Ayurveda is not a method that works the same for everyone. When making suggestions about food, lifestyle, herbs, yoga, and other things, it’s important to think about how each person is built. Spices have a lot of healing power, especially when it comes to starting our stomach fire, or agni, which is important for good health. Different spices are good for each dosha. So which do you like best?
VATA, PITTA, KAPHA
In Ayurveda, there are three types of energy called vata, pitta, and kapha. Each of them is made up of a mixture of two parts.
Vata=Space & Air
Pitta=Fire & Water
Kapha = Earth & Water
Each person’s constitution (prakruti) is made up of different amounts of the three elemental forces. When these energy forces are out of balance, they are called doshas. Dosha means “that which is out of balance.” This is important to know. When we talk about a person’s constitution, we mean how they were born (prakruti), not how their doshas are out of balance right now (vikruti).
DIFFERENT SIGNALS OF INDIGESTION FROM THE SAME MEAL
Indigestion symptoms can help you figure out which dosha is to blame for an imbalance. Based on what each person needs, Ayurveda gives each person different advice.
For example, three people can eat the same meal, but if they all get heartburn, it could look different for each of them. Heartburn or acid reflux could be signs of pitta dosha, bloating and gas could be signs of vata dosha, and sickness could be a sign of kapha dosha.
SPICES AS MEDICINE
Just eating “healthy” things isn’t enough. For things to help us, we need to be able to digest them well. Spices are smart, and they work to help us digest food and make the food we eat more bioavailable. When put together, different spices help the body break down food and absorb nutrients.
Spices can also make hard-to-digest foods easier to chew and reduce the bad effects of bad food combinations.
SPICE MIXES FOR THE DOSHAS
For all of the mixes below, mix all of the ingredients well in a bowl and then put them in a spice jar with a lid.
You can add a spice mix at the beginning of cooking, at the end by heating them in ghee (1 part ghee to 1 part spices) for 5 to 10 seconds and spreading them over your food, or you can just sprinkle it over a meal. Or, add half to one teaspoon of the spice mix to warm water and drink it before a meal.
Vata-Balancing Spice Mix
If you tend to skip meals or forget to eat, or if you have gas, bloating, or constipation, you could use a spice mix that balances vata.
1 tablespoon of ground cardamom
2 tablespoons each of ground fennel and cumin
1 teaspoon of ginger powder
2 pinches of ground turmeric
1 tsp. pure cane sugar
1 tsp. asafoetida (hing) 1 tsp. pink salt
Pitta-Balancing Spice Mix
Do you get heartburn or acid reflux, or do you have diarrhoea? Do you have a strong hunger, and do you get upset if you can’t eat when you want to? If so, a pepper mix that balances pitta will help you.
2 tablespoons of ground cumin
2 tbsp. coriander powder
2 Tbsp. ground fennel
1/2 tsp. cardamom powder
1 tsp. pure cane sugar
1 tsp. pink salt
1 teaspoon of turmeric powder
2 tsp. dried mint
Spice Mix for Balancing Kapha
Do you like food a lot and often eat too much? Then you might be the kind of person who feels sick after a meal they can’t eat well and has to go to the toilet later in the morning or afternoon. In this case, a spice mix that balances kapha will help you.
Ingredients: 1 tablespoon of ground ginger, 1 tablespoon of ground black pepper, 2 tablespoons of ground cumin, and 1 tablespoon of ground fenugreek.
1 teaspoon of cinnamon powder
2 pinches of ground turmeric
1 tsp. pink salt
1 tsp. pure cane sugar
For all of the above mixes, mix the ingredients well in a bowl and then put them in a spice jar with a lid.
