Essential

14

The Kapha balancing diet

• Favour warm to hot foods that are light and dry in quality. They should be cooked with minimal fat and
  water and be predominantly pungent, bitter and astringent in taste.


• Spicy Indian or Mexican food is good for Kapha as long as not too much oil is used in cooking.


• Avoid heavy, oily and cold foods an d foods that have predominantly sweet, sour and salty tastes.


• Drink 1 litre of hot water with lemon and/or ginger daily. Have barley tea or post-digestive tea after main
  meals to cleanse the tissues, improve digestion, give energy and reduce hunger.


• Favour baked, grilled or sautéed food in preference to boiled, deep-fried or steamed food.


• Occasional have small side salads and raw foods to help tone the digestive tract.


• Avoid fried foods and cold cereals at breakfast – stewed fruit or toast with honey is much better.


• Favour barley, buckwheat, quinoa, amaranth, corn, millet and rye and limit oats, rice and wheat. Dry
  roasting grains in ghee before cooking helps make them lighter on the digestion.


• Increase your intake of vegetables but exclude mashed potatoes, turnips and parsnips.


• Lighter fruits, such as apples and pears ar e better for Kapha. Reduce heavy or sour fruits, such as oranges,
  bananas, pineapples, figs, dates, avocados, coconuts and melons.


• Honey is excellent for reducing Kapha but generally reduce o t h e r sugar products.


• Spices are all fi n e but reduce salt as it helps retain water and in cr eases Kaph a.


• Limit your intake of milk, butter, ice-cream, biscuits, cakes, chocolate, deep-fried food, white sugar,
  aspartame, tinned beans, fizzy drinks, yeasted bread, confectionary, sweet fruits, red meat, potatoes, hard
  or aged cheeses, salt and alcohol.


• Avoid low-fat products as these are highly processed and usually high in sugar.


• Have rice cakes, rye bread, chapattis and corn bread rather then yeast-r i s e n bread.


• Pumpkin and sunflower seeds, almonds and walnuts are good but they should be lightly roasted and then
  ground before eating.


• Most beans are good as long as they are well cooked.

Vegetables Fruits Herbs/Spices

FAV O U R R E D U C E FAVOUR R E D U C E FAVOUR R E D U C E

Asparagus
Aubergine
B r o c c o l i
Brussels sprouts
Bean sprouts
Cabbage
C a r r o t s
Cauliflower
Celer y (r aw)
Chicory
C o r n
Green beans
Fennel
Lettuce
Peas
Peppers
P o t a t o e s ( r o a s t )
Radish/Spinach
Swiss Chard

Butternut squash

Cucumbers

Courgettes

Olives

Potato (mashed)

Sweet potatoes

T o m a t o e s

Turnips

Apples

Apricots

Ber r ies

Cherries

Cran berr ies

Grapefruit

Mangoes

Papaya

Peach es

Pear s

P r u n e s

Pomegranates

R a i s i n s

Watermelon

Avocados

Bananas

Coconut

Dates

Figs

Grapes

Mangoes

Mel o n s

Oranges

Peach es

Pineapple

Plums

Most herbs &

spices esp.

Black pepper

Cayenne pepper

Cinnamon

Coriander

Cumin

Ginger

Fenugreek

H i n g

Liquorice

Nutmeg

Peppermint

Turmeric

Sugar

Aspartame

Tamarin d

Ketchup

Lime Pickle

Mango chutney

Mayonnaise

Pickles

Salt

Soy sauce

Yoghurt