If you’re into Ayurveda and want to learn how to pair foods in the most beneficial way, read on. We’ll discuss the different food pairings that work best with each other and why they do so. The goal is to help you achieve optimal health while eating delicious meals that are easy to digest.
How Ayurveda Food Pairing Works
Ayurveda is an ancient Indian system of medicine that’s been around for thousands of years. It teaches how to maintain good health by balancing the body, mind and spirit through proper diet and lifestyle choices.
Ayurvedic food pairing is one aspect of Ayurveda that can help you achieve this balance by creating a healthy relationship with food–and thus your body as well!
The main idea behind ayurvedic food pairing is that each ingredient has its own unique energetic qualities (called “doshas”). When combined with other ingredients in certain ways, these doshas can create new properties within them–and these new properties affect how we experience them physically and energetically when we eat them together.
Dairy with Spicy Foods
Dairy and spicy foods are considered to be a good combination. Dairy is considered sour, while spicy foods are considered hot. Spicy food stimulates digestion, which is good for your metabolism. Dairy is a good source of calcium and protein, both essential nutrients for bone health. It also helps to balance the body’s natural pH levels by neutralizing acids in the stomach during digestion!
Animal Protein with Non-Animal Protein
Non-animal protein is lighter and more easily digested than animal protein. Therefore, it’s a good idea to pair it with other lighter foods.
- Don’t mix non-animal proteins with dairy products. Dairy products are heavier than meat or fish, so they don’t mix well with other heavy foods like eggs, poultry and seafood (including shellfish). While you can certainly enjoy these items together in moderation at any time of day, if you’re looking for an Ayurvedic food pairing that will help balance your digestion throughout the day then keep them separate from each other during meals.*
- Don’t pair sweet foods with non-sweet ones–and vice versa! Sweet things tend to be heavier than savory ones; therefore they should be eaten separately rather than all together at once.*
Sweet Food with Sour Food
- Sweet food pairs well with sour food.
- Example of a sweet food and a sour food: apples and lemon juice.
- Example of a sweet food that doesn’t pair well with sour foods: chocolate cake (it’s too rich).
This pairing is good because the sugar in the apple helps to neutralize some of the acidity in lemon juice, making it much easier on your digestive system. Additionally, both apples and lemons are known to be high in antioxidants–a healthy pairing!
Bitter Food with Sweet Food
The sweetness of the food should be balanced by the bitterness of the food. The sweetness will help to balance out the bitterness, which can be a little overwhelming if it’s not paired with something else.
Bitter foods include:
- Beets (especially raw)
By knowing the proper food pairing, your health (and taste buds) will thank you.
Ayurvedic food pairing is a way of eating that is based on the idea that foods should be eaten together to create balance in the body. It’s based on the principles of Ayurveda, which is an ancient Indian system of medicine. By knowing the proper food pairing, your health (and taste buds) will thank you!
- A good example of this principle is when we eat fruits with nuts or seeds like almonds and cashews. The fats from these nuts/seeds help break down proteins found in fruits so they digest easier and faster.*
We hope you enjoyed this article on Ayurvedic Food Pairing. We know that it can be a lot to take in, but we promise it will be worth it in the long run! If you want more information on how to pair food according to Ayurveda and other holistic approaches, check out our website or contact us directly at [email protected]
