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To follow Ayurvedic dietary principles one has to consider individual body types; personality; response to factors like stress, weather and factor in the time of year and life, while suggesting specific food and activity options. Each individual is categorized into body types - Vatta, Pitta and Kapha depending on activity level, medical condition and lifestyle.
The Ananda menu places emphasis on the importance of a balanced diet. Ayurvedic food can be divided into six fundamental categories according to taste: sweet, sour, salty, pungent, bitter and astringent, with each taste containing nutritional factors that the body needs for proper functioning.
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The diet should include all six tastes, macronutrients like protein, fat and carbohydrates in each meal. Since each type of food has a unique affect on digestion, metabolism and the formation of tissues, diets in which only certain food groups, nutrients and tastes are prominent can lead to significant imbalance. It can also lead to cravings for certain food or a sense of feeling hungry, fatigued or tired after finishing a large meal.
A balanced diet should have all three macronutrients - carbohydrates, proteins and fats and all the six tastes. A healthy individual who is moderately to highly active, need to consume a diet that is based on 55 to 60 percent carbohydrates, 20 to 25 percent protein and the remaining 15-20 percent derived from fats.
6 X nutrition could be a key that can unlock the door to lifelong weight management. This is a system whereby the total caloric intake for a day is broken down into 6 meals as opposed to 3 meals. The same number of calories spread over 6 meals can induce weight loss without a proportional increase in activity.
The body is only capable of absorbing 21000 calories at one time; the excess is diverted to fat and is used as energy later. Regular intake of food throughout the day, keeps some food in digestion constantly, which evens out the flow of insulin and therefore preventing a peak and corresponding valley - the feeling of hunger.
General Principle on Diet and Daily Routine
"In Ayurveda nothing is good or bad. Whatever does not suit the body constitution and cannot be digested easily needs to be eaten in moderation. Do not eliminate anything or it will become an object of craving".
Suggestions:
- Consume food after every three hours
- Eat at moderate pace to about three quarters of one's capacity. One should be satisfied; not hungry yet not full
- Allow the meal to digest completely before eating again
- Include proteins like whole grain or other light proteins in each meal
- There should be enough consumption of fibrous foods containing good oils and essential fatty acids in order to reduce fat in the body
- Cut down on the salt intake, this helps to reduce fat intake
- Avoid over consuming wheat and gluten based products as well as starchy carbohydrates
- Increase the consumption of leafy green vegetables and cook them in an appropriate manner-these should be eaten 2 or 3 times a day as they are highly mineralized and improves metabolism
- Curb the craving by rotating and flavoring the food
- Stop eating mixed fruit including mixed fruit juices. It is important to eat fruit either ½ an hour before your meal or 2-3 hours after your meal. Instead of mixed fruit juices consume fruit according to your body's constitution
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Different type of food can be balanced by variation of cooking methods and addition of herbs and spices according to the constitution. Also vary cooking methods according to your body constitution:
- Dosha
- Cooking method
- Tastes
- Kapha
- Light, dry, hot (e.g. roasting)
- Bitter, pungent, astringent
- Pitta
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- Cold, heavy, oily (e.g. steaming
- Sweet, bitter, astringent
- Sweet, bitter, astringent
- Vatta
- Hot, heavy, oily (e.g. sautee)
- Sweet, sour, salty
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