DETERMINING THE BODY TYPE OF AN INDIVIDUAL:
Table 12 & 13 which give information about physical characters and emotional characters about each body type. One should tick the particular characters he has for each of the Dosha and count them. The maximum number of characters in a particular dosha gives his major body type, and the second is his minor body type i.e if one finds maximum characters of Vata Dosha and lesser of Pitta Dosha and the least of Kapha Dosha, his body type is predominant in Vata and less dominant in Pitta. He has a dual body type i.e. Vata Pitta.( you can match it with table no.10 and see which of the photograph type does the individual resemble).
After diagnosing the constitution of the individual, if he is predominant in kapha dosha, table 11 will give him the Do’s and don’t’s of each dosha. In Kapha Dosha and even in diseases related to Kapha dosha(increase in kapha dosha- table no 8, table no.7- ailments caused by the impairment of five types of kaphas), one must be prescribed to take less quantity of food which is warm and take food having pungent, bitter and astringent taste. He should be advised to observe fast, once a week. He should do oil massage with stimulating oils like sahacharadi oil etc. He should do regular and vigorous exercise & have kapha tea. Herbal dietary supplements as mentioned earlier like Guggul, Sitopaladi Churna, Trikatu, Chavanprash should be prescribed strictly under medical guidance. Likewise, for pitta & vata body types.
If a person is dwelling in the rainy season (early fall) it is but natural that even the seasonal aggravations of Vata Dosha will be there. This is given in table 15. The tastes of seasons and seasonal taste adjustment are given in table no 16 & 17. A person having Vata dosha predominant should be prescribed & strictly told to follow the regime of early rainy season (given in, regime in rainy season). The tastes given for this season are Major- Sweet, moderate salty, moderate unctuous, warm. Minor –Pungent, astringent etc given in the same table. He should be prescribed with the season do’s & dont’s given for rainy season in table 18.The food articles (diet) to be taken on daily basis should be prescribed from table no. 19 i.e choice of food according to vata, which will be most beneficial for the individual. ( on the same guidelines prescribe routines for pitta body types dwelling in autumn & kapha body types dwelling in spring)…..always remember that before aggravation there is accumulation of the specific Dosha with respect to the season( refer table no.15).So if the 16 & 17 no charts are followed in the accumulation period i.e 25 days prior to the aggravating season , there would be minimum aggravation of the Doshas & thus the ailments( refer table no 3,4, 5,6,7 & 8) related to it … In this way Ayurveda can be the best preventive natural medication.
If an individual’s body type is Pitta-Kapha and he his dwelling in the early rainy season, where there is aggravation of Vata Dosha. He should be prescribed with the general rules given in regime for rainy season , as both the Doshas forming his body type are not dominant in this season( table no.15).The prescription should include seasonal taste adjustments & seasonal do’s & don’ts for pitta( table 17 & 18). The food articles (diet) to be taken on daily basis should be prescribed from table no. 19 i.e choice of food according to pitta , which will be most beneficial for the individual. Food articles prescribed out of the table no.19 should be taken from table no.21 keeping in mind that they don’t aggravate pitta & kapha(refer note 21 at the end of food charts). He should follow the Dincharya and avoid the uneasy combinations given for all body types in table 20. These combinations should be avoided by every individual as mentioned earlier.
