Last updated on August 21, 2024 by Dr. Subashri Thanigaivel
What diet and lifestyle should I follow to keep my dosha in a balanced state? Does following these diet and lifestyle measures help me prevent diseases?
If this is your question, then I’m sure you will be able to find your answer in this blog. According to Ayurveda, following a suitable diet and lifestyle based on your prakriti help you keep your doshas balanced and protects you from diseases.
Mention a fact; it is true that if you can follow a healthy diet and lifestyle, then there is no place for poor health conditions in your happy life.
Take this quiz to know your prakriti. Then scroll more to find a suitable diet and lifestyle for your prakriti.
RELATED: 9 Characteristics to Know if you are a Vata, Pitta, or Kapha Prakriti
Vata Prakriti
If Vata is your predominant dosha, then follow the below diet and lifestyle measures to keep your dosha balanced.
Diet For Vata Prakriti
- Sweet, salt, sour – Include foods or ingredients that are sweet, salt, and sour in your diet. What is suitable for your diet? – Rice, Wheat, Urad dal, Milk, Ghee, Oil, Curd, Chicken, Mutton, Dry Fruits, etc.
- Always make sure that you have got enough fat content in your diet.
- Prefer eating warm and freshly prepared foods. Foods directly from the refrigerator are not good for Vata dosha.
- Avoid bitter, astringent, or pungent (spicy foods/ingredients) taste in your diet. For example – millets, certain varieties of fish, dry fish, etc. You can include them once in a while in your diet. But not advisable for regular meals.
- Most importantly, include ingredients like asafoetida, cumin seeds (jeera), ginger, black salt, jaggery, and carom seeds (omam), in your regular diet.
Lifestyle Activities For Vata Prakriti
- Regular oil massage – this greatly helps Vata prakriti people for their entire life. Precisely, there must be oil always behind the ears, on the soles, and scalp. Apart from this, Vata Prakriti can also practice oil pulling or adding oil to nostrils, etc. for better health.
- Must avoid excessive exercise. Don’t spend too much at the gym and exert your body. In addition, involve yourself in strength training, sports, and swimming rather than cardio workouts.
- Never stay awake for a long time at night.
Healthy food and good sleep are very important for Vata prakriti. So never compromise on that.
Recommended Exercises For Vata Prakriti;
Pitta Prakriti
If Pitta is your predominant dosha, then follow the below diet and lifestyle measures to keep your dosha balanced.
Diet For Pitta Prakriti
- Sweet, bitter, astringent – include foods/ingredients that are sweet, bitter, and astringent in your diet. Naturally, those with pitta prakriti have a higher body temperature. So reducing hot and spicy foods and foods with a lot of salt and sour taste is good for your health.
What is suitable for your diet? – Rice, Wheat, Mung bean, Toor dal (pigeon pea), Amla, Ghee, Milk, Pomegranate, ash gourd, Pumpkin, Beans varieties, etc.
- Avoid chilies or foods that are too spicy such as pickles, etc. Also, avoid too much of oily foods.
- Do not hesitate to include bitter taste as much as you can. Because bitter helps in keeping pitta in balance.
- Apart from this, include these ingredients in your regular diet – ghee, lemon, cardamom, fenugreek, and nutmeg (jathikai).
Lifestyle Activities For Pitta Prakriti
- Just like Vata prakriti excessive exercise is not good for Pitta prakriti too.
- Too much exposure to AC (air conditioner) is also not good for Pitta prakriti.
- Always keep your anger, irritation, stress/tension under control.
- Spiritual involvement helps in balancing Pitta dosha more than Vata or Kapha dosha.
- Listening to calming music or performing fine art activities helps in keeping Pitta in balance.
Kapha Prakriti
If Kapha is your predominant dosha, then follow the below diet and lifestyle measures to keep your dosha balanced.
Diet For Kapha Prakriti
- Bitter, pungent, astringent – include foods/ingredients that are bitter, pungent, and astringent in your diet. Reduce your intake of foods that taste sweet and sour in your regular meal.
What is suitable for your diet? – Mung bean, Rice & Wheat older than one year, Barley, Little millet (samai), Finger millet (kezhvaragu/ragi), Pearl millet (kambu), Buttermilk, Bitter tasting leafy vegetables, Sweet potato, Elephant foot yam (senai kilangu), etc.
- Make sure that you include a lot of fiber content in your diet.
- Apart from this, include these ingredients in your regular diet – ginger, cumin seeds (jeera), carom seeds (omam), turmeric, and cloves.
- Avoid sweets, baked items, and cold foods. They might disturb your kapham.
Lifestyle Activities For Kapha Prakriti
- Always keep yourself active. It is very important for Kapha dosha.
- Avoid a sedentary lifestyle, daytime sleep, taking too much rest, and keeping your mind idle. This can even stimulate metabolic disorders in people with Kapha prakriti.
- Most importantly, people with Kapha prakriti must do cardio workouts daily atleast for 20 minutes.
- Exposure to sunlight is very much needed for Kapha.
- Keep your brain engaged with lots of productive work.
What should a Kapha prakriti avoid?
If you find that you have the predominance of more than one dosha’s characteristics in your body, then, combine the above set of advice according to the extent of predominance. This would help you strike a balance between the doshas so that you can have a hassle-free pathway to health.
Getting to know your own body type or the nature of your body not only keeps you away from diseases but also helps you behave and manage your emotions in the right way. Exploring yourself might be the first step to building your personality. So introduce yourself to you before introducing yourself to others.
