Anti-Vata Diet Food List

Vatas, or air types are most likely to suffer from emaciation, malnourishment, or wasting of tissues. Improving quality, quantity and reguarity of meals is of the utmost importance. Vatas require a diet which is calming, grounding, and nourishing. Food should be warm, heavy, moistening and strengthening. Recommended tastes are sweet, sour, and salty. Pungent can be used as a spice; bitter and astringent are not advised. Air types tend to suffer from variable digestive ability. Care must be taken to keep the digestion strong, or ama (toxins) may result from the undigested food mass. FRUIT Most fruit is ok for Vata, as it is harmonizing, cleansing and increases body fluids. Dry fruit, however is too gas forming (Vatogenic). Fruit should be taken in moderation, in season and not mixed too much with other foods. Fruit is too light and full of the air element, and will causing increased ungroundedness, lack of concentration, lack of will if used in excess. YES! - Vata Pacifying: Lemons, limes, grapefruit, soaked prunes, cherries, grapes, strawberries, raspberries, pineapples, papayas, mangoes, raw or soaked dates, raw or soaked figs. YES - but limit intake: Oranges, apricots, avacados, bananas, pears, cooked apples, peaches, plums, pomegranates, persimmons, kiwis, melon with salt. NO - but can be antidoted (small amounts): Raw apples NO! - Disturbs Vata: Dry fruit, melons, cranberries. VEGETABLES Most vegetables are tolerated by Vatas if cooked. Preparing them with oils (seseme or ghee)and spices, and eating them with whole grains make them better. A primarily vegetable diet is too light; raw vegetables and salads should be taken moderately and in season only and with a fair amount of oil dressing. Cabbage family is too gas forming, beware of allergic reactions to nightshade family, mushrooms too drying, raw onions are too gas forming, but cooked onions are one of the best anti-Vata foods. YES! - Vata Pacifying: Cooked onions, chilies, sweet potato, carrots, beets, cilantro, parsley, radish, avacado, seaweeds YES - but limit intake: Potatoes, tomatoes, bell peppers, fresh corn, green beans, fresh peas, turnips, squash, artichokes, okra, greens, watercress. NO - but can be antidoted (small amounts): Califlower, alfalfa sprouts, sunflower sprouts, cucumber, celery, asparagus, spinach, chard, eggplant. NO! - Disturbs Vata: Raw onions, mushrooms, cabbage, broccoli, brussel

sprouts, kohlrabi, kale, salad. GRAINS Most whole grains are nourishing and heavy, therefore good for Vata. They can often be digested when other foods cannot. Most Vata disorders can be eliminated by a long-term wholegrain diet. Dried grains such as granola , crackers and chips are too drying and aggrivate Vata. Somewhat drying wholegrains such as barley, may be useful in conditions which involve ama or some dampness, such as barley to treat arthritis. Yeast breads are too gasforming. YES! - Vata Pacifying: Wheat, oats, brown rice, basmati rice, cous cous, kamut, spelt, wheat germ, grains cooked in water. YES - but limit intake: Barley, buckwheat, millet, wild rice, baked grains. NO - but can be antidoted (small amounts): Sour dough bread, pita bread, wholegrain pasta. NO! - Disturbs Vata: Yeast breads, granola, chips, white flour products. BEANS & LEGUMES Most beans strongly aggrivate Vata by being drying, gas forming and promoting constipation. They are rajistic, so can be over-stimulating. Tofu is the best tolerated, but some sensitive types may find even tofu hard to digest. YES! - Vata Pacifying: Mung (green), black urad lentils. YES - but limit intake: Tofu, soy cheese, soy milk, tamari(soy sauce). NO - but can be antidoted (small amounts): Aduki beans, lima beans, chickpeas, kidney beans. NO! - Disturbs Vata: Lentils, pinto, peanuts, soy beans, split peas, black-eyed peas, tempeh, navy beans, common lentils. NUTS & SEEDS Most nuts and seeds are warm, heavy, moist and nourish the lungs, reproductive system and nerves; are therefore good for Vata, particularly lightly roasted with salt or taken raw. YES! - Vata Pacifying: Almonds, pecans, pine nuts, cashews, seseme seeds, sunflower seeds, pumpkin seed, chia seed. YES - but limit intake: Filberts, brazil nuts, walnuts. NO - but can be antidoted (small amounts): Pistachio, macadamia. NO! - Disturbs Vata: Quinoa seeds DAIRY Most dairy is good for Vata as it is nourishing, moistening and heavy. As it tends to be cooling, hard to digest, and these days - perverted with chemical

hormones, antibiotics and heated - proper considerations to preserve the digestive fire must be taken, in order to keep it from becoming ama in the system. Dairy should be taken warm with spices and milk should be taken by itself. Take care to get organic products, from raw milk if possible. Fermented dairy products are good. YES! - Vata Pacifying: Buttermilk, ghee, acidopholis, goat milk, raw milk. YES - but limit intake: Khefir or yogurt (sweet), cream, sour cream, butter, cottage cheese, fresh curd cheese. NO - but can be antidoted (small amounts): Hard cheeses, processed milk NO! - Disturbs Vata: Ice- cream, powdered milk. ANIAL PRODUCTS Meat and fish lower Vata and are very grounding. Only Vata can claim to really need animal products in their diet. Short term, it may be the only thing that will re-vitalize health. It is so tamasic, difficult to digest, increases ama, and dulls the mind however, and Vata types are sensitive enough to be distubed by the negative energy of killing animals. There is much poison in the way in which animals are raised, fed, killed and they are full of chemicals. Special tonic herbs are therefore more benificial. YES! - Vata Pacifying: Fresh fish, shell fish, organically raised eggs. YES - but limit intake: organically raised turkey, chicken. NO - but can be antidoted (small amounts): Canned fish. NO! - Disturbs Vata: Beef, pork, lamb, veal, any non-organic or preserved meats. OILS Oils are very good for Vata in that they are heavy, moist and warm. They are hard to digest, so may be applied externally and are absorbed easily through the skin. Lighter oils are inferior to ghee and seseme oil in reducing Vata. Oils should be cold-pressed and of the best quality. YES! - Vata Pacifying: Seseme oil, ghee (clarified butter). YES - but limit intake: Almond, olive, avacado, butter. NO - but can be antidoted (small amounts): Coconut, mustard, peanut. NO! - Disturbs Vata: Safflower, corn, soy, canola, margerine, any heat- pressed oils. Natural sweeteners and sweet foods are good for Vata. Air types need more sweet than other types for maintaining strength of tissues and body fluids. Refined sugar however, is an artificial food that depletes the life force. Vatas must be careful of how they combine sweets with other foods, or may cause gas. Vatas often try to use sweets to calm their nerves, complex carbohydrates

are safer and more calming. Pastries and refined sugars will only derange Vata more. YES! - Vata Pacifying: Jaggery (raw Indian palm), raw sugar (Sucanut) YES - but limit intake: Molasses, maple syrup, raw honey, fruit syrup, brown rice syrup. NO - but can be antidoted (small amounts): Tubano sugar, barley malt syrup, fructose. NO! - Disturbs Vata: White sugar, 'brown' sugar, saccarin, Nutri-sweet. SPICES Most spices are good for Vata, for regulating appitite and dispelling gas. They are especially useful with sweet or heavy foods that are hard to digest. Really hot spices, however, such as cayenne pepper and mustard, can be too stimulating and aggrivating for Vata, with the exception of in the winter months. Rock salt in small quantities improves digestion and balances moisture for Vatas. YES! - Vata Pacifying: Cardamon, asafeotida, fennel, nutmeg, ginger, cloves, basil, cinnamon, fenugreek, cumin, tumeric, pippili, saffron, vanilla, bay leaf, celery seed, oregano, parsley, rosemary, black pepper, sage, thyme. YES - but limit intake: Rock salt, garlic, mint. NO - but can be antidoted (small amounts): Hot curry, coriander, cayenne, mustard seeds, ajwan, horseradish, sea salt. NO! - Disturbs Vata: Allspice, paprika. BEVERAGES Vatas need adequate fluids. Plain water may not be nourishing enough however, and needs to be supplimented with spiced milk, herb teas, spiced tea with milk, sour fruit juices. Ayurvedic herbal wines, 2-4 ounces a day, is benificial with or before meals. Spring water may be supplimented with flower essences for grounding or to dispel fear and worry. Beverages should be warm except in very hot weather. Avoid caffiene, as it is deranging for Vatas. Sodas are devestating due to being gas forming and dehydrating, high sugar content, caffiene. SUPPLIMENTS Air types do well with oily vitamins A, D and E, and sour vitamin C. Minerals are good, especially calcium and zinc, but can also be heavy and hard to digest unless taken with spices. Ayurvedic Rasayanas (rejuvinative herbal pastes)

include: Vacha Rasayana (calming, depression, fear, memory) and Ashwagandha Raasayana (for energy, vigor, fatigue, weakness).