Raw or Cooked: What is right for you?
Have you noticed that some people always eat salads and feel great, filled and satisfied? While others get bloated, or still feel hungry? This is not surprising. Different body types require not only different foods but also different ways of eating them. While it is important for everyone to eat their vegetables and greens, salads are not equally good for everyone!
What's right for you?
Some people do better with digesting raw foods while others need everything to be cooked. Similarly, some people do well with a lot of spices, oil and flavors while others get heartburn or indigestion, even though they also like it very much. Another example is fruits and vegetables - sweet type of fruit and vegetables (beets, carrots, sweet potatoes, grapes, pears, mango, peaches) vs. acidic or bitter ones (radishes, endives, cucumbers, green apples, berries, citrus) work differently for different body types.
Ayurvedic body types
How do you know what's best for you? One way to do it is to determine your ayurvedic body type. A couple of years ago my father in law came to visit and brought me an ayurvedic cook book 'Eat right for your body type' by Anjum Anand. That was around the time when I was fully eliminating dairy from my diet as I was breastfeeding my daughter who didn't tolerate dairy. That book contained a body type test ('dosha' test) that determined which one of the three dosha types you are - Vata, Pitta or Kapha.
According to Ayurveda, every person has a combination of those 3 doshas in them, but there is usually 1, or maybe 2 dominating ones. The ayurvedic practice says that our constitution and combination of doshas is established at conception and stays fixed throughout our lives. And this constitution defines us and guides the ways to maintain balance to achieve the most optimal health. That was the first time I heard about it. The book then provided descriptions of each dosha type, energy levels, ways to deal with imbalance, improve digestion and adjust your diet. This included suggestions for cold vs. warm foods, sweet vs. bitter vegetables, sugary vs. acidic fruits, preferred spices, etc.
These tests are also widely available online. However, my problem with these ayurvedic body type tests in gerenal is that every time I did the test, I got different results. While most of the time I get the dominance of Vata and Pitta over Kapha, the mix varied quite significantly every time. This made it confusing for me when deciding which body type advice to follow. So instead I decided to use this knowledge as a foundation and listen to my body for the rest.
Listen to your body and adjust
Therefore, if you are not a big fan of tests like this, your best option is to pay attention to your body's reaction to the foods you eat. Do you feel bloated or gassy after eating certain vegetables or fruits? Do you get heartburn? What leaves you more satisfied - cold and dry foods or warm and oily? If you write these observations down during a week, you'll already get a pretty good idea of what more appropriate food groups for you are.
Take me, for example. I love salads. And I always did. However, I do notice that I often crave warm, more liquid, stew-like foods. They make me feel good, much more fulfilled and satisfied. That doesn't mean that I should never eat salads. But knowing this helps me create meals that are more fitting for my body type. Here are some of the adjustments I made. I started making warm salads and salad bowl much more often - adding warm grains, warm roasted vegetables, starchy vegetables, legumes. I cook a lot of more liquid meals - soups, curries, stews, one-pot meals. I use warming spices, such as turmeric, curry, cumin. I prefer lukewarm water to ice-cold water. I eat warm breakfast (porridge) nearly every day.
To sum it up
There is no such thing as one-size-fits-all when it comes to diet and nutrition. We are all different, and therefore, we need different foods to nourish our bodies. Just because one diet is trendy now, such as raw eating or elimination of carbs, it doesn't mean that it would work for you. My advice is that if you want to try a different diet, introduce it gradually, try it for a few days and see how your body reacts. And only then do a full 'roll out'. It is possible that a particular diet can work for you as is or it might need to be adjusted according to your needs. You are unique, so do what is right for you!