What is Ayurveda?

An ancient body of knowledge concerned with health and longetivity, Ayurveda, as an oral philosophy, may go back to the Vedic times. It is not one text but many strands of thoughts that came together to form one body of the "science of medicine and food". Some Buddhist and Jain traditions are also incorporated; and the unani system of medicine that relied on knowledge from ancient Greece as practiced by medieval Arab doctors borrows from Ayurveda in turn. The Charak Samhita (2nd century) is a text that codifies much of this knowledge, especially pertaining to diet.

Doshas and gunas

According to Ayurveda, all matter is made up of three doshas (humours) and has three specific properties or gunas. The doshas are called Vata, Pitta and Kapha. The gunas are satva, rajas and tamas. The doshas and gunas need to be balanced for perfect health.

6 tastes - each pertaining to a different guna

Foods with the three gunas, can be further divided according to their tastes as those that are sweet, salty, sour, pungent, bitter, astringent. No food is good or bad. Everything needs to be eaten in moderation and balance. The taste of food is emphasised in Ayurvedic cooking-not merely its medicinal properties.

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