Conscious Eating Part 4

How the body terrain responded to the two different types of lipids was an important key to rebalancing the system and rebuilding membrane permeability. Revici and his team found that some pain syndromes would respond to positive polar lipids, and other types of pain would need negative polar lipids, which has to do with essential fatty acids versus saturated fats. He found this to be true for hemorrhage control, vertigo, hay fever, arthritis, certain cancers, and a variety of other pathologies. The principle is how the body is organized to handle the positive or negative polar lipid medicines. In the treatment of cancer, he found that the body varies at different phases of the cancer as to whether it responds to positive or negative polar fractions.

The point again is, how the body handles what it is given is the most important factor. This is directly opposite to the allopathic approach, which gives the same medicine to everyone at every stage. The anabolic/catabolic lipid system seems to have a more dominant role in chronic diseases than for people who are in general good health. I mention Revici's work in depth because it is a powerful scientific support making the same statement about biochemical individuality from a different standpoint. The fact that at different phases of a disease process one may need a different diet, nutrient supplementation, or medicine should alert us to the importance of always trying to be sensitive to the mysterious and wonderful flow of our own physiology, even in our healthy state. The Ayurvedic system is a more global system that helps us understand how to live a balanced life as well as develop a diet that flows with the energy of the seasons, the times of the day, the life stages, and our overall lifestyle. This will become more clear in Chapters 4 and 5 on Ayurveda.

Endocrine Types.

THE ENDOCRINE SYSTEM is ANOTHER FACTOR to be considered in determining optimal diet. It is less of a dominant factor in individuals than the oxidative and ANS physiologies. Endocrine type plays its biggest role in the process of body rate and type of growth. This is particularly true in regard to body shape and weight distribution. This work was pioneered by Dr. Henry Harrower, Dr. Henry Bieler, and Dr. Elliot Abravanel. They found four basic body types: pituitary, thyroid, adrenal, and gonadal. They believed certain foods have specific stimulatory effects on certain endocrine glands. An accurate identification of the endocrine type helps us make food choices that are most supportive of a person's endocrine metabolism.

One way to recognize your type is to look at your body shape. Pituitary types tend to have a large head in relations.h.i.+p to their body. They tend to be creative and intellectual and to like dairy products. Their weight tends to acc.u.mulate all over rather than in specific areas. The adrenal type tends to be long, strong, and powerful with a thick, muscular body, broad shoulders and waist, and squarish head and fingers. Their weight tends to acc.u.mulate in their belly and across their shoulders. They have strong digestion and tend to crave meat and salty foods. They are usually warm, outgoing people with strong endurance. Thyroid types are tall and thin with long fingers. They put on weight around the midsection. They tend to be nervous and to have an erratic flow of energy. The gonadal types (who are mostly women) tend to be pear-shaped with weight on the b.u.t.tocks and thighs. Their upper bodies are smaller than their lower bodies. They like fatty and spicy foods. They tend to be nurturing, steady, and responsible people.

In viewing diet intake from the endocrine perspective, we learn what foods to avoid. If we eat foods that overstimulate our key energy endocrine gland, the gland eventually becomes exhausted. The metabolic rate slows down and we gain weight according to our endocrine type. Pituitary types should avoid dairy products. Thyroid types should avoid a high-complex-carbohydrate diet and go to a high-protein, moderate-fat, and low-carbohydrate diet. Adrenal types do best if they minimize red meat, salt, and cheese. Gonadal types do best if they minimize saturated fats and spicy foods.

As an overview, the endocrine system approach helps to point out which organ system needs to be fed for optimal functioning and weight loss.

Acid-Base Balance.

THE NEWER FINDINGS ON THE OVERRIDING EFFECTS of the autonomic and oxidative systems on the acid/base diet have made the traditional viewpoint of alkaline or acid foods far less important, since what matters is how we respond to the food in terms of becoming acidic or alkaline and not so much the food itself. This traditional view still remains more of a guideline for ANS-dominant people. See Chapter 11 for more on acid-base balance.

Blood Type Approach.

BLOOD TYPE GIVES us AN INSIGHT into our genetic inheritance. It gives us a specific guideline about what foods to minimize in our diet. There are some anthropological extrapolations and dietary generalizations that have been popularized about the different blood types. I find these anthropological extrapolations quite inaccurate. For example, at a recent live-food, vegetarian talk I gave in Honolulu to active and successful live-food vegetarians, about 50%, including myself, were type O. According to popular theoretical extrapolation, those who are type O should do best on a high-flesh, protein diet. I know my health and the health of many of these type Os significantly improved upon becoming vegetarian, according to self-reports.

The only thing specifically worth paying attention to are the high-lectin foods that have been scientifically doc.u.mented and which may be detrimental to us if eaten in excess. The foods we want to minimize are those containing lectins that are reactive with our blood type, or lectins that react with all blood types.

Lectins are protein antigens that bind to the surface of red blood cells or white blood cells. They can set off allergic symptoms or they can act as hemagglutinins. A hemagglutinin is something that binds to our red blood cells or white blood cells and causes them to clump together and disrupt the flow of blood or lymph in the tissues and/or damage organs. These lectins are found in both plants and animals. They are present in about 30% of the foods commonly eaten in the American diet.

Lectins were first discovered in castor beans. In 1945 researchers found that lectins could be blood type-specific when they found that lima beans agglutinated blood type A. Lectins are found most commonly in edible cereals, beans, seeds, nuts, fish, and sh.e.l.lfish.

The following is a list of blood type-specific lectins and panhemagglutinins reported in the literature by Laura Powers, Ph.D., with whom I have had a personal communication on lectins.

The second list is of panhemagglutinins, which means foods that affect all blood types to some extent.

Lectins, in many cases, may be resistant to destruction through cooking, our digestive acids, and proteolytic enzymes. If between 1 and 5% absorb into the bloodstream from a big meal, it is on the border of setting off an immune reaction. If our intestinal IgA antibodies are low, if we have a permeable bowel syndrome, deficient stomach hydrochloric acid or proteolytic enzymes, lectin absorption will be even higher. Cooking food may decrease the lectin amount. Sprouting may also help to minimize the lectin effect. Dr. D'Adamo has reported that if one sprouts wheat, its lectins are significantly minimized so people who normally cannot eat wheat because of their sensitivity to wheat lectins are able to eat it. I have observed the same thing. More research has to be done on the effect of sprouting nuts, seeds, and grains in terms of minimizing their lectin potency.

Researchers have found that feeding high-lectin diets to animals creates significant pathological lesions in the small intestine and thymus as well as in the liver, pancreas, and spleen. The higher the circulating lectin-specific antibodies, the more toxicity They found that diets high in lectins produced high levels of circulating lectin antibodies.

In humans, lectins have caused significant damage from raw or under-cooked kidney beans and hemolytic anemia from Mexican fava beans in individuals with a genetic deficiency in glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase. When these lectins are eaten in excess they can cause intestinal damage, disrupted digestion, protein malabsorption, carbohydrate malabsorption, other nutrient deficiencies, type-two allergy and other responses, and hemag-glutination.

Digestive distress is one of the most common problems that lectins instigate. They can actually cause nausea and vomiting and damage to the microvilli of the small intestine, which is where we absorb our food. From this comes gas bloating and fluid retention. One research paper found that lectins can even promote growth of harmful bacteria in the intestine. When the lectins bind to the microvilli in the small intestine they can cause an inflammation that blocks the production of enterokinase, which is needed for protein digestion. The long-term ingestion of lectins that do this can actually result in a protein deficiency. They cause similar problems with carbohydrate absorption. One researcher found that lectins can reduce the glucose uptake by 50%. Some lectins, including those in wheat germ and jack beans, can even bind to insulin receptors on the cells and interfere with glucose metabolism. Some people theorize that the high lectin content in grains can create inflammatory bowel disease.

Gliadin, which naturally occurs in wheat germ and other high-gluten grains, has been shown to cause inflammatory bowel disease. I have found that clients with high gliadin antibodies and bowel inflammation and digestive disorders experience a definite improvement when they avoid high-gliadin grains. These are primarily the high-gluten grains: wheat, barley, rye, and oats.

Lectins can cause a variety of immune reactions as well as direct hemagglutination of the red or white blood cells. The type of immune reaction depends on the type of antibodies they stimulate. Research shows that they most often stimulate the production of IgG and IgM antibodies, which are typically found in 80% of food allergies. Some of these symptoms include general fatigue, headache, achiness, nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, and eventually immune exhaustion. Research has shown that there is a direct relations.h.i.+p between the severity of the symptoms and the number of antibodies. These IgG and IgM antibodies may also form large antibody-antigen complexes that can combine with white blood cells and immune complement protein factors in the blood. These complexes can deposit in the tissues, organs, and blood vessels, and may be involved in 50% of food allergies. Typical symptoms from these complexes are fatigue, headache, arthritis, muscle pains; liver, kidney, gallbladder, heart, and blood vessel inflammation and destruction, and other diseases; as well as a variety of mental imbalances including irritability, depression, fearfulness, confusion, hyperactivity, learning disorders, and even schizophrenic-like symptoms.

Antibody-antigen complexes may also cause an IgE antibody reaction with the release of histamine in the mucous membranes, resulting in such symptoms as hay fever, rhinitis, asthma, hives, eczema, and hyperactivity. These reactions may also be the cause of delayed reactions of up to three days with migraines, brain allergies, joint and muscle pain, bladder inflammation, gallbladder symptoms, and heart and blood vessel disease.

Lectins can agglutinate red blood cells and lymphocytes. When lectins congregate in large numbers they can cause enough red cell damage to create a hemolytic anemia and jaundice. A literature search by Laura Powers, Ph.D., has found one hundred nineteen dietary lectins reported. Sixty-five of these are blood-type-specific hemagglutinins, and the other fifty-four are panhemagglutinins that can react with any blood type. These lectins bind to the surface of the red blood cell of up to two dozen blood groups, making over 400 sub-blood types. Once the lectins bind to the red blood cells they trigger killer cells, monocytes, or neutrophils, which attach to the red blood cell to cause the agglutination.

How harmful are these lectins that exist in 30% of our dietary intake? The answer lies in the amount of active lectins that get into our system. A significant amount of lectins do not break down when they are cooked and during the digestion process. When they have not been broken down, somewhere between 1% and 5% get absorbed into the blood. Higher amounts may get into the system when high-lectin foods are eaten raw or there is a deficiency in stomach acid, proteolytic enzymes, or secretory IgA (the immune complex that lines the digestive system).

In susceptible people, lectins taken in a high amount can cause a variety of specific symptoms, immune exhaustion, and generally diminished health, well-being, and growth. The situation is complicated by the fact that food sensitivities cannot directly be predicted by blood type. Although hemagglutination is related to blood type and amount of lectin eaten, there are other reactive mechanisms that affect the amount of hemagglutination.

My approach to the lectin issue is to pay attention to what one is eating and specifically how much one is eating. I am an O blood type for whom sunflower seeds are a lectin. As a vegetarian, I eat sunflower seeds on a regular basis. Through bio-kinesiological muscle testing, I found that I could have up to three tablespoons of sunflower seeds without any adverse effects. (A simple muscle-testing procedure is to hold the food at the thymus and see if it weakens an outstretched arm extending laterally from the shoulder; it is about 89% accurate.) This means the lectins from the three tablespoons of sunflower seeds do not create a high enough concentration to cause a reaction. I do not, however, eat sunflower seeds with every meal or even every day, but I do not avoid them entirely.

The same approach should hold true for all the panhemagglutinins. Monitor the amount of intake and see if there is any reaction, or muscle-test each food for sensitivity. Any food you find on the panhemagglutinins list or blood type-specific list that you eat a lot of, I strongly suggest you monitor. For example, blood types A and B would do well to pay attention to their response to soy products. Type As might want to check their response with corn and blackberries. People with blood type B may want to check their response to sesame seeds, cocoa, and black-eyed peas. Those with blood type O should be aware of how they respond to blackberries and sunflower seeds. Those with type M might want to see how they respond to wheat.

The panhemagglutinins can affect all blood types, so again, any food that we eat in excess on this list may cause difficulties. The conscious approach is to check each food we particularly like on these lists. I, for example, test fine when I eat two bananas at one time, but test weak with three bananas. As conscious eaters, we need to find the balance for ourselves.

High-lectin foods are best avoided, or at least thoroughly cook them, especially grains or beans. Improving the fire of our digestion with herbs and digestive enzymes, particularly proteolytic and hydrochloric acid, should help. Dr. D'Adamo found that sprouted wheat did not cause a lectin problem for those sensitive to the wheat lectin. I don't find this to be true for the legumes. Because of this we do not serve sprouted legumes at the Tree of Life Rejuvenation Center, except for small amounts of garbanzo beans, because the others tend to cause gas.

More research needs to be done on the effect of sprouting and the was.h.i.+ng away of the lectins from the various grains. Grains are a high-fiber and high-quality food, and if one needs to have grains, I suggest cooking them unless they are sprouted. Plenty of fiber can be obtained from fruits and vegetables, so grains are not needed for fiber. Some recent unpublished research by Laura Powers studying immune globulin G and E suggests that all blood types, O, Ai, A2, B, A1B, and A2B, have moderate to highly reactive responses to eggs and dairy.

Recent popular books have made broad generalizations about using blood type as a guide for just about everything. Laura Powers, Ph.D., one of the few experts in this field, personally communicated to me that such stereotypes are not doc.u.mented in the nutritional literature. I and several other mature holistic health pract.i.tioners concur that these claims are still in the realm of extrapolated anthropological theory and generalizations.

Further complicating all this controversy is the fact that the various blood types have subdivisions such as blood type Ai and A2 and blood type B1 and B2. These subcategories will react with different susceptibilities to lectins.

My own experience as a person with blood type O was that my health, strength, and vitality significantly improved when I became a vegetarian, despite what the Blood Type advocates say about Type Os supposedly being better suited to flesh-eating. I have also found a significant number of very healthy vegetarians who are type O. These data directly invalidate the anthropological theory approach to blood type.

Because of this, the only lectin data I trust is that which is reported in the scientific literature. The lectin lists from popularized books on the subject have not been doc.u.mented or made available as actual data when pract.i.tioners have asked for it. I raise this point because the more restrictions we create in our diets, the more difficult things get for people. Until more data is available in the scientific literature, the list of one hundred and nineteen lectins is what we have. This lectin list should not rule our lives. It is only a list of foods of which we should be aware so we can experiment with the quant.i.ties and types of food that positively or negatively affect us. Avoidance of high-lectin food to which we are sensitive can often alleviate many physical symptoms.

Summary.

SORTING OUT THE MOST APPROPRIATE DIET in this complex field requires looking at all the factors. The most important point to remember is that we are unique individuals, and as such we best serve ourselves by developing a diet pattern that is unique to our physiology.

There is no one diet for everyone nor one nutrient that will work miracles for everyone. Conscious eating means to remain conscious. It implies being your own scientist and entering into a process of trial and error as you fine-tune your diet. Rediscovering how to eat in a way that best enhances our health, well-being, and joy is a n.o.ble endeavor. When we change our diet so that it is optimal for us, it positively influences all our biological systems and every aspect of our health and well-being.

There are three essential questions to remember: Am I emotionally stable after eating?

Do I have increased physical energy after eating?

Am I craving any foods?

The answers to these questions cannot be obtained from any book. They must come from our own direct experience. This is a most important key to conscious eating.

Preview of Chapter 4.

THIS CHAPTER GIVES SPECIFIC INFORMATION on how to organize your food intake to enhance your personal mind-body (psychophysiological) const.i.tution and health. It explains the best foods and lifestyles to emphasize for the three major psychophysiological const.i.tutions, as well as how to s.h.i.+ft your diet to adjust to the seasons and even the time of day. These const.i.tutions are best thought of as tendencies rather than absolutes. In this chapter you will learn several new words from an ancient culture, such as dosha, pitta, kapha, and vata. These words come from the Ayurvedic system of healing, which is a comprehensive system of medicine developed more than 5000 years ago. The term "Ayurveda" means "science of daily living." As you read this chapter you will begin to recognize your predominant psychophysiological or mind-body type as well as those of your family and friends. It is fun to be validated for who you are. There is also a questionnaire that can help you identify your primary and secondary const.i.tutional tendencies. As you understand these types, you will begin to appreciate the unique needs of each individual and why there is no one general diet that is correct for everyone. Once you understand this, you become free from the tyranny of trying to fit into every fad diet that comes along. You become your own researcher and begin to trust your own knowledge of the best food choices for you. Are you ready to be empowered in this way? Are you ready to become more independent in taking responsibility for your health?

I. The Ayurvedic Tridosha System and discovering your personal body-mind const.i.tution A. Vata: Air/Ether, kinetic energy movement of intestines, muscles, and nerve impulses B. Kapha: Water/Earth, potential energy, body fluids and mucus C. Pitta: Fire and metabolism, balances potential and kinetic energies II. Finding your dosha type A. Characteristics-physical and psychological B. Images C. Food tastes D. Spiritual task E. How to recognize imbalances III. Cycles A. Life cycle B. Day cycles and timing of meals C. Seasonal effects on diet IV. Dual Const.i.tutions V. Chapter Summary.

Personalizing Your Diet to Your Body-Mind Const.i.tution.

IN ORDER TO ARTFULLY AND INTELLIGENTLY DEVELOP an individualized diet, it is useful to be aware that different foods have specific effects on our body-mind complex. These effects go beyond simply feeling recharged from eating a particular food. Ayurvedic and Chinese healing systems, which have been successfully used for thousands of years, both recognize the importance of the specific energies of foods and herbs in rebalancing and healing the body. Western herbalists share a similar awareness about the use of herbs. The Ayurvedic and Chinese also are cognizant that our foods help to balance the relations.h.i.+p of our body energies with the changing seasons of the environment. In the Ayurvedic system, the individual mind-body or psychophysiological const.i.tution is called one's dosha. The tridosha system offers a simple yet relatively complete way to understand how the foods we eat directly affect our health and well-being. "Tridosha" means three doshas or const.i.tutions, which are called vata, pitta, and kapha. Please remember that all the suggestions made in this food and dosha section are only tendencies. Your personal exploration with these tendencies in mind will reveal what works best for you.

Ayurvedic Tridosha System.

THE TRIDOSHA SYSTEM OF THE SCIENCE OF AYURVEDA is particularly useful in helping maintain the awareness of nutrition as the interaction between the forces of food and one's own dynamic forces. In the tridosha system, the five basic elements of creation, which are earth, water, fire, air, and ether, manifest in the human psychosomatic complex as a balance of three dosha essences named vata, kapha, and pitta. Vata is a.s.sociated with the energy of air and ether, kapha is a.s.sociated with the energy of water and earth, and pitta is a.s.sociated with the energy of fire and water. Often they are thought of as vata/air, kapha/water, and pitta/fire.

One is born with a permanent const.i.tutional complex combination of all three doshas. In other words, the dosha combination for each person is genetically determined. These dosha types influence all our biological and psychological tendencies. A person's const.i.tutional type predetermines which doshas tend to become imbalanced more easily than others. When the doshas are in balance, it means there is a healthy psychophysiological state. If the doshas are temporarily unbalanced, one may feel a subtle disharmony in the body-mind complex. If the doshas are chronically imbalanced, the result may be disease.

A rough translation of the word "dosha" given by Dr. Robert Svoboda in his excellent book, Prakruti, is "things which can go out of whack." The vata energy goes out of balance most easily for everyone. The next most frequent dosha to go out of balance is pitta. Kapha is the least likely to go out of balance. The three dosha energies work together in the body to maintain health. All three doshas are needed to maintain the life of every cell and organ. All three doshas must be balanced to maintain optimal health.

For a body organ to remain alive, vata energy is needed for movement of nutrients and oxygen to the organ and for the removal of wastes. The pitta energy is needed for the organ to metabolize the nutrients to make energy for the cells to live. The energy of kapha is needed to maintain the structure of the organ so a.s.similation, metabolism, and elimination of wastes can take place. In disease, one or all three elements may be off. For example, to conceptualize a knee problem using the understanding of the dosha energies, one might say that if kapha energy is decreased in the knee joint there is not enough lubrication; if there is excess dryness and pain on movement, there is a painful vata imbalance. In addition, if there is redness and heat in this joint, a pitta imbalance is indicated. If all three types of symptoms are occurring, then there is a pitta, kapha, and vata imbalance.

Energy Characteristics of the Three Doshas.

THE DOSHAS MAY BE UNDERSTOOD as three forms of energies operating simultaneously in the organism. Vata is kinetic energy operating in the body Vata may also be understood as catabolic, or the energy involved with the breakdown of the tissues and aging. Vata is the force which tends to predominate in the senior years. It regulates all physical and psychological movement including the flow of thoughts in the mind, the movement of breath, the movement of nerve impulses in the nervous system, and the function of the muscles. In terms of digestion, vata supplies the energy for chewing, swallowing, a.s.similating food, and expelling wastes. At the cellular level, vata is responsible for the movement of nutrients into cells and the removal of wastes out of cells. On the level of mind, vata influences the rapidity of the thought process and the flow of impulses in the nervous system. All movement in the body from peristalsis (muscle movement) of the stomach, small intestine, and large intestine, and the entire muscle system, is influenced by vata.

Kapha can be thought of as stored or potential energy. It governs biological strength, vigor, and natural tissue resistance. Kapha lubricates the joints, moisturizes the skin, gives support to the heart and lungs, and helps to heal wounds. The anabolic or growth forces in the body are activated by the kapha energy. Kapha is the energy that tends to predominate in children up to p.u.b.erty. This is the time of active growth. It is also the time that children tend to have illnesses arising out of excess mucous conditions such as colds, flus, and earaches.

Kapha controls body lubrication, form, and stability. It affects the tissues and wastes of the body that vata moves around. Kapha should not be thought of as simply mucus. It is the force in the body which causes the mucus to acc.u.mulate or dissipate. The secretions which lubricate and protect the digestive organs and all the joints are energized by kapha. It affects the structure of the body cells. Kapha gives stability to the mind and power to long-term memory. It helps the mind focus on particular thoughts and chosen topics of concentration. A kapha-dominated personality is stable. Kapha represents the tendency to acc.u.mulate energy and form. It is stored potential energy. For example, a person whose predominant dosha is kapha more easily puts on weight than a person whose predominant energy is vata. The tendency of a predominantly vata person is to readily expel energy. Because of this, vata-dominated people tend to be thin and active, and kapha people tend to be heavy and more inert.

Pitta is the energy that balances the vata kinetic energy and the kapha potential energy in the organism. Metabolism is the main influence of pitta. It primarily affects cellular metabolism and the endocrine or glandular system. Pitta directs digestive nutrients to provide energy for cellular function. The metabolic heat and fire in the body is ruled by pitta. On the mind level, pitta is the energy that processes new data.

These dosha forces have certain qualities and properties that characterize their energetic effects on the body, which helps us better understand their effects on us. Vata and kapha seem to be almost completely opposite in qualities. Vata as kinetic energy promotes change and movement; kapha as stored energy promotes lubrication and stasis. One of the functions of pitta is to balance the opposing forces of kapha and vata. Pitta people seem to be naturally gifted managers of the flow of all sorts of energies. It is fascinating how a person's dosha const.i.tution determines the mental and physical pattern of energy utilization in everyday activities. The dosha type affects how one works with such basics as exercise, s.e.x, money, and ways of organizing one's business and daily schedule. Even one's sleep and dream pattern is influenced by the balance of the doshas.

The body regularly discharges aspects of these dosha forces as part of its efforts to maintain health. Kapha is expelled primarily as mucus; pitta is excreted via acid and bile; and vata is eliminated as gas and muscle or nervous energy. For example, if the system has an excess of kapha energy, one will be discharging more mucus. If there is excess vata, it may be noted as flatulence or muscle twitching.

In each person there is a const.i.tutional balance of these forces that informs us of the tendencies by which doshas most easily become unbalanced. The dosha type, as distinct from dosha energy essences, is a descriptive pattern of our psychophysiological makeup with which we are born and which does not change during our life. Each dosha personality I'll be describing, however, is more of a pattern of tendencies for how the mind will respond to different life situations rather than one's specific individual personality. The dosha can be thought of as a genetic precondition for reacting in a certain general psychological or physical way to the environment. For example, as a kapha it is easier for me to stay peacefully at home than be out socializing at parties, whereas a vata dosha person may be out socializing. Our const.i.tutional dosha balance influences how the body and mind will tend to react when experiencing a particular stimulus, such as food, weather, or emotions. It also influences our lifestyle, form of expression, interaction in the world, and even marital compatibility. As we develop in body, mind, and spirit toward more health in our lives, the doshas do not unbalance as easily.

Finding Your Const.i.tutional Dosha Type.

THERE ARE TEN POSSIBLE CONSt.i.tUTIONAL TYPES: vata, kapha, pitta, vata-pitta, pitta-vata, vata-kapha, kapha-vata, pitta-kapha, kapha-pitta, and vata-pitta-kapha. A particular dosha const.i.tution indicates a heightened tendency to manifest imbalance or disease in a particular way as characterized by the dosha. For example, those with a vata imbalance will unbalance in typical vata ways such as with large intestine difficulties and gas or nerve or muscle problems. Usually people have a combination of doshas such as pitta-kapha or vata-pitta. The dosha mentioned first is the primary dosha to most easily go out of balance. The dosha mentioned second, such as the vata in a kapha-vata, will go out of balance next most frequently. Those who have a vata-pitta-kapha dosha combination either have the most difficulty with their health or they are the healthiest. Those who have the most trouble with their health are those for whom all their doshas become easily unbalanced. Those with the best health do not have any dosha that readily becomes unbalanced. These are the people who seem to have good health no matter what they do to their bodies. The majority of people make up the other nine possible const.i.tutional types.

See pages 95101 for a self-interview to help you gain some clarity on your dosha const.i.tution. Mark the answer to each question from 0 to 3. Three means it describes you most of the time, and zero means it doesn't describe you at all. Add up each column. The column with the highest score is your primary dosha. The combination of this questionnaire and this chapter should give you a good feeling for your dosha const.i.tution.

Usually people are not purely kapha, pitta, or vata, but predominantly one and secondarily the other. If a particular dosha scores much higher than the other two, one is considered a single dosha type. The single dosha can have a score that is up to twice as high as the next one, but it can be less. In a double dosha type, the dosha that represents the greatest percentage of one's qualities is your predominant const.i.tutional type of the pair. The second dosha may be almost equal or considerably less. Occasionally, two doshas are equal, and the third dosha is higher than both. The third is the dominant dosha; most likely one of the two that are tied on the self-interview will emerge as the secondary dosha as you further study and understand your characteristics.

By understanding one's const.i.tutional dosha tendencies it is possible to more intelligently select the most appropriate lifestyle, environment, and dietary pattern for conscious eating. One's dosha type serves as a guideline for selecting the types of foods to eat according to the seasons, time of day, and many other factors, all of which, if wisely chosen and carried out, will contribute to the balancing of one's doshas. The more balance the doshas maintain, the healthier one is.

Vata Dosha.

Images of Vata Dosha People.

THE ARCHETYPAL ANIMAL IMAGES of people with predominant vata const.i.tutions are: goat, rabbit, camel, or crow. Vata possesses the qualities we commonly a.s.sociate with air and wind. Vata energy dries, cools, and roughens like a desert wind. It has the irregular, inconsistent quality of wind coming and going. Like the wind, vata energy is light with little form and much movement. Changeable like the wind is a central vata theme. The mental and physical energy of vata people comes in bursts of wind. The images of vata are somewhat like a cross between a hyperactive child and the brilliant but ungrounded futurist or theorist who has difficulty manifesting his or her vision. The vata person can be a great visionary who exhausts easily from the stresses of life. Vata people have a tendency to use up their energy quickly.