The various goals of Ayurvedic Nutrition according to the individual needs
Physical Body
- A well balanced meal and regular exercise results in a healthy physical body.(Quote-Ayurvedic texts)
Mind
- What you eat, becomes your mind; As is the food, so is your mind. (Quote from Ayurvedic texts)
Spirit
- By the purity of food follows the purity of the inner nature. (Quote from Ayurvedic texts)
Ayurvedic Dietary Ideals for the physical being
1. Adequate amount of water and salt
2. Adequate amount of food at intervals with lunch being the biggest meal.
3. Balance and regular meal times
4. High in complex carbohydrates, vegetables and fruits
5. Moderation in fat and quantity consumed
6. Variety in our food choices
7. Exercise
8. Eating to balance your dosha(elements) and in accordance with seasons.
Ayurvedic Dietary ideals for the purity of mind
1. To eat in a relaxed mental state.
2. To have foods that feed the mind like almonds, sunflower seeds, sesame seeds, cucumber, green vegetables, carrots, beets, sweet potato, turnips, pumpkins and squash. Fresh milk, buttermilk and yogurt. Barley, rice and wheat. Moong beans. Apples, banana, dates, grapes, honey dew melon, mangoes, oranges, plums, pomegranate and water melon. All fruits should be firm and ripe and sweet.
Ayurvedic dietary ideals for joining with our cosmic spirit.
1. Food is an offering to your spirit.
2. Food is a loving exchange with the earth our mother
3. The effect of eating for the spirit is different than for eating just to be full or for taste. When food is cooked with a devotion to oneself and loved ones it is a spiritual and sensuous affair.
4. Non violent eating leads to purity of our inner nature and helps us along in our quest to know our inner spirit.5. Food that has come from environmentally sound agriculture and from people that are in love with the food they grow benefits the macrocosm and the microcosms within an individual.
© Kavita Mehta
