There are three doshas in Ayurveda, Vata, Pitta and Kapha. When the doshas are balanced, a person remains healthy, but imbalance in the doshas causes many disorders. So it is very important to understand the way these affect physical and mental health.
There are basically 2 types of imbalances - natural and unnatural. Natural imbalances can be caused by age, day or season. For example, Kapha imbalance predominates during childhood, winter and spring, Pitta dominates in middle age and during summer, while Vata dominates in old age and in the fall season. This type of imbalance is natural and does not cause any kind of disorder or disease.
Unnatural imbalances create problems. Unnatural imbalance of doshas generally occurs due to improper diet or lifestyle, parasites and viruses. The increase of imbalance in any dosha becomes the main cause of the disorder. Deficiency of any one dosha can also cause a disease, but the chances are very low. Hence, it is important to keep the doshas in check as imbalance interferes with the functions of our body and also causes many diseases. Let us know about the imbalance and symptoms of the three doshas separately –