Spring

Seasonal Period: Mid-March to Mid-May

Key Features

• Astringent taste dominance
• Kapha aggravation
• Reduced digestive power
• Decreased body moisture and smoothness
• Diminished overall body strength

Dietary Focus:

• Favor pungent, bitter, and astringent tastes 
• Choose light, hot, and dry foods
• Avoid heavy, oily, and cold preparations
• Avoid sweet, sour, and salty tastes

Seasonal Overview

• Months in India: Mid-March to Mid-May
• Naturally prominent taste during this weather: Astringent
• Link with Doshas: Season of Kapha Aggravation
• Basic rule for activities: Follow Kapha-reducing measures¹

Physiological Changes During Spring

Body Transformations

• Kapha dosha becomes aggravated as sun's warmth liquefies winter-accumulated Kapha 
• Reduced digestive power
• Decreased body moisture and smoothness
• Diminished overall body strength

Dietary Guidance

Recommended Tastes

• Favorable¹:
  • Pungent
  • Bitter
  • Astringent
• Unfavorable:
  • Sweet¹
  • Sour
  • Salty

Food Qualities to Embrace

• Dry¹
• Hot
• Light
• Easily digestible

Food Qualities to Avoid

• Heavy¹
• Oily
• Cold
• Hard-to-digest foods¹

Special Water Recommendation

• Usna: Water boiled and reduced to half of its original quantity

Recommended Foods

Sweet Preparations

• Honey which is the only sweet food recommended in spring¹

Flavored Waters

• Vetiver (khas-khas) flavored water
• Water with ginger juice
• Water with honey
• Rainwater

Grains and Pulses

• Green Gram¹
• Bengal Gram
• Barley¹ - especially recommended
• Old wheat and rice
• Sprouted whole lentils
• Parched rice flakes

Fruits

• All seasonal fruits

Vegetables

• Green vegetables and their soups
• Bitter gourd
• Spinach
• Banana flowers
• Yams
• Radish
• Lemon
• Garlic

Spices

• Dry Ginger
• Long Pepper
• Black Pepper
• Mustard seeds

Oils

• Mustard Oil

General Health Guidelines

Lifestyle Recommendations

• Regular exercise¹
• Morning walk before sunrise
• Use umbrellas and caps to shield from increasing sun intensity
• Gargling and nasya with herbal smoke¹
• Self-massage or professional massage¹
• Daily application of Ayurvedic eye liner¹
• Suitable season for sexual activities

Activities to Avoid

• Daytime sleeping
• Sleeping under open sky in mist
• Excessive exposure to cold and sun

Seasonal Purification Therapy

Two primary cleansing practices are recommended during spring:

• Emesis (Vamana)
• Errhine (Nasya) 

Recommended Herbs

Rejuvenating herbs for spring:

• Myrobalan (harad) powder with honey
• Belleric myrobalan
• New leaves of neem (margosa)

References

Primary Source: Acharya Balkrishna - A Practical Approach to The Science of Ayurveda - A Comprehensive Guide for Healthy Living - Chapter 5 Health Horizons

1. English Translation of the Sushruta Samhita (Volume 3) Uttara Tantra - Kaviraj Kunja Lal Bhishagratna - Pg 396-400