Food Guidelines

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Food Guidelines for Basic Constitutional Types
NOTE: Guidelines provided in this table are general. Specific adjustments for individual requirements may need to be made, e.g., food allergies, strength of agni, season of the year and degree of dosha predominance or aggravation. * okay in moderation ** okay rarely
VATA FRUITS AVOID Generally most dried fruit Apples (raw) CranberriesDates (dry) Figs (dry) Pears Persimmons Pomegranates Raisins (dry) Prunes (dry) Watermelon FAVOR Generally most sweet fruit Apples (cooked) Applesauce Apricots Avocado Bananas Berries Cherries Coconut Dates (fresh) Figs (fresh) Grapefruit Grapes Kiwi Lemons Limes Mangoes Melons Oranges Papaya Peaches Pineapple Plums Prunes (soaked) Raisins (soaked) Rhubarb Strawberries Tamarind In general,vegetables should be cooked Asparagus Beets Cabbage* (cooked) Carrots Cauliflower* Cilantro Cucumber Daikon radish* Fennel (Anise) Garlic Green beans Green chilies Jerusalem artichoke* Leafy greens* Leeks Lettuce* Mustard greens* Okra Olives, black Onions (cooked)* Parsley* Parsnip Peas (cooked) Potatoes, sweet PITTA AVOID FAVOR Generally most Generally most sour fruit sweet fruit Apples (sour) Apples(sweet) Apricots (sour) Applesauce Bananas Apricots (sweet) Berries (sour) Avocado Cherries (sour) Berries (sweet) Cranberries Cherries (sweet) Grapefruit Coconut Grapes (green) Dates Kiwi** Figs Lemons Grapes (red & Mangoes (green) purple) Oranges (sour) Limes* Peaches Mangoes (ripe) Persimmons Melons Pineapple (sour) Oranges (sweet)* Plums (sour) Papaya* Rhubarb Pears Tamarind Pineapple (sweet)*Plums (sweet) Pomegranates Prunes Raisins Strawberries* Watermelon KAPHA AVOID FAVOR Generally most Generally most sweet & sour fruit astringent fruit Avocado Apples Bananas Applesauce Coconut Apricots Dates Berries Figs (fresh) Cherries Grapefruit Cranberries Kiwi Figs (dry)* Mangos** Grapes* Melons Lemons* Oranges Limes* Papaya Peaches* Pineapple Pears Plums Persimmons Rhubarb PomegranatesTamarind Prunes Watermelon Raisins Strawberries*

VEGETABLES

Generally frozen, raw or dried vegetables Artichoke Beet greens** Bitter melon Broccoli Brussels sprouts Burdock root Cabbage (raw) Cauliflower (raw) Celery Corn (fresh)** Dandelion greens Eggplant Horseradish** Kale Kohlrabi Mushrooms Olives, green Onions (raw) Peas (raw) Peppers, sweet & hot Potatoes, white Prickly pear (fruit &leaves) Radish (raw)

In general, pungent vegetables Beet greens Beets (raw) Burdock root Corn (fresh)** Daikon radish Eggplant** Garlic Green chilies Horseradish Kohlrabi ** Leeks (raw) Mustard greens Olives, green Onions (raw) Peppers (hot) Turnip greens* Watercress Zucchini Prickly pear (fruit) Radishes (raw) Spinach (cooked)** Spinach (raw) Tomatoes Turnip greens Turnips

In general, sweet &bitter vegetables Artichoke Asparagus Beets (cooked) Bitter melon Broccoli Brussels sprouts Cabbage Carrots (cooked) Carrots (raw)* Cauliflower Celery Cilantro Cucumber Dandelion greens Fennel (Anise) Green beans Jerusalem artichoke Kale Leafy greens Leeks (cooked) Lettuce Mushrooms Okra Olives, black Onions (cooked)

In general, sweet & juicy vegetables Cucumber Olives, black or green Parsnips**Potatoes, sweet Pumpkin Squash, summer Taro root Tomatoes (raw) Zucchini

In general, most pungent & bitter vegetables Artichoke Asparagus Beet greens Beets Bitter melon Broccoli Brussels sprouts Burdock root Cabbage Carrots Cauliflower Celery Cilantro Corn Daikon radish Dandelion greens Eggplant Fennel (Anise) Garlic Green beans Green chilies Horseradish Jerusalem artichoke Kale KohlrabiCopyright © 1994, 2005, The Ayurvedic Institute and Dr. Vasant Lad. All Rights Reserved. Excerpted from Ayurvedic Cooking for Self Healing, Usha and Dr. Vasant Lad, 2nd ed. Albuquerque: The Ayurvedic Press. Contact PO Box 23445, Albuquerque, NM 87192-1445, (505) 291-9698, www.ayurveda.com.

Page - 2 VATA VEGETABLES AVOID Squash, winter Tomatoes (cooked)** Tomatoes (raw) Turnips Wheat grass...