Ayurveda and Yoga in Oakland, Berkeley and Bay Area

Kapha (Water and Earth) Diet

Kapha Diet Guidelines

The food we eat is that unique aspect of our life that we have almost total control over. Because we are what we eat, according to Ayurveda, it can be a very powerful tool for balancing and for promoting and maintaining health. One ancient authority says that food is our medicine – a good regimen of diet is worth a hundred drugs but no amount of drugs can overcome a poor regimen of diet. Generally, one should eat warm, freshly cooked foods. We can use the tastes in food as a guide to what qualities those foods have. For example, foods which have bitter, pungent, and astringent tastes have those qualities (especially lightness, dryness, and warmth) necessary to balance kapha qualities of heavy, cold, oily, etc.  We will give below examples of foods with these tastes common in our culture. This information has been provided by Dr. Lad, in his book: Ayurvedic Cooking for Self Healing (www.ayurveda.com) and Maya Tiwari in her book A Life of Balance (www.wisearth.org). These books are good resources of knowledge and recipes. Please note that agreement about the qualities of foods is not universal. Another important point is that a list of balancing foods is not a blanket proscription for kapha to totally avoid the foods with tastes of sweet, sour, salty (heavy things).  Rather, do eat foods having these other qualities to help promote balance in the emotions and in the physiology but eat them less often and in smaller quantities. The foods to favor (everyday foods below) will provide a theme of influence but in a gentle and sustained way.

Kichari Recipe

Kitchari is a mixture of rice and Mung dal with added spices for taste and to facilitate digest. Ayurveda considers both Basmati rice and Mung dal Sattvic foods (foods that are light and easy to digest). Kitchari is balancing for all three Doshas (Vata, Pitta and Kapha). It is a complete food that is easy to digest and gives strength and vitality.

Ingredients

1 cup basmati rice
½ cup split mung dal
2 tablespoons ghee (clarified butter)
1 teaspoon black mustard seeds
1 teaspoon cumin seeds/powder
1 pinches hing (asafotida)
½ teaspoon turmeric powder
½ teaspoon salt 4 cups water (add up to 6 cups for soupy consistency)

Wash the rice and mung dal well. In a saucepan, heat the ghee and sauté the mustard seeds, cumin seeds, tumeric and hing for a few minutes. Add the rice, Mung dal and salt. Sauté over low heat for a few minutes. Add boiling water and bring to boil. Stir and cover to simmer on low heat for about 30 minutes. Cook until tender and serve warm.