Food: A Cultural Culinary History

Lecture 7: Ancient India—Sacred Cows and Ayurveda

Caraka supposedly lived about 800 or 1000 B.C., but some authors

date the text as old as 1500 B.C.

 The dietetic system that arises in this tradition is still practiced

in India today, and it makes a nice comparison with the humoral

physiology of the West. There are also elements in the Ayurvedic

system, but there are fi ve of them: air, fi re, water, earth, and space.

Each of these combined with another creates what is called a dosha,

which is a basic force that governs physiologic functions—not

exactly a humor, but an energy principle.

 Having too much or too little of each of these forces causes illness.

The key is a balance. As in the West, individuals are born with a

certain predilection toward one dosha being too strong—sort of like

their complexion, or prakriti. Just as in the Western system, foods

Ayurvedic medicine involves the use of herbal medicines and preparations.

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