Vegetable Guide

We recommend taking a variety of vegetables daily. Which vegetables should you take in raw form? Which should you eat only after cooking? Which is the best method to cook vegetables? What is the appropriate amount for vegetables? Let us dig in.

Key Recommendations

1. Variety: Include a variety of vegetables. Choose different colours of vegetables. Try to eat 5 different vegetables daily. Choose vegetables from different vegetable groups (given below). We have divided vegetables into 5 main groups. You should eat vegetables in equal proportion from each group whenever possible. Especially, eat leafy greens 20% of daily vegetable servings.
2. Salad: You should eat a salad before lunch and dinner. We have given the required minimum and recommended daily amount for salad below. Just divide the amount into two halves – one for lunch and one for dinner. You can also add vegetables (e.g., leafy greens) to smoothies. Check green herbs smoothie.
3. Cooked Vegetables: In addition to salad, you should also eat cooked vegetables as recommended below. Steaming, boiling, and baking are the best cooking methods.
4. Boil starchy vegetables and vegetables with high oxalate content: Boil starchy vegetables (e.g., potatoes, yam, butternut, pumpkin, zucchini, etc.) and high oxalate vegetables (e.g., spinach, beet greens, swiss chard, purple amaranth, and green amaranth, Colocasia. Boiling reduces oxalate content and aids in the easier digestion of these vegetables.

Standard Vegetable Serving Size

You should consider your appetite and metabolism to analyze how much food should be suitable for you. We also provide a reference for a recommended vegetable amount according to age, as below. You can consider it while deciding.

** A few herbalists recommend a specific vegetable powder or mixture for the treatment of diseases. For example, bitter gourd powder is recommended for type 2 diabetes mellitus. The total amount of powdered vegetables should not exceed 30 grams (1 serving) per day.

Vegetable Salad

We recommend eating raw vegetables in the form of salad. You can eat half of the recommended servings before lunch and the remaining half before dinner for the best results. The following table represents the minimum daily amount and recommended daily amount for salad.

1. Minimum: The minimum daily amount refers to the required daily amount that you must eat each day. People eating 800 grams of fruits and vegetables every day have a lower risk of diseases. (reference) According to this scenario, 400 grams of vegetables and 400 grams of fruits are essential for an adult to have a healthy life.
2. Recommended: The recommended daily amount refers to the amount recommended to have optimum health and maximum healing benefits.

Note:

• Divide: The above table represents the daily amount. You need to eat half before lunch and the remaining half before dinner. For example, if your age is between 19-70, the daily recommended amount is 750 grams. You should eat 375 grams before lunch and 375 grams before dinner.
• Adjust: If you add raw vegetables (e.g. leafy greens) in smoothies, you should adjust the amount of salad accordingly.

Cooked Vegetables

In addition to salad, you should also take cooked vegetables in the amount recommended below. The standard serving size for cooked vegetables is 80 grams. You can eat cooked vegetables with cooked whole grains and legumes.

1. Minimum: The minimum daily amount refers to the required daily amount that you must eat each day to lower the risk of diseases.
2. Recommended: The recommended daily amount refers to the amount recommended to have optimum health and maximum healing benefits.

You can cook any vegetables, but try to add 2-3 different vegetables together—for example, carrot with potatoes and peas. Generally, you should cook starchy vegetables (e.g., potatoes, yam, butternut, pumpkin, zucchini, etc.) and high oxalate vegetables (e.g., spinach, beet greens, swiss chard, purple amaranth, and green amaranth, Colocasia. Boiling reduces oxalate content and aids in easier digestion of these vegetables

Vegetable Categories

We divide vegetables into 7 categories:

Most Recommended:

1. Cruciferous Vegetables.
2. Fruiting Vegetables.
3. Leafy Greens and Petiole Vegetables.
4. Marrow Vegetables.
5. Root Vegetables.

Least Recommended:

1. Allium Vegetables.
2. Stem Vegetables.

You should try to include vegetables from each category in your weekly diet.

Recommended Weekly Ratio

There are the main 5 categories for the recommended weekly diet. The other two categories are optional.

Cruciferous Vegetables

Your weekly vegetable intake should include 20% cruciferous vegetables.

Recommended Form:

Fruiting Vegetables

Fruiting vegetables are essential. Your weekly vegetable intake should include 20% fruiting vegetables. Bell peppers and tomatoes are significantly important. You should use chilies with caution and in a very minimal amount less than ½ to 1 per day.

Recommended Form:

Leafy Greens and Petiole Vegetables

Your weekly vegetable intake should include 20% leafy green and petiole vegetables.

Recommended Form:

Marrow Vegetables

Your weekly vegetable intake should include 20% of marrow vegetables. Cucumbers should be the main marrow vegetable for your daily diet.

Recommended Form:

Root Vegetables

Your weekly vegetable intake should include 20% root vegetables.

Recommended Form:

Allium Vegetables

Allium vegetables are an optional and least recommended group of vegetables.  If you are following Healing Phase Diet and Stablizing Phase Diet, you should not consume allium vegetables. You can start taking alliums during Preventing Phase Diet. Alliums are not considered as sattvic foods. If you also follow the Sattvic Diet, you should not take alliums.

A few examples of allium vegetables are as follows:

Recommended Form:

How to Cook: You should not use oil or any fat to caramelise alliums. Just cook in a pan until it turns brown. Sprinkle water occasionally to prevent burning.

Stem Vegetables

Stem vegetables are an optional and least recommended group of vegetables.

Recommended Form:

You should not take Rhubarb leaves and roots due to high oxalic acid. Only stalks are edible.

Vegetable Digestibility

1. Boiled vegetables are easy to digest than steamed vegetables.
2. Steamed vegetables are easy to digest than raw vegetables.
3. Raw vegetables are easy to digest than boiled and steamed vegetables processed or fortified with oil or fat.
4. Non-starchy vegetables are easy to digest than starchy vegetables.
5. All vegetables are easy to digest than grains, legumes, nuts, seeds and animal foods. But heavier to digest than fruits.

According to digestibility, if you cook vegetables in oil or any type of fat (ghee, butter, etc.), it becomes heavier to digest than boiled in water alone. Boiling increases the bioavailability of nutrients and phytochemicals in some vegetables. Some are best to eat in raw form.

Taking vegetables with fat-rich foods (seeds and nuts) reduces dryness causing properties of vegetables, especially in green leafy vegetables (discussed below).

How to Cook Vegetables (Recommended Method)

We recommend the following cooking method:

1. Chop vegetables into small cubes.
2. Take a clay pot or a suitable pan.
3. Roast cumin seeds in a pan.
4. Add some water and chopped vegetables.
5. Cook on low flame/heat until vegetables become soft.
6. Remove pan from heat.
7. Puree: For making puree, take tomatoes, green chillies, fresh ginger, black pepper, turmeric, green cardamom seeds and cinnamon in a blender. Blend the mixture and make the puree. You can also add this puree along with vegetables in the 4th step. You can cook the puree along with vegetables. It makes vegetables a little tastier. In the nature cure, the puree is recommended to add in the end.
8. Add this puree in cooked vegetables (if not added in the 4th step) and cover the pan with a lid for 10 minutes.
9. Now chop coriander leaves and mix chopped coriander leaves in cooked vegetables.

Alternatively, you can also use steam for cooking vegetables. Cooking vegetables in a pressure cooker is not advisable.

Ayurvedic Cooking for Vegetables

Ayurveda advises adding fat to vegetables because it reduces Vata Aggravating properties of vegetables. Not all vegetables increase Vata dosha. A few vegetables do so. We recommend adding fat in the natural form instead of oils if you follow this method. You can add any from the following list:

• Almonds
• Avocado
• Brazil Nuts
• Cashews
• Char Magaz
• Chia seeds
• Coconut
• Flaxseeds
• Hazelnuts
• Macadamia Nuts
• Peanuts
• Pecans
• Pine Nuts
• Pistachios
• Pumpkin Seeds
• Sesame Seeds
• Sunflower Seeds
• Walnuts

Soak Nuts and Seeds: Ensure you soak nuts for at least 6-8 hours before using them. Soaking helps to improve the bioavailability of nutrients and the digestibility of nuts and seeds.

Choose Native Nuts and Seeds: You can also add other nuts and seeds native to your area. There is no restriction. They should be edible and safe to consume. We recommended the amount for nuts and seeds in dietary guidelines. But it may differ for individual nuts. For example, brazil nuts contain a high amount of selenium, so you should not take more than one brazil nut a day. So, make sure to check individual recommendation for each nuts and seeds. Check our future nut guide and seeds guide.

There is a specific method described in ayurveda for a few vegetables. It applies to vegetables, which aggravates Vata Dosha and produces dryness in the body.

Generally, it includes a few leafy green vegetables, e.g., spinach, Jivanti leaves, Bathua (goosefoot), barley leaves, Chakramarda leaves (sickle pod), etc.

Ayurveda describes the cooking method for these vegetables.

स्विन्नं निष्पीडितरसं स्नेहाढ्यं नातिदोषलम् । (Ashtang Hridaya, Sutra Sthana, Chapter 6, Verse 95)

There are three steps:

1. Boiling or Steaming.
2. Squeezing steamed vegetables to remove residual water.
3. Fortifying with a healthy fat.

How to Cook in Ayurvedic Way

1. Boil these vegetables in water.
2. Filter and discard the residual water and keep boiled or steamed vegetables.
3. Now add 2-3 tablespoons of the recommended paste/cream of overnight soaked nuts or seeds.

Note: The method is modified slightly. Instead of oils, we highly recommend using nuts paste/cream or seeds paste/cream. This method is the healthiest and makes your veggies delicious.

How to Make Nut & Seed Cream/Paste

1. Take any nuts or seeds locally available in your country.
2. Put ¼ cup of water and ¼ cup of nuts or seeds in the blender.
3. Blend on high speed until it becomes a paste-like consistency.
4. We name it nut cream and seed cream.

Recommended Amount of Nuts/Seeds Paste

1-2 tablespoons in 450 grams of cooked vegetables.

Ayurveda does not describe the amount of any food. It depends on how much you involve in physical work. In the current era, you should take care of your daily recommendations. Check Dietary Guidelines to know the Recommended Daily Amount for most food groups.

Argument

Most ayurvedic doctors use the above verses for the argument to advise using oil for cooking vegetables. I strongly disagree. Ancient scenarios and current scenarios are vastly different. Our ancestors were physically active whole the day.

Oil impairs the functions of the blood vessels. Even the world’s healthiest oil (extra virgin olive oil) also impairs the natural function of arteries to relax and dilates, according to research studies. These effects can be observed within a few hours of consuming oils. Therefore, all oils are bad for health. (Reference 1, Reference 2) It does not happen with healthy fat sources like nuts and seeds. (Reference 3, Reference 4)

According to the principles of ayurveda, your body already stores a lot of fat, Kapha dosha and Ama Dosha, due to less physical work and bad dietary habits. Microchannels in your body also develop blockage due to excess Ama and Kapha dosha.

Even if it appears you suffer from Vata Disease, it is because Ama Dosha and Kapha dosha block the passage of Vata. It is not due to dryness in micro-channels. It is not pure vata disease. Your diseases are a mix of three doshas. It applies to more than 75% of cases, according to my clinical experience in ayurveda. So, what you need – a variety of food.

Dryness of micro-channels will not occur if you consume various foods in the recommended daily amount mentioned in dietary guidelines.

Importance of Choosing Variety of Vegetables

Each type of vegetable has different effects on the three doshas: some increase vata, some pitta and some kapha. The key recommendation is to include a variety of vegetables in your daily diet without concerning about dosha. A variety of vegetables will nullify each other effects on the dosha and maintains their balance while providing complete nourishment.

Healing Masala

You can make a masala that you can add in cooked vegetables.

Mix powders of these spices in the recommended amount and use this mixture.