People with a mainly Vata constitution should eat sweet fruits and vegetables to help them feel satisfied and calm. Salty tastes add heat to their otherwise cold and airy condition. whilst sour tastes increase the grounding qualities of earth in vata diets, therefore bringing them into balance. Too much bitter tastes create an ungrounded feeling in vata and too much pungent and astringent tastes will create emotional instability and “drying out” of the nervous system. Vata needs heavy, oily and warm, sweet, salty foods, eaten at a similar time of day to help bring balance. Watery soupy foods are also recommended to help with any constipation.

Vata’s are not recommended to eat many cold, dry, light foods. In vata season (spring and fall), foods such as lettuce leaves, create gas and bloating for vata. So to make these light foods more digestible soak seeds and dried fruits and add sweet, oily dressings to salads. Pungent spice is also good in moderation for vata’s such as ginger in the form of warm teas taken before eating. Vata would do best to avoid cold drinks as well as carbonated drinks.

The best diet for a pitta type is mildly spiced and a regular diet of three meals a day. They have the strongest or all appetites and digestive systems which can handle raw foods. They are the most sensitive of the doshas to toxins in the air, food, and water as well as vata types. It is most important for pitta types to eat organic food and drink only filtered water. Sweet, bitter and astringent tasting foods, which are cooling and heavy are most balancing for pitta. Spicy, salty, and sour foods tend to aggravate pittas, and lemons have a cleansing effect on the liver but may be to aggriavating for pitta’s. They are advised to use a lime in replacement or grapefruits juice.

Overeating is a problem for pittas. They seem to be drawn to the foods which can be stimulants,
which aggravate the pitta emotions and create physical heat, & irritation. The foods that pitta should avoid are eggs, kimchi, fermented foods, sour fruits, alcohol, salt, caffeine, coffee, tobacco, mustard, garlic, onions, dry ginger powder, as they tend to be a big hazard to pittas.

Cooling tastes such as bitter and astringent leafy greens are balancing. Sweet juicy fruits such as apples, watermelon, cucumbers are wonderfully balancing. Herbs that balance Pitta dosha are coriander, cardamom, fennel, cumin, and turmeric, occasionally black pepper on cool days. Fruits and vegetables are most balanced for pittas so eat more asparagus, cilantro, celery, fresh leafy greens, green beans, okra, peas, and sprouts. Slightly heating foods such as strawberries, persimmons, tomatoes, daikons, beets, carrots should be eaten when pitta is not aggravated. Pumpkin seeds and sunflower seeds can be used as alternatives to nuts. Nuts and sesame seeds are hot and oily and should be eaten sparingly, and only after being soaked and sprouted they can be used in moderation. Coconut oil and coconut water are great for pitta as it is cooling and sweet.

Sweet, sour & salty foods imbalanced Kapha whilst pungent, astringent, and bitter foods tend to be more balancing of their light & drying qualities. Oily foods should be eaten with care as should any sweeteners. Vegetables are particularly balancing, as are green leafy salads, because of their bitter, astringent qualities. Fortunately kapha types can eat vegetables combined with pungent spices cayenne, ginger, cardamom, turmeric and black pepper. Asparagus, broccoli, brussels, cabbage, carrots, cauliflower, celery, eggplant, leafy greens lettuce, parsley, peas, pepper, spinach, and sprouts are all balancing for Kapha. Pears, apples, and pomegranates, are all the best fruits for Kapha. Nuts and seeds are heavy and oily so seeds like flax, pumpkin, and sunflower are best for Kapha. Kaphas are aggravated by salt and should avoid olives, the salt that is more agreeable for them is celtic salt which is sun-dried mineral salt having 82 minerals.

Kaphas have the slowest digestion and have a tendency to move the bowel only once a day, unlike the other doshas. Kapha does well in summer to live on foods which are raw as cooked foods produce more mucus. Kapha that are a combination with pitta will do very well with raw as that pitta element gives them more digestive juice. Eating meals rather than snacking is the best eating habit for Kapha. As well as a drink of ginger tea will help get the digestive juices ready for divine digestion.