What Is an Ayurvedic Diet? A Detailed Scientific Guide to Cooking and Eating According to Ayurveda

If you stock up on fresh food at your local farmer’s market, you’re already one step into eating an ayurvedic diet. This way of eating, which aims to balance your mind and body by returning to the biorhythms and wisdom of nature — and especially emphasizes seasonal eating — can be key to optimal health and preventing disease, experts say. Here’s what you may want to know about ayurvedic cooking.

What Is an Ayurvedic Diet?

An ayurvedic diet is a seasonal eating pattern that’s personalized to your body’s needs and constitution, (or in Sanskrit, your "dosha"), to create better energy balance, per a review. It’s part of ayurveda, an ancient system of medicine from India. Eating this way “puts you in touch with the seasons, and culminates into a sumptuous relationship with nature,” says Laura Plumb, an ayurvedic teacher and author of Ayurvedic Cooking for Beginners in Coronado, California, speaking from her personal experience. “You belong to this natural world — part of the flow of life itself — and you’re a radiant being. Each meal nourishes your own radiance,” she says.

Many people may have incorporated elements of an ayurvedic diet into their lifestyle, whether they know it or not. Certain herbs, including ashwagandha, which is purported to help buffer stress, have become trendy in the Western world, but have a rich history in ayurveda.

Ayurveda is a traditional medicine system that was developed between 2500 and 500 BC in India, according to a review. Translated from Sanskrit, ayurveda means “science of life.” While ayurveda is a complete system of medicine in India that encompasses prevention of disease and treatment, one focus (especially in the West) revolves around nourishing the body through food, eating for balance and harmony with nature, and using nutritional tweaks to address some health concerns, along with conventional care.

“There are universal principles in an ayurvedic diet, but no absolutes,” says Plumb. Eating seasonally is one cornerstone: “Nature is so intelligent and generous, that with every season, [it offers] the foods that will balance the energies of that season. When we eat seasonally, we’re more well-nourished,” she says.

Ideally, you may focus on organic, locally grown foods, but that can be difficult depending on where you live. That’s where cured, dried meat, stored grains, root vegetables, and canned and fermented foods come in.

People who follow an ayurvedic diet also tend to eat meals at specific times, in certain quantities. “We know that it’s best to make the biggest meal for lunch and have a light supper,” says John Douillard, DC, an ayurvedic practitioner, teacher, and the founder of LifeSpa in Boulder, Colorado. This is in line with your body’s and nature’s circadian rhythm, he adds.

In general, you can tailor your food choices toward your doshic constitution and those that make seasonal sense (such as cooling fresh fruits and veggies in the hot summer, or hearty, warming soups in the chilly winter). There are also cooking spices (cinnamon, turmeric, and cumin, among others) commonly used in an ayurvedic diet. Supplements (ashwagandha, triphala) are a more advanced application of ayurvedic cooking and eating.

When moving toward an ayurvedic diet, you’ll likely follow these basic principles to guide your food choices and build your meals.

Seasonality Principles

Despite what a modern grocery store might have you believe, “foods change from season to season,” says Douillard. “Nature’s nutritional cycle took a year to complete,” he says. Not only will you aim to eat in-season fruits and vegetables, but you’ll follow seasonality in your meals. Here are some general recommendations from Douillard to get started.

Spring Go for spring-harvested foods, like fresh leafy greens. Drink dandelion tea.

Summer Eat fresh, light, water-rich produce to balance out your hydration.

Fall Home in on nuts, seeds, and grains (to store up energy for the winter), as well as end-of-summer produce.

Winter Eat warm soups, heavy stews, and more nuts during the colder months.

The 6 Tastes

According to one review, in ayurveda, there are six major tastes, which are combined in certain ways to create your meals (more on that below).

• Sweet
• Sour
• Salty
• Pungent
• Bitter
• Astringent

Food Combination Principles

Next, you can follow guidance on which foods go together. “Ayurveda [holds] that certain combinations of foods are harder to digest and challenge your digestive fire [a traditional ayurvedic concept],” says Plumb. For example, some foods with competing flavors may wreak havoc on your gut (such as sour and sweet).

Note: Many of these ayurvedic principles are not based in conventional nutritional research, and if you have a chronic condition like diabetes, speak to your healthcare provider before you make any dietary changes. With that in mind, here are a few basic and typical food pairing tips, according to ayurvedic practitioners and institutions.

• Don’t mix fruit and dairy. Avoid adding berries to yogurt or milk in a fruit smoothie. Fruit is broken down quickly during digestion and turned into sugar, while dairy’s proteins take longer to digest; “together, they can create [an accumulation of] gas inside your belly,” says Plumb. Lower-sugar fruits, like berries, are better paired with nuts, seeds, and grains, some practitioners says.
• Eat most fruit, especially melons, alone. Fruits are quickly broken down in your gut, so eat these on their own. This is especially critical for melons, says Plumb.
• Don’t combine cheese and legumes. Beans and dairy can both be difficult to digest, which is why it’s preferable to keep these separate.
• Cook vegetables together. Doing so can help balance them out so they “get along,” which will ultimately aid digestion, per the Ayurvedic Institute. In addition, you want to keep raw and cooked vegetables separate, per Banyan Botanicals.

Eating for Your Constitution (Dosha)

According to ayurvedic philosophy, your dosha is your constitution, or dominant energy type, and it informs what and how you should eat. There are three main doshas: vata, pitta, and kapha, which correlate to the elements of air, water, fire, earth, and ether.

The general idea in ayurvedic eating is to balance your dosha(s), in part, with food. To do so, you may choose foods with opposite elemental properties to your dosha or doshic combination. For example, because a pitta-dominant person has a “fiery” constitution, they may want to avoid spicy peppers and opt for cooling cucumbers instead. A certified ayurvedic practitioner can help you identify your individual constitution to formulate an ayurvedic diet and wellness routine catered to you. But here are the basics of eating for your dosha.

Vata

The vata dosha correlates to the air and ether elements. “Vatas tend to be dry and cold,” says Susan Weis-Bohlen, an ayurvedic practitioner in Reisterstown, Maryland, and the author of Ayurveda Beginner’s Guide. Vata-dominant people are more likely to experience bone and joint problems (physically), and distraction and spaciness (psychologically).

Eat Warm, moist, oily, grounding foods, like warm soups and stews. Try avocados, eggs, butter, and sweet potatoes. Drink warm water.

Avoid Raw salads, bitter foods

Pitta

The pitta dosha correlates to the fire and water elements. “There’s nothing a pitta loves more than a spicy, hot burrito on a summer day, or an iced frappé on a winter day,” says Weis-Bohlen. Pitta-dominant people are prone to overheating and the reactions associated with it: anger and aggression emotionally, and migraines and rashes physically.

Eat Cooling, watery foods, like coconut, cucumbers, zucchini, freshwater fish, rice dishes, and lentils. “Calming, cooling foods will help pitta balance themselves,” she says. In addition, grains, pastas, and breads, which can supply the sugar — or sweetness — may soothe an aggravated pitta’s needs.

Avoid Overly spicy foods, red wine, vodka

Kapha

The kapha dosha correlates to the earth and water elements. Embodying these features, kaphas are born nurturers. “They’re likely to carry a bit of extra weight,” says Weis-Bohlen. Balance a cold and wet constitution with dry foods.

Eat Grains, like quinoa and millet; ghee, butter, and olive oil in moderation (so as not to consume excess calories), and warming spices like turmeric, cumin, coriander, black mustard seed, ginger, and cinnamon

Avoid Heavy, cold, and wet foods, like avocado

There are a wide array of foods used in ayurvedic cooking. Below is a small sampling of foods you may want to focus on.

Plants and Plant-Based Foods

While many of the suggested foods in ayurveda fit into a vegetarian diet, you don’t have to be vegetarian. “There is a choice of meat for each dosha, but you want to prioritize foods like grains and greens,” says Weis-Bohlen. Foods like sweet potatoes, zucchini, basmati rice, oats, mung beans, and nuts and seeds are just some that you might eat regularly. One common dish is called kitchari, a soupy blend of rice, beans, and spices, per Banyan Botanicals.

Spices

Turmeric, cumin, coriander, cinnamon, cardamom, ginger, and fennel are just some of the cooking spices that are used to help balance one’s dosha according to the season, and potentially improve digestion and metabolism. Bonus: Cooking with spices, whether you eat ayurvedically or not, may allow you to use less salt in recipes, according to the National Institutes of Health (NIH).

Ghee

Unsaturated oils are used in an ayurvedic diet, but so, too, is ghee. Ghee is clarified butter, meaning the butter has been heated to remove the milk solids. In ayurveda, ghee is thought to increase “rasa” (or the quality of taste) in the body, which may facilitate digestion and remove waste, according to Banyan Botanicals.

• Kitchari, a mixture of basmati rice and mung dal, along with spices and various vegetables, can be prepared for your dosha and helps balance seasonal fluctuations, per this recipe from the Ayurvedic Institute.
• Vegetarian mung bean soup made with mung beans, vegetables, coconut milk, and a variety of spices, from LifeSpa, may be made in advance and stored for more advanced meal planning.
• Hot herbal chai tea is made with cardamom, cloves, ginger, fennel, cinnamon, and turmeric. This recipe from Banyan Botanicals customizes its chai for your dosha.

An ayurvedic diet focuses on easy-to-digest comfort foods that prioritize your gut health and is believed to create a better internal balance for digestion and improved overall health, notes Plumb. While Western scientific research on ayurvedic diets, specifically, is limited, there are many studies to support that the basic healthy-eating principles may be good for you. Here are a handful of potential perks of eating this way.

May Improve Digestion

One of the most cited benefits of an ayurvedic diet is that it’s designed to promote optimal digestion. Some research has shown that it may be more effective than a low-FODMAP-type diet for irritable bowel syndrome.

Even if you don’t have IBS, an ayurvedic diet may benefit you. In ayurveda, it’s generally believed that “each meal should [roughly] consist of two handfuls of food, which is approximately two-thirds of your stomach,” says Weis-Bohlen. “That leaves one-third open for the digestive ‘fires’ to digest and extract nutrients from your food.”

May Enhance Mindfulness

Eating according to ayurveda shares similar intentions: slow down and eat mindfully, savoring your meals, and practicing gratitude for your food. These simple acts may evolve your relationship with food from fuel to ritual, and there are a host of benefits to eating more mindfully. One systematic review and meta-analysis found that mindful eating in general was especially helpful for weight control and management, and another review found that intentional eating helped optimize digestive function, enhance self-acceptance, and improve overall wellness.

May Help With Weight Loss

An ayurvedic diet promotes eating more food (and therefore, calories) earlier in the day. The purpose of this philosophy is to better align your diet with your circadian rhythm: ideally, your body uses calories when you’re active and alert during the day, rather than at night when you’re resting and heading to bed.

One review of nine randomized controlled trials found that in the context of a reduced-calorie Western-style diet, people who ate more food earlier experienced greater weight loss, as well as improved markers in glucose and “bad” LDL cholesterol. That said, long-term studies are needed to show if this pattern holds true over time.

May Improve Your Mood

Ayurveda holds that certain foods have an effect on your mood. The aim in an ayurvedic diet is to maintain a state of sattva (or contentment), and that what you eat can bring either balance, overstimulation, or lethargy, according to a review. By eating certain foods and building self-awareness around seasonality and your personal constitution, you may find you feel better and lighter over time.

May Boost Energy

When you’re eating nutrient-rich foods, your body’s energy levels may improve, as well as your mental clarity, focus, and even ability to be productive, says Plumb. As Harvard Health notes, research shows that a diet high in refined sugars slows down brain functioning. But, with less processed foods and more whole foods, “you [may] have more energy to focus on what’s important to you,” Plumb explains.

For the most part, the basic tenets of an ayurvedic diet — seasonal eating, eating a larger lunch and smaller dinner, and avoiding snacking, especially late at night — are all generally safe for most healthy people. If you are on medication that requires specific meal timing, talk to your doctor before making any changes to your diet.

One caution is to avoid using ayurvedic herbs and supplements on your own without the guidance of a certified ayurvedic practitioner. There are dozens of ayurvedic herbs, but ashwagandha is one of the better known, and is widely available in supplement form in most health stores, and added into some foods and drinks. “I really don’t love this tendency for everyone to go all-in for ashwagandha,” says Plumb. “Herbs are strong, and so we have to be cautious.”

Do not take herbal supplements if you are pregnant or breastfeeding. Talk to your doctor about any supplements you might take and connect with a certified ayurvedic practitioner, or an integrative doctor or nutritionist who is knowledgeable in the ayurvedic diet, for help incorporating these into your eating routine in the best way for you.

Anyone who is interested in a less-processed, more nature-informed approach to eating may benefit from the ayurvedic diet. Similarly, if you are dealing with poor digestion or bloating, you may want to slowly weave in some of these ayurvedic diet principles.

Keep in mind that the ayurvedic diet can feel restrictive or subject to a lot of food rules, which may be difficult for some people. Know that you don’t have to follow each detail of an ayurvedic diet, but you can focus on the main principles that feel more doable for you. It’s important to work with a certified ayurvedic practitioner to establish a routine that works for your health and wellness goals.

With all these guidelines, you may be wondering how to start, and how to remember everything you need to do. The good news is that it's simpler than you might think. Here are some general tips.

Stock Up On Fresh Foods

Purchase more fresh, in-season foods at the grocery store, following this U.S. Department of Agriculture guide. A farmer’s market can make it easy by providing plenty of locally grown options. “When buying food, ask yourself: ‘How can I get as close to fresh and unprocessed as possible, and focus on seasonal ingredients?’” says Plumb. This process can be joyful as you speak to farmers or local purveyors, which can also reinforce your sense of community around eating, she says.

Eat 3 Meals per Day

Reduce or eliminate snacking. This give your body enough time to digest the food you ate at the previous meal, rather than overloading your digestive system. Per ayurvedic diet principles, you might eat a small breakfast, followed by a bigger lunch, and a light dinner. Aim to eat an early dinner (at least three hours before bed) and then close the kitchen.

Many people find they benefit from following the two principles above, says Weis-Bohlen. “You might find that that’s all you need to do,” she says. With an ayurvedic diet, “you can hit on the surface or go deeper.” If you want to do more, follow these next steps.

Discover Your Dosha

You might be able to guess your constitution just by looking at the descriptors, but Weis-Bohlen recommends taking a dosha quiz or working with a certified ayurvedic practitioner. She recommends the quiz on Banyan Botanicals's site as a starting point.

Learn About What Fuel Your Dosha Needs

It’s all about helping to bring your body into balance, and you might do that by choosing foods that counteract imbalances in your dosha. Books on the ayurvedic diet can help you dive more deeply into this. LifeSpa’s website also offers guidance on how to balance a diet for each dosha: vata, pitta, and kapha.

Results vary depending upon each individual, their constitution, and how they approach nutrition based on their healthcare and wellness needs. Here are a few common challenges and potential benefits many people who choose to eat an ayurvedic diet encounter.

Before

Expect to feel a bit overwhelmed at all the principles and guidelines that govern an ayurvedic diet. Read up on the diet via the resources listed below so you understand exactly how to prepare.

During

Your palate will likely begin to shift, says Plumb. If you used to eat a lot of highly processed foods, which tend to be high in sugar and salt, the shift to eating predominantly fresh foods will involve very different taste sensations. (Some people may even experience a “sugar withdrawal,” further explained by the BBC.) “In three to four days, you [may] find that these foods are quite delicious and flavorful,” she says. Some people may need more support from a nutritionist or practitioner skilled in ayurvedic principles.

After

In general, eating ayurvedically is a lifestyle, not a temporary change or a quick fix. But you also don’t have to overhaul your diet all at once. In fact, if you do so, you may feel overwhelmed and burn out quickly. Instead, start with small tweaks (like skipping your usual late-night snack). If you do make big changes quickly, under the guidance of a certified ayurvedic practitioner, Plumb notes that you may feel positive changes to your digestive system within five days or so. Additional potential benefits to your body, such as improved energy levels and immune function, may take longer.

Ayurveda is not covered by insurance. It’s beneficial to work with a certified ayurvedic practitioner if you’d like to go deeper into the diet (for example: eating to balance your dosha), in which case, your practitioner will likely bill you hourly for consultations. The cost of these differ depending on the practitioner, the area of the country where you receive care, and whether you’re seeking other ayurvedic services, as well. You may be able to find a nutritionist who is both conventionally trained and open to helping incorporate ayurvedic diet principles into your care plan.

One thing you do have to take into account is a potentially higher grocery bill. Research shows that healthier foods cost almost twice as much as unhealthier options per serving. If you are, at the advice of a certified practitioner, taking supplements, you’ll also want to have room in your budget to support the cost of these.

Want to learn more about the ayurvedic eating pattern? Check out these websites, books, videos, and more.

Best Website

The Ayurvedic Institute

The school provides certification for professionals, and also offers ayurvedic food guidelines. You’ll get a clear picture of exactly what you should eat and avoid depending on your dosha in terms of fruits, vegetables, grains, legumes, dairy, meat/fish/seafood, condiments, and more.

Best Guide

3-Season Diet Guide

If you want to know what to eat for each season, including grocery lists and video tutorials on how to eat for your dosha, you can reference Douillard’s free guide. (The three seasons in ayurvedic philosophy include spring, summer, and winter, hence the three seasons in the guide. He refers to fall as a transitional season.)

Best Videos

Banyan Botanicals

Check out Banyan Botanicals' YouTube channel, which has almost 100,000 subscribers. Learn about the digestive benefits of ayurvedic cooking, the principles of ayurvedic cleansing, diets for your dosha, and the benefits of specific foods, such as kitchari.

Best Podcast

Elements of Ayurveda

This podcast is a full view of ayurvedic medicine, but has several episodes dedicated to diet-related content, such as “Ayurveda & the Paleo Diet,” “Ayurvedic Diet & Lifestyle Advice for Pregnancy,” and “What Do I Eat? Ayurvedic Nutrition, Tastes, and Food Combining.”

Best Books

Ayurveda Beginner’s Guide; Essential Ayurvedic Principles and Practices to Balance and Heal Naturally

This book by Susan Weis-Bohlen provides a comprehensive overview of the system of ayurveda, along with recipes, how to live an ayurvedic lifestyle, as well as how to adjust those elements for the season. 

Ayurvedic Cooking for Beginners: An Ayurvedic Cookbook to Balance and Heal

By Laura Plumb, this book focuses on the art of ayurvedic cooking, outlining the core steps for ayurvedic eating, along with recipes for breakfasts, lunches, and dinners, and delicious extras, like sweets and sauces. Recipes include spinach paneer, rice pudding, chia pudding, and coconut squash dal. Plumb also includes a dosha quiz in her book, as well as seasonal and dosha-balancing food lists and grocery shopping guides.