Healthy porridge bowl

By Good Food team

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 Preparation and cooking time

o Prep:10 mins
o Cook:5 mins
 Easy
 Serves 2

Start your day right with this filling bowl of oats, berries, banana and seeds. It's healthy
and packed with nutrients to fuel body and mind

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  Healthy
 Vegetarian

Nutrition: Per serving

Nutrient Unit

kcal 533

fat 19g

saturates 3g

carbs 66g

sugars 14g

fibre 13g

protein 17g

salt 0.1g
Ingredients
 100g frozen raspberries
 1 orange , 1/2 sliced and 1/2 juiced
 150g porridge oats
 100ml milk
 ½ banana , sliced
 2 tbsp smooth almond butter
 1 tbsp goji berries
 1 tbsp chia seeds

Method

 STEP 1

Tip half the raspberries and all of the orange juice in a pan. Simmer until the
raspberries soften, about 5 mins.

 STEP 2
 Meanwhile stir the oats, milk and 450ml water in a pan over a low heat until
creamy. Top with the raspberry compote, remaining raspberries, orange
slices, banana, almond butter, goji berries and chia seeds.

What Is the Ayurvedic

Diet? Benefits,
Downsides, and More
 The diet

 Benefits

 Downsides

 Foods to eat

 Foods to avoid

 Bottom line
The Ayurvedic diet is an eating pattern that’s been around for thousands of
years.

It’s based on the principles of Ayurvedic medicine and focuses on balancing

different types of energy within your body, which is said to improve health.

Unlike many other diets, the Ayurvedic diet provides personalized

recommendations about which foods to eat and avoid based on your body
type.

It’s also popular because it’s not only said to promote better health for your
body but also your mind.
This article reviews all you need to know about the Ayurvedic diet, including
its benefits, downsides, and foods to eat and avoid.

Share on Pin terest

What is the Ayurvedic diet?

Ayurveda is a form of holistic medicine that’s focused on promoting balance
between your body and mind.

According to Ayurveda, five elements make up the universe — vayu (air), jala
(water), akash (space), teja (fire), and prithvi (earth).

These elements are believed to form three different doshas, which are defined
as types of energy that circulate within your body. Each dosha is responsible
for specific physiological functions.

For example, the pitta dosha controls hunger, thirst, and body temperature.
Meanwhile, the vata dosha maintains electrolyte balance and movement,
while the kapha dosha promotes joint function (1Trusted Source).

The Ayurvedic diet is a component of Ayurveda and has been practiced for
thousands of years. It’s based on determining your dominant dosha and
eating specific foods to promote balance between all three doshas.

How does it work?

The Ayurvedic diet is a type of eating plan that sets guidelines for when, how,
and what you should eat based on your dosha, or body type.

Here are some of the main characteristics for each dosha to help you
determine which type matches you best:

 Pitta (fire + water). Intelligent, hard-working, and decisive. This dosha

generally has a medium physical build, short temper, and may suffer
from conditions like indigestion, heart disease, or high blood pressure.

 Vata (air + space). Creative, energetic, and lively. People with this

dosha are usually thin with a light frame and may struggle with digestive
issues, fatigue, or anxiety when out of balance.
  Kapha (earth + water). Naturally calm, grounded, and loyal. Those with
a kapha dosha often have a sturdier frame and may have issues with
weight gain, asthma, depression, or diabetes.

According to this diet, your dosha determines which foods you should eat to
promote inner balance.

For example, the pitta dosha focuses on cooling, energizing foods and limits
spices, nuts, and seeds.

Meanwhile, the vata dosha favors warm, moist, and grounding foods while
restricting dried fruits, bitter herbs, and raw veggies.

Finally, the kapha dosha limits heavy foods like nuts, seeds, and oils in favor
of fruits, veggies, and legumes.

Red meat, artificial sweeteners, and processed ingredients are limited for all
three doshas. Instead, the Ayurvedic diet encourages eating healthy whole
foods.

SUMMARY

The Ayurvedic diet is an eating pattern focused on promoting balance within

your body by following guidelines for your specific dosha, or body type.

Benefits
Here are a few of the potential benefits of the Ayurvedic Diet.

Encourages whole foods

Although the Ayurvedic diet has specific guidelines for each dosha, the diet as
a whole encourages eating whole foods like fruits, vegetables, grains, and
legumes.

This can benefit your health greatly, as these foods are rich in many essential
nutrients.

The diet also minimizes processed foods, which often lack fiber and important
vitamins and minerals.

Studies show that eating higher amounts of processed foods may be

associated with a higher risk of heart disease, cancer, and even death
(2Trusted Source, 3Trusted Source, 4Trusted Source).

Thus, the Ayurvedic diet may help protect against chronic disease and
promote better health. However, more studies are needed.

Could promote weight loss

Given that the Ayurvedic diet emphasizes nutrient-rich whole foods, it

might boost weight loss.

While limited research is available on the Ayurvedic diet and weight loss,
some studies have found that it may be effective in this regard.

For example, one study in 200 people with pitta or kapha doshas showed that
following the Ayurvedic diet for three months led to significant weight loss.
These people supposedly tend to be heavier than those with vata doshas
(5Trusted Source).

Another small study found that following an Ayurveda-based lifestyle

modification program, which included dietary changes and yoga classes,
resulted in an average weight loss of 13 pounds (6 kg) over 9 months
(6Trusted Source).

That said, large, high-quality studies are needed to evaluate the effectiveness
of the Ayurvedic diet for weight loss in the general population.

Promotes mindfulness

In addition to what foods you eat, mindfulness is another major part of the
Ayurvedic diet.

Mindfulness is a practice that involves paying close attention to how you feel
in the present.

In particular, mindful eating emphasizes minimizing distractions during meals

to focus on the taste, texture, and smell of your food.

According to one small study in 10 people, practicing mindful eating reduced

body weight, depression, stress, and binge eating (7Trusted Source).

Mindful eating may also enhance self-control and promote a healthy

relationship with food (8Trusted Source).

SUMMARY

The Ayurvedic diet emphasizes eating whole foods, which can improve your
overall health and boost weight loss. The diet also encourages mindful eating,
a practice that may promote a healthy relationship with food.
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Downsides
Although there are several benefits associated with the Ayurvedic diet, there
are drawbacks to consider.

Here are a few of the potential downsides of the Ayurvedic diet.

Can be confusing

One of the major issues with the Ayurvedic diet is that it can be confusing and
difficult to follow.

Not only are there specific food lists for each dosha but also many additional
rules to follow.

For example, the recommendations regarding which foods you should eat and
avoid change throughout the year based on the season.

There are also suggestions for when, how often, and how much you should
eat, which can be challenging — especially for those just getting started on
the diet.

May feel overly restrictive

On the Ayurvedic diet, there are extensive lists of foods that you are advised
to eat or avoid depending on your dosha.

This can mean cutting out healthy, whole foods or entire food groups that are
thought to aggravate specific doshas.
Other ingredients like red meat or processed foods are also left out, which
may require you to make significant modifications to your current diet.

This can feel overly restrictive and less flexible than other meal plans and may
make it difficult to stick to the diet long term.

Often subjective

Another issue with the Ayurvedic diet is that it’s subjective.

The diet is centered around determining your dominant dosha, which is based
on a set of physical and mental traits.

Although there are plenty of guidelines and online quizzes available to help
ease the process, figuring out your dosha is not foolproof.

As the recommendations for the diet are tailored to each dosha, choosing the
incorrect dosha could negatively impact your results.

Furthermore, no evidence currently supports the concept of doshas or the

claim that your personality traits determine which foods you should eat and
avoid.

Therefore, it’s unclear how beneficial the diet is, even if you correctly
determine your dosha.

SUMMARY

The Ayurvedic diet can be confusing and may feel overly restrictive, especially
as you start out. Also, the theory of doshas is subjective and not based on
scientific evidence.
Foods to eat
In Ayurveda, foods are categorized based on their physical qualities and the
way they are said to affect your body. This helps determine which ingredients
work best for different doshas (9Trusted Source).

Below are some of the foods you should eat based on your specific dosha.

Pitta
 Protein: poultry in small amounts, egg whites, tofu

 Dairy: milk, ghee, butter

 Fruits: sweet, fully ripe fruits like oranges, pears, pineapples, bananas,

melons, and mangoes

 Vegetables: sweet and bitter veggies, including cabbage, cauliflower,

celery, cucumber, zucchini, leafy greens, sweet potatoes, carrots,
squash, and Brussels sprouts

 Legumes: chickpeas, lentils, mung beans, lima beans, black beans,

kidney beans

 Grains: barley, oats, basmati rice, wheat

 Nuts and seeds: small amounts of pumpkin seeds, flax seeds,

sunflower seeds, coconut

 Herbs and spices: small amounts of black pepper, cumin, cinnamon,

cilantro, dill, turmeric

Vata
 Protein: small amounts of poultry, seafood, tofu
  Dairy: milk, butter, yogurt, cheese, ghee

 Fruits: fully ripe, sweet, and heavy fruits, such as bananas, blueberries,

strawberries, grapefruit, mangoes, peaches, and plums

 Vegetables: cooked vegetables, including beets, sweet potatoes,

onions, radishes, turnips, carrots, and green beans

 Legumes: chickpeas, lentils, mung beans

 Grains: cooked oats, cooked rice

 Nuts and seeds: any, including almonds, walnuts, pistachios, chia

seeds, flax seeds, and sunflower seeds

 Herbs and spices: cardamom, ginger, cumin, basil, cloves, oregano,

thyme, black pepper

Kapha
 Protein: poultry in small amounts, seafood, egg whites

 Dairy: skim milk, goat milk, soy milk

 Fruits: apples, blueberries, pears, pomegranates, cherries, and dried

fruit like raisins, figs, and prunes

 Vegetables: asparagus, leafy greens, onions, potatoes, mushrooms,

radishes, okra

 Legumes: any, including black beans, chickpeas, lentils, and navy

beans

 Grains: oats, rye, buckwheat, barley, corn, millet

 Nuts and seeds: small amounts of pumpkin seeds, sunflower seeds,

flax seeds
  Herbs and spices: any, including cumin, black pepper, turmeric,
ginger, cinnamon, basil, oregano, and thyme

SUMMARY

Depending on your dosha, there are specific guidelines regarding which foods
to eat as part of an Ayurvedic diet.

Foods to avoid
Here are some of the foods you should limit or avoid based on your dosha.

Pitta
 Proteins: red meat, seafood, egg yolks

 Dairy: sour cream, cheese, buttermilk

 Fruits: sour or unripe fruits, such as grapes, apricots, papaya,

grapefruit, and sour cherries

 Vegetables: chili peppers, beets, tomatoes, onions, eggplant

 Grains: brown rice, millet, corn, rye

 Nuts and seeds: almonds, cashews, peanuts, pine nuts,

pistachios, walnuts, sesame seeds

 Herbs and spices: any spices not included in the list above

Vata
 Proteins: red meat
  Fruits: dried, unripe, or light fruits, such as raisins, cranberries,
pomegranates, and pears

 Vegetables: any raw vegetables, as well as cooked broccoli, cabbage,

cauliflower, mushrooms, potatoes, and tomatoes

 Legumes: beans, such as black beans, kidney beans, and navy beans

 Grains: buckwheat, barley, rye, wheat, corn, quinoa, millet

 Herbs and spices: bitter or astringent herbs like parsley, thyme, and

coriander seed

Kapha
 Proteins: red meat, shrimp, egg yolks

 Fruits: bananas, coconuts, mangoes, fresh figs

 Vegetables: sweet potatoes, tomatoes, zucchini, cucumbers

 Legumes: soybeans, kidney beans, miso

 Grains: rice, wheat, cooked cereal

 Nuts and seeds: cashews, pecans, pine nuts, Brazil nuts, sesame

seeds, walnuts

SUMMARY

Based on your dosha, the Ayurvedic diet recommends that you limit or avoid
certain foods.

The bottom line

The Ayurvedic diet is a meal plan based on the principles of Ayurvedic
medicine, a form of traditional medicine dating back thousands of years.

The diet involves eating or restricting certain foods based on your dosha, or
body type, which is claimed to boost weight loss and support mindfulness.

However, it can be confusing and restrictive, and it’s based on subjective

assumptions about your personality and body type. Plus, its theories are not
supported by scientific evidence.

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Written by Rachael Link, MS, RD — Updated on July 31, 

Ayurvedic Food Combining

 

For many, the concept of food combining—the idea that some foods digest well
together while others do not—is entirely new, and somewhat foreign. But according to
Ayurveda, it is an essential part of understanding how to eat properly, just
as discovering one's constitution and state of imbalance is important for one's
Ayurvedic self-discovery. Careful food combining can dramatically improve the
quality of digestion, support the body in receiving a deeper level of nourishment, and
positively impact our overall health.

However, most people in the modern world are accustomed to eating a number of
foods that do not usually digest well together (like fruit with nuts, or beans with
cheese). So why does it matter? The Ayurvedic perspective is that each food has a
distinct combination of tastes and energies—and a corresponding effect on both the
digestive system and on the body as a whole. Combining foods with radically
different energetics can overwhelm the digestive fire (agni) and can cause indigestion,
fermentation, gas, bloating, and the creation of toxins. 1 This is why proper food
combining is so important. Of course, certain combinations disturb the digestive tract
more than others—an important consideration if this practice is entirely new to you.
Regardless of your particular habits or symptoms, paying attention to how you
combine foods can provide a valuable opportunity for insight, healing, and improved
health. Remember, food combining is not about imposing black and white rules. It is
one among many powerful Ayurvedic tools for improving digestive health and overall
wellness.

 
 Cooking and Meal Ingredients

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A Balanced Approach to Food Combining

It is usually best to embrace the idea of food combining slowly and gently, allowing
plenty of time to make the necessary adaptations. Some of the recommended
adjustments are relatively simple; others can require a major recalibration in our
habits, or be met with resistance. Often, simply developing an awareness of the
improper food combinations that you eat somewhat regularly is a great place to start.
Notice which foods you combine that may be difficult to digest together, and how
often you indulge in them. Become aware of how you feel afterward. Do these choices
affect your energy level, your digestion, your elimination, the coating on your tongue?
Are particular combinations more noticeably influential than others? These are all
important pieces of information. They can confirm the importance of proper food
combining and can help each of us to identify the food combinations that are the most
disruptive to our systems.

When you are feeling motivated and decide that you are ready to start adapting your
diet to accommodate more supportive food combinations, consider tackling just one
change at a time. Perhaps you’ll start by eating fruits alone, rather than in combination
with other foods. Over time, you can gradually progress toward the ideal. While it
would certainly be nice to avoid improper food combinations altogether, reducing
their frequency can also be incredibly beneficial. If you do find that some specific
food combinations are more problematic for you or your loved ones than others, focus
your efforts on changing just those in the beginning. The most important first step is
to become aware of your needs and your habits; from there, you can evolve an
approach to food combining that works for you.

Combinations to Reduce or Avoid

The following list highlights incompatible foods and offers suggestions for more
appropriate combinations. It is meant to be a helpful guide, not an exhaustive list. In
fact, you may be aware of other combinations that do not work for your body. Honor
those instincts. Because this resource is meant to help you determine optimal
combinations at a glance, there is some repetition. Combinations listed in all caps are
particularly challenging.
Yes, some of these are staple combinations in many households. Pizza and a number
of other beloved Italian dishes combine nightshades with cheese. And who among us
hasn’t enjoyed beans with cheese at some time or another? Then there’s the fruit and
yogurt taboo… So much for about 80% of all available store-bought varieties of
yogurt; next time you indulge in a fruit-flavored yogurt, pay attention to how your
digestion feels afterwards.

In addition, there are some specific preparations that are challenging when combined
with particular foods.
All of these rules can feel overwhelming, even irritatingly complicated. But, the
rationale behind proper food combining really does make sense. Ultimately,
combining mismatched foods generates ama , a toxic substance that is often at the
root of imbalance and disease.2 But, for those of you who would like to understand a
little more about HOW and WHY these food combinations tax our bodies, here are a
few specific examples:

Bananas and Milk

Though commonly eaten together, bananas and milk are challenging to digest together
because their qualities are so different. Bananas are heating while milk is cooling.
That alone is problematic. Further, bananas become sour as they break down. So now
our digestive fire has to process a sour substance and milk at the same time. Ever
added a squeeze of lemon to milk? Or maybe you’ve poured a little milk into a tangy,
fruity tea… only to watch it curdle instantly? What happens to these mismatched
foods in the digestive tract is not much different. When bananas and milk are eaten
together, their opposing qualities tend to smother the digestive fire and can disrupt the
balance of intestinal flora, which results in the creation of toxins. This combination
also frequently causes congestion, colds, coughs, allergies, hives, and rashes. 2 A
similar situation arises when we combine any sour fruit with milk. 3

Eating Fruits Alone

The reason fruits are best enjoyed on their own is that fruit is usually somewhat
acidic, fairly simple to digest, and often digests quite quickly. When fruits are eaten
with other foods, there is usually a significant discrepancy between the amount of
time required to properly digest the fruit versus the more complex food. Inhibited by
the more complex food, the fruit tends to move through the digestive tract too slowly
and can cause fermentation, gas, and bloating. In addition, the combination typically
introduces a number of conflicting qualities into the digestive tract all at once, which
has the potential to overwhelm or stifle the digestive fire.
Nightshades and Cheese
This combination is simply too taxing for the digestive fire. A nightshade is a
common name for a member of the plant family Solanaceae, which includes potatoes,
bell peppers, tomatoes, eggplants, cayenne peppers, paprika, tobacco, henbane,
belladonna, datura, and over 2,500 other plants. Nightshades contain alkaloids,
primarily as a means of defense against being damaged by insects. The alkaloids can
be anywhere from mildly to fatally toxic to humans. As a result, diverse cultures
around the world have long held an intriguing relationship with the nightshade family.
Some have been used to make poisons, some contain incredibly addictive compounds
such as nicotine, some are mind altering, and others create an incredible sensation of
heat in the mouth.4 The bottom line is that nightshades contain a complex array of
compounds that, once ingested, lead to a potentially dramatic cascade of chemical
reactions in the body. Ayurvedically speaking, all nightshades are believed to be
somewhat difficult to digest and to have the capacity to disturb the doshas. When we
mix these inherently challenging nightshades with cheese—which is heavy, oily, and
also difficult to digest—we can quickly overtax the digestive fire.

Beans and Cheese

Beans and cheese are similar in that they both tend to be heavy and are often difficult
to digest. In order to break down properly, they both require a good deal of digestive
strength. But, the similarities end there. Beans tend to taste mostly astringent and
sweet, can be either heating or cooling (depending on the type of bean), and usually
have a pungent post-digestive effect. Cheese, on the other hand, tastes predominantly
sour, is almost always heating, and usually has a sour post-digestive effect. The post-
digestive effect of different foods occurs once that food has moved into the colon; it
affects the urine, feces, sweat and tissues—sometimes even at the cellular level. Two
foods with distinct post-digestive effects are typically quite different from one
another. This is the case with beans and cheese; when they are eaten together, they
tend to overwhelm and confuse the digestive fire. Meanwhile, their combined
heaviness makes them even more difficult to process, often resulting in poor digestion
and the accumulation of ama.

Ease Into It
Embracing the wisdom of food combining slowly helps us to cultivate a refined
awareness around how our dietary choices affect us. This heightened sensitivity can
be an invaluable asset, regardless of how quickly we are able to replace improper food
combinations with more supportive ones. Be gentle with yourself, progressing at a
pace that works for you. You might find it helpful, on occasion, to take a moment to
reflect on how your digestion and your overall sense of wellness have changed over
time. Proper food combining tends to awaken the body’s innate intelligence, so for
most, embracing good food combining habits gets easier with time and practice.

Much of the information contained in this article came from Dr. Vasant and Usha
Lad’s cookbook: Ayurvedic Cooking for Self-Healing. Our deepest gratitude to them
both for sharing an enlightened understanding of how to eat Ayurvedically.


 

 

 
 610

 

 

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MORE FOR YOU

The Importance of Healthy Digestion
This resource will give you a deeper understanding and appreciation of the role digestion (agni) plays in
your overall health, while offering you some practical tools with which to tend to your own digestion.

Recipes
Dals, lentils, and beans play an important role in Ayurvedic nutrition, and they are just as versatile as
they are delicious. We’ve collected our favorite Ayurvedic recipes to help you stay balanced with these
powerhouses of protein.

References
 Lad, Usha and Dr. Vasant Lad. Ayurvedic Cooking for Self-Healing. 2nd ed. Albuquerque: The Ayurvedic Press, 2006. Print.
1

45-48.

2
 Lad, Vasant. The Complete Book of Ayurvedic Home Remedies. New York: Three Rivers Press, 1998. Print. 101.

 Vagbhata. Ashtanga Hrdayam. Trans. Prof. K.R. Srikantha Murthy. Varanasi: Chowkhamba Krishnadas Academy. 2007.
3

Print. Ashtanga Hrdayam: Sutrasthana: VII: 31.5.

4
 “Nightshades.” Wikipedia. Web. 6 Jan. 2014. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nightshades

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