The question I get most is: “What should I eat for dinner that aligns with my dosha? I heard that Well Health Organic Ayurveda dinners that are tailored to balance the three doshas and support optimal health.” And that’s not surprising because that’s what Ayurveda is known for; the doshas (energy types) and the foods you use to balance your unique dosha,  your body-mind type.

So that you not only become healthier but also buzz with energy all day long and easily reach and maintain an ideal weight.

Key Takeaways

What exactly is healthy eating?

I have suffered from allergies all my life, I often had little energy, and I always weighed just a few kilos too much (hello, love handles!).

And even though I was always concerned with healthy food, I was not healthy.

Whatever I tried, eating low in carbohydrates, counting calories, different diets, exercising more, supplements.

Nothing helped for a long time. And what frustrated me even more, was all the different and constantly changing advice about what healthy eating is.

Is the Wheel of Five really as healthy as the Nutrition Center says?

What about all those people who are lactose intolerant?

Or who can’t tolerate gluten?

And what about carbohydrates?

Should you remove it from your diet if you want to lose weight permanently?

And should you eat meat, no meat, or only white meat?

Everyone says something different, and the advice changes all the time. I couldn’t see the wood for the trees anymore.

Everyone is unique

And then, I discovered Ayurveda. Not the Rituals bath line, but ancient wisdom from the Far East. And a world opened up for me.

One of the most important principles of Ayurveda is that everyone is unique and, therefore, has unique needs.

What is good for me is not necessarily good for you. This was such a huge eye-opener for me. And I wanted to learn all about this.

I went to study Ayurveda and completely immersed myself in the wonderful world of Ayurveda.

One of the first things I did was find out what my dosha is? And, of course, draw up a personal nutrition plan.

Personal Nutrition

I am a Pitta by nature. Pittas are fire types, and they need cooling to stay in balance.

I immediately got to work and started adding as many cooling foods to my diet as possible. Mint tea, fresh fruit, green leafy vegetables, coconut oil… I went all the way!

But still, I didn’t feel any better. In fact, I only got more complaints. I got bloated, constipated, had trouble concentrating, and had cold hands and feet… huh, how is that possible? Didn’t I do my best?

Long story short… eating according to your dosha is more challenging than it sounds.

In this blog post, I will tell you the 3 main reasons why food only sometimes works well according to your dosha.

#1. Your current dosha deviates from your blueprint

According to Ayurveda, the relationship between the three doshas at the time you were conceived is a blueprint.

This blueprint determines your physical characteristics and character for the rest of your life.

Your unique blueprint never changes.

This is called prakruti, your innate and ideal composition of doshas in Sanskrit.

This composition is right for you; you are completely balanced. Your prakruti is unique and remains the same throughout your life.

Your prakruti determines your physique, your thinking styles, and your emotions, but also your digestion and your predisposition to certain diseases.

In fact, your prakruti is the ideal balance as it exists the moment you are born.

Just look at a newborn baby; it is completely perfect and balanced.

But many things upset that balance. Think of unhealthy food but also unhealthy living, e.g., in a polluted environment or because of too little sleep.

Stress and intense emotions can also cause your constitution to deviate from your ideal.

And factors that you have no influence on yourself, such as the change of the seasons, also play a role in this.

All these events disrupt the relationship between the doshas, and you become unbalanced.

Your body then takes on a different composition, with more Vata, for example, or less Pitta.

This new situation is called vikruti. So your prakruti is your innate constitution, and your vikruti is your current constitution, also called your imbalance.

The greater the difference between prakruti and vikruti, the more unbalanced you are. You notice this because you are not feeling well and are more susceptible to illnesses.

So even though I am a Pitta by nature, I found out that my Vata was out of balance.

Sticking to a Pitta diet didn’t make me feel better but worsened my complaints.

Instead of cooling foods, I had to eat warm and grounding foods and avoid cold foods as much as possible. This is a real Ayurvedic pitfall…

#2. Body AND mind

The goal of Ayurveda is a long, healthy, and happy life.

The most important tools for this are the right diet and lifestyle. Because not only what is good to eat differs per person, but also what a healthy lifestyle is, differs per person.

I’ve been telling myself for a long time that running is healthy.

Even though I wouldn’t say, I liked it and didn’t feel a bit better if I had done it. In fact, I needed half a day to recover from trudging through the park.. eeeeeh running 😉

What turned out; sports where I have to push myself don’t work for me at all. I am very good at forms of movement that allow me to relax. Hello, walking and gentle forms of yoga!

Lifestyle is about, the word says it all, how you live. Do you move enough and in the way that suits you?

A Vata, for example, sports too much and has to move much less intensively than a Kapha. Are you sleeping enough? That also differs per dosha.

A Kapha often needs less sleep than she thinks, and a Vata usually gets more than she gets. Do you schedule enough rest moments during the day? Or too much?

A driven Pitta needs to get enough rest, while a Kapha can sometimes use a pepper up her ass.

Do you ever meditate, do breathing exercises, massage yourself, or regularly pamper yourself with a massage?

What do you do about personal hygiene? What stories do you tell yourself? How do you deal with stress and emotions?

All these things are at least as important as the right diet. Because you can still eat so healthy if the basis is not good, then your body cannot do much with that healthy food.

#3. Your intestines are clogged with Ama

Because when we eat the wrong things for our doshas and do the wrong things, Ama is created in our digestive tract.

These toxins are the cause of a multitude of complaints, such as a bloated stomach, low energy, and being overweight.

If left unchecked, these complaints can lead to serious illnesses such as diabetes, cardiovascular disease, obesity, and certain forms of cancer.

It is, therefore, important to first get rid of that Ama before focusing on a personal diet. Because a personal diet is super valuable.

However, if your digestive system is still full of Ama, your body can’t do anything with it.

I always recommend starting easy and getting things moving before you delve into doshas and personal nutrition. And you also achieve much faster results.

Detox

The best way to do that is through a cleanse or detox. This is a powerful way to eliminate Ama, strengthen your digestive system, and boost your (fat) metabolism. Say goodbye to that stubborn belly fat!

Our body has a natural self-healing capacity, and cleansing greatly enhances this ability to detoxify, repair and rejuvenate tissues.

Most people think of a juice cleanse when they think of a detox. But you don’t have to. In fact, a juice cleanse is only suitable if you have strong digestion or if to do it in the fall or winter.

Raw fruits and vegetables increase Vata and are hard to digest. And improperly digested nutrients cause ama (toxins) in your digestive tract. And then you gain nothing.

In addition, these types of cures are intense because you are not allowed to eat anything from one moment to the next.

As a result, you will have to deal with withdrawal symptoms and hunger, so you often cannot sustain a course of treatment.

And last but not least, our body needs nutrients, minerals, and vitamins. And you don’t get that with a juice cleanse that makes you dizzy, weak, and ‘hangry’ (hungry and grumpy).

But it can also be done differently! Namely, an Ayurvedic detox in which you mildly detoxify your body and mind so that you are bursting with energy again within 21 days, lose centimeters of unhealthy belly fat, and easily lose a few kilos.

Sources

1. “Ayurvedic Dinner Recipes for a Balanced Life” by Kripalu Center for Yoga & Health: https://kripalu.org/resources/ayurvedic-dinner-recipes-balanced-life
2. “Ayurvedic Cooking: 5 Simple Dinner Recipes for Beginners” by The Ayurveda Experience: https://www.theayurvedaexperience.com/blog/ayurvedic-cooking-5-simple-dinner-recipes-beginners/
3. “The Ayurvedic Dinner Recipe That Will Help You Sleep Better Tonight” by Well+Good: https://www.wellandgood.com/ayurvedic-dinner-recipe-for-better-sleep/
4. “Ayurvedic Dinner Recipes to Help You Eat Well and Sleep Better” by Banyan Botanicals: https://www.banyanbotanicals.com/info/blog-the-banyan-insight/details/ayurvedic-dinner-recipes-to-help-you-eat-well-and-sleep-better/
5. “Ayurvedic Dinner Ideas” by Joyful Belly: https://www.joyfulbelly.com/Ayurveda/recipes/category/Dinner