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I have tried to introduce and explain guidelines to an Ayurvedic diet, which are of general benefit.
However, I do not advocate any drastic changes in your nutrition habits. Any such change one wishes to implement should be well deliberated and incorporated with caution, very gradually and not until you have pondered about the wider picture.
A heavy and fattish food stabilizes Vata and helps Europeans living in colder climate survive in their particular conditions. What suits people in Japan, India or Italy does not have to bring the same benefit for Central Europeans, people from Scandinavia or England? People often ask me about macrobiotics. Macrobiotics has many benefits from the point of view of prevention. It can also be an effective tool to tackle certain chronic conditions and certain types of cancer. Advocates of macrobiotics in the West usually do not take in mind two important facts; macrobiotics originated in Japan, where it has been followed as a part of holistic spiritually oriented life styles. To cook and eat according to macrobiotic rules and neglect the rest is the same as imitating yoga positions and saying that you are doing yoga. The second factor is the climate. Japan has, in comparison to most parts of the Western world, a very different climate. So, for a person of Vata constitution in a Vata type of climate the macrobiotic diet is inappropriate in the long term. During my practice in America and in Europe, I came across a significant number of patients, who brought themselves into serious health problems by following a macrobiotic diet. They managed to upset their digestive system so much that they lost ability to accept food. The resulting symptoms took quite some time to cure. Such immature experiments should be avoided. Your wish to live in a healthy way does not need to mean discarding the cuisine you have been brought up with. Rather try to educate yourself first and then incorporate carefully harmless changes, little by little. The long lasting effect and your overall harmony are important, but not the speed with which you move to change.
I would recommend substituting fats of lesser quality with high quality sesame or sunflower oil. People with Vata-Pitta type of constitution should use ghee (clarified butter) instead of oil. Its preparation at home is easy and it is a good investment into one’s health.
Do not feel guilty if you cannot resist sweets. White refined sugar should be exchanged for natural sugar. Substitute sweets of lesser quality with sweets made at home. If you have decided to use something else than sugar for sweetening, the effects of the alternative on the doshas should be studied beforehand. Even the sweeteners, which are praised as miraculous, such as molasses, do not suit change at all times. Do not bake or cook with honey – when heated, honey becomes indigestible.
Begin to slowly introduce whole meal bread into your diet. Have in mind that yeast increases ‘Vata’ and Pitta and therefore causes indigestion and inflammation. If you are prone to these symptoms, replace bread with Indian chapatti type of bread, which is prepared without yeast and is easy to digest. Be innovative and use various types of flour.
If you cannot give up meat, switch gradually to eating more white meat, which is lighter. When preparing the meat, be sure to use more spices such as black pepper or mustard seed that improves its digestibility. Look for worthy substitutions of meat. There are many on the market available today. Learn to prepare them into a tasty dish.
Asian cuisines provides enough inspiration for increasing the ratio of cooked vegetables on you menu. Cold salads increase Vata, therefore they should be taken during warm season only.
My advice when people ask about correct diet is to get familiar with the basic principles we have discussed in the previous chapter and then listen to you stomach! Your stomach has natural intelligence. If you do not disturb it, it tells you how and what you should eat. Do not forget that you are a part of nature and that you are subject to its rhythm. Learn to listen to how you feel after meals. Do you have the feeling that you have got a stone in you stomach after dinner? Or you are so full that you can hardly breathe? Are you feeling dumb and cannot think? Or; on the other hand, is there a sense of comfort in your tummy and pleasant warmth is spreading in your body? You feel light, want to joke and inventive ideas develop in your brain? Or do you have the feeling of some unspecific dissatisfaction and you crave for something more, yet do not know for what? Learn to listen to your stomach and eat only what brings you a complete satisfaction.
Food should be healthy but it also has to be tempting when you put it on the plate. By tempting I mean that it should attract you - by its appearance, smell and taste. Ayurveda says that we should eat food on banana or lotus leaves. I remember from my childhood when we got food on a lotus leaf, we always gobbled up everything, not leaving a single crumble. The lotus leaf lends the food with such a wonderful smell, that you are overwhelmed by a godly feeling during the meal. It is an essence that affects the subtle levels of our body and heals the heart. Leaves are also ecological. This advice is, of course, not practical to the people of the West – but you have a long tradition in making beautiful porcelain and this should be used to serve healthy and tasty food.
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