| |
Ayurveda Home | Holistic-online.com
Home | Yoga | Meditation | Stress
A
Food Plan to Balance Pitta Dosha
These guidelines can be used for pitta mind-body
constitutions, to maintain dosha balance and to restore balance if necessary regardless of
the basic constitution. Pitta influences digestion and metabolism, body temperature, and
biological transformations.
Favor
| Cool or warm but not steaming hot foods |
| Bitter, sweet, and astringent tastes |
| As far as practical use less butter and added fat. Consume
food with moderately heavy textures. |
| Since Pittas have strong efficient digestion, they can
generally eat just about everything. Most Pittas get into trouble by continued use of too
much salt, overuse of sour and spicy food and overeating. |
| Take cool, refreshing food in summer. Reduce the consumption
of salt, oil, and spices, all of which are "heating" to the body. Salads are
good, so is milk and ice cream. |
| Avoid pickles, yogurt, sour cream, and cheese. Avoid vinegar
in salad dressing; use lemon juice instead. Alcoholic and fermented foods should be
avoided. Their sour Rasa aggravates Pitta. Coffee is also pitta aggravating due to the
acid in coffee. Herb tea is good. Prefer mint, licorice root or other pitta pacifying tea. |
| Breakfast: Cold cereals, cinnamon toast, and apple tea is a
good breakfast for Pitta. Avoid coffee, orange juice and doughnuts - they aggravate pitta. |
| The vegetarian foods are the best for pitta. Consuming red
meat tend to heat the body from the fat. Consume abundant amounts of milk, grains and
vegetables. |
| Avoid oily, hot, salty, and heavy foods such as fried food.
Instead consume starchy foods such as vegetables, grains and beans. Avoid the tendency to
overeat under stress. |
| Avoid processed and fast foods as they tend to be heavy on
salt and sour tastes. Japanese and Chinese food are good choices. Avoid highly spicy food
such as is found in Mexican restaurants. |
| To bring down aggravated Pitta, take two teaspoons of ghee
(clarified butter) in a glass of warm milk. (Avoid taking the ghee if you have problem
with high cholesterol). |
Summary
Avoid egg yolks, nuts, hot spices, honey, and hot drinks.
Cool foods and drinks are better. Add sweet, bitter, and astringent tastes. Reduce use of
sour tastes. Spices: black pepper, coriander, and cardamom.
Food Classified By Group
Vegetables | Fruits | Grains | Dairy | Meat | Beans | Oils | Sweeteners | Nuts and Seeds | Herbs
and Spices
|
Vegetables |
Favor |
Reduce
or Avoid |
Sweet and bitter
vegetables:
Asparagus
Broccoli
Brussels sprouts
Cabbage
Cauliflower
Celery
Cucumber
Green beans
Green (sweet) peppers
Leafy green vegetables
Lettuce
Mushrooms
Okra
Parsley
Peas
Potatoes
Sprouts
Squash
Sweet potatoes
Zucchini |
Beets
Carrots
Eggplant
Garlic
Hot peppers
Onions
Radishes
Spinach
Tomatoes |
|
Fruits |
Favor |
Reduce
or Avoid |
Sweet Fruits:
Apples
Avocados
Cherries
Coconut
Figs
Dark grapes
Mangoes
Melons
Oranges
Pears
Pineapples
Plums
Prunes
RaisinsNote: Fruits should be sweet
and ripe. |
Apricots
Bananas
Berries
Cherries (sour)
Cranberries
Grapefruit
Papayas
Peaches
PersimmonsAvoid fruits that come to
market sour or unripe. Also avoid fruits such as green grapes, oranges, pineapple and plum
unless they are sweet and ripe. |
|
Grains |
Favor |
Reduce
or Avoid |
Barley
Oats
Wheat
White rice (prefer basmati rice) |
Brown rice
Corn
Millet
Rye |
|
Dairy |
Favor |
Reduce
or Avoid |
Butter
Egg whites
Ghee (clarified butter )- unless you are watching cholesterol
Ice cream
Milk |
Buttermilk
Cheese
Egg yolks
Sour cream
Yogurt |
|
Meat |
Favor |
Reduce
or Avoid |
Chicken
Shrimp
Turkey
(All in small amounts) |
Red meat and sea
food in general |
|
Beans |
Favor |
Reduce
or Avoid |
Chickpeas
Mung beans
Tofu and other soybean products |
Lentils |
|
Oils |
Favor |
Reduce
or Avoid |
Coconut
Olive
Soy
Sunflower |
Almond
Corn
Safflower
Sesame |
|
Nuts and Seeds |
Favor |
Reduce
or Avoid |
Coconut
Pumpkin seeds
Sunflower seeds |
All, except as
noted |
|
Sweeteners |
Favor |
Reduce
or Avoid |
All are
acceptable except honey and molasses |
Honey and
Molasses |
|
Herbs and Spices |
Favor |
Reduce
or Avoid |
Spices are
generally avoided as too heating. In small amounts, the following sweet and astringent
spices are OK Cardamom
Cilantro(green coriander)
Cinnamon
Coriander seed
Dill
Fennel
Mint
Saffron
Turmeric
Plus small amounts of cumin and black
pepper |
All pungent herbs
and spices, except as noted. Take only the minimal amounts of the following: Barbecue sauce
Catsup
Mustard
Pickles
Salt
Sour salad dressings
Spicy condiments
Vinegar |
If your basic constitution is mixed (pitta-vata or
pitta-kapha), to maintain balance, include smaller portions for the second dosha.
Pitta dosha is aggravated and increased during
summer. During hot, dry seasons, all mind-body types can choose some of the above foods
and decrease others.
Mental and emotional peace and constructive lifestyle
routines are important to restoring and maintaining balance.
Ayurveda Home | Holistic-online.com
Home | Yoga | Meditation | Stress
Holisticonline.com is developed and maintained
by ICBS, Inc.
Send mail to: info@holisticonline.com with
comments about this web site.
Copyright © 1998-2007
ICBS, Inc. Terms of Use
All Rights Reserved.
|