Foods with Zip: Ayurveda Tips for More Energy

If you are living in an area where winter is still transitioning into spring, you are experiencing the end of Kapha season. And while you may have lots of plans for activities such as gardening or exercising, some people may find that the season’s accumulation of kapha produces feelings of lethargy or depression. While we all might notice a bit of these symptoms, an individual with a predominant Kapha dosha will notice it much more.

This is a time when we might want to pay special attention to our diet to include energizing foods. Ayurveda has traditionally classified certain foods as either energizing (sattivic) or energy-draining (tamasic). Tamasic foods drain your energy because they are difficult to digest, produce impurities in your body and contain little vitality.

Here are Ayurveda food tips for boosting your energy levels:

Energizing (Sattvic) Food

Fresh fruit and vegetables

Juice made from fresh fruit and vegetables

Sweet dairy products such as milk and ghee (ideally organic)

Freshly prepared yogurt

Rice and wheat products such as bread, pasta and barley

Honey (unheated)almonds and honey

Raisins, dates, figs


Olive oil

Split mung beans

Energy Draining (Tamasic) Foods

Red meat

Aged or fermented foods, including vinegar, pickled foods, and sour cheeses such as Swiss and cheddar. (Most sweet cheeses, such as cottage cheese, farmer’s cheese, mozzarella and ricotta are not tamasic.)

Smoked foods

Leftover foods

Frozen, canned and packaged foods

Onions and garlic


Vegetables that grow below the ground (except for carrots and beets, which are energizing foods.) Potatoes are mildly energy-draining


Coffee (surprisingly!)

The old adage “You are what you eat” does not just refer to vitamins and proteins. Choosing primarily sattvic foods will affect rev up your energy levels and help maintain a balanced, happy state mind and emotions.

Visit an Ayurveda expert to learn more about the specific foods that will help create perfect balance in your individual physiology. The times of seasonal changes can be challenging to  our bodies and this is the perfect time for purification and dietary alertness.


( Picture of honey and almonds. Source: Google Advance Image Search.

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