- "Ayurveda is an alternative medicine system with historical roots in the Indian subcontinent." - "The theory and practice of Ayurveda is pseudoscientific." - "Ayurveda therapies have varied and evolved over more than two millennia."
Discover the importance of food in Ayurvedic medicine, and how to use diet to balance the doshas and promote good health.
Ayurveda: The ancient Indian system of medicine that emphasizes the importance of diet and nutrition in maintaining health and preventing disease.
Three Doshas: The three fundamental energies or doshas, namely Vata, Pitta, and Kapha determine an individual's physical and mental characteristics and help determine their nutritional needs.
Food Groups: The six food groups: Carbohydrates, proteins, fats, vitamins, minerals, and water - each have a specific role in maintaining good nutrition.
Nutritional Value: Understanding the nutritional value of food and how it affects the body can help individuals make informed choices about what they eat.
Digestion: An understanding of the digestive system and how food is broken down and processed in the body can help individuals understand the importance of choosing foods that are easy to digest and benefit the body.
Food Combining: Proper food combining during mealtime can improve digestion, nutrient absorption, and overall health.
Food allergies: Understanding food allergies and intolerances can help individuals make informed choices about what they eat.
Seasonal Eating: The concept of eating according to the season can improve digestion, immunity, and overall health.
Mindful eating: The practice of mindful eating can help individuals make better choices about what they eat, how much they eat, and when they eat.
Superfoods: Understanding the benefits of nutrient-dense superfoods such as berries, nuts, seeds, and grains can help individuals make informed choices about what they eat to improve health.
Herbal supplements: The use of herbal supplements to support overall health and improve specific health conditions can be an effective way to complement a nutritious diet.
Lifestyle modifications: Ayurvedic medicine incorporates lifestyle modifications, including exercise, stress management, and sleep, as part of a comprehensive approach to health and wellness.
Ayurvedic cooking techniques: Incorporating Ayurvedic cooking techniques, such as using spices, herbs, and ghee, can help enhance the flavor and nutritional value of food while also improving digestion.
Ayurvedic Diet Plans: There are numerous Ayurvedic diet plans, such as Vata, Pitta, and Kapha diet plans that cater specifically to individual doshas and nutritional requirements.
Ayurvedic herbs and spices: Using Ayurvedic herbs and spices in cooking or as supplements can help promote healing, reduce inflammation, and improve overall health.
Eating according to one's constitution or Doshas: According to Ayurveda, each person has a unique constitution or Dosha that determines their physical, emotional, and mental characteristics. There are three Doshas: Vata, Pitta, and Kapha - and each person's Dosha is determined by their individual balance of these three.
Eating seasonally: Ayurveda recommends eating foods that are in season, as they are better for the body and are more readily available.
Eating fresh, whole foods: Ayurveda recommends eating fresh, whole foods that are minimally processed and free of additives and preservatives.
Eating cooked foods: Ayurveda recommends eating cooked foods, as they are easier to digest and assimilate in the body.
Eating mindfully: Ayurveda recommends eating with full awareness, taking time to chew food properly and enjoying every bite.
Taking Ayurvedic herbs and spices: Ayurveda uses a variety of herbs and spices that are believed to support digestion and overall health.
- "It is heavily practiced in India and Nepal, where around 80% of the population report using Ayurveda."
- "Therapies include herbal medicines, special diets, meditation, yoga, massage, laxatives, enemas, and medical oils."
- "Ayurvedic preparations are typically based on complex herbal compounds, minerals, and metal substances."
- "Ancient Ayurveda texts also taught surgical techniques, including rhinoplasty, kidney stone extractions, sutures, and the extraction of foreign objects."
- "The main classical Ayurveda texts begin with accounts of the transmission of medical knowledge from the gods to sages, and then to human physicians." - "The Sushruta Samhita (Sushruta's Compendium) frames the work as the teachings of Dhanvantari, Hindu god of Ayurveda, incarnated as King Divodāsa of Varanasi, to a group of physicians, including Sushruta."
- "Through well-understood processes of modernization and globalization, Ayurveda has been adapted for Western consumption, notably by Baba Hari Dass in the 1970s and Maharishi Ayurveda in the 1980s."
- "Historical evidence for Ayurvedic texts, terminology and concepts appears from the middle of the first millennium BCE onwards."
- "In Ayurveda texts, Dosha balance is emphasized, and suppressing natural urges is considered unhealthy and claimed to lead to illness." - "Ayurveda treatises describe three elemental doshas viz. vāta, pitta and kapha, and state that balance of the doshas results in health, while imbalance results in disease."
- "Ayurveda treatises divide medicine into eight canonical components."
- "Some Ayurvedic preparations have been found to contain lead, mercury, and arsenic, substances known to be harmful to humans."
- "A 2008 study found the three substances [lead, mercury, and arsenic] in close to 21% of U.S. and Indian-manufactured patent Ayurvedic medicines sold through the Internet."
- "The public health implications of such metallic contaminants in India are unknown."