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Apr 17

Potential Health Benefits of an Ayurvedic Diet – Everyday Health

Diet Comments Off on Potential Health Benefits of an Ayurvedic Diet – Everyday Health

Some age-old practices are based on the idea that the earth has inherent wisdom and one of these systems, ayurveda, upholds the principle of eating in accordance with Mother Nature.

The ayurvedic diet is a seasonal diet based on where you live and the foods that are available, but also what your mind-body constitution needs, says Susan Weis-Bohlen, an ayurvedic practitioner in Reisterstown, Maryland, and the author of Ayurveda Beginners Guide.

In ayurveda, an ancient system of medicine from India, your physical and mental constitution correlates to your dominantdosha (or energy) and the balance of that energy. Each dosha aligns with certain mind-body and self-care practices, foods and nutrition habits, and more, that can be pursued to craft and maintain a state of optimal health and wellness, per a review.

Simply stated, there are three doshas, which are associated with five elements (air, water, fire, earth, and ether). You dominant dosha(s) are reflected in how you feel, think, act, and live. On a basic level, the characteristics of each dosha are as follows:

In the ayurvedic diet, each dosha (or combination, if you don't have one dominant dosha), has recommended foods to eat and avoid, according to each season, in order to remain in balance or regain harmony.

It's not just the foods you eat that are important, but how and when to best nourish your digestive system. If you eat according to ayurveda, you may generally opt to eat three meals per day, making lunch the biggest meal and dinner the smallest. You might also eat dinner earlier in the evening, and avoid late-night snacking, to sync your mealtimes with your circadian rhythm, so your digestive system can rest while you sleep.

An ayurvedic diets focus comes with a purpose: Ayurveda [holds] that our gut health is the engine of our overall health, says Laura Plumb, an ayurvedic teacher in Coronado, California, and the author of Ayurvedic Cooking for Beginners. Through optimized gut health, we [may] have more energy, mental clarity, stronger immunity, and more comfort in our bodies.

Experts say the practices of an ayurvedic diet even the basic ones of seasonal eating and well-timed meals could have numerous benefits. And while conventional scientific research on ayurvedic diets, specifically, is limited, there are many studies to support that its basic healthy-eating principles are good for you.

Note: As always, if you have a chronic condition like diabetes, be sure to consult your conventional healthcare practitioner before making any dietary changes. With that in mind, here are some potential health benefits of the ayurvedic diet, which may improve your health overall.

IBS, or irritable bowel syndrome, is characterized by abdominal pain and changes in bowel movements (diarrhea, constipation, or both), according to the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Disease (NIDDK). Life with IBS can make eating extremely uncomfortable, but theres evidence that an ayurvedic diet may be a valid tool for IBS symptom management.

One small study,published in a 2021 issue of Frontiers in Medicine, involved 69 people with IBS divided into two groups: one followed an ayurvedic diet and one a conventional nutrition therapy, which included a low-FODMAP diet (a type of elimination diet that restricts foods that ferment in the gut and trigger symptoms). After three months, those in the ayurvedic group saw their symptom severity scores fall more dramatically than the conventional group. (Overall, both types of diets were found to be effective.)

Because a low-FODMAP diet restricts many foods and may not be as intuitive to follow as ayurveda (which simply specifies healthy, whole, seasonal foods), the researchers suggest that ayurvedic diets may be easier to adhere to and therefore potentially more effective for IBS symptom management.

Conscious eating, similar to mindful eating, is another tenet of ayurveda. The idea is to sit down and relax while eating and take in the full sensory experience of your food (how it smells, tastes, and feels in your mouth), rather than eating on the go or otherwise rushing through meals, says John Douillard, DC, a certified ayurvedic practitioner and the founder of LifeSpa in Boulder, Colorado. Mindful eating is an approach that a meta-analysis in the November 2019 Obesity Reviews suggested may aid in weight control and management. Furthermore, other studies found that mindful, intentional eating improved digestive function overall, although this research, and the study below, did not specifically deal with ayurvedic diets.

Mindful eating may help people who have issues with cravings (for example, reaching for food to improve their mood). A study published September 24, 2021, in Mindfulness that looked at the effect of a negative mood on food cravings found that participants who used mindful eating strategies accessed with a smartphone app were able to tune into the emotional cues that informed their eating habits. An awareness of triggers helped some individuals alleviate or prevent cravings. But because a mindfulness practice must be maintained consistently over time, its not ultimately a cure for cravings, the authors noted. Its possible that mindfulness can also be the X factor in helping someone adhere to a diet for weight loss, since, as researchers note, many people ditch their diets because of uncontrolled cravings.

Research has shown that meal timing and eliminating snacks, practices central to most ayurvedic diets, provide strategies to decrease calories and lead to weight loss over time.

A small, unpublished study conducted by Dr. Douillard sought to explore this further. Eighteen people were asked to eat three meals a day without snacking, and then, over the course of two months, begin skipping dinner. They omitted dinner for half the week, on average. During the span of the study, people lost 1.1 pounds per week and reported improvements in cravings, fatigue, and mood. The timing of your meals [may] make a difference in your ability to digest, as well as burn body fat as fuel, says Douillard.

Other studies support the overall findings of his research. For instance, one study on women who were overweight or obese found that those who ate a larger meal for lunch experienced greater weight loss, reductions in BMI, and fasting insulin after three months than those who ate a larger meal for dinner. If you eat most of your daily calories when you're alert and active you provide fuel for your body when it needs it, rather than at night when your digestive system is trying to rest and recover.

Additionally, past research on 200 adults with obesity who had been treated at ayurvedic clinics in India found that those who ate according to their dosha had up to a 10 percent weight loss over three months. That said, more research on the relationship between doshic eating and weight loss is needed to substantiate the benefits, and the study has not been replicated.

One of the principles of an ayurvedic diet is to focus on living food, says Plumb, which means plant and plant-based foods, and the diet limits highly processed options. [I] recommend eating fresh foods as often as possible on an ayurvedic diet, she says. (This includes whole grains, rice noodles, and dried lentils, for example, or fermented foods like sauerkraut and yogurt, which are okay because this is how these foods have traditionally been kept and stored.)

There is a state called sattva, which means clarity, light, peace, and balance [in Sanskrit], says Plumb. Theres an emphasis on eating foods like this nutrient-dense whole foods as opposed to those that are rajasic (overstimulating) or tamastic (depleting), which includes those that are manufactured by a corporation and are overly salted, spiced, or fried, and are ultimately depleting to our tissues, she says.

This approach is generally recommended in conventional nutrition, too: Researchpublished in May 2019 in the BMJ found that eating higher amounts of highly processed foods was associated with an elevated risk of heart disease and stroke. These foods tend to be lower in nutrients and have more sodium, calories, fat, and sugar, which can contribute to poor cardiovascular health. Moreover, the additives in these foods, including from their packaging, may also set the stage for metabolic dysfunction and weight gain, the authors note.

According to Brittanica, your gut microbiome is home to trillions of organisms, including bacteria and fungi. Theres a delicate balance of these organisms in your microbiome, which plays a role in nutrient breakdown and immune system function, per Harvard Health, and multiple factors affect this living system, including your diet.

Some research suggests that the spices and herbs often found in an ayurvedic diet may support the growth of healthy organisms and limit the growth of unhealthy strains. Those include ginger and turmeric, as well as ayurvedic herbs like triphala an herbal formulation that contains Indian gooseberry, haritaki, and bibhitaki, and has been used to improve constipation and reduce inflammation, though human studies are needed to support this, according to Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center.

Overall, tuning into your body through ayurveda may set you up for a more harmonious relationship with food, your body, and Mother Nature.

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Potential Health Benefits of an Ayurvedic Diet - Everyday Health

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