Ayurveda is the Eastern philosophy of holistic health that deals with body constitutions and what we should eat to thrive according to our body constitution and what imbalances we might be experiencing at the moment.

When it comes to addiction, we are dealing with two core issues: too much fire aka pitta and too much vata aka air element.

When these elements get out of balance, we need more grounding aka the earth element.

The interesting aspect here is to understand how different food groups correspond to the different elements and can be used to help us in grounding us more rather than increasing our airiness and disconnectedness that most addicts describe.

What are grounding aka earth element foods?

They have certain weight to them, sweetness, density and a nourishing component - if ever food was love and warm, those would be it.

Milk
Butter
Wheat and many grains
Rice
Sweetness
Salt
Cooked, moist and warm foods

What are airy aka air element foods?

Raw and cold foods
Light foods
Unripe and sour fruit
Hot and spicy foods

Now you will notice that many foods we traditionally think of as healthy belong to the air element - that is because we typically look to those foods to lose weight. Yet we do not lose weight when we get out of balance of the core elements, so too much focus on any one group will eventually lead to an imbalance and sickness, if we do not master the art of balanced eating over time - listening to our body at different times and stages in our life and matching that body intelligence with what we put into it.

In addiction, we want to go after foods that nourish our center and ground us.

We need the love, safety and nourishment that the earth element provides us with.

Nothing more grounding than a hot cup of chai with steamed milk - it literally fills our body and soul with peace. That is true nourishment: eating according to our needs.