Runny noses

Someone recently asked me about mucous and runny noses.  We often see it in little children. Why? The reason being that it is the Kapha time of life. in Ayurved the 3 doshas dominate at different stages of life.  In childhood it is the Kapha dosha (water and earth elements) in mid-life  the Pitta dosha (fire and water) and in late life Vata dosha (air and either).

So if we are trouble by phlegm or mucous whether in our nasal passages, sinus, or lungs the first place to look is diet.  Ayurved recognizes 6 tastes: sweet, sour, salty, pungent, bitter and astringent.  The first 3 aggravate Kapha and the last 3 pacify Kapha. So if you are eating a lot of sweet salty and sour things, especially in the cold and wet winter months it will increase the Kapha dosha and to create balance the body will want to excrete that through mucous.  Also by eating pungent, bitter and astringent things that will create balance and burn up and pacify Kapha.

For example if you are eating salty french fries with catsup that would definitely increase Kapha. Catsup is a condiment made of salt, vinegar and sugar, all Kapha aggravating.  So what foods would be pungent, bitter or astringent?  Pungent is an easy one: black pepper, ginger.  Some other spices that would reduce Kapha are cinnamon, coriander, cloves, cumin, mustard seeds and turmeric.

One highly recommended way to start the day by my brilliant teacher Vaidya R. K. Mishra is to stew some apples or pears with cloves.  You could peal the fruit and core it and add 5-6 cloves per each apple or pear and cook then until they are soft - eat warm.  This way the sweet Kapha aggravating quality of the fruit if balanced by the heating values of the cloves.  Cloves have other beneficial values that I have written about in other blogs.

Another example is yogurt - clogging - but by blending it with freshly grated nutmeg and honey which are both heating then that makes it more balanced. Yes, honey is the best sweetener for reducing Kapha.

There are a wide variety of herbs the reduce Kapha, Basil, dill, fennel, oregano, parsley, thyme, rosemary, sage, and my favorite Saffron.  I will talk about Saffron for a minute. Real saffron is very expensive because it is the stamen of the crocus flower, very time consuming to gather.  But just add a few little threads when cooking your grains and it will give them a lovely gentle gold colour and great benefits. It balances and detoxifies deep tissues that are difficult to balance in other ways.

The best grains for Kapha body types are barley, millet, rice and cornmeal. Note that wheat is not on this list.  Also small lentils like red lentils, green and french lentils, walnuts, and honey.

If you are wanting to start modifying your diet to reduce Kapha, start with one or two things a week. Lets say you stop using wheat bread and use a Barley bread. I actually found a Barley/Quinoa bread in my local grocery store in Gibsons.   Then just start your day with the apples and/or pear stewed with cloves.  Look for recipes with cinnamon. Add pinch of turmeric to a stew. It means stocking your kitchen differently...................Also check out my previous posts on clogging foods.  Will watch for questions.  The photo is of a fast easy recipe - red lentils with coriander, cumin, turmeric and a bay leaf.  Add finely chopped parsley just before serving. Good to pacify Kapha.