Diet

According to Ayurveda, every individual has unique needs for balance. Since diet is one of the most important Ayurvedic tools for achieving balance, Ayurvedic healers generally design individualized diets for people they see, based on various factors such as age and gender, the doshic tendencies that need to be balanced at a given time, the strength of the body tissues and the digestive fires, and the level of ama (toxins) in the body. The place where a person lives and the season are also factors that affect dietary dos and don'ts.

 The principles of Ayurvedic food combining are derived from written information left us in the ancient writing of the Indian physicians living around 100 A.D.. The basic difference from how we are used to eating today is that they only ate two or three different types of foods at any one meal.

Ayurveda emphasizes the improper combinations of foods not be taken together because of early observations that certain combinations of foods caused many physical and mental problems.

According to Ayurveda, every food has its own taste (rasa), a heating or cooling energy (virya) and post-digestive effect (vipaka). When two or three different food substances of different taste, energy and post-digestive effect are combined together agni can become overloaded inhibiting the enzyme system and resulting in production of toxins in the system

Thus, according to Ayurveda, one should eat according to one's constitution and take fruits, starches, proteins and fats separately at different times of the day.

In the Ayurvedic literature there are six types of nutritional imbalances:

Quantitative deficiency. 

This includes under-nutrition due to insufficient food, and even starvation.

2. Quantitative excess.

Includes excessive amounts of both health foods and even water.

3. Qualitative deficiency.

This includes wrong food combination which results in malnutrition, toxic condition and lack of essential nutrients.

4. Qualitative excess.

This includes emotional overeating of rich or high fat foods which can result in obesity and/or high cholesterol which and promote hypertension, coronary vessel disease, and stroke.

5. Ama-producing.

Certain foods and food combinations lead to toxemia and to certain digestive disorders.

6. Prakriti.

Foods not appropriate for one's constitution may reduce immunity and cause disease.

These six factors are closely correlated with the strength of agni (the gastric fire). There are four types of agni:

• MANDAGNI.

  This is due to an excess kapha condition, leading to slow metabolism, overweight, allergies and congestive diseases.

• TIKSHNAGNI.

  Pitta dosha is responsible for this type of agni disorder. It may cause hyper-metabolism, hyperacidity, heartburn and hypoglycemia leading to inflammatory diseases.

• VISHAMAGNI.

  Due to vata dosha the gastric fire becomes vitiated, causing irregular appetite, indigestion and gases. Emotionally this can result in anxiety, insecurity, fear, and neurological or mental problems.

• SAMAGNI.

  This type of agni is the result of balanced tri-dosha. A person having this type of agni can eat almost any type of food without difficulty. Digestion, absorption and elimination are all normal.

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