Shishira & Hemanta (Late Winter to Early Winter): Feed the Fire 

When the air is cold, dry, and the wind bites, Vata is rising. You want foods that are warm, moist, oily, and grounding. 

Swap this → Try this: 

• Ice‑cold smoothie → Warm spiced porridge with ghee and soaked nuts 

• Raw salads, cold wraps → Root vegetable stews or baked squash 

• Light breads or crackers → Whole grains cooked well, like barley, oat, or wheat in mild spices 

Spices to bring in: ginger, cinnamon, black pepper, cloves. Include warming oils like sesame. Use milk or dairy cautiously if your dosha tolerates it. Hemanta in particular is prime time for strengthening foods. 

Vasanta (Spring): Clean Up the Mess 

After winter, spring brings moisture, cool mornings, often lingering dampness. Kapha tends to accumulate heaviness, congestion, sluggishness. Agni is sluggish from winter’s indulgence. Clean‑up mode is on. 

Swap this → Try this: 

• Heavy creamy dishes or full dairy breakfasts → Light grain porridge with bitter greens or sprouts 

• Sugary winter desserts → Fresh bitter herbs, fresh greens, and honey in moderation 

• Fried, oily snacks → Steamed vegetables with pungent spices 

Herbs and Flavors: dry spices (turmeric, black pepper), aromatic herbs (coriander, mint), astringent foods (like certain leafy greens, fruits that are not overly sweet). Avoid cold, raw, or heavy oily food.  

Grishma (Summer): Cool, Sweet, Soothing 

Pitta roars in summer. Heat, light, intensity. If untreated, you get skin rashes, acid, irritability. Body wants cooling, not more fire. 

Swap this → Try this: 

• Spicy hot curries and heavy fried snacks → Cucumber salads, coconut water, melon & gentle dals 

• Coffee or heavily spiced teas → Herbal teas like rose, fennel, cooled oat or coriander infusions 

• Hot oily snacks → Fresh fruit, light dairy (if tolerated), cooling herbs 

Think more hydrating, more juice and fluids. Sweet, bitter and astringent tastes soothe. Avoid overheating foods (excess spicy, sour, fermented in large quantities).  

Varsha & Sharad (Monsoon & Autumn): Support the Transition 

Rainy season hits digestion hard: humidity, microbes, cold damp air. Then autumn begins to dry, and heat linger. Both need care, transitional foods, immune support, protection from seasonal illness. 

Swap this → Try this: 

• Raw or uncooked leafy salads or cool juices when it’s damp → Warm soups, barley risottos, herbal teas, khichdi‑style meals 

• Heavy sweet foods or dairy that ferment easily in warmth and dampness → Light soups, steamed veggies, rice with mild spices 

• Sugary sweets or icy treats → Natural sweeteners, cooked fruits, lightly warm desserts 

Herbs that help ginger, garlic, black pepper, Ramayana herbs that support immunity. Avoid raw greens, cold foods, unclean water.  

Your Dosha + Season = Your Personalized Menu Hack 

Here’s where Ayurveda gets beautifully nuanced. Each person has a Prakriti (constitution) and a Vikruti (current state). Combine that with the current seasonal qualities, and you get a menu blueprint. 

• If you are Vata‑dominant: Be especially gentle in Vata‑seasons (late fall, winter). Even when foods seem appropriate, avoid extremes (like skipping breakfast or relying heavily on raw foods). 

• If you are Pitta‑dominant: In summer and early autumn, Favor cooling foods. But in late autumn or spring, you can tolerate more spice and warmth just enough to balance other doshas. 

• If you are Kapha‑dominant: Use Pitta and Vata seasons to your strength—these are times when you can fast lightly, eat lighter meals, use more pungent, bitter, astringent tastes. Spring is especially potent for clearing accumulated Kapha. 

 

Rituals That Amplify the Seasonal Diet 

Eating seasonally isn't just about what goes in your mouth. The way you eat, when, and with what mindset matters: 

• Eat your largest meal at midday, when Agni is strongest. Avoid overeating at night. 

• Avoid cold drinks during meals; prefer warm or room‑temperature liquids. 

• Chew thoroughly. Be present with your food (no screens) so digestion begins well. 

• Allow periods of rest between meals so digestion completes fully. 

• Use seasonal rituals—light exercise, early rising, oil massage in cooler seasons, cooling baths or herbs in hot seasons. 

Unusual Insights You Probably Haven’t Heard 

• “Transit periods” (Ritu Sandi): Ayurveda calls the edges of seasons transitional times. Usually, two weeks or so. These times are tricky because the body is especially unstable. These are periods when traditional seasonal foods are changing; when you need gentler eating, lighter meals, and expect cravings or discomfort. If you ignore transit periods, you risk seasonal imbalance like seasonal allergies, skin issues, digestion flares.  

• Food quality vs food exoticness matters more than superfoods: A pumpkin from local fields matured in season will often do better for you in autumn than an imported “superfruit” flown halfway around the world. Local seasonal produce tends to align more with local climate, soil, and your internal needs. 

• Taste Profiles change with seasons: Ayurveda teaches six tastes: sweet, sour, salty, bitter, pungent, astringent. You’ll find that you're craving for tastes changes with season. In summer you may crave sweet/cooling tastes; in winter you may lean toward sweet and salty; in spring often bitter and pungent. Listening to those cravings (wisely) helps you pick foods that support what your body wants. 

How to Start Now: Your 7‑Day Seasonal Reset Plan 

Here’s a plan you can use to begin aligning your meals to the current season. Modify according to dosha if you know yours. 

Day 1 & 2: Begin with observing. Notice what you eat now and how you feel. Are you cold? Bloated? Full of energy? Complaints? 

Day 3–5: Choose 3 meals per day that follow seasonal guidelines. If it’s summer, emphasize cooling fruits, raw or lightly cooked greens. If it’s winter, add warm soups, root veg, warming spices. Avoid extremes. 

Day 6: Eat with extra awareness. No screens. No rush. Chew slowly. Eat sitting down. Warm water before or after meals, not during. 

Day 7: Reflect. What changed? Better digestion? Skin feels different? Mood? Sleep? Use that feedback to keep tweaking. 

Why Seasonal Eating Changes Lives (Not Just Plates) 

When you begin eating in season, you start noticing shifts that go beyond digestion: 

• Cravings wane because you feed what your body truly needs, not what marketing says you should want. 

• Energy tends to level out — no big crashes or peaks. 

• Immune system works better, fewer seasonal illnesses. 

• Weight stays more stable because you’re not fighting your natural rhythm. 

• Mental clarity, skin glow, mood stabilization — transient things you thought were normal issues but were signs of your body screaming for alignment. 

The Final Word: Seasonal Wisdom Over Seasonal Trends 

Most diet trends are flashy, trendy, demanding. Ayurveda’s seasonal eating is quieter. It’s patient. It asks less about “how many calories” and more, “what is my body asking for now?” 

If you pause, and feel the weather through your bones, smell the air, notice your edges—cold ankles in fall, clammy hands in summer—you’ll know you’re out of sync. That’s your signal. 

If you lean into seasonal eating, your fork becomes a tuning fork. Your body’s not a machine that’s broken. It’s a living, breathing system in rhythm with the earth. 

So next time you plan a meal, look outside: what season is it really? What leaves are falling, how the air feels, what nature is giving you? Let that guide your cooking. Let that guide your plate. 

Because when you eat with the season, food becomes more than sustenance. It becomes home. It becomes healing. It becomes you.