Vata-Balancing Foods

 

Vata can be brought back into balance by eating a nourishing selection of vata-pacifying foods. Read below to find out what you can add and subtract from your Ayurvedic diet to help pacify this dosha and experience the gifts of vata in balance.

For each food group, you will find lists of the best vata-balancing foods as well as aggravating vata foods to avoid. You can use these guidelines to create healthful meals and satisfying vata recipes.

If you are not certain whether your vata is out of balance, take our free Ayurvedic dosha quiz.

Ayurveda's Top Calming Foods and Foods for Vata Dosha

Vata dosha is made up of the air and ether elements, giving it qualities that are dry, light, rough, cold, airy, and expansive in nature. When vata is out of balance in the body, it can lead to experiences such as dry or rough skin, cold hands and feet, feeling spacey or restless, and so on.

To restore balance, Ayurveda recommends eating foods with the opposite qualities, including warm cooked foods, heavy and grounding foods, healthy oils for internal lubrication, and plenty of hydration.

So before we get into specific vata food recommendations and vata spices, just keep in mind that you are striving for a diet that generally feels deeply grounding, nourishing, and satiating to your body and your being. 

Fruits

Fruits that balance vata will generally be sweet and nourishing. While some raw fruit is appropriate, cooked or stewed fruits are easier to digest and offer additional warmth, moisture, and sweetness—which makes them even more beneficial for vata. Fruits to avoid are those that are exceptionally cooling, astringent (drying), or rough, which includes most dried fruit (unless it has been soaked or cooked to rehydrate).

And remember, fruits and fruit juices are best enjoyed alone—30 minutes before, and ideally at least 1 hour after, any other food. This helps to ensure optimal digestion. Note: this rule does not apply to fruits that we typically consider vegetables (avocados, cucumbers, tomatoes, etc.). You will find these fruits listed among the “vegetables.”

Favor	Avoid
Apples (cooked) Applesauce Apricots Bananas (ripe, not green) Berries Cantaloupe Cherries Coconut Dates (fresh, cooked, or soaked) Figs (fresh, cooked, or soaked) Grapefruit Grapes Kiwi Lemon Lime Mango Melons Oranges Papaya Peaches Pineapple Plums Prunes (cooked or soaked) Raisins (cooked or soaked) Tamarind	Apples (raw) Bananas (green) Cranberries Dates (dry) Dried Fruit, in general Figs (dry) Pears Persimmons Pomegranate Prunes (dry) Raisins (dry) Watermelon

Vegetables

Vegetables that pacify vata will generally be sweet, moist, and cooked. Root vegetables are especially beneficial because they grow underground, and are therefore supremely grounding and stabilizing for vata. Avoid exceptionally dry, rough, and cold vegetables, including most raw vegetables. If you must have raw veggies, a salad, or any of the vata-aggravating vegetables, keep the quantities small and eat them at mid-day, when digestive strength is at its peak. A really thorough cooking or a well-spiced, oily dressing will help to offset some of the dry, rough qualities of these foods.

Favor	Reduce or Avoid
Asparagus Avocado Beets Carrots, Cooked Chilies (in very small quantities) Cilantro Cucumber Garlic Green Beans Green Chilies Leeks Mustard Greens Okra Olives (black) Onion, Cooked Parsnip Peas, Cooked Pumpkin Rutabega Spinach, Cooked Squash, Summer Squash, Winter Sweet Potatoes Watercress Zucchini	Artichokes Beet Greens Bell Peppers Bitter Melon Broccoli Brussels Sprouts Burdock Root Cabbage Carrots, Raw Cauliflower Celery Chilies (in excess) Corn, Fresh Dandelion Greens Eggplant Jerusalem Artichokes Kale Kohlrabi Lettuce Mushrooms Olives, Green Onion, Raw Peas, Raw Peppers, Hot Potatoes, White Radishes Spinach, Raw Sprouts Tomatoes Turnips

Grains

Grains that pacify vata are generally sweet, nourishing, easily digested, and well cooked. Mushy grains and puddings (things like oatmeal, cream of wheat and rice pudding) exemplify the smooth quality and, when sweetened and spiced, are often delicious comfort foods. Avoid grains that are exceptionally light, dry, or rough, or especially dense and heavy. It is one or more of these qualities that gives the grains in the “avoid” column below, their capacity to disturb vata.

Favor	Avoid
Amaranth Durham Flour Oats, Cooked Pancakes Quinoa Rice (all types) Seitan Sprouted Wheat Bread Wheat	Barley Buckwheat Cereals (cold, dry, or puffed) Corn Couscous Crackers Granola Millet Muesli Oat Bran Oats, Dry Pasta, Wheat Rice Cakes Rye Spelt Tapioca Wheat Bran Yeasted Bread

Legumes

Vata can enjoy a narrow selection of legumes, provided they are well-cooked and well-spiced. The beans that work best for vata are a little less dense, rough, and dry, than other legumes. They tend to cook relatively quickly, are easily digested, and offer a grounding, nourishing quality. Many other beans are simply too dry, rough, and hard for vata’s delicate digestion.

Favor	Avoid
Lentils, Red Miso Mung Beans Mung Dal, Split Soy Cheese Soy Milk (served warm) Soy Sauce Soy Meats Tofu (served hot) Toor Dal Urad Dal	Adzuki Beans Black Beans Black-Eyed Peas Garbanzo Beans (Chickpeas) Kidney Beans Lentils, Brown Lima Beans Navy Beans Pinto Beans Soy Beans Soy Flour Soy Powder Split Peas Tempeh White Beans

Dairy

Dairy products are generally quite balancing for vata, but it’s good to avoid highly processed preparations (like powdered milk), and especially cold dairy products. For example, boiled cow’s milk (ideally a non-homogenized variety) spiced with cinnamon and nutmeg, sweetened if desired, and served hot, is a tonic for vata, whereas cold cow’s milk may be too difficult for many to digest.

As a rule, dairy milks (cow’s milk, goat’s milk, sheep’s milk, etc.) should be taken at least one hour before or after any other food. For this reason, avoid drinking milk with meals. Many milk alternatives are also good substitutes if you don’t digest dairy well.

Favor	Avoid
Butter Buttermilk Cheese Cottage Cheese Cow’s Milk Almond Milk Rice Milk Oat Milk Ghee Goat’s Milk Ice Cream (in moderation) Sour Cream (in moderation) Yogurt (fresh)	Frozen Yogurt Powdered Milk

Nuts & Seeds

In moderation, all nuts and most seeds are pacifying to vata. They are oily, nutritious, and they offer a power-packed combination of proteins and fats that’s highly beneficial to vata. That said, nuts and seeds are quite heavy and should be eaten in small quantities so as not to overwhelm vata’s fickle digestive capacity.

Favor	Avoid
Almonds Brazil Nuts Cashews Coconut Hazelnuts Macadamia Nuts Peanuts Pecans Pine nuts Pistachios Pumpkin Seeds Sesame Seeds Sunflower Seeds Walnuts	Popcorn

Meat & Eggs

Vata does well with eggs and a variety of different meats, if you choose to eat them. That said, vata can be easily be pacified without these animal foods, if your diet doesn’t already include them. If you do eat meat, the meats to favor are those that are nourishing, sweet, moist, and relatively easy to digest. Meats to avoid tend to be either too light and dry, or too heavy, for vata.

Favor	Avoid
Beef Buffalo Chicken (especially dark) Duck Eggs Fish (fresh and salt water) Salmon Sardines Seafood Shrimp Tuna Fish Turkey (dark)	Lamb Mutton Pork Venison Turkey (white)

Oils

Because toxins tend to concentrate in fats, buying organic oils may be more important than buying organic fruits and vegetables. Most oils are beneficial for vata, provided they are high-quality oils. Sesame oil, almond oil, coconut oil, olive oil, and ghee are among the best choices. Less favorable oils are either too light and dry, too difficult to digest, or too highly processed/altered for vata.

Favor	Avoid
Almond Oil Avocado Oil Castor Oil Coconut Oil Ghee Mustard Oil Olive Oil Peanut Oil Safflower Oil Sesame Oil Sunflower Oil	Canola Oil Corn Oil Flax Seed Oil Soy Oil

Sweeteners

Most sweeteners are good for vata, but it’s generally best to avoid large quantities of refined sugar. Favor sweeteners in their most natural state over anything highly processed. For example, if you normally sweeten a cup of spiced milk with white sugar, try tossing your milk into the blender with a few soaked dates instead. Beyond that, sweeteners with a warming energy like honey, jaggery, and molasses, are especially helpful in offsetting vata’s tendency to be cold. But, honey is also quite scraping and can be depleting, if overused. When it comes to finding the specific choices that work best for you, it’s often helpful to experiment with a variety of options in order to sort out your body’s unique preferences.

Favor	Avoid
Barley Malt Date Sugar Fructose Fruit Juice Concentrates Honey (raw) Jaggary Maple Syrup (in moderation) Molasses Rice Syrup Sucanat Turbinado	Artificial Sweeteners White Sugar Honey (heated or cooked)

Spices

Most spices are wonderful for vata, provided that none of your dishes are fiery hot (due to excessive use of cayenne pepper, chili peppers, and the like). Experimenting with a wide variety of new and exotic spices is generally great for vata, and can help to kindle overall digestive strength.

Favor	Use in Moderation
Ajwan Allspice Anise Basil Bay Leaf Black Pepper Caraway Cardamom Cinnamon Cloves Coriander (seeds or powder) Cumin (seeds or powder) Dill Fennel Garlic Ginger (fresh or dried) Hing (Asafoetida) Mace Marjoram Mint Mustard Seeds Nutmeg Oregano Paprika Parsley Peppermint Pippali Poppy Seeds Rosemary Saffron Salt Savory Tarragon Thyme Turmeric Vanilla	Cayenne Pepper Chili Powder Fenugreek Horseradish Neem Leaves