Preventive Therapy

The preventive therapy is mainly two-fold. It is by regulation of diet and physical exercise including yoga.

Ayurvedic Diet:

We all know that, for healthy living, we require a balanced diet constituted of protein, carbohydrates, fats, minerals, vitamins, etc. Ayurveda has considered about the diet in detail. The Ayurvedic diet is one that not only nourishes the body, but also restores balance of 'Tridoshas' which is very much essential for maintaining good health. Depending on the dosha, or constitutional type, some items of food can be beneficial, and others are not. The same items of food may have the opposite effect on another dosha. The science of Ayurveda teaches that right diet for a particular constitution is the foundation of healing. For maximum health and vitality, the ideal diet is one that balances the doshas.

The intake of different items of food has relevance to ‘taste’. Ayurveda considers taste to be of six kinds. They are sweet, sour, salt, pungent, bitter and acid. Every item of food has one taste or other or a mix of two or more tastes.

Ayurveda suggests that each taste has a stimulating or weakening effect on each of the three doshas. Here under is a statement of the effect of taste on the three doshas.

TASTE	STIMULATES	WEAKENS
Sweet	Kapha	Vata and Pitta
Sour	Kapha and Pitta	Vata
Salt	Kapha and Pitta	Vata
Pungent	Vata and Pitta	Kapha
Bitter	Vata	Kapha and Pitta
Acid	Vata	Kapha and Pitta

Here are recommended items of food, to balance each of the three doshas, keeping in view the effect of taste, too of the items.

Vata-Dosha:

The qualities of Vata are being cold, dry, light, hard and rough.

Vata-pacifying items of food:

General: Excess of Vata can be counterbalanced with nutritive and tissue-building items of food that are warm, moist, heavy, soft and oily as well as items with sweet, sour or salty taste. For example, Vata-pacifying items include ghee, soft dairy products, wheat, rice, corn and bananas. A person with a Vata constitution should favour items like hot cereal with ghee, hot soups and vegetables, and wholly cooked grains and chapatis. Spicy items of food are generally okay for Vata.

Vegetables: Asparagus, beets, carrots, cucumber, green beans, okra (bhindi), onions and garlic, radishes, sweet potatoes, turnips.

Fruits: Bananas, coconuts, dates, mangoes, melons, peaches, all sweet fruits in general.

Grains: Oats, rice and wheat

Vata-aggravating items of food:

General: Items of food with Vata qualities such as crackers, frozen desserts, and large amounts of raw vegetables and salads will aggravate Vata. Also, refined items such as white flour and sugar have light and dry qualities, and are best avoided by people with Vata constitutions. Pungent, bitter, astringent, light, dry and cold items of food, stimulants like smoking, alcohol, junk food, sugar, tea (especially, long leaf teas and green tea) and brown rice are best avoided.

Vegetables: Cabbage, cauliflower, celery, brinjal (egg plant), leafy green vegetables, mushrooms, peas, peppers (simla mirch), potatoes, sprouts, zucchini (tori). These vegetables are to be cooked in pure ghee or unrefined gingili oil. Tomatoes are avoided except as a small addition to salads.

Fruits: Apples, pears, pomegranates may be avoided.

Spices: Persons of Vata constitution can have almost all spices and herbs in moderation. When there is aggravation of Vata, the following are to be taken with caution: Coriander seeds (dhaniya) powder, fenugreek (menthe) seeds, saffron, turmeric, parsley. Too much hot or dry spice such as dried chili, which will aggravate dryness, is to be avoided.

Pitta-Dosha:

Pitta's properties are being hot, sharp, oily and light.

Pitta-pacifying items of food:

General: Excess of Pitta can be balanced with items of food that are cool, dry and heavy with a mild, naturally sweet, bitter or astringent taste. For example, milk, rice, beans, steamed vegetables and fruits are good for Pitta constitutions. Mild spices like cumin, coriander and cilantro are particularly beneficial. Items of food that are sweet, bitter, astringent, cold, heavy, dry, moderate and cool, ghee, coconut oil, olive oil, green coriander (dhaniya), coriander seeds, cardamom, sprouts and raw items are recommended.

Vegetables & Fruits: All vegetables and fruits are recommended.

Pitta-aggravating items of food:

General: Pungent and oily items of food such as oily curries, fries and spicy condiments, as well as spices such as cayenne, garlic and dry ginger should be avoided by persons of Pitta constitutions. Pungent, sour, salty, hot, light, oily items of food, stimulants like smoking, alcohol, coffee, pickles, vinegar, fries, spicy and fermented items, curds, almond, corn, gingili and mustard oil need to be avoided.

Vegetables: Beets, carrots, brinjal, garlic, hot peppers, onions, spinach and tomatoes may be avoided.

Fruits: Sour and unripe fruits are to be avoided. If there is aggravation of Pitta, grapefruits, papayas, peaches, bananas, apricots are also to be avoided.

Grains: Brown rice, corn, millet, rye, barley, oats, wheat, parboiled rice are to be avoided.

Kapha-Dosha:

The qualities of Kapha-dosha are being cold, heavy, liquid and unctuous.

Kapha-pacifying items of food:

General: To balance Kapha-dominance, smaller amounts of food are to be consumed, with emphasis on Vata properties of light and dry. Also, items of food which are dry, hot or sharp with pungent, bitter or astringent taste are recommended. Puffed cereals such as rice or corn, small, astringent grains such as millet, amaranth and quinoa, and light, bitter vegetables such as leafy greens, spices like ginger, turmeric and chili are generally good for persons of Kapha constitutions.

Warm, light and dry items cooked without much water, minimum of butter, oil and sugar, stimulating items such as ginger, chilies, pickles, and raw foods, salads and fruits are favoured.

Vegetables: Generally all vegetables are good. But if one is suffering from any Kapha-disorder like lung congestion, congestive asthma, sinuses, obesity, heart disease, diabetes or high cholesterol, one should avoid all sweet juicy vegetables such as cucumbers, pumpkin family, sweet potatoes, tomatoes, tori, ghiya, etc.

Fruits: Apples, apricots, pears, pomegranates, dried fruits in general such as apricots, figs, prunes and raisins.

Lentils & Legumes: If the dosha is not aggravated, all except tofu and kidney beans are acceptable.

Spices: All are good. Ginger is the best for improving digestion; turmeric is excellent for drying out the mucous; and chilies are excellent for removing mucous.

Kapha-aggravating items of food:

General: Items of food such as dairy products, wheat, avocados, oils have the qualities of increasing Kapha in the body. Sweet, sour, salty; heavy, oily and cold desserts, sweets, ice creams and deep frozen foods, and attitudes of possessiveness, miserliness and laziness cause aggravation of Kapha.

Vegetables: All sweet juicy vegetables such as cucumbers, pumpkin family, sweet potatoes, tomatoes, tori, ghiya, etc are to be avoided.

Fruits: All sweet juicy fruits in general are to be avoided.

Lentils & Legumes: Tofu and kidney beans.

Spices: Excess of salt.

Physical Exercise

Ayurveda prescribes broadly the following types of physical exercise to the persons of dominant doshas stated here under.

Vata-constitution : Needs less exercise, long and slow duration activities, low impact jogging, cycling, walking, swimming, hiking or yoga.
Pitta-constitution : Needs to balance exciting and competitive spirit with cool sports and exercises such skiing, swimming, surfing, cycling, golf, racquet games.
Kapha-constitution : Needs stimulating, motivated and vigourous exercise such as tennis, running, rowing, swimming, aerobics, gymnastics, racquet ball, etc.

Yoga:

Yoga is from the Sanskrit word 'Yug' meaning union (with the Divine)

Real goal of Yoga - Yoga's highest purpose is to help its practitioner in realizing true happiness, freedom or enlightenment. However, yoga has a number of secondary goals such as physical health, mental harmony and emotional balance. In its most integrated form, yoga seeks to unlock full human potential.

Benefits of practicing yoga

Physical fitness: People view yoga only as a curing therapy; but, in reality, involvement in yoga will ward off any disease and keeps one fighting fit.
Personality development: By performing yoga, one can attain peace of mind, boost self-confidence and gain more energy for work.
Freedom from habits: Many people want to give up habits like smoking, drinking, etc; but they are unable to do so. Practising yoga helps to get rid of all such habits.
Stress relief: Today one hears words like ‘stress’, ‘tension’ everywhere. Everybody has his own tensions at work. If one practices yoga, one gets relief from stress, strain and tension.
Competition: There is a lot of competition in every walk of life. Yoga works there, too. After performing even some basics of yoga like 'Omkar', one can feel improvement in one’s concentration as well as in one’s inherent ability to discriminate.

Different types of yoga

There are various paths of yoga. Before we examine the different ways, we should remember that all of them lead to the same goal, that is, unification with the Divine.

The yoga paths can be broadly classified into

Bhakti yoga Path of Devotion.

Karma yoga Path of Selfless Action.

Dhyana yoga Path of Transcendental Knowledge.

Ashtanga yoga Path of Patanjali (eight-step path)

Unfortunately, yoga, in some parts of the world, has come to mean ‘hatha-yoga’ which is mainly physical exercise involving postures (asanas). In fact, ‘asanas’ constitutes only a single step in the eight-step path (Ashtanga-yoga of Patanjali). Ashtanga-yoga is sometimes referred to as Raja yoga. However, Ashtanga-yoga is more of a philosophy like basic research while Raja-yoga usually refers to specific techniques which are based on not only Ashtanga-yoga but also on various other scriptures.

A kind of daily routine known as 'Dinacharya' from the Ayurveda point of view will be of help in keeping persons in good health. Click Dinacharya to follow the guidelines.

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