**** Preface for Internet
The material here consists of notes for a lecture aimed at a group of
people who are not yet raw fooders, but who are interested in raw foods
and also Ayurveda. Specifically, the target audience is consuming less than
50% raw, and is not necessarily vegan. Because of that, I include a little
bit of info on dairy.
Please remember that these are sketchy notes, and are not detailed like
a tutorial article would be. Being notes, I spent less time writing them
than I would writing an article - they are not as "polished" as a formal
article would be.
I am willing to answer questions on Ayurveda, but please make them short
and to the point. Ayurveda is a very big topic!
raw-food list: due to the article line length limit, this is posted in 2 parts
to the raw-food list.
veg-raw list: the article is posted in 1 part.
I hope you find something of interest here.
P.S. I mention tables of body types in the notes, but don't include one.
You can find tables in any of the references cited at the end.
Tom Billings
*** End Preface for Internet
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Tom Billings
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AYURVEDA AND RAW FOODS: NOTES
Notes for a talk given in August 1997. These are notes only; a brief
summary of major points. For more details, consult the references
cited at the end.
Introduction
Ayurveda is a Sanskrit term that translates as the science of life.
Ayu=life, veda=knowledge.
- (oldest) active traditional health system of India
- a complete medical/health system that began over 5000 years ago (but has
many modern innovations
- a genuine holistic health system with physical, mental, and spiritual
components
- classic Ayurveda developed surgery ('Sushruta Samhita') thousands of
years ago - including plastic surgery, opthalmic (eyes), and periodontal
(gums) surgery. (Some raw fooders object to surgery. Would you refuse
surgery after an accident, to "patch you up"?)
Ayurveda is a QUALITATIVE, ATTRIBUTE BASED system. It models nature
in terms of 3 "doshas", where dosha can be translated as "that which can
go wrong".
Elements: Dosha Short Description Function
Earth + Water = Kapha Water Stability/Structure
Fire + Water = Pitta Fire Transformation
Air + Ether (Space) = Vata Air Movement
Note that ether is not really an element, but the property of empty
space.
The doshas are often spoken of as being purely matter, but they are more
than matter - they are a force, or energy as well. To make matters
more complicated, the subtle energies behind the doshas are often discussed
separately: vata (prana), pitta (tejas), kapha (ojas).
Doshas on the Physical Level
Physical
Dosha Primary Site Manifestations
Kapha Stomach & Lungs Mucus, cholesterol, etc.
Pitta Small Intestine Liver Bile (& Stomach Acid)
Vata Colon Gas and Dissolved Gas
In Ayurveda, the vata-pitta-kapha model is used to analyze disease and
health, foods and medicines.
The doshas have qualities (based on their constituent elements), and the
increase or decrease of the doshas in the body, depends on the qualities
of everything ingested (i.e., if the ingested item has similar or
antagonistic qualities: similar items will increase the dosha, antagonistic
items will decrease the dosha).
Qualities Associated with the Doshas:
Vata: dry, cold, light, mobile, clear, subtle, rough
Pitta: slightly oily, hot, intense, light, fluid, sour, mobile or liquid
Kapha: oily, cold, heavy, stable, smooth, viscid, and soft.
Body Types: Finding Your Type
Bodies are classified by types, according to which doshas are dominant in
the person. Prakruti = your genetic constitution, the balance of your doshas
at birth. Vikruti = the balance of the doshas in your body, right now.
If the vikruti=prakruti, there is balance. Balance is required for optimal
health. Most people are dual dosha, i.e. there is a dominant dosha, and
a secondary dosha. However, everyone has all 3 doshas in your body.
The general body types are:
pitta-vata and vata-pitta, PV/VP
pitta-kapha and kapha-pitta, PK/KP
vata-kapha and kapha-vata, VK/KV
"pure" vata, pitta, kapha P, V, K
vata=pitta=kapha (very rare, and these people are usually incredibly
healthy) VPK
See references for tables of body types, to determine your vikruti and
prakruti. The most reliable way to determine your body type is to have
your pulse read by a qualified Ayurvedic health professional. Common
mistakes with body type tables are:
* getting confused when you feel that you fit into more than one dosha.
This is normal. Most people are dual dosha, e.g. vata-pitta, pitta-
kapha, and so on.
* confusing prakruti and vikruti. This is easy to do if you have been
unbalanced for a long time, as some are.
* seeing yourself as you want to be, rather than as you really are
When evaluating your body type, remember that:
vata is cold, dry, irregular;
pitta is hot, oily, irritable,
kapha is cold, wet, stable.
Substances are classified according to their effect on the doshas (i.e.,
their effect on the body) when ingested. Ayurveda teaches that ANY
substance on the planet can be used as medicine, if the dose/method is
correct, and the substance is processed to detoxify it (required for
toxic substances only). This is quite different from systems that
teach that medicines don't exist!
Food, medicine, poisons: a logical approach.
Foods are those substances that nourish the body and mind. Medicines are
those substances that assist digestion, thereby promoting good nutrition
and the removal of toxins. Poisons are those substances that block
digestion and/or prevent nutrition.
This can be viewed in terms of domination:
Poisons are those substances that (try to) dominate you.
Foods are those substances that you dominate (digest).
Medicines are those substances that assist you in dominating other substances.
Ama: Toxins
Ayurveda recognizes that toxins can be created in the body and mind. The
word ama is used to describe toxins. Ama is not limited to the body;
negative thoughts are regarded as a form of mental ama. Also, physical
ama can occur in vata, pitta, kapha forms/manifestations.
Ama is formed when one eats the wrong foods, and/or engages in crimes
against wisdom, prajnaparada. [Note: the word sin implies guilt, there
are no emotions attached to prajnaparada.] One can view prajnaparada as
going against common sense.
Emotions Associated with the Doshas
Vata: fear/anxiety
Pitta: anger
Kapha: greed.
Causes of disease: "perversity of mind" is the ultimate cause of every
disease (negative thoughts). The physical toxins that occur are a symptom,
not the actual cause, of most disease.
In treating disorders, Ayurveda first seeks to restore health on the
physical level by balancing the doshas via diet, herbs, etc. Then,
the mental and spiritual problems are addressed with meditation and yoga.
The ultimate goal of Ayurvedic treatment is to heal the entire person:
body, mind, spirit. Unfortunately, most people nowadays are primarily
interested in the body, and ignore the spirit and mind. Also, treatment in
Ayurveda is specific to the individual; it is not a "1 treatment cures all",
"1 diet cures all" type of system.
Ayurvedic Dietetics
Foods are analyzed by their qualities, and their effect on the doshas.
Rasa: taste - the start of digestion - sweet, sour, bitter, pungent,
astringent, salty
Virya - during digestion - heating or cooling effect
Vipak - after digestion (assimilation) - the effect after digestion, i.e.,
the energy (in rasa or taste terms) during assimilation
Prabhav - exceptions to the rule. A food that has one of rasa, virya,
vipak that is different from the usual effects. Example: honey has
sweet rasa, and sweet vipak. Normally the virya would be cooling, as
sugar is cooling. However, honey has virya=heating, and can aggravate
pitta if consumed in excess.
Note: the best set of food tables is in the Lad and Lad cookbook cited in
the list of references.
Examples of food analyses in Ayurveda:
Cilantro
Rasa: Astringent, sweet
Virya: Cooling
Vipak: Sweet
Tridoshic: decreases V, P, K
Cayenne Pepper
Rasa: Pungent
Virya: Heating
Vipak: Pungent
Decreases V, K; greatly increases P
Goat milk
Rasa: Sweet
Virya: Cooling
Vipak: Pungent
Tridoshic: reduces V, P, K
Promotes strength, and *decreases* mucus (if consumed properly)
Eating Ayurvedic Style
Many people think that an "Ayurvedic diet" is a diet of spicy Indian food.
Not necessarily - an Ayurvedic diet is a diet that matches your body type
to the foods consumed - eating those foods that sustain your body type,
to avoid unbalancing your prakruti (natural tendencies). Ayurveda includes
countermeasures to let you "cheat" now and then, without harming yourself.
(That is, although Ayurveda recommends foods per your body type, there is
no undue emphasis on "dietary purity" or "dietary discipline".)
Eating according to Ayurveda is a learning process, that involves:
+ learning the properties of foods
+ listening to your body, to see not only the reaction to certain foods, but
also the signs of possible imbalance
+ matching the foods you eat to your individual state and needs.
Foods for Vata Constitutions
Good: most sweet, sour, salty tastes
Avoid: bitter, pungent, astringent
Vata people generally have weak/irregular digestions. Raw foods diets
are hardest for such people. (Discussed later.)
Fruits: most sweet fruits are good for vata. However, avoid/minimize
dried fruit. Overconsumption of sweet foods will increase/aggravate
vata, rather than soothe/reduce it. Excess fruit consumption can increase
ungroundedness.
Vegetables: most vata people find cooked vegetables easier to digest
than raw. See discussion later on this. Avoid dried, frozen veggies.
Grains: wheat is best for vata, but it is heavy and some are allergic
to it. Sprouted oats are OK. Most other grains are drying and are not
good for vata. Cooked, with oil or butter, they are not so drying and
may be easier for vata to handle. Sprouted and made into milk substitutes,
they are similarly easier for vata.
Legumes: only mung beans, adzuki beans, and small lentils are OK
for vata (and spices may be necessary to help digest them).
Nuts and Seeds: pretty much all nuts, seeds are OK for vata, but one
must be careful and consume only what one can digest!
Oils: sesame oil, ghee are good for vata. Ghee is a digestant, sattvic,
considered the best oil. Again, eat only as much as one can digest.
Dairy: all good for vata, if you are not allergic.
Sweeteners: in moderation, sweeteners reduces vata. In excess, they aggravate
both pitta and vata.
Spices: all, in small quantities, are good for vata
Note: vata people are prone to addiction, including sugar and alcohol
(alcohol has vipak=super sweet).
Foods for Pitta Constitution
Good: sweet, bitter, astringent
Avoid: sour, salty, pungent
Pitta people generally have strong digestion and can do well on raw food
diets.
Fruits: avoid sour fruits, sweet fruits are OK. Pomegranate reduces pitta
and is one of the best foods for pitta. Bananas, papayas should be used
only occasionally - they are too "hot" for pitta.
Vegetables: all veggies, except salty ones (tomatoes) and pungent ones
(e.g., radishes) are good for pitta.
Grains: wheat, barley, oats, rice are good,. Other grains are heating and
should be eaten only occasionally.
Legumes: pitta can best digest them, but their gas production is still
a problem. Mung beans are best; pitta can eat any legumes (in small
amounts) except for lentils.
Nuts and Seeds: most are too hot, too oily for pitta. Coconut, pumpkin,
sunflower are OK.
Oils: avoid oils; small amounts of olive oil, ghee are OK.
Dairy: sweet and/or non-fermented dairy is good. Milk, butter, ghee are
good; cheese, yoghurt, sour cream, are not.
Sweeteners: sweet is cooling, so pitta can tolerate sweet better than others.
Honey is heating - use sparingly.
Spices: cooling/mild spices only: coriander, fennel, cinnamon, cardamom,
turmeric, small amounts of cumin, ginger.
Foods for Kapha Constitutions
Good: bitter, pungent, astringent
Avoid: sweet, sour, salty
Kapha should limit their food intake, and avoid fat.
Fruit: avoid very sweet, very sour fruits. Dried fruits are OK. Astringent
fruits are good.
Vegetables: pungent and bitter vegetables are good; avoid sweet vegetables
(sweet potatos).
Grains: hot, drying grains like millet, buckwheat are good. Wheat is
heavy, hard for many kapha people to tolerate in large quantities.
Legumes: avoid heavy legumes like soy, kidney beans. Mung beans, red
lentils are OK.
Nuts and seeds: too oily, heavy. Can eat small amounts of sunflower
and pumpkin seeds on occasion.
Oils: generally avoid. Small amounts of ghee, sunflower oil OK.
Dairy: small amounts of goats milk, ghee OK. Otherwise avoid - most dairy
is too heavy & oily for kapha.
Sweeteners: avoid, as they increase kapha. Raw honey is the exception -
it reduces kapha.
Spices: any/all are OK, except salt.
Managing Dual Dosha Prakrutis
Dual dosha refers to those with 2 dominant doshas - this is actually very
common, as people who are nearly "purely" one dosha, are rare. For example,
a VP person is one whose vata dosha is dominant, pitta secondary, and kapha
a distant third.
In order to manage dual doshas, one needs to know that the seasons can
be characterized by doshas as well (and also times of day):
Doshas are most active in the seasons:
Winter is kapha season
Early Spring: kapha season
Late Spring and all of Summer: Pitta season
Fall is Vata season
Doshas are predominant at certain times of day
(times are approximate)
9 AM - 3 PM Pitta
3 PM - 6 PM Vata
6 PM - 9 PM Kapha
9 PM - 3 AM Pitta
3 AM - 6 AM Vata
6 AM - 9 AM Pitta
Returning to the topic of managing dual doshas; the basic idea is to
follow a diet that reduces the dosha that is dominant in the season.
Specifically:
* a PV/VP person should follow anti-vata diet in Fall/Winter, and anti-pitta
diet in Spring/Summer. Tastes: avoid pungent foods (aggravates P & V), favor
sweet foods (sweet reduces both P & V). Caution on sugar: avoid psychological
dependence on sugar/sweet foods; work to develop sweetness in your entire life,
not just your diet. "Favor sweet foods" here means to eat foods (not alcohol)
whose vipak is sweet, not the rasa. Many foods have sweet vipak, but the
rasa is not sweet.
* a PK/KP person should follow anti-pitta diet in Spring/Summer, and anti-kapha
diet in Fall/Winter. Tastes: bitter & astringent reduce K, so are the best
tastes. Sour and salty both aggravate P & K - avoid.
* a VK/KV person should follow anti-vata diet in Summer/Fall, and anti-kapha
diet in Winter/Spring. Tastes: "hot" tastes preferred - sour, salty, pungent.
"Cold" tastes to be minimized: sweet, bitter, astringent. You can balance sour
and salty tastes with sweet; pungent with bitter and astringent.
Raw Foods Diets
Raw foods are in general considered cold and some of them are difficult to
digest. Pitta predominant people, with their innately strong digestions,
can generally do well on raw foods diets.
Recall that kapha is cold, so raw foods may increase kapha in such persons.
Kapha people, by using some countermeasures, can usually succeed on a high
raw diet - if they eat intelligently.
Classic Ayurveda says that vata predominant people should eat cooked food,
as their digestion is irregular and weak. Gabriel Cousens reports good
results with raw food diets for vata people, by using the standard
Ayurvedic recommendations for vata, applied to raw foods. Some of these
measures can also be used by kapha people to make raw easier for them:
* one dish meals. The foods come together and become one food for the stomach.
In raw foods, this means: raw soups (e.g. Ann Wigmore's energy soup, and
the blended salads of Dr. Stanley Bass), raw stews (sprouts/avo, with raw
soup poured over them), and one bowl salads where the ingredients are in
small pieces.
* using spices to enhance and strengthen digestion - mostly hot spices, to
counteract the cold of vata/kapha - ginger, peppers (hot/black), nutmeg,
etc.
* warming the food to around 118 degrees F (some suggest lower temps)
* (not for kapha) using oily dressings, and or oily foods (such as avocados)
to increase the time the food takes in digestion, thereby improving digestion.
Oil strongly decreases vata, but aggravates kapha.
Additionally, there are a number of other countermeasures one can use
to help keep the doshas in balance:
* regular oil massage (daily if possible). For vata, use sesame oil, for
kapha, use mustard or corn oil, for pitta, use castor or sunflower oil.
* herbs. You can get a formula from an Ayurvedic practicioner, but most
people also take triphala churna. This is the most commonly used
herb in Ayurveda. "Triphala churna" translates literally as "3 fruit
powder" - it is 3 dried fruits, ground up. I (and millions of other
people) take it daily. Dose: 1/2 tsp dry with warm water at night, or (the
method I use) 1 tsp soaked in 1 cup of water overnight, drink in morning.
* yoga postures. Each pose has a doshic effect. The lotus pose is tridoshic.
Most backward bends reduce pitta, most forward bends reduce vata, and
surya namaskar (sun salutation) reduces kapha.
Dealing with Imbalance
* anti-doshic diet to reduce the excess doshas
* herbs to reduce the dohas
* regular yoga and meditation
* oil massage
* Pancha karma - a cleansing procedure that is highly effective in removing
ama and reducing excess doshas. Primary techniques of Pancha karma are:
oleation - oil massage & oil ingestion, to get excess doshas to return
to their "homes", their principal sites in the body, after which the doshas
are eliminated by the following: emesis (therapeutic vomiting) - get rid of
kapha, purgation to get rid of pitta, and enemas to eliminate vata. Pancha
karma is less stressful to the body, and often more effective than long
fasts. (Long fasts usually aggravate vata.)
* other procedures
Continued in part 2...
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