Spice Of Life

When I was at Whole Foods today I picked up a magazine called Delicious Living. One of the articles in it was called Spice for your type; it was about spices and how they applied to Ayurvedic medicine. I was completely unfamiliar with the concept, so I did some research today about Ayurveda and how it relates to digestion.

According to Wikipedia, Ayurveda (the 'science of life') is a system of traditional medicine native to India. It teaches that good digestion leads to good health and poor digestion can bring disease; Ayurvedic treatments are primarily dietary and herbal.

There are three dosha, or Ayurveda mind and body types: Vata, Pitta and Kapha. Since each type could benefit from specific spices, I figured I should know what type I was. I took the quiz at What's Your Dosha and found I was a Pitta.

Now that I knew all about my dosha, I was ready to go back and figure out what spices best represent me. According to the article:

In Ayurvedic medicine, spices normalize digestion, helping balance a person's physiology and personality.

The pitta dosha, containing strong elements of fire and bile, begets passionate personalities. Natural leaders, pittas have fair skin, warm hands, and average builds. This type requires spices that stabilize the body without overheating it. Use fennel and coriander to cool the body down and cardamom to balance your digestive system.

I don't know if I'm convinced that Ayurveda could make a difference, but it certainly wouldn't hurt to keep my new-found knowledge in mind.