Feeling overwhelmed by all the conflicting diet advice out there? Keto, paleo, vegan – it’s enough to make anyone’s head spin! This article explores a personalized approach to healthy eating, combining the wisdom of Ayurveda with the principles of the blood type diet.
Understanding Your Unique Needs
Do you know anyone who has gone keto, lost a bunch of weight, and then you find yourself wishing that you, too, could look that great? But then you also know someone who raves about how amazing she feels on her healthy vegan diet? There is so much conflicting advice out there about the foods to eat, it’s hard to know where to begin. Is it keto, carnivore, vegetarian, paleo, vegan, raw vegan, grain-free or lectin-free? When did how we nourish ourselves become so complicated?
Every style of eating has its logical points, they just so happen to conflict with each other. So how do we choose? To address health challenges, manage weight and improve energy levels, I’ve personally tried almost every single style of dieting. From lectin-free to vegan to paleo, I have gained some wisdom in the process and want to spare you some time. I’ve boiled my findings down to two easy tips for determining your best diet.
Ayurveda: The Ancient Science of You
In order to follow my first tip, you’ll need to dabble in Ayurveda.
In a nutshell, the ancient science of Ayurveda contends the five main elements that comprise the building blocks of the universe — space, air, fire, water, and earth — are the same building blocks of your body. This unique combination of elements is known as your dosha constitution.
It determines how you process food and influences your overall health.
Instead of a one-size-fits-all approach, Ayurveda considers your individual characteristics to create a personalized diet plan whereby you would eat according to your “dosha” or constitution. It’s quite rare to have even amounts of each element represented in your physiology—we’re all born skewed toward one primary element, maybe two.
For example, as a person with an abundance of fire element, I need to limit my intake of foods that have a heating effect on the body. By heating, I do not mean temperature or even necessarily spice! Little did I know the oily component of salmon cooked with ginger (read: very heating) was adding fuel to my internal flames. Both of these consistently make the top 10 list of superfoods devised by health experts, by the way.
Gaining just a little knowledge of the foods that elevate the fire element in my body helped reduce the common fiery person ailments such as heartburn, acid reflux, hypertension, and many skin conditions (acne, eczema, and rosacea). The Ayurvedic approach to nutrition is quite logical and furthermore considers the individual, understanding one size health advice does not fit all. To read more about Ayurveda and discover your unique constitution, click here.
Blood Type Diet: Food for Your Type
The blood type diet is a nutritional plan popularized by Dr. Peter D’Adamo in his book “Eat Right 4 Your Type.” The premise of this diet is that an individual’s blood type (A, B, AB, or O) should determine their nutrition. Each blood type has unique characteristics that influence a person’s microbiome, metabolism, absorption, and susceptibility to certain diseases.
Personally speaking, there was a time I followed the Ayurvedic style of eating so closely without considering my blood type (O-negative), new problems began to arise. Ayurveda recommends a vegetarian diet for fiery people (me!) simply because many animal proteins have a heating effect on the body. So I began consuming legumes and dairy products as my primary protein sources in an effort to cool things down, not realizing those two food groups are the main ones Type O’s should avoid.
I had also upped my ante on other O-violators, such as cashews, avocados, and coconut products, thinking I was doing my body good. It took a while for the problems associated with an unhealthy microbiome to arise, but they did. Daily bloating, irregular digestion, more colds, low energy, and skin conditions became more commonplace, which were extremely annoying. Especially for someone who thought she was eating a healthy diet. Now that I have merged the two nutrition philosophies, I have a lot more energy and experience much better health. Not sure of your blood type? To purchase an at-home blood type test kit, click here.
Combining Wisdom for Optimal Health
The beauty of this approach lies in combining these two systems. If you only go by one, you’ve only got half the equation. Here’s how it might look for the type O, fiery pitta person. According to Ayurveda, you will benefit from avoiding foods that have a heating effect on the body. So then you turn your focus toward emphasizing foods that have a cooling effect. What you’ll want to avoid is choosing the cooling foods that aggravate your blood type. Essentially, by combining both principles, you’re refining your ingredient list on what works for your unique needs and goals. This can lead to improved digestion, increased energy levels, and a stronger overall sense of well-being.
Ready to Discover Your Perfect Diet?
At KatherineGalligan.com, we offer a variety of services to help you on your health journey.
– Individual Health Consultations: Gain a deeper understanding of your dosha and receive personalized dietary recommendations.
– Healthy Cuisine Kitchen Retreats: Learn how to create delicious and nourishing meals based on Ayurvedic principles and blood type guidelines by getting hands on experience in the kitchen.
If you still feel totally lost, Katherine is an Ayurvedic health practitioner, personal chef, and healer at heart who loves nothing more than empowering people, starting with their health. Join her for your very own personal nutrition beach retreat! To find out more, click here.
