Fruit in Ayurveda

Fruit is a Summer staple. The dominant sweet taste, high water content, and cooling potency make it nature’s perfect addition to our diet during the hot season. Most fruits contain nutrients, antioxidants, and fiber in variable amounts. Some are considered better than others regarding their Glycemic Index (GI) content and their effect on blood sugar levels after consumption.

Fruit is light, easy to digest, and significantly lighter than other food ingredients. When combined with other foods or eaten after a meal, it stays in the stomach for as long as it takes to digest the heavier components and begins to ferment, forming uncomfortable bloating and gas. Ayurveda’s concept of food compatibility, or Viruddha Ahara, provides clear principles for how to enjoy nature’s sweet treats for proper digestion and assimilation.

Classification of Some Fruit in Ayurveda

Grapes

Rasa (taste) – sweet, sour, astringent

Veerya (metabolic effect) – cooling

Guna (qualities) – smooth, liquid

Effect on Dosha – Vata↓, Pitta↓, Kapha ↑

Grapes are sweet and astringent in taste and have a cooling effect on the body. They relieve thirst, burning sensations, fever, bleeding, wasting, constipation, hoarseness of voice, bitter taste and dryness in the mouth, and coughing. Grapes are considered some of the best fruits in Ayurveda. It’s an aphrodisiac, improves vision and diuretic, and promotes elimination.

Dates

Rasa (taste) – sweet

Veerya (metabolic effect) – cooling

Guna (qualities) – unctuous, heavy, sticky

Effect on Dosha – Vata ↓, Pitta ↓, Kapha ↑

Dates are sweet, nourishing, aphrodisiac, and heavy to digest. It is beneficial in relieving bone injuries, burning sensations in the body, and gaining weight in cases of anorexia or recovering from a surgery or an illness. Nowadays, common varieties of dates are artificially sweetened, so stay away from those juicy, fleshy, wet, and sticky Medjool dates and opt for the dry and skinny ones instead.

Figs

Rasa (taste) – sweet

Veerya (metabolic effect) – cooling

Guna (qualities) – unctuous, heavy

Effect on Dosha – Vata↓, Pitta↓, Kapha ↑

Figs have a laxative effect and are suitable for treating constipation, indigestion, and piles. They are heavy and nourishing, making them ideal for gaining weight and building strength after an illness or surgery. Figs are rich in fiber, copper, manganese, magnesium, potassium, calcium, vitamin K, and antioxidants. The fig tree leaves are also rich in antioxidants and can be dried and made into teas and extracts.

Peach (ripe)

Rasa (taste) – sweet, sour

Veerya (metabolic effect) – warming

Guna (qualities) – heavy, hydrating

Effect on Dosha – Vata ↓, Pitta ↑, Kapha ↑

Peaches are slightly heating, heavy, sweet, and sour. Their water content, tartness, and light sweetness make them rehydrating and energizing during summer. The sourness improves digestion and provides gentle cleansing for the liver. It also makes hydrates the gut, softer stools, and easy elimination.

Apricot

Rasa (taste) – sweet, sour, astringent

Veerya (metabolic effect) – cooling

Guna (qualities) – unctuous, heavy

Effect on Dosha – Vata ↓, Pitta ↓, Kapha ↑

Apricots are good for treating burning sensations in the body; they promote weight gain, nourish the blood and reproductive tissues, and can be constipating if eaten unripe and in excess.

Guava

Rasa (taste) – sweet or sour

Veerya (metabolic effect) – cooling (ripe), warming (unripe)

Guna (qualities) – unctuous, heavy

Effect on Dosha – Vata ↓, Pitta ↓, Kapha ↑

Guavas are heavy to digest. Their fleshy and dense nature makes them suitable for adding bulk to the body and curing anorexia and hyper-metabolism. The sweet variety is cooling and nourishing, and the unripe sour type can be heating.

Pear

Rasa (taste) – sweet, astringent

Veerya (metabolic effect) – cooling

Guna (qualities) – laxative, hydrating

Effect on Dosha – Vata ↑, Pitta ↓, Kapha ↓

Pears are soothing and cooling for the body and mind and are good for relieving stress and restlessness. Pears are used to treat nausea, have a laxative effect, and are considered a good source of fiber. Too many pears, however, will have an excess cooling impact on digestion. Avoid eating pears after sunset or if you are suffering from hyperacidity.

Pomegranate

Rasa (taste) – sweet, sour, astringent

Veerya (metabolic effect) – mainly cooling

Guna (qualities) – nourishing, hydrating

Effect on Dosha – Vata ↓, Pitta ↓, Kapha ↓

There are three types of pomegranate; the first variety, the best of the three, is sour, sweet, and astringent in taste. It balances out Vata, binds the bowels, promotes good digestion, supports the heart, and is unctuous, light, and hot in potency. It doesn’t aggravate Kapha or Pitta. The second variety is sour, and it aggravates both Vata and Pitta. The third variety is sweet and is suitable for balancing Pitta.

Coconut

Rasa (taste) – sweet

Veerya (metabolic effect) – cooling

Guna (qualities) – unctuous, heavy

Effect on Dosha – Vata ↓, Pitta ↓, Kapha ↑

Unlike most fatty and heavy foods, coconut supports the thyroid gland and improves metabolism. The type of fat in coconut is quickly and easily absorbed, digested, and utilized by the body, ideal for nourishing those with impaired digestion. Coconut strengthens and nourishes; it restores vigor and vitality and promotes good mental and physical health. It is also very low in sugar.

Mango

Rasa (taste) – sweet, sour

Veerya (metabolic effect) – heating

Guna (qualities) – unctuous, heavy, sticky

Effect on Dosha – Vata ↑, Pitta ↓, Kapha ↓

Everyone loves mangoes! A ripe mango is considered nourishing, building, strengthening, and promotes weight gain. Unripe mangoes are heating and can cause or worsen bleeding disorders in the body.

Apple

Rasa (taste) – sweet, sour, astringent

Veerya (metabolic effect) – cooling

Guna (qualities) – light, rough

Effect on Dosha – Vata ↑, Pitta ↓, Kapha ↓

Apples have a scrapping effect; they reduce mass and clear the intestines from undigested matter. They are rich in vitamins and fiber and are used to treat constipation, soften gallbladder stones, and help lower LDL (bad cholesterol).

Banana

Rasa (taste) – sweet, sour, astringent (if unripe)

Veerya (metabolic effect) – cooling

Guna (qualities) – unctuous, slimy, sticky, heavy

Effect on Dosha – Vata ↓, Pitta ↓, Kapha ↑

Bananas are heavy to digest and have a laxative effect. They are rich in potassium and electrolytes, therefore, nourishing and hydrating. They are good for restoring energy, gaining weight, relieving burning sensation in the body, treating constipation and bleeding disorders, and rejuvenating for the skin and hair. An unripe banana is astringent and may cause constipation.

Orange

Rasa (taste) – sweet, sour

Veerya (metabolic effect) – heating

Guna (qualities) – heavy, clearing, hydrating

Effect on Dosha – Vata ↓, Pitta ↑, Kapha ↓

Orange increases appetite and hydrates the body. Like all citrus fruit, it is rich in vitamin C and antioxidants and supportive of the immune system. Oranges relieve tiredness, thirst, constipation, and nausea. Make sure to eat the fruit with fiber instead of juicing it! Orange juice has too much sugar.

Pineapple

Rasa (taste) – sour, sweet, pungent

Veerya (metabolic effect) – heating

Guna (qualities) – unctuous, laxative

Effect on Dosha – Vata ↓, Pitta ↑, Kapha ↑

Pineapple is energizing, promotes good blood circulation, and increases heat in the body and clarity of mind. It contains high levels of Bromelain, a potent enzyme that aids digestion. Under-ripe pineapple is very acidic and can damage your teeth.

Watermelon

Rasa (taste) – sweet

Veerya (metabolic effect) – cooling

Guna (qualities) – heavy, watery

Effect on Dosha – Vata ↑, Pitta ↓, Kapha ↓

Watermelon is rich in beta-carotene, balances the blood, and eliminates excess heat from the body. It is beneficial in relieving excessive thirst, fatigue, painful urination, bladder infections (UTI), and water retention. Melons digest very fast; therefore, eating them on their own and not combining them with other foods, not even other fruit, is essential.