Question submitted by: Nicky Hobson.

Have you ever wondered whether a particular food is permitted or discouraged in Ayurveda? It is a common and perfectly legitimate question. Many people trying to understand Ayurveda ask, What is Ayurvedic eating? Which foods does it include or exclude? The answer becomes clearer when we first understand what Ayurveda is. Ayurveda is a traditional system of medicine that seeks to match foods to people. It classifies both individuals and foods according to their qualities, enabling practitioners to consider whether a particular food is appropriate for a particular person at a particular time.

This may be a new way of thinking. While modern nutrition increasingly recognises that individuals respond differently to foods, Ayurveda has long used constitutional classification as one of its guiding principles. This allows dietary advice to be tailored to the individual rather than assuming the same diet is optimal for everyone. For this reason, there is no universal list of “Ayurvedic foods”. A food that benefits one person may be less suitable for another. The question in Ayurveda is therefore not simply, “Is this food good?” but, “Is this food appropriate for this individual?”

However, the answer to the original question is also yes. Ayurveda does identify foods and dietary practices that are generally regarded as health eroding. They can be grouped into three broad categories.

1. Tamasic Foods

In Ayurveda, foods are understood not only by their nutritional composition but also by the qualities they bring to the body and mind. Tamasic foods are associated with heaviness, inertia and decline. They are generally considered less supportive of vitality and efficient digestion. From an Ayurvedic perspective, freshly prepared food is considered to contain its greatest vitality. As food ages, is repeatedly processed or undergoes extensive industrial manufacture, it is thought to gradually lose these qualities.

For this reason, Ayurveda generally discourages the regular consumption of:

• Foods that are stale or have been left for prolonged periods after cooking.
• Leftovers that have been stored in the refrigerator and reheated.
• Frozen foods and ready meals stored frozen for long periods.
• Canned and heavily preserved foods.
• Highly processed packaged foods containing refined ingredients, preservatives, colourings and flavourings.
• Foods that have begun to spoil or deteriorate.
• Excessively fried foods, particularly where oils have been repeatedly heated.
• Refined sugary sweets and confectionery.
• Excessive alcohol.

The common characteristic is not a single ingredient but the degree to which the food has moved away from its fresh, natural state. Ayurveda therefore places considerable importance on freshness, favouring freshly prepared foods over foods that have been extensively processed, preserved or stored.

Most of us have eaten tamasic foods before and may remember the lack of energy that can follow, particularly when compared with the vitality experienced after eating fresh, sattvic foods. Whether your body can compensate for the occasional consumption of tamasic foods depends on your overall health, resilience and capacity to adapt. However, Ayurveda does not recommend making these foods a regular part of the diet, as over time they may gradually erode health and wellbeing.

2. Viruddha Ahara – Incompatible Food Combinations

Ayurveda recognises that two foods may each be wholesome when eaten separately but less suitable when combined together. Certain combinations are believed to place unnecessary demands on digestion and interfere with the body’s ability to process food efficiently. One of the best-known examples is fish and dairy, such as salmon with cream cheese. Although both foods may be nutritious individually, Ayurveda considers them an incompatible combination because of their differing qualities. Other classical examples include certain combinations of fruit and dairy, melons eaten with other foods, and equal quantities of honey and ghee by weight.

3. Foods That Are Unsuitable for Your Constitution or the Season

The third category is more individual. A food may not be tamasic, nor part of an incompatible food combination, yet still be less appropriate for a particular person or at a particular time of year.

This is one of the defining principles of Ayurveda. Foods are selected not only for their nutritional value but also for how well they match an individual’s constitution, current state of health and the environment in which they are living.

For example, highly spicy foods may be less suitable for someone with a predominantly Pitta constitution, particularly during the heat of summer. Cold salads, iced drinks and large amounts of raw food may be less suitable for someone with a predominantly Vata constitution during the colder months of the year. Likewise, a diet dominated by sweet, heavy and rich foods may be less supportive for those with a predominantly Kapha constitution.

When the body is in balance, it often provides reliable signals about the foods it needs through appetite, taste preferences and satiety. However, these natural signals can become overridden by habit, convenience, emotional eating, social influences or popular diet trends. One of the aims of Ayurveda is to help people reconnect with these signals and make food choices that support their constitution, the season and their changing circumstances.

So, which foods are a “no no” in Ayurveda?

Try to answer these questions in order to find out:

• Has the food lost its vitality and become tamasic?
• Is it being combined with another food in a way that is considered incompatible?
• Is it appropriate for this individual, at this time, in this season?