Eat right FOR YOUR TYPE
Ayurveda, the holistic healing system from India, is about supporting physical, mental and emotional health by following the rules of nature, especially your own personal nature, or ‘prakriti’.
“In Ayurveda, there is always a focus on maintaining equilibrium within the body,” says Dr Shijoe Mathew, an Ayurvedic doctor in the UK and the Ananda retreat centre in the Himalayas (anandaspa.com).
“According to Ayurveda, all our organs and bodily systems are influenced by three different energies, or ‘doshas,’’’ he says. “Everyone has these energies within them, but it is the predominant energy type you’re born with that determines your basic constitution. If you want to stay healthy, these energies must be balanced.”
A mixture of elements
The energies or doshas in question are: vata, pitta and kapha. Vata reflects air and space and governs movement and flow within the body, including thinking, emotions, creative impulses, nervous function and elimination. Pitta reflects the energies of fire and water, and represents transformation. It’s linked to heat, metabolism, energy production, digestive function and logical thinking. Finally, kapha is a combination of earth
