Lesson 7 – Food for thought

Warm up

Do you think different foods can change our state of mind, i.e., change the way we think or feel?
Do you think that certain personality types tend to prefer certain types of food?
Do passionate people tend to prefer hot, spicy food?
Some people think eating a lot of meat makes people aggressive.
You are going to hear a description of Ayurveda. Have you heard of it?
Ayurveda links our personality with what we eat.

Play the recording and answer the question!

You are going to hear the interview again. You should make notes about the positive and negative aspects of the personalities of each type of person.
Play the recording. Then compare your answers before the teacher check them.
Which type do you think you are? You are going to an activity to find out.

The teacher will divide the class into pairs and call one person A and the other B.
Look at the text below and read the instruction. Do the first question together: Do you often get excited by things?
Ask the teachers if you need help.

Interview your partner about their personality and habits. Ask them how much the following characteristics apply to them, and write a score from 1 to 5 for their answers. If a statement is not at all true for them, score 0; if it is 100% true, score 5. When you have finished, find the total score for each body type.

Vata	Pitta	Kapha

Look at the three scores for your partner. If one score is a lot higher than the other two, then the high score shows their body type (e.g. Vata 45, Pitta 24, Kapha 22 means their body type is Vata). If their top two scores are similar, then they are a mixed body type (e.g. Vata 36, Pitta 38, Kapha 17 means their body type is Vata/Pitta).
Tell your partner their type. Do they recognize their personality from the description of their type in the radio program?
Ask your partner about their diet and give them advice from the information below.

Vata	Pitta	Kapha
Good Warm food and drinks Sweet, sour, and salty tastes Spicy, oily food Small, frequent meals Bad Cold foods, raw vegetables, and Iced drinks Heavy, infrequent meals Danger foods Spinach, potatoes, peppers, mushrooms, tomatoes, aubergines Apples, all dried fruits Beef White sugar	Good Cool food and drinks Sweet tastes Regular meal times Vegetables Bad Sour and salty tastes Irregular meal times and quick snacks and salad Danger foods Tomatoes Bananas Oils Seafood Hot spices, salt, garlic	Good Warm food and drinks Bitter tastes Light meals, salads, and soups Bad Cool food and drinks Sweet and sour and salty tastes Snacks between meals Danger foods Tomatoes, potatoes Very Juicy fruits Milk, cheese, yogurt Fat, fried food, oily food Sugar, and all sweets except honey

Write a written report about what you have been told.