Exceptional qualities of taste; Beneficial and harmful diet and activity for Vata constitution, Tonics for Vata, Beneficial and harmful diet and activity for Pitta constitution

Ayurveda for a healthy life ! – 11/2023

2. Exceptional qualities of taste (Rasa)

We have seen the functions of sweet, sour, salty, pungent, bitter and astringent tastes. Some exceptions are given ahead.

A. Usually sweet food items increase the Kapha dosha. But old rice, mung (Green gram), wheat, honey and meat of animals from arid regions do not increase Kapha.

B. All sour food items except pomegranate and amalaki, increase the Pitta dosha.

C. All salty food items except saindhav are harmful for the eyes.

D. All bitter food items except guduchi, snake gourd and bamboo shoots are harmful for the semen and increase the Vata dosha.

E. All astringent food items except haritaki are cool and cause constipation.

F. All pungent food items except sunth (dry ginger), pippali and garlic are harmful for the semen and increase the Vata dosha.

Constitution and the Diet

Vata, Pitta and Kapha are the three biological elements from which all the living cells, tissues, organs and waste products of our body are formed.

A person with an optimal health has all the three biological elements, namely Vata, Pitta and Kapha within normal limits
both, quantitatively as well as qualitatively. Such a person has a balanced constitution (Sama prakruti).

Depending on the dominant dosha which has increased qualitatively, the constitution is labelled as ‘Vata prakruti, ‘Pitta prakruti’ or ‘Kapha prakruti’. Individuals with these constitutions are prone to develop certain diseases. Hence, these constitutions are called as diseased or abnormal constitutions. They never enjoy optimal health. However, they do not realise it, as they are used to the subnormal state of health, right from birth.

As Vata, Pitta and Kapha particles are formed from the food we eat, one can achieve a balanced constitution which is healthy by consuming an appropriate diet.

1. Taste of food items and the doshas

Food items with sweet, sour and salty taste subdue Vata
and increase the Kapha dosha.

Food items with bitter, pungent and astringent taste subdue Kapha and increase the Vata dosha.

Food items with salty, sour and pungent taste increase the Pitta dosha.

Food items having sweet, bitter & astringent taste subdue the Pitta dosha.

The beneficial and harmful diet and activities for people with different constitutions and diseases are listed in the table ahead.

2. Beneficial and harmful diet and activity for Vata constitution and vataja (Vata induced) diseases

	Beneficial diet	Harmful diet
A. Cereals	Rice and wheat	Yava (barley), vari, sattu and ragi (nachni)
B. Pulses	Udid (black gram) and kulith (horse gram)	Chana (gram), mung (green gram), chavli (cow peas), tur (red gram), masur (lentil), peas, pavata and sprouted pulses
C. Nuts and dry fruits	Kharik (dry dates), figs, walnut, almond and priyala seeds (charoli)
D. Oil seeds	Mustard and til (sesame seeds)
E. Vegetables	Snakegourd, ambada, amlavetas, changeri, drumstick, brinjal, ghosale, onion, suran (yam) and leaves of radish	Karela (bitter gourd), spinach, cucumber, alu (colocasia), ghevada, tondali and dry leafy vegetables
F. Fruits	Ripe mango, jackfruit, apple, amalaki, banana, kharbuja, badara (berry), custard apple, grapes, dates and pineapple	Jamun, watermelon and tadgola
G. Milk products	Curds, ghee and milk
H. Meat	Meat of aquatic birds, e.g., duck, meat of a camel, frog, donkey, horse, tortoise, beef, pork, mutton and chicken	Dry fish
I. Wine/Sugarcane products	Sugarcane juice, sugar and jaggery	Honey
J. Spices	Garlic, cumin seeds, saffron, asafoetida, small cardamom, cloves, nutmeg and cinnamon	Betelnut, pepper and chillies
K. Food preparations	Kanji and khichadi	–
L. Drinking water	Hot water	Cold water
M. Taste	Sour, sweet and salty	Bitter, pungent and astringent
N. Exercise	Sitting or sleeping in the sun	Excessive walking, hard work and excess of sex
O. Purgatives	Eranda (castor) oil	Strong purgatives
P. Induction of sweating	Oil massage and bath	–
Q. Enema	Enema of til (sesame) oil	–

3. Tonics for Vata constitution and Vata induced (Vataja) diseases

Bala, atibala, vidari, til (Sesame seeds), dashamula, jivanti, jivaka, ruihabhaka, meda, mahameda, jyesthamadh (Glycerrhiza), shatavari, hirda, gulvel, vekhanda, punarnava and mandukaparni.

4. Beneficial and harmful diet and activity for Pitta constitution and pittaja (Pitta induced) diseases

	Beneficial diet	Harmful diet
A. Cereals	Yava (barley), wheat, rice and hurda	Red rice
B. Pulses	Chana (gram), mung (green gram) and masur (lentil)	Kulith (horse gram), udid (black gram) and sprouted pulses
C. Nuts and dry fruits	Dates	Walnut
D. Oil	Coconut oil	Mustard oil
E. Vegetables	Snakegourd, shirale (ridge gourd), tondali, cucumber, white onion, methi (fenugreek), karela (bitter gourd), ghevada, sweet potato, kushmanda (ash gourd) and tandulja	Brinjal, drumstick, red onion, suran (yam) and kardi
F. Fruits	Pomegranate, amalaki (avla), jackfruit, grapes, tender coconut, jamun, banana, shingada (water chestnut) and sweet badra (berry)	Tamarind, pineapple, oranges, sour badra and raw mango
G. Milk products	Cow’s milk, butter and ghee	Curds, buttermilk and sheep’s milk
H. Meat	Meat of a rabbit and deer, mutton and shellfish	Meat of a sheep and buffalo, chicken, beef and fish
I. Sugarcane products	Sugarcane juice and sugar	Jaggery
J. Spices	Saindhav, small cardamom, coriander seeds and cumin seeds	Ajamoda (celery), garlic, asafoetida, pepper, mustard and chillies
K. Drinking water	Cold water	Hot water
L. Water for bath	Cold water	Hot water
M. Taste	Astringent, sweet & bitter	Pungent, sour and salty
N. Exercise	–	Excessive walking, riding on a horse or an elephant
O. Miscellaneous	Sleeping on the floor	Getting angry, smoking & sitting for long periods in the sun