Kapha Dosha Articles
Cucumber Avocado Summer Soup
Cucumber Avocado Summer Soup is light, cooling, full of fiber, easy to digest, and safe for all three Doshas
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Smoothies for Vata Dosha in Summer
Smoothies for Vata Dosha in Summer: Eating with the Seasons Smoothies for Vata Dosha in Summer is part two of https://bodymindwellnesscenter.com/smoothies-for-vata-dosha/ . In Ayurveda we eat with the seasons, so you can have more raw in Summer when Pitta is...
read moreAyurvedic Kitchari
What is Kitchari? Kitchari is a Sattvic, light, easy-to-digest, cleansing, detoxifying food that is excellent once a week, at the change of seasons, or any time you feel like giving your digestive system a break. It is also just a normal one-pot-dish you can have for...
read morePerseid Meteor Shower: Five Elements in Ayurveda and Chinese Medicine
Tonight's annual Perseid meteor shower got me thinking about the power of cold and the theory of dosha and the five elements in Ayurveda and Chinese medicine.. Chinese medicine describe life as a warm process of transformation of food and oxygen into energy. This is...
read moreGrass Fed Meat and Milk in Ayurveda and Chinese Medicine
Grass Fed Meat and Milk in Ayurveda and Chinese Medicine: Grass fed is meat and milk as our ancestors ate it. Our hunter gatherer ancestors obviously did not drink milk, as they did not yet practice animal husbandry. But they were certainly not vegans or vegetarians,...
read moreIndian Style Tri-doshic Okra Masala
Indian Style Tri-doshic Okra Masala Here is one of my favorite Okra recipes: Indian Style Tri-doshic Okra Masala. There are many ways to make Okra. Iraqi's cook it with onion and tomato. My friend Mrs. Mehdi with onion, cumin, and black pepper. My Persian friend adds...
read moreGinger Root In Ayurveda and Chinese Medicine
Ginger Root in Ayurveda and Chinese Medicine There are no panaceas in medicine, but if there were going to be one, it would have to be the humble Ginger root. Ginger is called "Vishabhesaj" in Ayurveda, which Ayurvedic physician Vasant Lad translates as "universal...
read moreStrategies to Pacify Pitta in Summer Heat
There are many ways to pacify the Pitta which becomes elevated with the oppressive heat of summer. Some are good for you, like cooling teas and juicy cooling fruits, others are unhealthy, like air conditioning, especially turned down low, which attacks the surface of...
read morePacifying Kapha: Baked or Roasted Curried Cauliflower and Kabocha Squash
Roasted or broiled vegetables are excellent for pacifying Kapha, whether for Kapha dominant types, or for the other doshas during Kapha season, as they are light, dry, and retain the strongly warming fire Qi of the oven or barbecue. The general theme for Kapha is to...
read moreHealthy Diet in Ayurveda: Pacify Kapha in Early Spring/Late Winter
Healthy Diet in Ayurveda: Pacify Kapha in Early Spring/Late Winter A big part of healthy diet in Ayurveda (and Chinese Medicine) is eating with the seasons. Now we are in the Kapha season in the Northern Hemisphere, Late Winter/Early Spring, roughly the 6 weeks before...
read moreAyurvedic Oil Bath
Benefits of Ayurvedic Oil Bath: Foundation of Healthy Living Regular Ayurvedic Oil Bath, or self massage with medicated herbal oils, or simply natural vegetable oils such as Sesame, Coconut, and Mustard oils, appropriate to your dosha is an Ayurvedic Oil Bath,...
read moreDaikon Radish: Detoxify and Promote Digestion
Daikon Radish is a great soup or salad vegetable. It is spicy, and acts as a digestive by stimulating digestive fire, just as the small radishes that Mexicanos eat with corn and meat do, but it is more aromatic, especially when boiled, than the small radishes and not...
read moreAyurveda and Fruits: Match Food to Your Dosha and the Season
What foods match your dosha? Fruits are naturally sweet sour and refreshing. Some fruits, like apples, also have an astringent or drying property, depending on variety, macs more than fiji, for example. Your mouth feels a bit dry after a bite of apple, or quite dry...
read moreCome in from the Cold Ayurveda Winter Tea
Tonight it was quite cold for San Diego and I walked to my friend's house and then we went out again, so when we came back in I made an Ayurveda winter tea. We put on a small kettle and I placed in the tea pot: Fresh Ginger Slices, 5 Cloves 4 Cassia Twig 1 inch,...
read moreGrass Fed Pastured Dairy Cattle Milk is Healthier and Tastes Better
http://www.organicvalley.coop/about-us/overview/our-history/ Briefly, Organic Valley's Grass Fed Cow's Milk is healthier, containing Omega 3's, is not homogenized, and tastes much better. It smells and tastes what the free range milk in my small village in...
read moreSummer Raw Beet, Sardine, and Pasta Salad
Summer is a time when even cold dry (Vata) types or cold damp (Kapha) types can have little more raw foods. One of the ways to make raw foods more compatible for cold types with weaker digestive energy (Agni/Spleen Qi) is to have it in small amounts with other foods...
read moreCurried Quinoa Super Food: Pacify Kapha in Late Winter/Early Spring
Curried Quinoa Super Food: Pacify Kapha in Late Winter/Early Spring The ancient grain of the Incas, Quinoa has a delicate, nutty, slightly bitter flavor and the lightest texture of all grains. This combination of bitter taste and light texture make it an ideal grain...
read moreDandelion and Chicory Greens: Vegan Fast Food
My idea of fast food: real food, made easily. Too many of my vegetarian and vegan friends are what I call "grilled cheese vegetarians." Though they avoid meat, they also seem to avoid green vegetables and eat lots of bread and soy cheese or vegan sausages. I was on a...
read moreSea Vegetables for Health- Cleanse Lymph and Build Kidney Qi in Winter
Sea Vegetables for HealthWild vegetables grow all over the earth and in the water. Dandelion greens, nettles, burdock are a few of the valuable and highly nutritious land vegetables that are easy to grow most anywhere.Sea vegetables also grow both North and South. I...
read moreSafe Neti Pot Use
Below is an article from NPR about a recent death in Louisiana suspected to be from Neti Pot use with tap water. Before anyone gets too freaked out, let's look at the facts.1. There is no proof; it is a suspected case of one.2. The people live in Louisiana, a state...
read moreNearly Tridoshic Cucumber Avocado Summer Soup
Cucumber Avocado Summer Soup2 cups chopped cucumber, peeled if non-organic1 cup avocado1.5 cups plain yogurt or kefir1-2 tbsp fresh bell pepper 3-4 tbs fresh cilantroSalt and Pepper to tasteAyurveda This is a lovely creamy cooling summer soup that in Ayurvedic terms...
read moreStaying Health with the Seasons: Winter
Staying Healthy with the Seasons: WinterHototogisu kata Did a cuckoo cry?Niwa no to akerya I open the doorKoyoi no sora nya And look out in the garden-- Tsuki bakai There is only the moon Translation by Kenneth Rexroth, 1958, from 100 Poems from the Japanese.In the...
read moreCold Beet Borscht Soup for Summer
Cold Beet Borscht Soup for SummerLet's call this a soup, even though I grew up drinking it out of a glass, and at Yonah Shimmel's Knishery in New York (est.1910) they were still serving it on tap, for $1.25, along with home made Kefir, in little plastic institutional...
read moreRaw Beet Salad Morrocan and Provencal Styles
Raw Beet Salad Beets are super high in betacyanin, a phyto-nutrient associated with their deep red color. Unfortunately, according to what I have read, this anti-cancer chemical is destroyed by cooking. Though Ayurveda and Chinese Medicine do not at all advocate for a...
read moreFasting in Ayurveda and Chinese Medicine
Fasting in Ayurveda and Chinese Medicine Fasting in Ayurveda Ayurveda believes that light fasting can greatly benefit your health. Light fasting healthfully stimulates the digestive fire of your entire gut, from your salivary glands to your large intestine, including...
read moreWarming Baked Root and Squash Stew: Vegan or Not
One of the things we look at in Chinese Dietary Therapy is, what are the effects of particular cooking styles on the "energetic" quality of the food; here energy refers to the warming characteristics of the dish. Whereas steaming and quick boiling are mild, and...
read moreBeet Root and Daikon Winter Rice Pullao
Winter makes me want to cook, and brings out my love of warming spices. Today I wanted rice and vegetables, and all I had in the house was a large red beet-root, and a daikon radish. So I made Beetroot and Radish Pulao, a really simple and delicious dish. Vegetables...
read moreStinging Nettles: Soup and Medicine
Stinging Nettles: Soup and Medicine When I was a teenager, I was enthralled by the story of Milarepa, "Tibet's Greatest Yogi," who, after a great career as a murderously vengeful black magician, had a change of heart, and transformed himself, in part by great...
read moreVegan Mung Dal with Vegetables for Ulcerative Colitis
Here is a dish I gave to one of my patients Mark. M. a few years back who had a very successful outcome. Mark had been following drug therapy for about 6 months with limited improvement. We then followed a course of acupuncture/moxabustion for 9 months and herbal...
read moreHealing Ulcerative Colitis
Ulcerative colitis is a form of inflammatory bowel disease that affects the large intestine. It should not be confused with Irritable Bowel Syndrome. Ulcerative colitis is characterized by the presence of inflammation and ulceration in the intestinal mucosa. The chief...
read moreWinter Barley & Bean One Pot Tridoshic Vegan Stew
IngredientsBarley, 3/4 Cup, Cooked till SoftPinto Beans, 1 Cup, CookedOne Head Beet Greens, or 1 small bunch of Kale or SpinachTurnip, 1 Small, SlicedRed Onion, One Medium, SlicedRaisins, 1 tbsp2 tsp crushed Garlic1 tbsp Coriander powder1 tsp Cumin powder1/2 tsp...
read moreWinter Barley & Bean One Pot Tridoshic Vegan Stew
IngredientsBarley, 3/4 Cup, Cooked till SoftPinto Beans, 1 Cup, CookedOne Head Beet Greens, or 1 small bunch of Kale or SpinachTurnip, 1 Small, SlicedRed Onion, One Medium, SlicedRaisins, 1 tbsp2 tsp crushed Garlic1 tbsp Coriander powder1 tsp Cumin powder1/2 tsp...
read moreVegan Nopalitos (Cactus Leaves) with Tofu, Shitake, and Dill
Many people are very concerned with cleansing and "toxins". Right now Whole Foods has a gigantic post-holiday display across from the dairy aisle with all the ingredients for a radical purgative cleanse. But if people ate a balanced diet, they would not need military...
read moreImmunity Boosting Foods and Recipes for Winter
Although winter is a time of colds and flus, in Ayurveda it is actually considered the best season for improving immunity. One reason is that our digestive fire, Agni, is higher in cold weather, so we are better able to absorb the heavier foods that can nourish us at...
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