Whilst many Yoga practitioners have favoured a raw foods diet until recent years at least, it is not really advocated in Ayurveda.
This is not because raw foods in and of themselves are not good for you. It depends on numerous variables such as the:
Raw foods are generally seen to be cooling, light and in many cases astringent (meaning they will have a drying effect on the body). These are all qualities of Vata dosha and so raw foods will put Vata dosha up.
Additionally, raw foods require more from our agni, our digestive capacity. When we cook foods we apply heat and so we apply the fire element. It is as if therefore, we are pre-digesting the foods for our inner digestive fire, therefore aiding the whole digestive process including:
Clearly, we want all these bodily functions to work optimally for our health and well-being. And a cooked diet, in supporting the digestive process, supports all these tasks of the body.
And so, it is recommended to cook a major part of your foods. This includes fruits, and you might even opt for steamed vegetable salads rather than raw salads. Raw vegetable smoothies might be replaced by warm smoothy soups. See our recipe bank for a green smoothie soup recipe.
There are some exceptions to the rule as always, and some raw foods are very good for us and generally eaten raw. For example, nuts are better eaten raw though it is advisable to soak them first to make them more digestible and eat only small amounts at a time. The same goes for seeds.
Does all this mean you can never eat a raw salad again? No, not at all. However, it is advisable to be mindful of the time of year, time of day, and your Ayurveda constitutional type.
Summer is the best time for salads.
Lunchtime is the time when the fire – the sun – is strongest in our environment, and so it is greatest within us too. If you are going to eat salads, eat them at lunch time when your digestive capacity is likely to be at it’s best. .
And make them a smaller part of your meal – maybe just 20% of your total meal.
Of course, if occasionally you feel like a big plate of salad that is not going to do harm unless you are in exceptional circumstances: eg in recovery from illness, or have just done an Ayurveda cleanse programme.
However, make sure this is an occasional occurrence, not your habitual daily diet in Summer and certainly not in other seasons.
Once you begin to follow these guidelines, you will begin to feel the benefit and to notice the detrimental effects of not following the guidelines. You will become more familiar with what and how a strong and balanced digestive fire – agni – feels.
When you do take a small salad with your meals, should you eat the salad first or last? This depends on your Ayurveda type, as usual.
Vata and Kapha types are advised to eat the salad last. As it is not pre-digested with the process of cooking, it is going to be harder to digest and it is also cooling. Vata and Kapha are already cool/cold and Vata has a variable digestive capacity, Kapha has a slow digestive process. It’s much better to favour foods therefore that kindle the digestive fire, and to eat those that do this first!.
Pitta types can eat the salad first. You are likely to inherently have a stronger digestive capacity than the other two types, plus you already have heat in your system and so can withstand and perhaps even benefit from a little of the cooling impact of a small salad, especially in the Summer months. (Summer is a Pitta season).
Finally, whilst raw foods are generally cooling, light and astringent/drying in effect, some raw foods have other effects:
Tomatoes increase Pitta dosha, as do bell peppers and chillies so these are best left off your salads or taken very occasionally.
Bell peppers and raw onions will aggravate Vata dosha, as will chillis.
In terms of dressings for your saladds, fermented substances such as yoghurt and vinegar are heating which will mean they can increase Pitta dosha. Citrus fruits also are said to increase Pitta dosha. It is therefore better to make dressings without these substances in the Summer, and if you are using citrus fruits in place of vinegar, favour limes over lemons if you have Pitta dosha in your constitution.
The sour fermented taste increases Kapha dosha also, so Kapha dosha will need very little of these, and very little oil, or better still an oil free dressing.
The sour taste balances Vata dosha though lemon or lime in the dressing is preferable to vinegar.
The scope of this blog is of course limited when it comes to telling you all about Ayurveda nutritional principles. A few points have been covered here.
There are so many different foods, with just as many different effects in their raw and cooked states.
If you would like to learn more and to become adept in Ayurveda nutritional principles, our Ayurveda Living Course might be just what you are looking for.
It is going to give you in-depth knowledge about Ayurveda nutrition, the energetic impacts of foods, and their implications for our health and wellbeing all year round, as well as how to adapt lifestyle, breath, sound and meditation practices for longevity, peace and happiness.
Please click the button below to find out more about the course starting online Sept 2024.