The three doshas of Ayurvedic practice, vata, pitta, and kapha have particular qualities or attributes which characterize their effects on the human body. People remain healthy as long as the doshas are in a state of balance or equilibrium within the body.

The body has the capacity to overcome minor disturbances in the equilibrium of the doshas, but if the equilibrium is disturbed too greatly, the body then succumbs to disease and decay.

Though everyone's body contains all three doshas, generally, one or two of the doshas will predominate in an individual, leading to the categorization of people as different Ayurvedic body types, for example, Vata-Pitta, Kapha, or Pitta-Kapha, etc.

Detailed accounts of the actions of the doshas within the human body are found throughout the Ayurvedic literature and are used by the Ayurvedic practitioner as an integrated part of a holistic modeling system for keeping the human being in optimum health.

Vedic medicine did not need the three Doshas; it dealt with life at the level of prana, tejas and ojas. Ayurveda, a medical system for the masses, makes use of the doshas because its principal field of activity is the physical body, where the doshas hold sway.*

The Three Doshas

Vata is notably:

• Cold - tendency to cold hands and feet; a dislike of cold climate
• Moving - giving good or bad circulation depending on balance
• Quick - ability to pick up new information, quickly forgotten;
• Dry - tendency to dry skin, dry hair, dull eyes, moderate sweating.
• Rough - with tendency to rough skin, and coarse hair.

Pitta is notably:

• Hot - tendency to warm, flushed skin, inflamation or overactive metabolism
• Sharp - in mind and speech
• Moist - perspiration may be profuse
• Sour - bad breath and sour body odor if excess Pitta is present.
  

Pitta is in charge of all transformation in the organism. Digestion of food by the gut, of light by the eyes and of sensory data by the brain are examples of pitta's activities.*

Kapha is notably:

• Heavy - any heavy disorder suggest Kapha imbalance, whether obesity, or a heavy, oppressive kind of depression
  
• Sweet - leading to weight gain or diabetes if too much sweetness is added to the body
• Steady - self-contained. Body processes do not swing to the extremes;
• Soft - such as soft skin and hair, soft manners, a soft look in the eyes and an undemanding approach to situations
• Slow - slow movement, deliberate thinking.