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How To Choose An Ayurvedic Diet: Exploring Your Biocharacteristics

Written by John Immel, Asheville, NC
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Ayurveda seems to exude a certain ease, as if it were second nature. In a complex world, there's something simple and very personal about Ayurveda's approach to healing. You might even wonder where this ease of Ayurveda comes from. The answer is fundamental - Ayurveda shows you how your body naturally relates to food, disease, and the environment.

Ayurveda's natural approach to food can be compared to wearing a sweater on a cold day - you don't think about it, you just do it when you feel cold. Wearing a sweater doesn't feel like a big effort. It simply makes your life easier. Ayurveda has a similar approach to food. Many of us, for one reason or another, don't have words to express how food makes us feel, so its easy to know when you should eat carrots or pizza.

Ayurveda helps you articulate your experiences with food using simple biocharacteristics such as hot, cold, oiliness, dryness, sharpness, dullness, heaviness, lightness, etc. These simple words highlight what you perhaps already felt about food, giving these experiences meaning and showing you the therapeutic value of your experiences. This experiential approach to medicine using biocharacteristics (gunas) is the foundation of the Ayurvedic way of thinking, and Ayurveda's most important contribution to your personal health practice. The technique is simple, practical, and visceral, so you can easily grasp the nature of food, your imbalances, and what you need to heal.

You start by translating what you might be feeling after a meal using the biocharacteristics (gunas) listed below. Once you have translated your experiences into these characteristics, Ayurveda also shows you the characteristics you need to restore balance. Although there are theoretically thousands of characteristics, as many as there are feelings, Ayurveda practitioners across the world have loosely agreed that these 20 characteristics found below have the most therapeutic value.

Since they focus on building your relationship to food, these biocharacteristics show you how to develop food intuition, rather than through memorization. In Western nutrition, you may find yourself stuffed with lots of data, facts, and figures. The Western approach, while valuable, can leave you feeling dissociated from your feelings and intuition and unable to make decisions on your own. The biocharacteristics theory of medicine reconnects you to the naturally healthy relationship between your body, food, and the environment.

The biocharacteristics model shows you how to select food using feeling and intuition. They classify food by effect rather than nutritional content. This method helps you create a visceral and instinctual relationship with your food. You won't feel overwhelmed by your relationship with food the same way you would with nutritional data alone. For example, chilis create a hot experience while cucumbers create a cool one. Bread feels heavy while salads are light and refreshing. Butter is oily and smooth while popcorn is dry and rough. Black pepper is sharp while cheese is dull. These effects might seem subtle at first, but soon it becomes second nature.

Once you've mastered the characteristics of food, you can use this method to categorize your ailments as well. For example, in Ayurveda you could translate your sinus congestion as gooey, heavy, and cold because that's how sinus congestion makes you feel. This concept is not new or unique to Ayurveda. Remember when sinus infections were still called 'common colds'? That's an example of the biocharacteristics method that was common in our culture only a few hundred years ago.

To counteract imbalance and restore your health, you should select food using biocharacteristics that are opposite to your disease. The sharpness of black pepper balances the gooey dullness of sinus congestion. The lightness of a homemade broth counteracts heavy. The heat of turmeric dispels cold. As you can see, selecting a home remedy becomes more obvious when you rename your diseases with feelings.

To Learn More, Click on a Biocharacteristic Below

There are 20 biocharacteristics in Ayurveda. However, on Joyful Belly we've combined several biocharacteristics (gunas) for practical use. Here are some of the other biocharacteristics, and their useful equivalents on Joyful Belly:

BiocharacteristicSubstituteBiocharacteristicSubstitute
sharppungent For dullgooey
For roughdry For densegooey
For hardheavy For softLiquefied
For mobilerajas For stabletamas
For subtleclear For grossheavy
For stickygooey

The First 8 Biocharacteristics

GunaEffectsExample Food
Coldcontracts, dries, soothescucumber, cilantro
Hotexpands, flushes, inflameswine, chili
Oilynourishes, moisturizes, clogscheese, olive oil
Dryabsorbs, ages, harshcranberry, celery
Heavystabilizes, strengthens, growsred meat, wheat
Lightcleanses, diminishespopcorn, salad
Gooeypacifies, pacifies, promotes and increases mucus, stagnatesyogurt, cheese
Sharpirritates, flushes, stimulateschili, black pepper
History of the Biocharacteristic Theory of Medicine How Does the Biocharacteristic Theory of Medicine Work?

Facts About Biocharacteristics

  • According to Ayurveda, these biocharacteristics are the 20 most important categories of nature, medicinally speaking.
  • They are organized into 10 pairs of opposites.
  • Similar characteristics aggravate each other.
  • Opposite characteristics balance or pacify each other (as heat balances cold).
The virtues of Greek medicine and the biocharacteristics of Ayurveda share many similarities. For a complete description of how the biocharacteristics work within the framework of habit theory, see Aristotle's Niomachean Ethics, ii, 1.

Biocharacteristics & Dosha

The 3 doshas Vata, Pitta, and Kapha describe 3 relationships between biocharacteristics. Some biocharacteristics tend to have affinity for each other. For example, your skin dries out in the winter, thus, cold causes dry quality (Vata). When tissue is irritated it becomes inflamed, thus, pungent flavors increase hot quality (Pitta). When you eat heavy foods they depresses your metabolism, therefore, heavy foods cause cold (Kapha). The 3 relationships between biocharacteristics are:
  • Vata: cold, dry, light
  • Pitta: pungent, hot, oily
  • Kapha: heavy, dull,oily
Even the five elements and the doshas are simply common collections of biocharacteristics.

Note: To make the best use of Ayurveda, keep your sense organs sharp and accurate. Ayurveda offers many techniques for sharpening the five senses. Development of the five senses offers a clearer perspective on reality and helps you identify patterns of imbalance.

READ MORE ON THIS TOPIC
Three Measures of Vitality: Ojas, Tejas & Prana
An Easy Introduction to an Ayurvedic Diet
Meal Times
The Five Elements of Ayurveda
 

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About John Joseph Immel

About the Author

John Immel, the founder of Joyful Belly, teaches people how to have a healthy diet and lifestyle with Ayurveda biocharacteristics. His approach to Ayurveda is clinical, yet exudes an ease which many find enjoyable and insightful. John also directs Joyful Belly's School of Ayurveda, offering professional clinical training in Ayurveda for over 15 years.

John's interest in Ayurveda and specialization in digestive tract pathology was inspired by a complex digestive disorder acquired from years of international travel, as well as public service work in South Asia. John's commitment to the detailed study of digestive disorders reflects his zeal to get down to the roots of the problem. His hope and belief in the capacity of each & every client to improve their quality of life is nothing short of a personal passion. John's creativity in the kitchen and delight in cooking for others comes from his family oriented upbringing. In addition to his certification in Ayurveda, John holds a bachelor's degree in mathematics from Harvard University.

John enjoys sharing Ayurveda within the context of his Catholic roots, and finds Ayurveda gives him an opportunity to participate in the healing mission of the Church. Jesus expressed God's love by feeding and healing the sick. That kindness is the fundamental ministry of Ayurveda as well. Outside of work, John enjoys spending time with his wife and 7 kids, and pursuing his love of theology, philosophy, and language.

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full start reviewfull start reviewfull start reviewfull start reviewfull start review(5.00 out of 5 stars) 1 rating, 188 likes
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What type of oil should I rub on my skin to stay warm?
- Sara Cuthbert, Woodstock, ON , 05-05-11 (Reply)
Coconut and sunflower oil are cooling to the skin. Sesame and mustard oil are heating to the skin. Olive oil is mildly heating. Thanks for asking! -john
You say there are 20 gunas, but above there are 23. "Toxic" is clearly not one of the 20. Are the other 2 without Sanskrit equivalents "difficult" and "easy"? Why did you feel the need for them?
- Victoria, Istanbul, NY , 02-13-15 (Reply)
You say there are 20 gunas, but above there are 23. "Toxic" is clearly not one of the 20. Are the other 2 without Sanskrit equivalents "difficult" and "easy"? Why did you feel the need for them?
- Victoria, Istanbul, NY , 02-13-15 (Reply)
How are you translating Slakshna?
- Victoria, Istanbul, NY , 02-13-15 (Reply)
Gooey & slimey (slakshna) are pretty close to being the same on Joyful Belly. Hope that helps!
- Natalie Immel, Asheville, NC , 02-13-15 (Reply)
The traditional 20 gunas are heavy, light, slow, sharp, hot, cold, dry, oily, slimy, rough, dense, liquid, soft, hard, subtle, gross, stable, mobile, cloudy, clear. We've tried to simplify them into more practical terms for our users.
- Kimberly Kubicke, Asbury park, NJ
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, 07-21-16 (Reply)
You can try quinoa instead of rice, coconut or almond milk instead of dairy!
- Carrie Hoffman, Williams, AZ , 06-27-20 (Reply)

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