July-October + Pitta Diet
Are you a pitta body-mind type? Or just feeling extra pitta due to the season, time of life, or lifestyle activities? Read on to learn about the symptoms of excess pitta, what to avoid, and how to build a pitta diet.
Don’t know your body type? Take our quiz!
Why Live + Eat Seasonally?
When we adjust our diet and lifestyle to match the season, health-promoting digestive microbes dramatically change. Summer microbes support balanced immunity, digestion, mood, energy, blood sugar, weight, sleep, and much more.
Summer is also associated with the qualities of pitta: hot, light, and dry. To stay balanced, focus on foods and activities that are cool, moist, heavy, and oily. A pitta diet will go a long way towards balance!
Stay Cool, Calm + Hydrated
- Eat more foods that are sweet, bitter, astringent, cold, heavy, or oily: such as salads, steamed vegetables, fruit, and coconut oil.
- Eat less foods that are pungent (spicy), sour, salty, hot, light, or dry: such as coffee, chips and salsa, and spicy curries.
- Eat more vegetables.
- Sip cool or room temperature water with cucumber slices or drink coconut water to keep cool and hydrated.
- Take brahmi, neem, and amalaki to keep your mind cool and calm, to cleanse your blood, and prevent inflammation. Take 500-1000mg of each, 1-2/day after food.
- Drink herbal teas, such as mint, hibiscus, dandelion, and chicory.
Daily Routines (Dinacharya) for Summer / Pitta
- Self-massage with Tri-Doshic Massage Oil, Lymphatic Massage Oil, or coconut oil.
- For eight minutes daily, breathe slowly in and out through the left nostril. With your right thumb, hold your right nostril closed. Pause after the inhale and the exhale. This is cooling and calming.
- Avoid excessive activity during midday heat as it can be draining.
- Do not skip meals. Enjoy a big, relaxing lunch before 2pm.
- Carve out time each day to rest, rather than pushing yourself.
Signs of Excess Pitta
- Irritability and impatience, occasional heartburn, occasional acid reflux, occasional stomach ulcers, sensitivity to heat, lethargy, sarcasm, skin rashes, boils, acne, low blood sugar, difficulty falling asleep.
- If you experience some of these signs, schedule a consult and follow the above guidelines!
Summer / Pitta Grocery List
- Choose organic and non-GMO when possible.
- Curious about a food not on this list? Taste it. If it has two of the three summer tastes (sweet, bitter, astringent), it is balancing. Prepare it to be room temperature, cool, and moist.
- Eat more of your favorite foods from this list.
- Though these are not the only items you can eat, they are the most beneficial foods for this season.
- *An asterisk means that this food is a Pitta Superfood. If you like it, eat more of it.
Join Dr. John Douillard and thousands of others for the 3-Season Diet Challenge. It’s free!
This challenge takes you through a year of eating seasonally with month-to-month support and guidance. Nature provides the ideal harvest for each season to keep you strong, healthy, energized, and focused. New research suggests our gut microbes are meant to change seasonally in accordance with the foods we eat.
Seasonal microbes optimize digestion, mood, and immunity—the way nature intended!
Jools says
I am exploring what are Pitta balancing foods & find there are many conflicting listings. How so? Can’t quite get a handle on the Sweet, Bitter, Astringent tastings. Clues, plz.
Regards
Jools
Australia
LifeSpa Staff says
Hi Jools,
This article may help you get more of a handle on the 6 tastes, according to Ayurveda:
https://lifespa.com/lymph-emotion-rasa-food/
I might suggest you pick up a copy of John’s book, the 3-Season Diet, which has more detailed information on a number of different foods:
https://store.lifespa.com/product/3-season-diet/
This article may also be helpful for you:
https://lifespa.com/superfoods-summer-edition/
Best,
LifeSpa Staff
grid paper says
Having read this I believed it was really informative.
I appreciate you taking the time and effort to put this informative article together.
I once again find myself spending way too much time both reading and commenting.
But so what, it was still worth it!
Lotte says
Hi Dr John
I’m a Pitta person. Born in Scandinavia. Now living in central Queensland and not liking the heat/humidity
I am facing a extra challenge to my diet as I have nikkel allergie and it’s being trickerd from my diet. Unable to wear anything like my wedding ring to a watch or makeup. And constantly having skin issues I don’t know what I can eat any longer.
Any advice is appreciated thanks.
Keerthi says
Hi Dr John
I live in Colorado and I am high vata person and cannot tolerate heat of summer and dryness also. Can I eat pitta foods and drink cold water in summer Even though I have high vata.
LifeSpa Staff says
Hi Keerthi, thanks for reaching out. It is important to take your overall dosha into account at all times, however eating seasonally along with this knowledge is vital. During a high pitta external environment you will want to find balance. Increasing cooler foods, while maintaining healthy protein intake may be best for vatas. This article is a great one too: https://lifespa.com/live-with-the-cycles/
Heidi says
I’ve been wondering at ice cream being acceptable on the Summer Grocery List, as elsewhere it’s been stated to lay off the milkshakes; ice cream is high in fat and summer is meant to be low-fat time. I’d welcome feedback; otherwise, I’d love a legitimate excuse to eat ice cream!!
s says
if you already have a pitta disorder then even ice cream could be too oily. but if you are a healthy skinny vata or vata-pitta with strong digestion and no symptoms of ama then it could be just the right thing for you.
Sandra Aumiller says
Is white rice including basmati the rice to eat in summer?
s says
it is cooler than brown but still brown is ok for most especially in the context of generally pitta pacifying diet ie combine with a little barley to brown balance it out. So much nutrition is in brown.