Kapha diet is a healthy plan you must follow to maintain or balance Kapha. Further, you can improve your physical and mental strength by bringing Kapha-pacifying meals into your diet.
So, as you scroll ahead, let’s look at the Kapha diet to balance the dosha.
The Kapha Diet
Once the Kapha dosha is dominant in an individual, it can be balanced by pacifying food items.
Normally, the Kapha balancing foodstuffs calm the dosha after opening up the channels. The properties help in enhancing circulation, improving the digestion process, and flushing out mucus.
There are different principles when the person discovers the type of diet that suits the body.
A depleted state of Kapha is usually observed when Vata and Pitta dosha is dominant. While the condition is quite common, your body requires food items that can enhance Kapha’s properties. In such a situation, you might need to eat oily and sweet foodstuffs until health is restored.
Kapha Diet Food Choices
Eating food items that have neutral qualities aids in pacifying excess Kapha. Apart from easy digestion properties, the items are hot and have a bitter, astringent, or pungent taste.
So, let’s dive deep into certain choices that can be included in the Kapha diet.
Fruits. Choose something slightly sweet. It’s acceptable to eat dried fruits but make sure to consume them with a limit. The fruits you need to include are grapes and oranges. You can also try dense and watery fruits, like coconuts, melons, dates, plums, pineapples, and bananas. For optimal digestion, consume fruits 30 minutes before having anything else. This rule is also applicable to vegetables, such as tomatoes, cucumbers, and avocados.
Vegetables. Go for foodstuffs that are pungent, bitter, and astringent. Unlike raw vegetables, cooked vegetables are easier to digest. On the other hand, the summer and the spring season is the perfect time to eat raw vegetables. You should reduce the number of sweet potatoes, olives, pumpkin, zucchini, and parsnips.
Grains. Include grains in your diet because it contains vitamins that your body needs. But, when it comes to balancing the Kapha dosha, keep yourself away from heavy or dense grains like wheat, cooked oats, pasta, and bread.
Legumes. Enjoy legumes after cooking them properly. If you’re into eating tofu, spiced soy milk, and tempeh, it’s completely fine. The only grains that don’t work for balancing the dosha are kidney beans, miso, soybeans, and urad dal.
Dairy products. Try consuming dairy products that can boost mucous production. Ideally, dairy products should be eaten before eating other meals. While goat’s milk and its products are the best options to balance the dosha, almond and rice milk could are good alternatives. You can have buttermilk, cottage cheese, yogurt, skimmed milk, and ghee, apart from everything else.
Nuts and seeds. Carole nuts, almonds, chia seeds, flax seeds, pumpkin seeds, and sunflower seeds are the most favorable options. It’s better to avoid sesame seeds, pine nuts, cashews, Brazil nuts, macadamia nuts, tahini, pecans, peanuts, walnuts, and filberts.
Oils. Consider heavy oils in your diet. Take note, when purchasing organic oil, ensure that the oil is of good quality. You can go for almond oil, corn oil, sunflower oil, ghee, or flaxseed oil. However, apricot oil, avocado oil, olive oil, primrose oil, and soy oil are some of the oils you must avoid.
Sweeteners. Avoid sweeteners because they aren’t supportive of Kapha. For instance, date sugar, artificial sweeteners, barley malt, jaggary, fructose, maple syrup, and turbinado are some of the sweeteners you should avoid. But, as an exception, you can consider honey in small quantities. But, unprocessed honey is preferable because heated honey can be contaminated.
Spices. Boost your metabolic activity and improve digestion with the help of spices. The aromatic qualities of ginger, black pepper, onions, and cayenne are beneficial for your health. Cumin seeds, cinnamon, cloves, poppy seeds, and thyme also serve as alternatives in pacifying Kapha.
Meat. Opt for dry items, like chicken and freshwater fish. Avoid eating beef, duck, or pork because they are heavy and dense. Eating less meat can generally be beneficial anytime during the year. Salmon, sardines, tuna fish, turkey, and lamb are the foodstuffs you should refrain from as well.
5 Rules for Kapha Pacifying Diet
#Rule 1: Whenever you follow the Kapha diet, eat foods enriched with the nutrition that your body needs. Think about enjoying the foodstuff in a peaceful environment or take time to chew the food thoroughly.
#Rule 2: Always have a light breakfast and meals at a particular time. Avoid eating between meals. But if you feel hungry, you can eat fruits or some dry snacks.
#Rule 3: Avoid drinking water while you’re having your meals. To make the system capable of digesting food, you should not drink water after a meal. This helps in preventing the production of mucous or morbid material called ama.
#Rule 4: When it’s irresistible to eat Kapha aggravating foods, use mustard oil when cooking them. Besides, you can season the items with spices, so foods are easier to digest.
#Rule 5: If you’re fasting, drink herbal tea and boiled vegetables with a little bit of honey. But, think about winding up as quickly as possible because the foodstuffs may aggravate other doshas like the Vata dosha.
Suggested Meals
Breakfast. You should have basil tea, barley, or rolled oats cooked in skimmed milk. Alternatively, you can have millet bread toast with egg white. If you are taking herbal tea, drink it an hour after your meal breakfast.
Lunch. Have something that would fill your stomach. Consume a lot of sauteed vegetables, along with grains and beans. You can also try barley, multigrain bread, or quinoa kitchari as well.
Dinner. Enjoy soup and stews but moderate than your lunch. If you’re trying to lose some weight, consider boiled vegetables, lean meats, or egg whites.
Finally, you can have a light breakfast, heavy lunch, and something light for dinner when implementing the Kapha dosha diet. If you don’t feel hungry in the morning, you can skip breakfast and munch on fruits later.
