Here's What You Should Drink & What To Avoid, According To Ayurveda

If you've discovered ayurveda, there's a good chance you've taken the quizzes and done your homework to determine your dosha. Now, knowing whether you lean toward vata, pitta, or kapha, you're loading up your grocery cart with the food that is most balancing for your constitution. But what are you going to wash it all down with? Let's chat beverages and what you should be drinking based on your dosha.

Vata is the driest of all three constitutions, being that it is comprised of the ether and air elements. Vata-predominant people, or those with vata imbalances, need the most hydration of all the doshas. This can come from their food (such as fresh fruit and veggies) and, of course, by consuming more liquids. Sweet, sour, and salty are the tastes that pacify vata best, making most juices appropriate. Milky or creamy drinks are also good, as they help bring a sense of stability and calm. The vata dosha should reduce diuretics, such as coffee and tea, because they can make this constitution's inherent dryness worse. Additionally, it's best to decrease carbonated drinks since this constitution is already made of air.

Favor: Warm water, fruit or vegetable juice, herbal teas (chamomile, ginger, cardamom, cinnamon), dairy milk, nut or seed milk

The pitta constitution is the middle path when it comes to the amount of liquids to consume. They run hot, which can lead to dryness, but they still don't need quite as much as vata since the dosha is, in part, made of water. Pitta is pacified by sweet, bitter, and astringent tastes, which can come from both sweet fruit juice or green drinks (leafy greens, celery, spirulina, chlorella). Coconut water is also great, as it has a natural cooling effect. Pitta dosha should avoid too many fermented drinks, such as kombucha, beer, wine, and other alcohol, as the fermentation increases heat—something that pitta already has a lot of. For the same reason, this constitution should also decrease any beverages that are acidic.

Favor: Room-temp water, coconut water, green juices, sweet fruit juices (berry, mango, guava), herbal teas (dandelion, nettle, mint, chamomile, hibiscus, lavender, rose, jasmine), cow’s milk, seed milk

Because the kapha dosha is made of water and earth elements, this constitution typically needs the least amount of liquids. The bitter, pungent or spicy, and astringent tastes are best for kapha, and so are food and beverages that are light and clear. Water or herbal teas will be best, but juices made with leafy greens and veggies can also feel rejuvenating. This is also the one dosha that can get by with a little caffeine, as the heaviness of this constitution could use a little boost. Kaphas should decrease creamy or milky drinks and reduce cool to cold drinks, as these things can cause them to feel especially stagnant.

Favor: Warm or hot water, black or green tea, vegetable juice, herbal tea (dandelion, nettle, fenugreek, ginger, cinnamon, cardamom); coffee is ok in moderation