Core Principles of Ayurvedic Cooking & Eating

 

 

- The Six Tastes: Sweet, sour, salty, pungent, bitter, and astringent

 

- The Doshas: Ayurvedic cooking revolves around balancing the three mind body energies, or doshas - Vata (air/ethers), Pitta (fire/water), and Kapha (water/earth). Foods and spices are chosen to either warm, cool, or ground depending on your specific constitution.

 

- Digestive Fire (Agni): Ayurvedic cooking focuses on warm, cooked foods over cold and raw because they keep the digestive process strong and improve the breakdown and assimilation of food.

 

Spicing: Incorporating spices like fennel, ginger, turmeric, cumin, and coriander are incredible medicinal and healing. These and many other spices help carry nutrients into the bloodstream and remove toxins from the digestive tract.

 

Proper Food Combining: Certain food pairing can cause fermentation, gas, and gut issues. Sometimes it doesn't happen right away but over time it can cause problems. Combinations such as raw fruits mixed with heavy starches or dairy, raw foods mixed with warm cooked foods slowly weaken the digestive fire and cause an accumilation of mucus in the gut (ama)Garlic, onion, and nightshade heavy dishes are also advised against in Ayruvedic cooking since they are incredibly stimulating and agitating (Rajasic). They tend to dull the senses as well and cause lethargic tendencies (tamasic). Meat products, caffeine, and  are not often used in Ayurvedic cooking as they are tamasic and rajasic. 

 

Sattvic foods that are welcomed in Ayurveda include:

- Soaked and cooked grains and legumes with spices, cooked & spiced fruit by itself, warm milk with ghee and spices, cooked vegetables in ghee or oil, whole grain flours such as whole wheat, barley, oat, spelt, and teff, raw nuts, coconut, seeds, and herbal teas.