Pitta Season is on fire 🌞 : Summer Recipes & Recommendations !

Summer is the season of the fire element. The intense red, orange, and yellow colors are predominant in the environment. People commonly get red skin or sunburn, burning eyes, and the appetite often becomes slow and there is increased thirst. Summer is the crucial time when we need to carefully manage the pitta dosha. Remember, digestion (agni) weakens in summer.

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Taming the Summer Heat

There are many remedies we can use to manage pitta in the summer, below are a few:

• For burning eyes, rub coconut oil onto the scalp and soles of the feet before bedtime, and place a drop of castor oil in each eye.

• To lower the risk of sunburn, use a natural sunscreen, not a spray (it doesn’t cover the skin efficiently.)

• If you do get sunburn, apply a mixture of half aloe vera gel and half coconut oil onto the irritated skin.

• In the summertime, use a cooling natural soap like sandalwood, coconut soap, or body wash.

Sveda vaha srotas, which controls sweating, is very active in the summer. This is the body’s main pathway for keeping cool. The heart, small intestine, liver, and skin are all related to the pitta dosha, so these organs can also be stressed during the hot summer days.

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FOR EACH DOSHA

Pacifies Vata - sweet and sour tastes, promotes strength and is nourishing.

Pacifies Pitta - sweet and light/easy to digest, and water absorbing.

Pacifies Kapha - hot energy, absorbed quickly, light/easy to digest, dry, increases agni, promotes digestion.

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Ayurveda & Smoothies: For Pitta During Summer

While Ayurveda is not a proponent of drinking all your meal; smoothies, juices, and shakes do have their place. They are a great delivery system for micronutrients and minerals, which are often deficient in our foods, or incompletely digested because of weak agni, or digestive strength.

VEGGIE & FRUIT JUICE RECIPE 

• ½ cup water

• ½ cup pomegranate juice

• 2/3 cup mixed berries (blueberries, raspberries, blackberries)

• 1 stalk celery

• 1/3 cucumber

• 1 tbs. cilantro

• 1 tbs. mint leaves

• Optional ½-1 tsp coconut sugar or another natural sweetener 

Directions:  Use blender to combine all ingredients until smooth.

COCONUT PROTEIN SMOOTHIE RECIPE

• 1 cup coconut water, coconut milk or rice milk

• 1-2 scoops of protein powder

• 1 large peppermint leaf

• ½ tsp coconut sugar or jaggery

• 1 pinch coriander powder

• 1 pinch fennel powder 

Directions:  Use blender to combine all ingredients until smooth

*referenced from Dr. John Douillard

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Takra: Ayurvedic Buttermilk

One of the best drinks to aid in strengthening digestive fire, and therefore reducing the formation of Ama (undigested or partially digested foods). Weak digestion (manda agni) is considered a root cause in nearly all GIT disorders. It is said that by habitual consumption of Takra, a person will not suffer from disease at any time. Conditions treated with the use of takra, do not reoccur. Just as the immortal nectar (amrita) was made for the deities, so is the action of takra for human beings. (From Bhavaprakasa Nighantu ch 6.7)

PROPERTIES OF TAKRA

• Rasa (taste) - sweet, sour, and astringent

• Guna (qualities) - light /easy to digest; hot

• Virya (energy) - hot

• Vipaka (post digestive effect) - sweet

• Prabhava  (special effect) - does not cause burning sensation during or after digestion.

• Other qualities - absorbed quickly; water absorbing; increases agni; promotes digestion; promotes strength; aphrodisiac; nourishing.

  
  

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RECIPE FOR TAKRA

Takra can be prepared in the morning and consumed in the same day. It does not require refrigeration and in summer the best way to store it is in an insulated thermos. It is not recommended to store in the fridge or drink the next day. The longer it sits the takra stagnates and its properties change to a higher degree of sourness which can aggravate pitta and vata if consumed.

• 1 cup organic plain whole milk yogurt

• 4 cups cool water (ideally you can boil the water then cool)

• ½-1 tsp digestive herb(s) powder (e.g. cumin powder)

• Pinch of Himalayan Pink salt

• Chopped fresh cilantro or mint for garnish

Directions: 

• Add yogurt and water to a blender and pulse about 10-15 seconds until the fat separates from the yogurt and forms bubbles and floats to the top. 

• Scoop out the fat and bubbles.  

• Continue blending until there is less to no fat bubbles left. (Average 3-4 blending times)

• Add the herbs, salt to taste and cilantro or mint.

Dosage: 1 cup about 10 minutes before a meal up to 3 times per day. It is a very cooling beverage for the summertime!

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Best Herbs for Digestion

(use alone or in combination)

• Cumin powder - Cuminum cyminum

• Black Cumin – Corum carvi

• Pippili – Indian long pepper - Piper longum

• Chitrak - Plumbago zeylanica

• Sunthi - dried ginger - Zingiber officinalis

• Marica - black pepper - Piper nigrum

• Ajamoda - celery seed - Trachyspermum amni

• Hingu-Ferula narthex - asofoetida

When taking any Ayurvedic preparation or herb formula, it is important to observe your body’s individual reaction. This preparation is designed to enhance digestive ability.  If you suffer from any GI issues (constipation, diarrhea, IBS, leaky gut etc) you will find relief and healing, as the doshas get back into balance.

BY BETTY MOYLAN, E-RYT, LMT, AYURVEDIC PRACTITIONER

https://www.yogaeastyoga.com/blog/2022/7/30/summer-recipes-for-pitta-dosha