being green

last of a three part series on individualizing your diet and life style

The focus of traditional medicine in the Ayurvedic, Tibetan and Chinese systems has always been on you, as an individual, rather than your symptoms. Understanding your body type is one way that you can identify underlying imbalances that produce symptoms. To optimize your health, it's important to recognize signs of imbalance and correct them before disease occurs by following appropriate dietary and lifestyle changes. But first, you need to determine your constitutional type.

GREEN TRAITS
Kapha types are characterized by the elements water and earth, so Green (the color of water) best describes this type. Greens have large, well-proportioned body frames, with deep-set joints. They give the overall impression of great strength and stamina, which they indeed possess. Greens have lovely, thick hair that may be blond or dark with blond highlights. They also have big, beautiful eyes with long lashes.
    Stability and reliability are the best words to describe Kaphas. They inspire great confidence and others naturally gravitate to them. Greens are excellent at detail work and can always be relied upon to get things done. This type is cautious, studies everything carefully and never forgets anything learned.
    It may be hard to engage Greens in conversation and when they speak they do so slowly and with caution. While initially slow to make friends, this type often keeps relationships for a long time. Kaphas are uncomfortable with change, tending to maintain the status quo in both their personal and professional lives. Being extremely reliable, the make excellent business or marriage partners. Greens are considerate, affectionate, loving and loyal since they are blessed with great patience and fortitude. Greens do not upset easily and they will go to great lengths to avoid confrontation. Once angered though, they can be formidable.

Typical Conditions
Greens enjoy good digestion but tend to overeat, especially when out of balance. Many also tend to avoid exertion, even though they have excellent exercise capacity and feel better when they work out. They love to sleep and need to avoid the tendency to oversleep. This combination of traits often leads to overweight, with Greens packing on the pounds around their hips, thighs and buttocks. Digestive problems occur right after eating and include belching, burping, fullness, discomfort and fatigue. A poor sense of taste and smell is a common cause for eating disorders, so making poor food choices is a common Green train. Obesity, insulin resistance and complications from these disorders commonly occur in this type. Kaphas usually have a problem with fluid retention, so they are prone to sinus congestion, runny nose, excess phlegm and mucus, bad breath and gum disease. They also have a tendency to develop lung congestion, asthma, bronchitis, emphysema and pneumonia. If minor conditions are not corrected, serious disorders like diabetes, congestive heart failure or stroke may occur. When depressed, Green types tend to withdraw, becoming melancholy and overly passive. They can also be very stubborn, set in their ways, or lazy.

Eat the Right Colors
Preferring to eat out rather than shop and prepare meals, Kaphas often choose fast foods and snack between meals to keep energy levels high. Wheat, dairy products and fatty, sweet or salty foods are categories this type definitely should avoid, since these are the very foods that pack on extra weight. Green types often find that transitioning into a high protein diet and eliminating fatty or starchy foods is the easiest and quickest way to reduce the lethargy that follow meals that are high in carbohydrates (pasta, breads, dairy, oils, fruit juice and root vegetables).
    Half of everything a Kapha eats should be green. Cruciferous vegetables including broccoli, cauliflower, Brussels sprouts, kale and cabbage are excellent choices, while onions, garlic, shallots and chives are also useful for this type. Vegetables from the mustard family (arugula, mustard greens, collards, spinach, beet greens and mesclun - that spicy green salad mix) are excellent choices. Green beans, green peas, green and red peppers, asparagus, artichokes, alfalfa sprouts, Swiss chard, watercress and zucchini are also good.

    Spicy foods (chili peppers, radishes) and condiments (wasabi, horseradish, tamarind) are useful. Because this type tends to retain water. Greens want to avoid fruits and vegetables with high water content (melons, celery and cucumbers). The best fruits are pears, grapes, berries, apples, cherries, kiwis, persimmons, plums, peaches, lemons, limes and oranges.
    High protein foods recommended for Greens include legumes, chicken, turkey, shellfish and oily fish (sole, roughy, scrod, farmed salmon and trout) Kaphas also do well with cultured dairy products (yogurt, buttermilk, nonfat, cottage cheese and kefir). The legume family, including tofu, is a good source of protein since red meat contains too much fat. Greens be careful not to eat too many eggs or too much butter. Safflower, sunflower and canola oils - and those made from the seeds of hemp, mustard, pumpkin and flax - are also good choices. Rather than eating fat-free packaged foods, Greens want to choose healthy oils and use them sparingly.

HERBS AND SUPPLEMENTS
Kaphas need to spice up their food. Black pepper enhances digestion while perking up food favors, Cayenne pepper, cloves, fenugreek and turmeric, found in curries, plus mustard are other excellent choices, as are any pungent green spices (oregano, basil, rosemary, thyme and marjoram) Greens can use green and red salsa, mango chutney, and tamarind instead of sauces and oily dressings.
    The top healing herbs for Green types are standardized extracts of the following:
� GREEN TEA (Camellia sinensis) catechins offer important medicinal benefits: weight loss, anticancer effects, support for the kidneys and protection against atherosclerosis,
� COUNTRY MALLOW (Sida cordifolia) is a tonic and stimulant used for centuries in India for gout, arthritis, poor circulation, fatigue, urinary disorders and respiratory conditions, thanks to its anti-inflammatory, analgesic, diuretic and rejuvenative action,
� COLEUS (C. forskohlii) is the only plant that contains forskolin, which stimulates cyclic adenosine monophosphate (cyclic AMP), a cellular signaling chemical that regulates hormone activity. One of the major biochemical agents for balancing metabolism, cyclic AMP relaxes smooth muscle, making forskolin a traditional remedy for spasmodic pain, lung conditions, high blood pressure and the heart. Potential therapeutic uses of forskolin have been identified in the areas of inflammation, platelet aggregation, reducing intraocular pressure in glaucoma and weight loss.
    Minerals are extremely important for Kaphas. Most green vegetables are rich sources of minerals including magnesium, zinc and calcium. Since Green types should not drink milk or have cheese, a calcium supplement with added magnesium and zinc is also a good idea.
    Research at Creighton University links obesity with a lack of calcium. This is an important reason for Greens to ensure an adequate intake of this essential mineral. Chromium, vanadium and alpha lipoic acid are of particular importance for Greens because they help balance sugar metabolism. §

Copyright©, 2001 by The Zimmerman Group, Inc. All rights reserved. Except as permitted under the Copyright Act of 1976, no part of this publication may be reproduced or distributed in any form or by any means, or stored in a database or retrieval system, without the prior written permission of the publisher.

No part of this article may be used for the promotion of product or services without the express written consent of the author. The information in this article is intended for educational purposes only. It is not intended to replace the advice of a health care provider. Nor is it to be used to diagnose, treat or cure any condition.