Ayurveda is a beautiful art and a logical science of healing created five thousand years ago and perfected over the centuries in the ancient texts. Ayurveda categorizes the energetic quality of foods by taste, action, and effect on digestion. An ayurvedic physician will also study how food affects organs, systems and tissues of the body. Ayurveda doesn't fight disease, instead it studies how to bring health to your body.

Ayurveda uses yoga, herbs, common spices, diet and lifestyle to bring the energies of the body back to a state of balance from illness.

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Dosha

Every person has a unique constitution or balance of the three doshas vata, pitta, and kapha. Generally, vata is the energy of movement, pitta of transformation, and kapha growth and reproduction. Every organism needs to eat, digest, and grow and this is accomplished by vata, pitta, and kapha. When there is excess movement and irregularity, vata could create constipation in the colon or dry skin. When there is excess heat, pitta could create inflammation. When there is excess growth, kapha could lead to obesity.

Use diet to pacify the doshas and avoid provoking them. If foods pacify a dosha, it is written with a '-'. Foods that provoke a dosha are written with a '+'. Kale is "Vata+Pitta-Kapha-" meaning that kale provokes vata but pacifies pitta and kapha.

To search for kapha pacifying recipes, enter "Kapha-"

Gunas (Quality)

The ancient masters searched for ways to simplify the vast and complicated world. In ayurveda, opposites create balance. There are ten therapeutic pairs of opposites that help us to maintain good health.

Heavy / Light	Dense / Liquid
Slow / Sharp	Soft / Hard
Cool / Hot	Stable / Mobile
Oily / Dry	Subtle / Gross
Smooth / Rough	Clear / Cloudy,Sticky

Taste
Ayurvedic food and nutrition is based upon the six tastes. The body is healthiest when these six tastes are included in every meal, but dosage of each taste is according to dosha. Vata favors salty, sour, and sweet. Pitta favors bitter, astringent, and sweet. Kapha favors bitter, astringent, and pungent.

Bitter	Cilantro, Turmeric, Parsley, Broccoli Rabe, Kale, Dandelion, Most dark leafy greens.
Astringent	Apples, Cranberry, Pomegranate, Most dark leafy greens
Pungent	Most spices like black pepper, cumin, mint, cilantro.
Salty	Salt (Ayurveda recommends mineral salt), Seaweed
Sour	Lemons, Limes, Pickles, Alcohols, Tomatoes, Vinegar
Sweet	All carbohydrates including bread, rice. Sugar.

"I hope that ayurveda will become a garden and fertile soil within me, and that my clients will experience a flowering of health and wellness. Ayurveda brings incredible beauty into life." - Joseph

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