Natural Health Ayurved and Diet by Gary Scott

Ayurved, the Indian science of life, looks at health as a balance between three physical elements (doshas): motion (vatta), material (kapha) and digestion (pitta).

One way ayurved suggests we maintain the correct balance is to realize that all foods fall into one of six categories: sweet, salt, bitter, astringent, sour and pungent.

Each category either pacifies or aggravates each of the doshas. For example sour and pungent aggravates pitta (the digestive element) which is sensitive to heat.

Ayurved suggests that we have each taste in every meal but that we should eat mostly categories that balance imbalances we might have. If we have too much fire (pitta) we should eat more sweet and bitter food and minimize pungent and sour tastes.

Another recommendation of ayurved is to recognize that each season aggravates or pacifies a dosha.

For 50 years there has been a debate over high-protein, low-fat, and highcarbohydrate

diets that has confused the American people. Each diet is backed by convincing scientific research indicating that it is the best and only way to lose weight. But how can they all be right?

The answer is astonishingly simple. Auyrved says that each one is right, but for only four months of the year! The secret to making these diets work together for a lifetime is to use each one in the appropriate season as designed by nature: low fat in the spring, high carbohydrates in the summer, and high protein (fat) in the winter.

Spring is wet and heavy and aggravates kapha. Autumn and winter being dry and brittle aggravate vatta and the hot summers aggravate pitta. This is why you see outbreaks in crimes of passion during hot summer city days.

For example in spring we should maintain our health by eating to pacify wet, humid weather.

The humidity weakens the digestion. We need to especially practice moderation in spring and eat more pungent foods.

Some of the best foods to eat at this time of year include: apples, blueberries, dried fruits, grapefruit, lemons, limes, pears, sprouts, peppers, brussel sprouts, cabbage, carrots, chicory, chile, corn, fennel, garlic, kale, lettuce, onion, spinach, radishes, turnips, lentil and mung beans.

When summer arrives our diets should change. During the fiery dog days we should take additional care to live and eat in a way that stops a build up of fire (pitta-heat). One way is to reduce the intake of spicy and sour foods. Eat more astringent (lettuce, celery, spinach, asparagus, green beans, etc.) and bitter (lentils) foods.

One pitta reducing trick is to use one of summer's greatest treats, roses. Rose is an excellent sweet that helps pacify pitta. One way to use rose is to buy a bottle of rose water at your local health food store. Keep this in the refrigerator and when you feel hot, mist yourself with the cool scent of rose.

Another way to use the cooling power of rose is to buy top quality rose oil. Add one or two drops to a quart of water and keep this in the fridge. Enjoy this cooling drink between meals. Rose petal jam is another delicious way to cool off internally. Buy it in health food stores and in Indian food shops.

Another cooling treat involves sweet, purple grapes. Put them in the freezer and then on those hot days just suck on them when frozen. This is a great cooling fruit treat.

Avoid green grapes as they are sour which can aggravate rather than pacify pitta.

Another summer food is watermelon…lots of it at one time (and with nothing else) and fresh! Watermelon is a cleanser. Eat a whole, big one if you can. This works in the spring and summer when the flushing action removes excessive fire, water and air. The melon must be fresh, whole and cut within 20 minutes. Watermelon is a sponge that absorbs and flushes free radicals from the system. If you let the melon sit after cutting, it oxidizes and loses its cleansing capacity. Also, it can become a free radical itself.

The rule is "Eat it alone or leave it alone". Make the melon your entire meal and eat nothing for three to four hours before and after.

Finally, be sure to eat breakfast. This is the most important meal of the day for reducing fire imbalances.

Blackberries are also good in summer. Native to Europe, these berries are harvested in late spring and early summer, from April through July, but are out of season in the winter and are too cool for most winter climates. They are sweet, sour and astringent and help cool the body down and to treat diarrhea, a classic summer condition in which the stool is liquefied by excess heat. Blackberries are also very alkaline, high in iron and are the best blood builders although they have a constipating quality.

Bitter Melon is another good summer food, originally harvested throughout China and India, bitter is used to treat diabetes in Asia. It has twice as much potassium as bananas and is proven to increase the number of beta cells (which produce insulin) in the pancreas. It is high in iron and has twice the beta-carotene of broccoli and twice the calcium of spinach. It is bitter in taste and cooling to the body, but is too cooling and bitter for winter.

When autumn and winter come we want to reduce vatta and should eat warm, oily, dense and heavy foods. Winter foods should be cooked and eaten in a peaceful environment avoiding all kinds of stimulations.

Winter foods may include most fresh fruits, pasta, rice, dairy products, avocado, sweet foods and lots of fluids (especially warm drinks). Salads should have a creamy or oily dressing.

This is a time to eat more mung beans, soya beans in tofu, milk and cheese as you eat less kidney, lima, navy, pinto, split peas, white beans and black beans.

Have more warm drinks, herbal or spiced teas, warm milk, fruit and vegetable juice without ice. Reduce carbonated drinks, cold or iced drinks, coffee, tea, alcohol. Eat more dairy except powdered milk and ice cream.

Increase apricots, banana, cherries, fresh figs, peaches, citrus fruits, dates, mango, papaya, grapes, berries, pineapple, plums and reduce dried fruits, apples, pears, pomegranates, cranberries, prunes, melons.

Rice, oats, wheat, pasta are good as you reduce barley, buckwheat, rye, corn, millet, rice cakes, puffed or dry cereals.

The spices one should increase include asafoetidea, basil, caraway, cardamom, cinnamon, pepper, clove, coriander, sage, cumin, fennel, garlic, ginger, onion, nutmeg, turmeric.

Have more heavy veggies such as avocado, asparagus, beets, carrots, eggplant, leeks, olives, pumpkin, radish, sweet potato, spinach and zucchini.

Reduce raw or frozen vegetables, peas, brussel sprouts, broccoli, cauliflower, cabbage, cucumber, corn, celery, lettuce, mushrooms, potatoes.

There are three body types and Ayurved suggests that we should eat both to our body type and especially to help correct imbalances.

Vatta relates to movement such as blood flow, elimination, breathing and thoughts.

Some common characteristics of people with Vatta constitution include creativity, mental quickness, imaginative, quick to learn and grasp new knowledge, but also quick to forget, sexually easily excitable but quickly satiated, slender, light, talk and walk quickly, tendency toward cold hands and feet, discomfort in cold climates, lively, fun personality, changeable moods, irregular daily routine and variable appetite and digestive efficiency.

Typical health problems include headaches, hypertension, dry coughs, sore throats, earaches, anxiety, irregular heart rhythms, muscle spasms, lower back pain, constipation, abdominal gas, diarrhea, nervous stomach, menstrual cramps, premature ejaculation and other sexual dys-functions, arthritis. Most neurological disorders are related to vatta imbalance.

Pitta represent transformation such as digestion, absorption, assimilation, nutrition, metabolism, body temperature, skin color, vision, hearing and all the other senses.

Common characteristics of Pitta body types include: Medium physique, strong, wellbuilt, clear mind, good concentration powers, orderly, focused, assertive, selfconfident, and entrepreneurial.

They are competitive, enjoy challenges, passionate and romantic; sexually have more vigor and endurance than Vatas, but less than Kaphas. They enjoy strong digestion, strong appetite; get irritated if they have to miss or wait for a meal and like to be in command. Pittas are most easily irritated

Physiologically, these people have a strong metabolism, good digestion and resulting strong appetites. The person of pitta constitution usually takes large quantities of food and liquid. Pitta types have a natural craving for sweet, bitter and astringent tastes and enjoy cold drinks. Their sleep is of medium duration but uninterrupted.

They produce a large volume of urine and the feces are yellowish, liquid, soft and plentiful. There is a tendency toward excessive perspiring. The body temperature may run slightly high and hands and feet will tend to be warm. Pitta people do not tolerate sunlight, heat or hard work well.

Kapha represents structure and lubrication. Kaphas have great biological strength and natural tissue resistance in the body. Kapha lubricates the joints; provides moisture to the skin; helps to heal wounds; fills the spaces in the body; gives vigor and stability; supports memory retention; gives energy to the heart and lungs, and maintains immunity. Kapha is present in the chest, throat, head, sinuses, nose, mouth, stomach, joints, cytoplasm, plasma, and in the liquid secretions of the body such as mucus.

Common characteristics of people who have a predominantly Kapha constitution include easygoing, relaxed, slow-paced attitude, affection, forgiveness, compassion, nonjudgmental nature, stable reliable and faithful. Kaphas are physically strong with sturdy, heavier builds. They have the most energy of all constitutions, but it is steady and enduring, not explosive.

Physical problems include colds and congestion, sinus headaches, respiratory problems including asthma and wheezing, hay fever, allergies, and atherosclerosis (hardening of the arteries).

Some excellent websites that describe and help you determine your body types and show food groups include:

John Douillard’s book, “3 Season Diet” covers this nutritional science in great detail.

The 3-Season Diet shows how to align our desires with the foods that nature has provided in season for thousands of years. In the winter we naturally crave soups, nuts, warm grains, and other high fat and protein foods such as meat and fish. In the spring we want salads, berries, and leafy greens a naturally low-fat diet. And in the summer when the days are long and hot we require cooling and high energy foods such as fruits and vegetables which are a naturally available high carbohydrate diet.

Of course we are used to four seasons, but in nature one season is typically dormant - a resting season. There are really 3 primary harvests, a spring, summer and fall harvest (that is typically eaten in the winter), thus The 3-Season Diet. In The 3-Season Diet we have classified foods from around the world into winter, summer and spring so you can eat with the seasons but still eat like a King.

Next time you hear an argument that Priticken, Atkins or another diet is best, you again agree that they are all correct! Now you know that the right way to eat depends on your body type, your imbalances and the time of year.

Learn about Wellness Weekends and cooking courses that include ayurvedic eating and cooking from merriscott@hotmail.com

Gary

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Ayurved and Diet