There have been dozens of fad diets over the years, which is why I am always hesitant to use the word diet when talking about Ayurvedic Diet. After all, the Ayurvedic lifestyle of eating has been around for at least five thousand years and I don’t see it vanishing any time soon. I personally follow the Ayurvedic lifestyle, which is what I like to call it instead of a diet. I got a lot of DMs on Instagram with questions about my healthy eating habits and how I was able to overcome my cravings. I am quite lean, and my weight does not yo-yo up and down since I am not really dieting. The best part is that my ABS looks like I do a million crunches every single day, but I don’t! I simply eat healthy foods from the Ayurvedic diet list and let the food do most of the work!
Keep reading if you want to hear all my secrets and know more about this lifestyle that has practically saved my life!
Ancient Indians used the Ayurvedic approach with their meals and found that they were easily capable of solving many of their health issues with the foods and herbs that they chose. When practicing this lifestyle, you use mindful eating instead of just grabbing whatever is in front of you. While there are many different foods included within Ayurvedic diets, not every person will find themselves eating the same things as others around them. The reason for this is that everyone has their own dietary needs and what works for one person will not work for another. We also all have our own Doshas inside us and it is important to know which Dosha represents you and your body. Vatas are energetic and slender, but their digestion is slow and delicate. Pittas have a strong digestive system and the personality to go with it, while Kaphas are calm people and have the digestion that many people would consider normal.
When you choose to start an Ayurvedic diet, you will find yourself eating fewer heavy foods and more of the acceptable soft foods. That means that your diet will change from meats and fried foods to types that are plant based and considered part of the raw vegan diet. All plant based foods are easily digestible and contain more fiber, which means that your entire body will feel amazing every time you eat!
Now, many people get a little nervous when they hear plant based foods, because they automatically think that there is no way that they are going to be able to get enough protein into their bodies without eating meat. However, I can tell you that there are plenty of ways to incorporate plant-based proteins into your days without sacrificing your energy.
Implementing More Protein into Your Diet with Vegan or Vegetarian Foods
There are so many different ways to get more protein into your diet, even if you are only eating vegan or vegetarian foods. Beans, lentils, and legumes are excellent sources of protein for vegetarians and the best part is that they are very affordable! Tofu and soy products will also allow you to incorporate more protein into your vegan diet, plus certain soy based foods are filled with many other nutrients that your body needs. Instead of popping a multivitamin, I recommend choosing these types of foods so you can easily get all the calcium, iron, and vitamin B12 that you need each day. Of course, you can easily pop a vegan multivitamin and the best B12 supplement too, just to make sure that you are getting all the nutrients that you require.
Whole grains, like quinoa, as well as nuts and seeds will give you protein and you can even try plant based meat products. Don’t worry, they are tasting better every year! My personal favorite way to get extra protein into my diet though is a protein powder supplement. I recommend high-quality plant based protein powders, as they are not filled with cheap fillers that are going to cause more harm than good. I simply mix this powder into smoothies or shakes and drink my little extra protein.
Are Animal Proteins Equal to Vegetarian Proteins?
Both animal and vegetarian proteins are made from amino acids, some of which your body already makes and some that it does not. Animal proteins will give you most of your calories in protein instead of carbs. However, it also means that you are increasing the amount of fat you are eating each day.
Vegetarian proteins will lower the amount of fat you are eating, while also lowering your cholesterol. When you choose certain vegetarian proteins, you will find that you can easily have all the amino acids that you need going into your body. While you won’t find complete proteins in every plant based food that you eat, you will find that by eating a variety of them each day will give you the complete profile that you are looking for.
Counting the Protein You Need Each Day
Everyone doesn’t need the same amount of protein, so it is important to know how much your body needs. An easy way to figure it out is to multiply eight tenths of a gram of protein with every kilogram of body weight. Since most people weigh themselves in pounds, it can be helpful to know that one kilogram equals just over two pounds.
A one-hundred-and-fifty-pound person would require fifty-four grams of protein each day, while a one-hundred-and-eighty-pound person would need sixty-five grams. Once you know how many grams of protein you need each day, you can simply track the amounts that you are eating with each meal. This will be tricky at first, especially if you are not used to doing it, but after a while, you will easily be able to tell how many proteins are in each item you are eating. Once you know how many grams of protein you need each day, you can simply track the amounts that you are eating with each meal. This will be tricky at first, especially if you are not used to doing it, but after a while, you will easily be able to tell how many proteins are in each item you are eating.
How to Incorporate the Ayurvedic Diet into Your Days
When you begin the Ayurvedic diet method, you will find that your meals seem slightly strange at first. After all, you are probably used to sitting down to meat, potatoes, and maybe a vegetable in front of you. Well, Ayurvedic methods will have you staring at a plate that is filled with six different tastes that include salty, sweet, sour, bitter, astringent, and pungent. I recommend that you start with the sweet before moving to the salty, sour, pungent, astringent, and bitter. It doesn’t sound pleasant I know, but trust me, you will love every delicious bite!
As you are eating your food, you should savor every single bite while avoiding all other distractions. You should eat really slowly, so you can actually taste every bite that you put in your mouth. However, at the same time, you won’t want your food to get cold, so you must not eat too slowly. When you eat in this way, you may notice that you are quite full before the food on your plate is gone. This is a good sign, because you are listening to your ques and learning how much food your body actually requires.
Benefits of Using an Ayurvedic Diet
While I touched on at least one of these benefits above, I wanted to go slightly more in depth with them here.
- This type of eating will allow you to enjoy low fat foods, which will help you maintain your optimum body weight.
- The minerals that you ingest with the Ayurvedic diet will give you more energy than you have ever had before.
- Every vegetarian protein that enters your body will be quickly digested and sent to where it needs to be inside your body.
- Every Ayurvedic food is high in nutrition, giving you the strength and vitality that you need to get through each and every day.
Now that you know everything that you need to about the Ayurvedic diet and how to incorporate more plant based protein into your vegan diet with it, you can easily start to change your mindset when it comes to eating. I recommend starting with a vegetarian breakfast and then adding more vegetarian meals to your day. Once you get into this habit, you will never ask the question, “What do vegans eat?” ever again, because you will be eating that way all the time.
The best part is that there are tons of vegetarian recipes available to help you through this transition and you can even find numerous vegan meal plans online. Plus, many of the vegetarian restaurants NYC can help take some of the pressure off you as well, because you can order a healthy meal to eat and forget about the preparation and planning!