Vasant Ritu (Spring): End March to 3rd week of June
What to Eat During Vasant Ritu
Spring has arrived as new flowers and new leaves come about in this season of Ritucharya in Ayurveda. Your strength and vitality are slowly starting to return, though your agni (digestion) remains reduced. This is the time to reduce your kapha dosha that has dominated during the winter.
Daily exercise of some kind is always important in Ayurveda, and especially so during Vasant Ritu. Regular exercise aids digestion and absorption of nutrients, and it keeps your doshas balanced.
Enjoy the sights and smells of the blooming spring flowers on evening walks around your neighborhood, add some hiking to your weekend plans, pump up the tires on your bicycle and go for a ride with a friend, or add an extra game of fetch with the dog into your days. A daily yoga practice will increase blood flow, decrease stress, and boosts your immune system.
But, what to eat this time of year? Stick to easily digestible food such as wheat, rice, old barley, lentils. You should eat foods or drink teas that boost metabolism and have Kattu (pungent) qualities like garlic, turmeric, corriander, cumin, fenureek, or cloves. Also important is to consume those foods with Kashaya (astringent) profiles like kale, broccoli, Brussels sprouts, cabbage, radishes, arugula, and Swiss chard. Enjoy some sweetness and add honey to your diet, which is also astringent and stimulates your agni—but not too much! Consume no more than 1 tablespoon a day.
Avoid dairy, red meat, and other foods that are cold or heavy like nuts, seeds, oils, and processed foods.
Breakfast: The best time to eat fruit is in the morning (and never after a meal or with cooked foods). Fruits like bananas, apples, pears, or peaches. Eat them whole or throw them in the blender (no milk, no ice!) and make a smoothie with a teaspoon of honey.
Lunch: Carrot Ginger Soup
Dinner: Rice or lentil bowl with broccoli seasoned with black pepper and turmeric.
As daylight increases and temperatures rise, your kapha begins to breakdown, and it is important to rid your body of those toxins. In addition to feeding your body those foods that help increase your metabolism, take care of your external self with tepid water for showering, and add sandlewood to a cool bath. Avoid napping and sleeping excessively. Massage with the powder of Chandana, Kesara, Agaru is suggested. Kavalu (gargle), Anjana (eye wash), and detox measures, like Vamana (purging) and Nasya (nasal cleansing) are suggested.
Adjusting your diet and routine during Vasant Ritu will help move toxins out of your body and reduce instances of allergy attacks, headaches, cough and colds during this period. Like a flower bud unfurling in the sunshine, your body requires gentleness and care as you coax yourself out of winter hibernation.