A kitchen says a lot about someone. In one look, it can be easy to determine how often they cook, the cuisine they might prefer, and even what foods someone might be allergic to. But just like a kitchen, the way each person eats is incredibly individualized. While some prefer to live plant based, others rely primarily on an animal protein diet, and so on and so forth. Something a lot of us have in common, though? Our doshas.
Don’t know what a dosha is? The nearly 5,000 year old practice of Aryuvedic medicine holds that we all possess three doshas: Vata, Pitta and Kapha.From birth, each of us has one unwaveringly dominant dosha, while the other two ideally remain equal. The dominant dosha is said to be indicative of many different aspects of a person, including their personality traits and eating habits, and can affect a person’s wellbeing on a day-to-day basis. These doshas are affected by what you consume, too, as some foods can disrupt your dosha while some foods can help balance it. That’s why we teamed up with CB2 to explore not only dosha balancing dishes, but beautiful tools to prepare and accompany them. If you find yourself feeling off with no real reason why, an unbalanced dosha could be the culprit. Keep reading to learn to balance your dosha and if you don’t know your dominant dosha, take a quiz here to find out!
Vata
When a Vata personality is functioning in balance, they have a tendency to be lively and energetic. These personality types are known for having extremely creative, fast-moving minds, but when Vata becomes unbalanced, this can manifest into a more anxious, restless energy. If this is the case and you find yourself unable to turn your brain off, skipping meals, or losing sleep, it’s time to change up your diet and bring balance back.
Heavy, warm foods cooked with oil are the best option for this dosha because they can soothe your overanxious mind-body to help ease any symptoms you might experience. Our dish of choice? Opt for a warm pasta, topped with some basil. Fresh basil, along with other select spices such as bay, cinnamon, and cloves, can help ease anxious tendencies. For a truly fabulous Vata meal, use a beautiful gold colander to strain your calming carbs, and lay it all to rest on a trivet made for the self-care queen you are.
Pitta
Pittas are known for being more naturally aggressive, hot headed, and fiery in personality — you know the type. Typically, Pittas experience an increased appetite as well as a quick metabolism. When unbalanced, Pitta manifests into heartburn, hypertension, ulcers, and all around inflammation in the body. Foods with added fat, even animal byproduct, can add fuel to the literal fire burning within Pittas and further throw their doshas out of balance. For this reason, the Pitta diet relies heavily on cooling, calming, astringent foods to help balance the passionate tendencies of Pitta personalities.
Though Pittas should avoid heavily spiced food, ingredients like mint, coriander, or licorice are all Pitta-pacifying. The best way to incorporate these spices into your diet? Tea! Because Pittas are so naturally warm, let your tea hit room temp before enjoying. Before you know it, you’ll be cool, calm, and feeling like yourself in no time.
Kapha
Last but not least is Kapha, arguably the antithesis of Pitta. Kaphas are known for being slow, sluggish, and for holding onto relationships and jobs out of habit and for fear of change. When Kapha is imbalanced, they may notice weight gain, fluid retention, and allergies in their body. If you’re a Kapha and a bit resistant to change, we know you might not be gung-ho about changing up your routine but it’s a great place to start when you feel blah and slowed down.
Exercise is the first recommendation for anyone who has an imbalance of Kapha, but if that’s not your boat, we feel you. Instead, tweak your meal calendar and add some warm, hearty, well-seasoned stews and soups. Adding warm dishes can help to warm you up and energize from within, but the spices are what’s most important here. Incorporating freshly ground spices into as many of your foods as possible will help to invigorate your mind and body, helping you feel motivated and in harmony with yourself.
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This post was sponsored by CB2. However, we believe in providing authentic opinions and thoughts about all products or services.
Photography: Camille Shaw
