How to eat for your Ayurvedic body type

Age-old words like Vatta, Kapha and Pitta are lost on many of us, but could they be the secret to our wellness? Food writer and consultant for Jamie Oliver's Ministry of Food, Jody Vassallo believes that Ayurvedic bioindividualism holds the key to our wellbeing.

Ayurveda, which translates to "life-knowledge", is an ancient Hindu medicine. Although there may not be a lot of scientific evidence for its effectiveness, it is a popular alternative medicine.

"There is no one diet that suits every person, so one person's food is another person's poison," Vassallo says.

Vassallo's new book, beautiful food, shares the Ayurvedic philosophy of eating, based on the principles of three doshas. These are the energies that create our individual make-up, each performing a different physiological function in the body.

By body type, Ayurveda isn't referring to pear or apple, rather the amounts of each energy type you have in your make-up that will determine your physiological and personality traits, and even general likes and dislikes. To determine your body type you simply answer questions about your mind/body constitution to ascertain where your Ayurvedic energies lay.

"It does take in body shape and frame but it also takes in skin texture, it takes in emotional qualities in a person and also psychological qualities in people," Vassallo says.

We all have elements of all three doshas, but usually one or two are dominant.

"We all feel sometimes hot, and we all feel sometimes cool," Vassallo says.

"Ayurveda looks at people and their body types and says if you're feeling hot then these are the types of food that are going to cool you, and if you're feeling cool these are the foods that are going to warm you. If you're feeling ungrounded and unsettled, then these are the foods that are going to ground you."

"Someone who is a Pitta type is more inclined to feel hot in general but even more so inclined to feel hot in the summer months, so those people would then be having cooling herbs and things."

A Pitta type is likely to be a driven, impatient and competitive person, but cooling foods such as melons, cucumber and fresh salads may help them maintain their kind and generous disposition.

"Fire rises so [Pitta] are very much in their heads and they're always trying to intellectualise things, whereas someone who gets more anxious is what we call a Vata type and they're more cold in their body. They're usually the more creative types. They worry a little bit more, it's hard for them to feel settled, and they get more digestive disorders."

Ayurveda is not just about food. If you're feeling more Vata, or unsettled, due to change or travel, rubbing yourself with warmed cold-pressed sesame oil could calm you, as can sipping warm milk with ghee. Adhering to routine can also help.

Vassallo has written 37 recipe books, but as her career progressed her interests gravitated towards health and nutrition. Her ayurvedic body type is Kapha.

"Ayurvedic rituals have changed my life," Vassallo says.

"My life would not be the same if I didn't have ghee to ground me, if I didn't make sure I don't have raw vegetables as soon as it starts to get cold. I need these things to keep my system warm and I need to make sure that when I start to feel the weather change the way I eat changes accordingly."

If your dosha is Kapha then cold foods may slow you down to a sluggish pace. When Kapha is unbalanced it can lead to insecurity and envy, but they are loving creatures when balanced. Warming spices such as ginger, black pepper, chilli and cumin work well for Kapha.

Vassallo's diabetic recipe books drew her to the attention of another passionate foodie, Oliver, and a friendship grew, which allowed Vassallo to embark on one of her most fulfilling food ventures.

"I trained their centre and truck staff in all of their recipes that they present," says Vassallo of the 10-week healthy eating program that has changed the lives of many people worldwide by giving them the tools for better health.

"It really was just the most wonderful, life-changing program I've ever actually been a part of. It's really, really very special."

Vassallo recognises it is this kind of fulfilling work that plays a major role in her overall wellbeing; that we as a species require more than sustenance from what we ingest. A message of living a balanced life is shared throughout beautiful food, but Vassallo also stresses that we don't need to take food so seriously.

"We don't have to overthink it. My approach is if I eat well 90 per cent of the time and then I allow myself 10 per cent of the time to have treats and celebratory food then my life is a very, very healthy place. When it's someone's birthday I want to eat cake with them. I want people to understand that food has become so serious for some people. There's no joy in it."

Jody Vassallo's smoked salmon kedgeree

Ingredients

300 g hot-smoked salmon

2 tablespoons ghee

3 spring onions, sliced

1 tablespoon grated fresh ginger

1 teaspoon garam masala

1 teaspoon curry powder

1 teaspoon black mustard seeds

210 g (1 cup) millet, rinsed

200 g (1 cup) corn kernels

2 hard-boiled free-range eggs, peeled and quartered

2 tablespoons chopped flat-leaf parsley leaves

finely grated zest and juice of 1 lemon

Method

Break the salmon into large pieces. Heat the ghee in a large non-stick frying pan, add the spring onion and spices and cook over medium heat until the mustard seeds start to pop.

Add the salmon, millet, corn and 1 litre (4 cups) of water to the pan and bring to the boil. Reduce the heat to low, cover and cook for 25 minutes, until the millet is soft and the corn is tender. Add the eggs and parsley and cook for 5 minutes. Remove from the heat and season with the lemon zest and juice.

Serves 4

Recipe is extracted from Beautiful Food, published by Harlequin Australia, $39.99.