Diet is one of the most important factors to our health. What we eat, how we eat and when we eat have large impacts on our health and well-being. Simply, our body is a product of what we eat. If we don’t nourish our body correctly it reacts accordingly.
Your diet is therefore one of the most significant ways you can control your health.
Remember what you feel like after you’ve had a week of not eating very healthily? The sluggishness, bloating, tiredness, and the cry from your body “please eat some fruit or salad or vegetables… just something healthy!”
I know, I know. This is a simple lesson we all had in school, eating healthily, right? Well it’s not quite that simple!
It is not just about eating what Western society has decided is a ‘healthy diet’, with your specific serves of fruit and vegetables, carbohydrates and protein. In Ayurveda a healthy diet is worked out according to your own body.
Each Dosha (Vata, Pitta, Kapha) has foods that increase, decrease or balance the Dosha in the body. Think of it this way – there are some foods that we really should avoid as they create imbalances and disturbances in our digestive system and therefore in the whole body and there are others we should eat more of as they create balance.
You might be surprised what these foods are!
Before I give away all the surprises straight up and to wrap up the theme of ‘stop and listen’ which I’ve been banging on about over the last few posts, why don’t you take a moment to stop and listen to what your body tells you after a meal. Observe how you feel – full of energy? Light and ready to take on the world? Or do you feel like you need a nap? Bloated? Gassy? Sluggish? What else do you notice? Then take note of what you ate.
And then think – would you be prepared to change what you ate to feel energised, light and ready to take on the world after every meal?
PS. I will be exploring more about the Doshas, Vata, Pitta and Kapha and diets in the coming weeks. If you have any specific questions please contact me.
PPS. Generally a Sattvic diet is what we should all aim for. I will write more about what the hell a Sattvic diet is, and the hero meal Kitchari in my next post.
