Ayurvedic medicine, also known as Ayurveda, is a time-tested alternative healing therapy that seeks to balance the mind, soul, and body with the outside world to optimize good health. A practitioner of Ayurveda will want to know several things about you, such as your weight, and will look at things such as your skin, health of your eyes, teeth and gums, and your medical history. Unlike traditional medicine, Ayurveda seeks to look at your whole health. In traditional medicine, a doctor will look only at your body, or only at your mind, and treat it separate from the other parts of your being. Ayurveda encompasses all aspects of health, and can bring balance to people that are usually in and out of any type of doctor’s office.

Ayurvedic Diet

Ayurveda focuses on diet. An Ayurvedic diet improves the health of the body and mind immensely. Ayurveda recognizes that each body is different and needs different foods to maintain optimal health, but it focuses on everyone’s need for six different types of food in a daily diet. If all six types of food are consumed within one day, your physical health will slowly begin to improve! Food is a critical part of all natural healing medicine practices.

1. Sweet

Sweet foods include carbohydrates that break down into simple sugars, such as rice, and also honey, foods with regular sugar (in moderation), and milk.

2. Sour

Sour foods include lemons, limes, yogurt, and cheese.

3. Salty

Almost any food can be made salty if it is properly seasoned. Properly seasoning proteins can satisfy this requirement.

4. Pungent

Pungent, in this case, refers to spicy foods. Spicy foods include hot peppers, chili powder, curry powder, and other hot vegetables and spices.

5. Bitter

Leafy greens like spinach or kale are bitter when raw, as are many herbs. Incorporating vegetables and herbs into your diet will optimize health.

6. Astringent

Beans and lentils provide protein, but they also have major health benefits.

If you follow an Ayurvedic diet as directed by an expert, it will harmonize your mind, soul, and body, improving your overall health greatly, without requiring a restrictive diet.

ayurvedic diet

Herbs in Ayurveda

There is more to Ayurveda than a good diet. Herbal treatments are used to treat many common problems.

Before using herbs to treat a condition, make sure to check with your primary care physician, because some herbs can interfere with medications you may be taking, and even herbal supplements that you take regularly.

Acne, high blood pressure, arthritis, frequent headaches or physical pain, anxiety, and depression have all been successfully managed by Ayurvedic herbal treatments. There is even research that some herbs may be used to treat cancer. Ayurveda has contributed significantly to the practice of prescribing herbal alternative medicine. Prescribing herbal supplements is as commonplace in some parts of the world, like Europe, as restricted prescription medicines are in the United States.

Why Choose Ayurveda?

Ayurveda is a specialized treatment program that can eliminate or manage your common health problems. Experts in Ayurveda help form a health program that is right for your individual needs. There is more to Ayurveda than just diet and herbal supplements, which mostly manage the physical and mental aspects of health. Ayurveda encourages you to take time to practice meditation, get specialized massages, and focus on living in the present. Those practices can improve both mental and physical health, while also focusing on your soul, and reconnecting it to your mind and body. Anxiety, depression, and other mental health problems can be alleviated by many practices that harmonize your mind, body, and soul. Ayurveda truly does look at a person as a whole, not just a physical body or a mind when treating your problems. Find an Ayurveda expert, and see what a difference this alternative healing therapy can make in your life.