Balancing Kapha

The transition from late Winter to early Spring is always a challenging one for me, my sinuses flair up and I just feel tired.  I found these tips for balancing Kapha this morning and wanted to share them for anyone else who might be feeling this transition:

Have more:

• Foods that are pungent, bitter or astringent in taste.
• Warm foods, both energetically and in temperature.
• Heating spices - like chili, black or cayenne pepper, ginger, cinnamon and cumin.
• Whole, freshly cooked foods.
• Light, dry and warm foods.
• Honey.
• Only room temperature or warm drinks.
• Most beans. Mung dahl, well-cooked tofu or tempeh or warm soy milk are all ok.
• Lots of veggies.
• A minimal amount of high-quality corn, canola, sesame, sunflower oil or ghee in your daily diet.
• Routine times for your meals.
• Taking a deep breath after swallowing your last bite and heading off for your next activity.
• Eating your meal in a peaceful environment.

Have less:

• Foods that are sweet, sour and/or salty.
• Cooling foods, both energetically and in temperature.
• Heavy and oily foods (e.g. cheese, pudding, nuts, cake).
• Highly processed foods (e.g. canned or frozen foods, "TV" dinners or pastries).
• Cold or carbonated drinks.
• Overeating or eating heavy meals.
• Eating fresh fruit or drinking fruit juice within 1/2 hr of any other food.
• Red meat.
• Foods or drinks that contain refined sugar or corn syrup.
• Deep fried foods.
• Alcohol, except for an occasional glass of dry red or white wine.

*I got this info from the website: http://www.banyanbotanicals.com/constitutions/balancing_kapha.html