The name Ayurveda derives from two words ayur (life) and veda (knowledge), that is, the knowledge of life, and is considered one of the oldest methods of healing and health prevention, practiced over 2000 years BC in India. It is the result of a broader and more integral understanding of man and the environment that surrounds him.

Food is a fundamental therapeutic tool in Ayurveda, through the creation of personalized diets, taking into account the person's psychophysical constitution. According to Reitz, digestion is very important, because it is through it that excess substances not needed by the body will be eliminated through the intestine.

For anyone who wants to apply the diet as a therapeutic resource, they need to know the person's biotype and the six flavors that our taste buds distinguish, since a recommended meal is one that combines six flavors, without exaggerating any of them, thus balancing the predominant docha, which is understood as the metabolic principle that connects the patient's body and mind. Each docha is harmonized by certain flavors and disharmonized by other flavors. Therefore, cuisine must favor flavors that promote harmony and avoid those that threaten it. Well now let's remember the flavors of food and the dochas of people and harmonize them for balance and health.

 Food and its flavors;

1-sweet (sugar, rice, pasta and fruits);

2- salty (salt);

3-acid (lemon, cheese, yogurt)

4-bitter (spinach, mint, eggplant, turmeric);

5-astringent (beans, lentils, lettuce, persimmon);

6-Spicy (ginger, pepper and cumin);

  According to this system, each individual has a docha, which determines their physical and mental constitution, which will determine their own tendencies, likes and dislikes for different foods, behavior and personality that differentiates each docha. The three different dochas are called Vata, Pitta and Kapha, which are made up of five elements that act in nature - earth, air, fire, water and space, and these elements also act in human beings.

Vatar (air and ether) - harmonized first by the sweet taste, then by the acid and finally by the salty, but is disharmonized (or irritated) by the spicy, bitter and astringent taste.

Pitta (fire and water) - harmonized by sweet taste, then by bitter and finally by astringent and being irritated by spicy, acid and salty flavors;

  Kapha (air and water) - harmonized by foods with a spicy taste, secondly by bitter ones and lastly by astringent ones, being disharmonized first by the sweet taste, then by the acidic and, finally, by the salty

All of these dochas exist in an individual, and the predominance of one over another is what determines variations in personality traits and basic constitution. However, excess docha makes the person more vulnerable and unbalanced, and Ayuredic cuisine is the way to seek balance. You can find out your predominant docha through a questionnaire and a pulse diagnostic exam.

Ayuredic cuisine is an art that combines different flavors taking into account each person's docha dominance, thus contributing to the promotion of physical health, well-being, vitality, mental disposition, emotional harmony and many other effects so desired by all of us.

However, according to Marle Alvarenga, PhD in Nutrition, in a publication in Folha Online, these Eastern concepts have no scientific evidence, and are more related to Eastern culture and traditions and religions.

Sources:

Gaspery et al. Ayuveda diet and the nursing consultation: a care proposal, 2008.

Newspaper. Ayurvedic cuisine promises to balance the body and mind