Food is a medicine that heals unbalances, keeps the ideal shape of body and mind, and ultimately makes you feel good. Here the best Ayurveda Cookbooks for Beginners, Vegetarian, Foodie + non-vegetarian options.
If you are tired of miracle weight loss regimens that are simply too good to be true or you just quail before that very four letters word – diet – Ayurveda could offer the approach to food you are looking for.
Rather than prescribing restrictive dietary plans, ayurvedic nutrition teaches to literally trust your gut. According to ayurvedic knowledge, each individual was born on a dominant body type. Therefore, what your body craves could be exactly what your body needs to be healthy.
Ayurvedic diet is essentially common-sensical. It’s based on the idea that food is a medicine that heals unbalances, keeps the ideal shape of body and mind, and ultimately makes you feel good.
And that the best therapy for wellness is rooted in a more fulfilling way of cooking and eating.
Here are some reliable manuals about ayurvedic nutrition and the best Ayurveda cookbooks to help you on your journey to a healthier lifestyle.
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For the health-conscious: Guidebooks on ayurvedic diet and cooking
The Ayurvedic Cookbook
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It has been for years the classic ayurvedic cookbook, even if the layout looks now a tad dated, as it has no pictures.
It’s nevertheless an informative manual to get to know the fundamentals of ayurvedic nutrition, including the three main body types (dosha), their attributes, and dietary needs. It also examines the therapeutical properties of 130 foods and 100 supplements and their interactions with individual constitutions.
With more than 250 recipes recommended by an acclaimed ayurvedic chef (the co-author), there’s no shortage of variety. Most of the recipes are accessible and tridoshic (they fit all body types), yet strictly vegetarian and based on Indian cuisine.
Ayurvedic Cooking for Self Healing
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Written by a world-renowned ayurvedic practitioner and pioneer of ayurvedic studies in the west Vasant Lad, this book is a clear, simple, and insightful guide about ayurvedic nutrition. It covers all the basics: how eating habits affect our health, the ayurvedic concepts of taste (rasa) and digestion (Agni), foods combining, and nutritional qualities.
The theoretical part is accompanied by a selection of recipes from the author’s wife, easy to prepare and properly labeled to clarify the effect on the different doshas.
It’s a good introduction if you want a reliable source on ayurvedic cooking and to get acquainted with authentic Indian foods cooked according to ayurvedic guidelines. Beware, as in the best Indian culinary tradition, there are many spices involved and excellent kitcharis to be hooked on.
Ayurveda Cooking for Beginners: An Ayurvedic Cookbook to Balance and Heal
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Laura Plumb’s gift for teaching and communication is greatly conveyed in a well-presented and approachable handbook about ayurvedic cooking and diet.
The book gives a comprehensive overview of the core concepts of Ayurveda, with an explanatory introduction about doshas and how they relate to flavors and seasons.
The recipes are intelligently organized by meal-type and according to seasons, and they indicate recommended variations for each dosha type. Check them out on the author’s popular blog Food: A Love Story.
Ayurveda: A Life of Balance: The Complete Guide to Ayurvedic Nutrition & Body Types with Recipes
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Cancer survivor Maya Tiwari accompanies the reader through a profound and passionate exploration of Ayurveda as the science of food.
Her focus on daily routines, rituals, sadhanas, suggested to activate the inner cosmic memory of the right living, unfolds the spiritual aspect of the ayurvedic diet.
The exceptional description of seven distinct types of doshas (dual doshas constitutions are valuably included) is remarkably completed with the seven body types food charts, seasonal menus, and a broad collection of easy ayurvedic recipes and home remedies.
For the foodie: Cookbooks with gorgeously photographed ayurvedic recipes
What to Eat for How You Feel: The New Ayurvedic Kitchen – 100 Seasonal Recipes
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Directly sprawling from the long-serving celebrated Manhattan vegetarian restaurant Divya’s Kitchen, it comes with a brilliant cookbook filled with the author’s knowledge and passion for ayurvedic cuisine.
The plentiful, superb, and exquisitely pictured recipes are broken down according to seasons, each with detailed step-by-step cooking instructions and valuable tweaks customized for individual body types.
In addition, there’s an outstanding selection of spice blends and tea mixtures for every need, along with recipes to make your own cheese, yogurt, and non-dairy milk.
Eat Feel Fresh: A Contemporary, Plant-Based Ayurvedic Cookbook
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Definitely the most glamorous ayurvedic cookbook out there, it would be worth just for the dazzlingly colorful pictures of mouthwatering dishes and vibrant Indian scenes.
But the author goes a step further as she aims to recalibrate traditional ayurvedic cuisine on a vegan alkaline diet, offering a solid variety of totally vegetable-based, no-grains, and dairy-free recipes.
The Everyday Ayurveda Cookbook: A Seasonal Guide to Eating and Living Well
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If you feel that ayurvedic knowledge is just too overwhelming, this is the book for you.
The enticing cookbook, enriched by a charming layout and beautiful photographs, makes ayurvedic cooking intuitive and accessible to everyone.
It offers over 100 seasonally organized recipes, with simple procedures and fresh, easy-to-source ingredients belonging to the American diet.
In addition, good charts about everyday foods and valuable blends of spices (one specific for every season) are proposed to simplify ingredients’ shopping and usage.
For the omnivorous: Flexible ayurvedic cookbooks with non-vegetarian options
East by West: Simple Recipes for Ultimate Mind-Body Balance
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Tv presenter and cook Jasmine Hemsley shares her personal journey to wholesome food and healthy cooking.
Harmonizing Eastern inspiration and wisdom to the Western palate and lifestyle, the cookbook revisits ayurvedic principles to tune up with the busy modern routine.
The result is an ingenious collection of highly balanced, nourishing, digestion-soothing, and delicious culinary creations, often giving a healthy twist to beloved, comforting dishes.
The stylishly illustrated recipes are meant to satisfy every kind of dietary custom and food intolerance, as they include vegetarian as well as gluten and dairy-free dishes, plus several healthful ideas for meat and eggs lovers.
Eat-Taste-Heal: An Ayurvedic Cookbook for Modern Living
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Eat Taste Heal is a great introductory read if you want to surf the fundamentals of Ayurveda before venturing into ayurvedic cooking.
The first half of the guide outlines an interesting overview of ayurvedic nutrition based on the personal experience of the three authors, each one offering a different view of the subject as they are an ayurvedic physician, a patient who was healed through ayurvedic practices, and an ayurvedic chef.
The recipes are gorgeously photographed, rooted in Western taste, and include some healthy and tasteful fish and chicken options.
The Essential Ayurvedic Cookbook: 200 Recipes for Health, Wellness and Balance
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The author, an ayurvedic practitioner trained by guru Vasant Lad, offers a flexible and refreshing approach to ancient Ayurveda medicine that makes it extremely straightforward to incorporate ayurvedic nutrition guidelines into everyday lifestyle.
Recipes are tridoshic, thus tailored to accommodate needs for all body constitutions, and cater for a variety of eating habits as they contain non-vegetarian dishes including less obvious meat choices such as bison and rabbit.
