Ayurveda & learning to eat right

One thing that we covered briefly in yoga in Ayurveda. Based on the wiki definition I just gave you, Ayuveda

"...is a system of traditional medicine native to India and a form of alternative medicine..."

image source

I have so much to learn about it and basically have been reviewing it for about 2 days, but what's interesting about it is the information in regards to how we eat. Basically, what it says, is that each of us have a Dosha that has certain characteristics. Based on the characteristics of your dosha, certain things can put your dosha "out of balance", like certain foods and things like that. 

One thing that I thought was interesting that I found online is the concept of tastes and what each taste does. From the link above, it describes the tastes like this - 

Taste		Primary Actions		Common Sources
Sweet		Builds tissues, calms nerves		Fruit, grains, natural sugars, milk
Sour		Cleanses tissues, increases absorption of minerals		Sour fruits, yogurt, fermented foods
Salty		Improves taste to food, lubricates tissues, stimulates digestion		Natural salts, sea vegetables
Bitter		Detoxifies and lightens tissues		Dark leafy greens, herbs and spices
Pungent		Stimulates digestion and metabolism		Chili peppers, garlic, herbs and spices
Astringent		Absorbs water, tightens tissues, dries fats		Legumes, raw fruits and vegetables, herbs

I thought this was interesting because for me, i crave sweets A LOT. And I always feel bad about it. But my dosha type is one of excitement and sometimes worry/anxiousness so it makes sense that I crave sweets that calm nerves. Also, I have lots of issues with digestion and upset tummy - so that makes sense that I crave salty foods and I straight up love garlic. 

I guess what I take away from this is that, my body actually really does know what it wants. I just don't know how to interpret it. So instead of feeling guilty about always wanting something sweet, I can think to myself, oh hey, I'm obviously wanting something calming - maybe I can eat some dark chocolate or drink a calming tea instead of downing a snickers bar and feeling guilty about it. 

I ordered a book online, 

Amazon

I'm very excited about reading it!!! 

Namaste y'all :)