Weight loss - Balancing Kapha

To lose weight, Kapha needs to be balanced (decreased) by eating more pungent astringent and bitter foods.
Sweet Sour and Salty foods balance (decrease) Vata, and aggravate (increase) Kapha. Bitter Pungent and Astringent foods aggravate (increase) Vata, and balance (decrease) Kapha. Continued chronic over-aggravated Kapha can cause obesity, Type II Diabetes, high cholesterol, and hypertension.
To lose weight, we should decrease but not eliminate salty sweet and sour foods. At the same time, to lose weight we should increase bitter astringent and pungent foods.

- Eat warm dry light foods. The curries and Dal must be cooked with minimum of water
- Eat foods that are classified as Pungent Bitter and Astringent. Reduce but do not eliminate foods that are classified as sweet sour and salty
Rasa Table - Grains
Barley Buckwheat and Rye bread are preferred over other grains. The flour must be made of whole grains. Avoid refined flours such as Maida. You may also add and use Pulse flours such as Besan (Chickpea flour)
Rasa Table - Dal Beans
Most of the Dal are similar except for Urad. Sukhi Dal (Dry Beans) are preferred over soupy beans.

Rasa Table - Dairy products
Dairy products such as Milk, Cream. Khoya, Ghee, and Butter are classified as 'Sweet Rasa'. The fermented milk products such as yogurt, Lassi, Chaach are classified as 'Sour Rasa'. Use of dairy products should not be eliminated but minimized. The best option is low fat yogurt or Chaach (buttermilk)

Rasa Table - Fruits
Bananas Coconut and Cantaloupes should be avoided. Amla is an ideal fruit, however not easy to eat. Purple fruits are nice way to go, examples: Plums, Pomegranate, Purple grapes, Jamun, and Phalsa.

Rasa Table - Vegetables
Eat green leafy vegetables raw or cooked. Good vegetables are: Cauliflower, Celery, Karela (Bitter melons). , Mustard Greens, Methi (Fenugreek leaves), Spinach.
Vegetable curries must be cooked with minimum water

Rasa Table - Meats
Meats should be avoided or reduced to a minimum

Rasa Table - Spices

Turmeric, Dried ginger powder, mustard seeds, red hot chili peppers, Cayenne pepper, Black pepper are typically used in cooking to balance Kapha. The foods should be Pungent, Astringent, and Bitter. We should not eliminate but reduce salt sugar and souring agents such as Tamarind, Amchoor, or Lime juice. Eliminating salty sweet and sour foods could aggravate Vata and lead to digestive disorders, dryness, anxiety, and poor maintenance and regeneration of tissues. We can not eat bitter pungent and astringent foods in excess, it could lead to heart diseases, peptic ulcers, and sexual debility
Rasa Table - Cooking oils fats
Ayurveda recommends using Ghee. It should be used in very small amount. In United States, you may use Canola oil as it has virtually no saturated fats. Un-refined Mustard oil is the best alternative.

Rasa Table - Nuts and Seeds
Char Magaz (Almond Pumpkin-seeds Watermelon-seeds Cantaloupe-seeds) are added for nutrition.
Rasa Table - Herbs and Base Vegetables
Most of the fresh herbs and vegetables are ground and sautéed in Ghee. The herbs add Pungent Rasa and and thicken the gravy. Fresh Cilantro and Peppermint is added as a garnish.
Rasa Table - Sweeteners

Obviously all sweeteners are classified as 'Sweet Rasa'. For weight loss, only Honey in low quantity is recommended

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