a balanced ayurvedic diet depends upon the vikriti and prakriti
in my estimation a vegetarian diet is primarily useful to treat ama and
balance kapha
however, it can be modified based on the needs of the individual

first, we must address the issue of satmya: what is an appropriate diet
for this person based on ancestry and the current location

my analysis of this is that vegetarian diets are best implemented in
people whose ancestry has had the greatest exposure to it, i.e. fertile
"bread baskets" of early human agriculture, e.g. the middle east,
india, southern/central china and meso-america - europeans, north
american indians, northern asians, africans etc. have a lesser
ancestral tolerance to these foods

similarly, living in colder regions necessitates heavier, warmer foods
of which the most obvious, commonly used and effective choice are
animal products

two, we must acknowledge that vegetarian diets are inherently
ill-suited to vattika conditions and in vattika prakritis - but just
as a kapha or pitta condition can tolerate certain kinds of animal
products, a vegetarian diet can be structured for vata, but there are
inherent problems that must be overcome - certainly, vegan diets are a
very poor choice to balance vata

when i have time, i hope to be able to post a comprehensive menu-plan
adapted to the West, based on the needs of the particular doshas - when
i have it done i will also post it here

best...

Todd Caldecott
www.toddcaldecott.com