Ayurvedic Diet According To Season

Ayurveda the science of living in harmony with nature was inspired, developed, and followed by the great masters of ancient India. The innovation of Ayurveda is to evolve a highly complementary role in spiritual evolution and the maintenance of the physical well-being of everyone. Ayurveda is most likely the oldest science of life and perfect system of diet, healing, and health maintenance that is deeply spiritual and holistic.

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Existence of Ayurvedic Diet

Ayurvedic diet was in existence in India for almost 5000 years ago. Ayurvedic diet is part of the overall health plan for human beings. Ayurvedic diet includes herbs, massage, yoga, mantras, and certain spiritual practices.

The relation of seasons and health according to Ayurveda

According to Ayurveda the constitution of the body or Prakriti and the seasons are closely related to each other. The external climate in which we live influences our inner world. Various environmental factors like temperature, humidity, wind, rain, clouds and atmospheric pressure and sunlight, etc play a vital role in our health condition. A look at the most common seasons and how taking a suitable Ayurvedic diet during those seasons can help anyone to follow a preventive and healthy lifestyle.

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Ayurvedic diet

It is apparent that most of us will get affected if the atmospheric temperature is extremely cold or people and even be frozen to death. Similarly, there is the danger of sunstroke when the climate is extremely hot. Ayurveda is a wealth of knowledge on how to protect ourselves from the vagaries of extreme climatic conditions and suggests very healthy dietary practices during the varying seasons. An Ayurvedic physician can prescribe the proper diet program according to your body and mind constitution, dosha, and the climatic conditions where you live.

In the summer season, avoid being in the sunlight, eat less fat food and avoid many oily items and meat. Ayurveda also suggests sleeping during the daytime in the eastern winds. Other suggestions are to avoid sour, salty, and junk foods as they are known to contain vital factors that increase the pitta in the body. The Ayurveda diet mainly consists of sweet, bitter, and cold items that have the properties to appease pitta. Since the digestive power and strength of the metabolic organs are very less during the summer season and Ayurveda advises less food intake during this season and also to drink plenty of water. A Diet consisting of cold food items is recommended to be consumed in order to counter the effect of the hot summer season. Ayurveda diet for summer consists of cucumbers, greens of mustard, radish, spinach, squash, turnips, watercress, sprouts, zucchini, lemon, yogurt, etc.

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On the other hand, Ayurveda suggests the winter diet that contains hot foods. Ayurveda helps the body to stay hot during the winter season to keep the body temperature optimal to attack any kind of disease. In Ayurveda, great winter foods are onions, carrots, potatoes, spinach, sweet peas, tomatoes, oats, dates, figs and turnips, bananas, mangoes, peppercorns, etc.  It also suggests avoidance of ice cream, yogurt, cheese, and cool drinks in the winter season.

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Monsoon

In the monsoon season, Ayurveda believes that all the three doshas are vitiated. Light diet and less oily food are advised during this monsoon, as the digestive system is very weak. When it comes to the Ayurvedic diet, it is imperative that the daily and seasonal rule should be modified according to age, sex, region, food habit, physical stamina, digestive power, mental health, and overall health condition of each person. The essence of Ayurveda propagates that in order to optimize your health you must clear the accumulation of the doshas, the imbalance of life forces present in your body. An increase in doshas is an invite for illness as the harmony of the energies present inside and externally are disturbed due to the variation in climatic conditions or irregular food and other habits.

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Time of the day

Most importantly the time of day when food is consumed also matters in the Ayurvedic diet. Ayurveda suggests that all cereals should be taken in the morning and the fruits and juices are appropriate in the afternoon. It also recommends the consumption of boiled vegetables such as beans and soups only in the evening. Ayurvedic diet further warns that rice, root vegetables, and fried foods for dinner are harmful to health.