In my previous posts, I explained the “4 Temperaments” and I covered “How to identify your temperament“.  Over the years, I have received many comments and questions on this topic so I decided to cover the foods and their temperaments here so you know what to eat and what to avoid in order to help adjust and balance your temperament.

I highly recommend reading those blog posts if you haven’t yet; so you can better understand the principles of the 4 temperaments and be able to identify your temperament.

The kind of food we consume has a great impact of our health.  Per Iranian Traditional Medicine, food can be categorized into 4 different categories: “warm”, “cold”, “wet” and “dry”.  When we talk about cold and warm, we don’t mean the external temperature of the food but the internal nature and the innate characteristics of them.  This refers to the effect these food have inside our body which in turn impact our metabolism and digestion.  The is no correlation between the physical temperature of a particular food and its internal nature. For example, coffee is normally hot/warm in temperature but it is cold in nature and butter which is always kept cold in the fridge has a warm temperament.  Ayurveda categorizes food into cooling and heating as well.

Once you know your body type and temperament and when you know where most your health issues are coming from, it is best to avoid the types of food that trigger such issues.  For instance, if you are Phlegmatic (Cold/Wet) or “Balghami Mizaj”, you probably suffer from excess weight, edema, lack of energy and fatigue.  You might even have an underactive thyroid (Hypothyroidism).   In this case, you need to avoid foods that are cold/wet in nature such as chicken, fish, pumpkin, potatoes, watermelon and pasteurized dairy products.  These types of food slow down your metabolism further and create more imbalance in your body.

For a comprehensive list of foods in Persian, click here.  Here is a short list of food and their temperaments so you can find what works for you and what doesn’t:

Meats:
Sheep: warm and wet
Beef: cold and dry
Chicken: cold and wet
Turkey: warm and wet
Camel: warm and dry
Goat: cold and dry/ or if young, neutral
Fish: cold and wet (especially if raised industrially)
Shrimp: warm and wet

Fruits:
Red or yellow Apple: warm and wet
Green and sour apple: cold and dry
Apricot: warm and wet
Banana: warm and dry
Coconut: warm and dry
Dates: warm and dry
Figs: warm and wet
Grapes: warm and wet
Sweet Melon: warm and wet
Orange: cold and wet
Tangerine: cold & wet
Watermelon: cold and wet
Lemon: cold and wet
Pineapple: cold and wet
Mango: warm and wet
Olive: cold and dry
Olive oil: warm and dry
Pear: warm and wet
Pumpkin: cold and wet
Papaya: warm & wet
Strawberry: cold and wet
Pomegranate: sour=cold and dry / sweet: cold and wet
Peach: cold and wet
Cherries: warm and wet
Sour Cherries: cold & dry
Kiwi: cold and wet

Dairy products:
Pasteurized Milk: cold and wet
Organic whole milk: warm and wet
Fresh white cheese: cold and wet
Aged cheese: warm and dry
cream: cold and wet
Yoghurt: cold and wet
Butter: warm and wet
Ghee and cow’s fat oil: warm and wet
Eggs: yolk =warm and wet/ Albumen: cold and wet

Grains:
Beans: warm and wet
Wheat: warm and wet
Sesame: warm and wet
Maize: cold and dry
Lentil: cold and dry
Barley: cold and dry
Rice: cold and wet

Nuts:
Walnut: warm and wet
Peanuts: warm and wet
Almond: warm and wet
Cashew: warm and dry
Pistachio: warm and dry
Sunflower seed: warm and dry
Hazelnut: warm and dry
Sesame oil: warm and wet
Bitter almond oil: warm and wet

Vegetables and roots:
Onion: warm and dry
Garlic: warm and dry
Radish: warm and dry
Potato: cold and wet
Carrot: warm and wet
Tomato: cold and wet
Cucumber: cold and wet
Okra: cold and wet
Green peas: cold and wet
Eggplant: warm and dry
Lotus: cold and wet
Lemon: cold and dry
Mushroom: cold and wet
Rosemary: warm and dry
Thyme: warm and dry
Celery: warm and dry
Broccoli: warm and wet
Parsley: warm and dry
Cilantro: cold and dry

Spice & Other:
Salt: warm and dry
Coffee: cold and dry
Black and green tea: warm and dry
Pepper: warm and dry
Chili: warm and dry
Ginger: warm and dry
Cinnamon: warm and dry
Cocoa: warm and dry
Turmeric: warm and dry
Saffron: warm and dry
Brown sugar: warm and dry
Rose water: cold and wet
Honey: neutral (depends on the plant and flower) usually warm and dry