By Couri Jonhson
Public discussions around diet often swing between extremes. Recently, the ketogenic diet has again been promoted by public figures, including RFK Jr., as a broadly effective solution for metabolic health.
From an Ayurvedic perspective, the issue is not whether keto can help some people. It’s whether it should be treated as a universal diet.
Ayurveda has never supported universal diets. Instead, it teaches that body type and digestive capacity determine how much “mass” a person can safely tolerate—and in what form.
If you want to understand how your own body processes food, starting with an Ayurveda dosha test helps identify both your baseline constitution and your current metabolic state before adopting any restrictive diet.
In Ayurveda, foods are not classified as good or bad. They are evaluated by qualities—especially heaviness, density, moisture, and digestibility.
Meat, grains, legumes, oils, and dairy all share one key feature: they add mass.
Mass is not inherently harmful. In fact:
Some bodies need mass
Some bodies need controlled mass
Some bodies need very little mass
The ketogenic diet is essentially a high-mass diet, emphasizing meat and fats while removing carbohydrates. Whether that works depends entirely on who is eating it.
This is not a modern reinterpretation. The Charaka Saṃhitā, one of Ayurveda’s foundational medical texts, dedicates entire sections to different types of meat (māṃsa).
Rather than treating meat as a single category, Charaka classifies it by source and quality, noting differences in heaviness, heat, and digestibility.
“The flesh of animals is generally heavy, nourishing, strength-promoting and increases bulk, but its effects vary depending on the type of animal and the digestive capacity of the individual.”
— Charaka Saṃhitā, Śārīra Sthāna (paraphrased from classical descriptions)
This is critical: Ayurveda recognized thousands of years ago that mass builds strength for some bodies and imbalance for others.
Vata bodies are light, dry, and fast-moving. They often struggle with undernourishment, anxiety, irregular digestion, and fatigue.
For Vata, mass is therapeutic—especially when combined with moisture.
Moist meat stews
Soups
Grains
Higher oils and fats
This is why keto often works best for Vata, provided it is not dry or overly restrictive. Vata benefits from mass plus oils, not dry protein-only plans.
(Needs mass + oils the most)
Meat / animal protein: 25%
(moist, stewed, warming preparations)
Vegetables: 30%
(mostly cooked, grounding)
Grains: 20%
(rice, oats, wheat)
Oils & fats: 20%
(ghee, olive oil, sesame oil)
Legumes: 3–5%
(well-cooked, minimal)
Dairy: small amounts if tolerated
Why keto works best here: Vata needs both mass and oils. Keto provides both when done correctly.
Pitta bodies have strong digestion and metabolism. Their challenge is excess heat, not lack of mass.
Pitta does well with mass without excess oil.
Lean meats
Moderate grains
Minimal fats
Cooling preparations
This is why keto can work temporarily for Pitta, but often leads to inflammation, reflux, irritability, or burnout when oils and fats are too high.
(Needs mass, but NOT excess oil)
Meat / animal protein: 15%
(lean, cooling, non-oily)
Vegetables: 40%
(cooling, hydrating)
Grains: 20%
(moderate, not eliminated)
Legumes: 15%
(cooling proteins)
Oils & fats: 7–8%
(minimal, cooling oils)
Dairy: minimal, cooling forms only
Why keto is mixed: Pitta tolerates mass, but excess fats overheat the system.
Kapha bodies are already heavy, stable, and slow-metabolizing. Their problem is excess mass, not deficiency.
For Kapha, high-meat, high-fat diets worsen imbalance.
In Ayurveda, Kapha benefits from:
Reduced mass
Minimal oils
Light, stimulating foods
Legumes as a replacement for meat
This explains why keto is actively harmful for many Kapha types.
(Already has mass; needs the least)
Meat / animal protein: 5%
(optional, lean, occasional)
Vegetables: 50%
(light, bitter, stimulating)
Legumes: 25%
(primary protein source)
Grains: 8–10%
(minimal)
Oils & fats: 3–5%
(very limited)
Dairy: avoid or minimal
Why keto fails here: Keto = mass + oils, which directly aggravates Kapha’s core imbalance.
A key Ayurvedic principle is that body constitution is not static.
A person may be Vata by birth, but if they overconsume mass for years, they can shift into Kapha imbalance—showing weight gain, lethargy, and congestion.
The correction is not a permanent restriction. It's a temporary reduction of mass until balance returns.
This is why Ayurveda emphasizes relative proportions, not fixed quantities. Food labels and calorie counts are misleading when they ignore how different bodies process the same input.
The better question is:
How much mass does your body tolerate—and in what form?
Ayurveda answers that question by looking at digestion, constitution, and imbalance—not ideology.
For those who want to understand this framework properly, Ayurveda online courses teach how diet, body type, and metabolism interact over time—beyond trends and headlines.
The goal isn’t to follow or reject keto.
It’s to eat in proportion to what your body can actually process.
That’s where real health begins.
MBTpg
