The Dosha Balancing Diet

The Ayurvedic approach to eating allows us to make intelligent food choices, avoid cravings, and satisfy our hunger.

By Miriam Hospodar

Sluggish, cool kapha needs to be stimulated and warmed up. Light, dry, warm foods reduce kapha. Use minimal amounts of fats and oils. Sweeten foods with honey, but never cook or bake with it. Grains such as barley, buckwheat, and rye are the best for kapha types, as are light, dry fruits, such as apples and cranberries. Low or nonfat milk is good, but minimize cultured dairy products. Kapha types can eat all spices and herbs but need to be cautious with salt. Pumpkin and sunflower seeds and all beans, with the exception of the oilier soybean, are excellent.

Intelligent Eating

Just as important as what we eat is how our body assimilates food. Food is the substance through which we bring nature's intelligence into our bodies. Ayurvedic texts liken the process of digestion to cooking over a flame. Digestive "fires," collectively called agni, "cook" food so that nutrients can be optimally utilized. When agni is strong, our body fully assimilates nutrients and eliminates what it doesn't need.

Ultimately a fully functioning digestive system uses the food we eat to produce a biochemical called ojas, a fluid substance that nourishes the mind and body, maintains the balance of all bodily systems, and fills one's entire being with radiant bliss. If the digestive fire is weak, the incompletely digested portion of the meal forms a sticky, toxic substance called ama. The opposite of ojas, ama blocks the flow of the body's inner intelligence. It settles in areas of the body that are out of balance, taking on many forms, such as calcium deposits in the joints, plaque in the arteries, and cysts and tumors. A coated tongue, bad breath, dullness of the senses, depression, and unclear thinking can indicate the presence of ama.

To prevent ama from forming, drink plenty of warm or room temperature water. Do not eat late at night. Eat freshly prepared meals, and cook with seasonal, organic fruits and vegetables (avoid genetically modified foods). Strengthen agni by "kindling" it with heating foods and spices, such as ginger and black pepper. Eat a thin slice of fresh ginger sprinkled lightly with lemon juice and salt a half hour before taking a full meal.

Lastly, it's important to eat foods that you like! Ayurveda explains that agni goes to work the second the food hits your tongue. Whether a food "makes your stomach turn" or "makes your mouth water" literally affects how completely your body absorbs its nutrients. Dishes that make your taste buds sing a joyful song kindle agni and enliven your body's inner intelligence.

The ancient Ayurvedic text Sushrita Samhita states, "He whose doshas are in balance, whose appetite is good ... whose body, mind, and senses remain full of bliss, is called a healthy person." By following these simple, time-tested Ayurvedic dietary principles in your daily life, you can enhance your health, increase your happiness, and uplift your spirit.

Miriam Kasin Hospodar, author of Heaven's Banquet: Vegetarian Cooking for Lifelong Health the Ayurveda Way (Plume, 2001), has been a chef for Ayurvedic spas and health centers for more than 30 years.

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