Yes I am still eating kitchari on a regular basis. The alterations that I have made to my diet are in consideration that even though my main dosha is pitta, my vitiated vata is what is actually causing all the problems. Vitiated vata (air) is one of the most harmful imbalances because it is connected to the central nervous system and also greatly impaired the digestive power of agni. So I am really working to re-balance vata by eating lots of soups, kitchari and other foods that are balancing to vata, while at the same time eating foods that are also balancing to pitta (so I am not adding too many spices except things like fennel, cardamom, tumeric, and other sweet spices). I have also realized that since my agni is still impaired (although now improved from where it was) I have to be careful with the amount of food that I eat and the types of foods that I eat because any food that is not properly digested will create toxins and further vitiate vata. My typical diet is breakfast cream of wheat (farina) with half a cup of milk in the cereal with a teaspoon of natural sugar, lunch kitchari or soup with bread or some other carbohydrates, very low sodium (agitates pitta), small amount of butter added, dinner similar to lunch high carbohydrate, for lunch and dinner also eating some nice balancing vegetables like potatoes, squash, sweet peppers. I also usually drink some herb teas in the morning a bit before breakfast and in the evening after work. Sometimes I have a small snack a couple hours before dinner but I'm trying to decide if this is a good idea or not. I had been eating some apples and pears but I started to realize these are a bit problematic for vata and I have now been eating all my fruit cooked and feel much better with this. I had been snacking much more previously but I feel it is better for digestion to wait for proper meal times. Currently I have not been taking any herbs or supplements but I am looking into possibly adding some to help me keep balancing things but even just with diet alone I am making great progress. Hope you are seeing some improvements also.

Yes, I know what you mean about the conflicting information, however I consider Ayurvedic dietary recommendations to be just that - recommendations.

The Ayurvedic nutrition books that I have read typically use words such as 'prefer' or 'favour', rather than definite statements such as 'eat this' and 'never eat that' (with the exception of combining milk and fruit).

I too am categorised as 'vata' type, however I do not follow every single dietary recommendation that Ayurveda prescribes. Experimenting with new ingredients is half the fun - finding foods that agree with you and foods that can perhaps be omitted.

I hope to write more about this in response to saywhatagain's post above.

J x

yeah, you have got to tweak the diet to work for you. Have you experimented with eating foods made from durum wheat flour? This type of flour is very low in gluten and generally good for health. The bread in India is freshly ground and freshly baked and unleavened, very good for health unlike toxic store-bought bread. I understand some people are avoiding grains and that is going to be up to you but grains like wheat and white basmati rice can be some of the most balancing foods especially vata types (vatas need foods that are comforting and palatable). With any foods that you eat, you have to take into consideration your level of digestive health, this is something that you won't get from just looking at websites and getting food recommendations. For example, milk and other dairy products is good to keep vata in balance but if you are already in a toxic state and vata is vitiated, your digestion will be severely impaired, in this state taking dairy products (except ghee) will be an extremely unwise choice because they are very difficult to digest. In this case, the dairy products will not be digested, will throw vata even further out of balance, further impair digestion, and increase toxins in the body. If you have difficulty with grains, try to add some slowly in moderation. Only food that you can digest will be beneficial to your body, everything else is toxic regardless of weather or not it is appropriate for your dosha.

Here is what a friend told me about Ayurvedic detox diet. She met with an Ayurvedic teacher.

First, buy all organic and NON Genetically-Modified-Organisms ingredients you want to cleasing the body not adding to it's burden load or aggravate the body.

The colonic specialist told me before you start a fast you should always get a colonic it really jumps starts the detox process. I guess you can do that or a coffee enema. I think that is optional , but I did it, and I'm glad I did.

Begin with three days of fasting, only on warm water with fresh squeezed lemon every 15 minutes this clears the lymphatic symptoms and detoxifies the body. Helps get the organs draining.

Second phase then you begin with Ghee a few tablespoons in the morning, then you slowly work your way up to six tablespoons a day. This cleanses the kidney, gall bladder, and liver at this time if you choose you can do a gallbladder cleanse.

Then you have kithcere.
Which is basic simple predigested food easy on the stomach. This calms the body down and helps the continued cleansing of the body.

Dairy I was told to avoid because it clogs us the system . Sugar is avoided

I had fresh grated ginger tea, with fresh grated turmeric in it. I used natural Xylitol
I also have cumin coriander fennel teas.
I continue with my early morning yoga practice and meditation