Smoothies for Vata Dosha in Summer: Eating with the Seasons
Smoothies for Vata Dosha in Summer is part two of https://bodymindwellnesscenter.com/smoothies-for-vata-dosha/ .
In Ayurveda we eat with the seasons, so you can have more raw in Summer when Pitta is elevated in everyone, than in cold or rainy weather such as the monsoon season in India or Winter anywhere. But if you are Vata dominant, and even for everyone’s digestion, what you should never put in your smoothie is ice. Let your smoothie be cool, not freezing cold.
Does blending the raw fruit or veggies make it less elevating to Vata than simply chopped raw veggies? Yes. But I still would not recommend raw veggies in smoothies for any kind of Vata, whether Vata-Pitta, or Vata-Kapha. Stick to fruit and protein, like ground Chia seed.
Banana Blueberry Smoothie for Vata in Summer
2 cups Eden Brand soy milk
1 tbsp ground Chia seed, soaked in water to soften
3-4 tbsp blueberries
1/2 ripe banana
2 tsp almond butter
1/2 tsp cardamon powder
1/2 tsp ginger powder
1/2 tsp Stevia in the Raw brand Stevia powder
1/2 tsp Vanilla extract
A little honey to taste if desired.
Fruits and Veggies in Separate Smoothies
If you absolutley want raw veggies in a smoothie, because you are Vata-Pitta and can take it, (more likely to work for Pitta-Vata or Pitta-Kapha) I would still recommend being careful about mixing veggies and fruits. Fruits that go well w/veggies might be banana, apple, pear, pineapple. I would be more inclined to recommend blending the veggies and fruits separately, another words make your veggies smoothies veggie and your fruit smoothies fruit. I could conceive of a vegetable smoothie with kale or brocoli and spice and avocado or nut butter. I would not drink it myself, but I could conceive of it
Spices in Smoothies
In addition, when making Smoothies for Vatta dosha I would recommend using warming spices like ginger, green or black cardamon, cinnamon, ajwain, clove, coriander, cumin, fenugreek, black pepper, long pepper, and sea salt or himalayan salt. And make it taste good! Too often smoothies are some kind of concoction eaten out of some kind of puritanically idea of health that ignores the role that aroma and taste have in promoting digestion. If it smells and tastes good then Agni is fired up and your gut will benefit in the digestive process.
Nut, Seed, and Healthy Fats in Smoothies for Vata
An issue for Vata is that it is elevated by light, cold, chaotic things. So, in addition to blending the fruits in your smoothie very finely, you could also add warming, heavy, oily things like nut and seed butters, nuts or seeds themselves, avocado, or even walnut oil to make your smoothie warmer, smoother, slightly unctuous, and heavier. If you are Vata-Pita you might add some coconut oil, coconut butter, coconut milk, or coconut flesh.
Juicing Fruits?
As to the blending v. juicing, juicing fruits alone gives you too much of a sugar rush and can be overstimulating to sensitive Vatta, so if you want raw fruit in a beverage, as opposed to just eating it whole, which is what i would recommend on the more regular basis, I would use fruits in smoothies where they are balanced by fat and protein, like with some almond butter, avocado, and Eden brand soy milk, or fresh made coconut milk. That is a whole meal. Use spices, too.
Whereas with juicing a would recommend more veggies than fruit, if any fruit at all.
My favorite Vegetable Juice
I am a Vatta-Pitta, so I have this in warm weather only, especially after heavy exercise
Celery, Cucumber, Parsley, Carrot, with just enough carrot to be barely sweet. I also may use a little bit of Kale or Brocoli, and a small bit of Ginger root. Once in a while I might add a little bit of pear or apple as well.
Is My Diet Working for Me?
To know if your diet is a good one for you, the first question to ask is how are the by-products? How are the bowel movements and digestion. If you have gas, bloat or constipation, then its not working. That is assuming there are no emotional factors causing your problems, which in my experience is very very frequent. Due to the Gut-Brain connection a Vata or Pitta aggravated nervous system can create gut issues not matter what you eat. Eating the wrong diet will make it worse, but dealing with how your nervous system works is the key.
In Sum, Vatta dosha is the dosha that is going to tolerate less raw and more cooked. The bottom line is that Vata dosha is elevated by raw vegetables, full stop, whether pureed or not. So be careful about OVERDOING it, or being driven by a fear or intensity that sometimes is seen in obsessive relationships with food. Thanks! Great question.
copyright eyton j. shalom, december 2016, all rights reserved, use with permission.
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