The Twenty Gunas (Qualities) of Āyurveda

The gunas are qualities or attributes. There are 10 opposite pairs, making a total of twenty qualities. Each element and each dosha has a set of qualities attributed to them. In the same way, we attribute one or more of these qualities also to food, herbs, activities, and everything else in the universe.

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In Ayurveda if we are to balance something, we first look at its qualities. Once we have determined which qualities a particular substance holds, we use the opposite qualities to balance it. Things with opposite qualities will decrease each other, and things with the same qualities will increase each other. For example, if body temperature is hot, we want to balance it with something cooling, such as, preferring cooling foods such as cucumber, or fresh cilantro. Eating chilis would only increase the hot quality, thereby increasing body temperature, and it is something we would want to avoid in this scenario.​