy living habits.  It is relatively easy to rid oneself of excesses which are different from the individual’s predominant dosha.  For example, excess mucous (kapha excess) in a fire-predominant (pitta) person would be easily burned off.  On the other hand, if the pitta predominant person contracted jaundice, an excessive bilious (pitta) condition, it would be difficult to cure because his/her constitution would complicate the disease instead of counteracting it.  It follows that diseases of the digestive system are most difficult to cure for Pitta, diseases of the nervous system for Vata and diseases of the lymph and respiratory system for Kapha.

The first concern of the Ayurvedic physician is to eliminate excesses of the predominant dosha and second to strengthen and normalize tridosha balance.  First, s/he must determine the predominant dosha in the client’s constitution and then prescribe a diet and general living regimen including yoga asanas and breathing excercises suited to the individual’s body and temperament.  The client should avoid all foods, activities and conditions which excite his/her already overactive dosha while acting to stimulate the balancing activities of the latent doshas.

Ayurveda organizes foods into six tastes which reflect the ability of the fruit, vegetable, grain, legume, nut, herb, spice or dairy product to act upon and modify the doshas. With practice, one can immediately know from the taste of the food (which is transient) how it will affect the equilibrium of mind and body (which is cumulative/enduring). The Ayurvedic pharmacology of taste is a way of putting into scientific terms the intuitive and experiential sense of what is right and balancing to eat.

Sweet: earth and water: cooling and heavy = ?K ?P ?V

Pleasing and comforting taste. The function of the sweet taste is to increase the body’s constituent parts such as lymph, blood, hair, skin.

Examples: milk, butter, cream, sweet yogurt, nuts, seeds, cheese, fruits and sweet heavy vegetables.

Taken in excess sweet foods causes cough, indigestion and obesity.

Salty: earth and fire: heating and heavy = ?K ?P ?V

The function of the salty taste is to cleanse the body, soften tissues and to impart greater relish to food. Taken in excess salty foods cause accumulation of fluids, inflammation of the eyes and mucous membranes and loss of virility.

Acid: fire and air: heating and light = ?K ?P ?V

Acid taste stimulates digestion and elimination.

Examples: acid fruits, yogurt, sour cheese, some pickles (relish preserves)

Pungent: fire and air: healing and light = ?K ?P ?V

Increases digestive power and rids the body of toxins.

Examples: sharp spices, ginger, chiles, onions, garlic, cabbage and brussel sprouts.

Bitter: air and ether: light and dry = ?K ?P ?V

Stimulates appetite and digestion. Reduces fat and mucous.

Examples: bitter herbs, turmeric, dandelion, neem, coffee and chocolate.

Astringent: ether and earth: cooling, heavy and dry = ?K ?P ?V

Healing and purifying. Reduces fat and mucous.

Examples: beans, sage and thyme.

Altogether there are 22 pairs of properties that foods contain (besides taste) which help the Ayurvedic practitioner pursue equilibrium and health. The most basic of these are: heating/cooling, oily/dry, heavy/light. For example: one who is having a runny nose and eyes would temporarily limit his/her diet to drying foods such as millet, chickpeas, honey and black pepper. According to Ayurvedic theory, it is important to balance one’s intake of the various properties according to one’s individual constitution and activity level in accordance with the climate or seasons. It is continuously stressed that only digested food nourishes the body. The overeating of rich foods does not supply strength to the body, but instead causes weakness, indigestion and susceptibility to disease. Extreme irregularity of eating can be equally as harmful. Frequent and prolonged fasts or extended periods of time consuming “no fat” diets can be very harmful to pregnant women, as well as to Vatta and Pitta. Occasional moderate fasting is beneficial to all.

In Ayurveda little distinction is made between the kitchen and the pharmacy. Strengthening and purifying herbs, spices and minerals are used in small amounts in the daily cooking process. Hundreds of plants are used in India as both food and medication. No Ayurvedic physician would attempt to prescribe medication without seeing to the preparation of the patient’s meals. All over India, the six tastes are represented in each meal, carefully chosen and blended for the guests and occasion to contain the appropriate ingredients and properties to ensure a perfectly balanced and healthy meal.

All foods, no matter what their tastes, may be classified into three categories based on their overall effect:

Sattva:  balanced 

Pleasant and easily digested, nourishing and helping to maintain a balanced state of body and mind.  Rice, wheat, cereals, breads, easily digested dairy products, beans, nuts, fresh fruits and vegetables taken in correct proportions are balancing foods.

Rajas:  stimulating 

Disturbing effect on the body, especially the nervous system:  Coffee, tea, stimulating drugs and herbs, excesses of salt, certain oils, sharp spices, sour and acid tastes, sugar and honey are stimulating foods and should be taken sparingly. 

Tamas:  debilitating 

Compromise health, produce sluggishness and mental inertia.  Meat, eggs, garlic, onions, and stale, rancid, processed foods should be avoided.

Ayurvedic taste and quality classification may seem unusual to the westerner who would typically classify foods as the proportion of carbohydrates, protein, vitamins and fats they contain.  Ayurveda does not refute these western divisions, but is much broader in scope.  For example, both systems agree that a person must replenish wear and tear of the tissues.  In the western model, such food is called protein; in Ayurveda:  Kapha.  Western nutritionists might advocate consumption of beans, nuts, lentils or milk as good sources of protein, irrespective of the client’s constitution.  In Ayurveda, beans fall under the astringent category whereas nuts and milk are sweet.  It might prove harmful to prescribe beans (which increase Vata) for a Vata constitution.  On the other hand, it would be healing to prescribe milk and nuts which increase Kapha.

Western nutrition has become enormously complex and mechanical, breaking down foods in to tinier and tinier parts which takes us farther from a simple understanding of what to eat on a day-to-day basis.  When we consider the innumerable constituents and properties of foods and the endless ways they can interact, we are amazed and discouraged by the infinite complexity of cooking a daily meal.  Too many variables are involved for a logical analytical approach to be practical – an element of art is required.  Our understanding of the chemistry and physics of cooking must be integrated within a humble study of the time tested traditions of the ancient yet still living cultural practice of Ayurveda in order to gain the subtle, intuitive, cumulative and balancing effects for our health.  As we familiarize ourselves with the concept of Tridosha and the 6 taste characteristics, as well as learning to experience and analyze new foods and spices with unfamiliar tastes and properties we can balance our diet and free our bodies of excesses.  Finally, we can learn to listen and follow our infinitely sensitive, innate taste and feeling senses which will guide us to what we need. 

“You are everything; earth, water, fire, air and ether, the subtle and causal worlds and the One that stands forever beyond.” 

Vishnu Purana  

Original Manuscript: November 15, 1982 

Revised:  November 28, 2004

a natural chef, not a commercial chef

My ancestors were healers called Chakra Vartan. This means those who rotate the chakras. People came from far away to eat their food and have chakra healing. Masters of yoga, it was said that when meditating they could levitate 11 feet off the ground. They lived in Northern India, in the Himalayas.

The practice of Ayurveda was handed down within my family through my mother. It has taken many generations to catalogue the nutritional, medicial and energetic properties of herbs and foods. It is my goal to apply this knowledge in the West.

Vedic-cooking teaches the use of sacred healing herbs, some of which are only found on these remote mountaintops. The highest mountain range in the world, these herbs gather a special power from growing so close to the sun. Thousands of years ago, the Ramayana chronicled the special and life saving properties of these herbs.

As the story goes in one of the great Indian epics, the brother of deified Sri Rama lay
wounded in Lanka, so Rama’s loyal servant Hanuman flew to the Himalayas to bring back
some lifesaving herbs. To make sure his journey was successful, Hanuman decided to pick up an entire sacred mountain and carry it back to Lanka, inadvertently sprinkling bits of
the valuable plants in his path over southwest India. Today, many Ayurvedic herbs still
grow in this region, but the Ayurvedic philosophy, one in which each individual and the
world around that person is a balanced whole, reaches through the entire country of India and across the globe.