Pitta Dosha

Pitta dosha can be considered the perfect balance of two seemingly opposing elemental qualities, fire and water. Together, they are the energetic force that regulates the body's transformative functions; it is believed that digestion, metabolism, and even the body's hormones are controlled by Pitta.​

 

The qualities of Pitta
Hot, sharp, penetrating, slightly oily, greasy, quick, and irritable.

The function of Pitta
Due to its hot nature, Pitta's primary function is transformative: it controls heart rate, hormone levels, body temperature, visual perception, hunger and thirst, and skin quality. It is also responsible for liver function, bile secretion, and digestion in the stomach and small intestine.

 

The physical manifestations of Pitta
Those with dominant Pitta tend to be of medium height and weight, with an athletic build. Their skin is delicate and can often redden and become irritated, and they burn easily in the sun. Some Pitta types have red hair and often go gray early or experience thinning or baldness.

 

The emotional manifestations of Pitta

Pitta is full of vitality, and those who lean toward it are charming and charismatic, with a love of attention. In fact, they are a lot of fun to be around, as they are very dynamic and colorful. They are also witty and capable speakers and good at making decisions, especially when they are in balance. But when they are out of balance, beware; they can have a sharp tongue and be quick to anger.

 

When Pitta is in Balance
A balanced Pitta in the body brings a healthy appetite and thirst, balanced hormone and enzyme production, intelligence, courage, flexibility, a radiant complexion, and sharp eyesight.

 

When Pitta is Out of Balance
Signs of an excess Pitta include an aversion to heat, a sour or bitter taste in the mouth, and reddish discoloration of the eyes and skin. You may also experience heartburn, high blood pressure, fever, skin rashes, and hot flashes.

Too little pitta brings more vata and kapha into the body, as well as poor digestion, paleness, and coldness. Emotionally unbalanced pitta types may experience anger, frustration, and irritability.

 

How to Balance Your Pitta
You can balance the intense, volcanic nature of pitta with the opposing qualities of calm, coolness, compassion, and moderation. Specifically, avoid skipping meals and choose "cooler" foods and calming kapha, as well as spend time laughing every day and getting out into nature.

Take our dosha quiz to find out which dosha you are.

Qualities to Favor
By nature, pitta is oily, strong, hot, light, spreadable, and liquid, so eating foods that neutralize these qualities (foods that are dry, smooth, cooling, stabilizing, and dense) can help balance excess pitta.

This section offers a closer look at how you can begin to recognize the qualities of different foods. The intention is to give you a more intuitive understanding of what will reduce pitta, without having to constantly refer to long lists of foods to favor and avoid.

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Prefer cool over warm or hot.
The cooling quality can be emphasized by eating foods that are cool in temperature or have a cooling energy, and by using cooling spices liberally.

Most spices are warming in nature, so pay close attention to those that balance pitta (a complete list of pitta-balancing foods is provided below).

Raw foods tend to be naturally cooling, and pitta tends to handle them better than the other doshas; therefore, incorporating a variety of raw fruits and vegetables will generally be supportive, especially in the warmer months.

On the other hand, it is best to minimize your exposure to very hot dishes, foods with a strong energetic heat, alcohol, and caffeine; all of these influences will naturally increase internal heat.

 

Favor dense, earthy, and nourishing foods over light ones.
While heavy quality is the true antithesis of pitta's lightness, Ayurveda teaches us that very heavy foods (such as fried foods) generally do not support optimal health. It is better to think in terms of grounding pitta's lightness (and heat) with sustenance: eating foods that offer solid, stabilizing energy sources and proper nutrition.

Generally, these foods will have a naturally sweet taste. Most grains, milk, tubers, seeds, and cooling oils are good examples. But excess pitta can lead to an acute and sometimes insatiable appetite, so it is equally important not to overeat.

Highly processed foods, such as canned goods, ready meals, and pastries, are often deficient in prana (vital life force energy), excessively heavy, and should be minimized as much as possible.

 

Favor dry and thick over oily or liquid
The liquid nature of Pitta and its tendency toward excess oil make dry or astringent foods like beans, potatoes, oats, pasta, popcorn, and most vegetables very supportive.

When cooking, use a moderate amount of oil or high-quality ghee. Especially minimize heating fatty foods like eggs (egg whites are best), hard cheeses, olives, nuts, sour cream, and the like.

If given a choice between a thick, liquid meal and a thicker, drier one, opt for the latter.

Favor mild over sharp
Strong flavors like pineapple, pickles, vinegar, and strong aged cheeses are best replaced with milder flavors, such as those found in apples, cucumbers, lime juice, and soft cheeses.

Similarly, stimulants like caffeine, nicotine, and hard alcohol are too strong and pervasive for Pitta. Do your best to replace them with more stable and sustainable energy sources.

 

Tastes to Favor and Avoid
Pitta is soothed by sweet, bitter, and astringent flavors and aggravated by pungent, sour, and salty flavors. Understanding these tastes allows us to make better choices, whether or not we have an extensive list of Pitta-balancing foods readily available.

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Favor naturally sweet foods such as sweet fruits, most grains, squash, root vegetables, milk, ghee, and fresh yogurt.  The sweet taste is cooling and heavy. It calms heat, quenches thirst, benefits the skin and hair, and tends to stabilize, nourish, strengthen, and satisfy.  Avoid refined sugar or sugary sweet foods; naturally sweet foods are best.

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The bitter taste is refreshing yet drying and predominates in bitter greens, such as kale, dandelion greens, and cabbage. It is also found in bitter melon, Jerusalem artichokes, dark chocolate, and pitta-balancing spices such as cumin, neem leaves, saffron, and turmeric.

Bitter flavors cleanse the palate and enhance the sense of taste. They tone the skin and muscles, benefit the blood, relieve burning and itching sensations, quench thirst, balance appetite, aid digestion, and help absorb excess pitta

 

Astringent

• Legumes (adzuki beans, black-eyed peas, chickpeas, kidney beans, lentils, pinto beans, soybeans, etc.) have a classically astringent taste. Some fruits, vegetables, grains, baked goods, and spices also have an astringent taste, such as apples, blueberries, pomegranates, artichokes, broccoli, cauliflower, lettuce, popcorn, rice cakes, crackers, basil, cilantro, dill, fennel, parsley, and turmeric.

• The astringent taste is heavy, cold, and dry.

• Pitta benefits from the compressive, absorbent, and binding-promoting nature of the astringent flavor. It can curb Pitta's tendency to spread, tone body tissues, prevent bleeding disorders, thwart diarrhea, and also absorb excess sweat and fluid.

Minimize:
Pungent

Pungent is a hot, acrid taste like that found in chili peppers, radishes, turnips, raw onions, and many particularly hot spices.

The pungent taste is particularly warm and hot, both qualities that disturb Pitta.

Too much pungent can cause excessive thirst, a burning sensation, dizziness, and excessive heat (especially in the intestinal tract).

Sour

Minimize acidic foods such as vinegar and other fermented foods, hard cheeses, sour cream, unripe grapes, pineapple, grapefruit, and alcohol (an occasional beer or white wine is fine).

Pitta is aggravated by the hot, hot, and oily qualities of sour.

Too much sour can increase thirst, disturb the blood, generate heat in the muscles, and cause burning sensations in the throat, chest, or heart. It can even promote bitter feelings such as jealousy or envy.

An occasional squeeze of refreshing lime juice as a garnish is the best way for pitta to incorporate a tangy flavor.

Salty

The salty taste is derived almost exclusively from salt itself.

Like the sour taste, it is the light, hot, and oily nature of salt that aggravates Pitta.

The salty taste can disrupt the blood's balance, hinder the sense organs, increase heat, irritate the skin, and lead to gray hair, wrinkles, and excessive thirst. It can also intensify our craving for stronger flavors, which can further aggravate Pitta.

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3-Day Cleanse Guide for Pitta Dosha
Pitta Dosha has a fast and fiery metabolism. For this reason, Pitta's digestive system detoxifies well with a light mono-diet. During a cleanse, it is important to avoid heated emotions and situations. Stress fuels the fire. Stay cool with soothing music and ocean colors. Avoid snacking between meals. Instead, drink coriander/cumin/fennel tea as much as possible between meals.

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1. Practice daily meditation and mindfulness at the beginning and end of the day.

2. Give yourself a daily self-massage before showering with sesame or sunflower oil.

3. Drink a glass of warm water with a few drops of lemon juice upon waking.

4. Eat Kichadi for breakfast, lunch, and dinner for three days.

5. Eat breakfast before 8:00 a.m., lunch before 1:00 p.m., and dinner before 6:00 p.m.

6. Wake up with the sun and go to sleep at 10:00 p.m.

7. Avoid screens, conversations, and stimulation one hour before bedtime.

Foods to Balance Pitta: Pitta can regain balance by eating the right foods. Read on to find out what you can add to and subtract from your Ayurvedic diet to help pacify this dosha. If you are unsure whether your Pitta is imbalanced, take the Mudra Wellness Dosha Quiz.

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Fruits
Fruits that pacify Pitta will generally be sweet and somewhat astringent. Dried fruits are usually acceptable, but best consumed in small amounts, so as not to further accelerate Pitta's tendency toward rapid digestion. Fruits to avoid are those that are exceptionally hot or sour (such as bananas, blueberries, and green grapes). You will find many fruits listed in both the "for" and "avoid" columns below because different varieties of the same fruit can indeed be pacifying or irritating, depending on how sweet or sour they are. When it comes to balancing Pitta, it is always very helpful to learn to distinguish between these flavors and choose sweet fruits over sour ones.

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

 

Favor

Apples (sweet)

Coba

Apricots (sweet)

Berries (sweet)

Cherries (sweet)

Coconut

Dates

Figs

Grapes (red, purple, black)

Limes

Mangoes (ripe)

Melons

Oranges (sweet)

Papaya

Pears

Pineapple (sweet)

Plums (sweet)

Pomegranates

Prunes

Raisins

Strawberries

Watermelon

Avoid

Apples (sour)

Apricots (sour)

Bananas

Berries (sour)

Cherries (sour)

Blueberries

Grapefruit

Grapes (green)

Kiwi

Lemons

Mangoes (green)

Oranges (sour)

Peaches

Persimmons

Pineapple (sour)

Plums (sour)

Tamarind

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Vegetables
Pitta-pacifying vegetables will generally be somewhat sweet and bitter, astringent, or both. Many vegetables include some combination of these flavors; therefore, experimenting with a wide variety of vegetables is an excellent way to diversify your pitta-pacifying diet. Pitta can generally digest raw vegetables better than vata and kapha, but midday is usually the best time of day to eat them because digestive strength is at its peak. The only vegetables that pitta should reduce or avoid are those that are particularly pungent, hot, spicy, or sour, such as garlic, green chilies, radishes, onions, and mustard greens.

 

Favor

Avocado

Artichoke

Asparagus

Beets (cooked)

Peppers

Bitter melon

Broccoli

Brussels sprouts

Burdock root

Cabbage

Carrots (cooked)

Cauliflower

Celery

Cilantro

Kale

Cucumber

Dandelion greens

Green beans

Jerusalem artichoke

Kale

Leafy greens

Leeks (cooked)

Lettuce

Mushrooms

Okra

Black olives

Onions (cooked)

Parsley

Parsnips

Peas

Bell peppers

Potatoes

Pumpkin

Radishes (cooked)

Swede

Spaghetti squash

Sprouts (not) Spicy)

Pumpkin, summer

Pumpkin, winter

Spinach (raw)

Sweet potatoes

Watercress

Wheatgrass

Zucchini

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Avoid

Beet greens

Beets (raw)

Corn (fresh)

Japanese radish

Eggplant

Garlic

Green chilies

Horseradish

Swede

Leeks (raw)

Mustard leaves

Olives, green

Onions (raw)

Peppers (hot)

Radishes (raw)

Spinach (cooked)

Tomatoes

Turnip greens

Turnips

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Grains
Grains that appease pitta are cooling, sweet, dry, and stabilizing. Grains tend to be staple foods in our diet, and pitta generally benefits from their sweet and nourishing nature. You'll also notice that many pitta-friendly grains are quite dry; this helps offset pitta's oily nature. When it comes to balancing pitta, the most important guideline is to avoid warming grains (such as buckwheat, corn, millet, brown rice, and leavened breads).

 

Favor

Amaranth

Barley

Cereal (dried)

Couscous

Crackers

Durham Flour

Granola

Oat Bran

Oats

Pancakes

Pasta

Quinoa

Rice (basmati, white, wild)

Rice Cakes

Seitan

Spelt

Sprouted Wheat Bread

Tapioca

Wheat

Wheat Bran

Avoid

Buckwheat

Corn

Millet

Muesli

Polenta

Brown Rice

Rye

Leavened Bread

 

Legumes
Legumes generally have an astringent flavor and are therefore largely pitta-pacifying, so feel free to enjoy a wide variety of them. Beans that are not appropriate for pitta are those that are especially acidic or oily and, not coincidentally, also hot.

 

Favor

Adzuki beans

Black beans

Black-eyed peas

Chickpeas

Beans

Lentils

Broad beans

Mung beans

Mung dal

White beans

Pinto beans

Split peas

Soybeans

Soy cheese

Soy flour

Soy milk

Soy powder

Tempeh

Tofu

White kidney beans

Avoid

Miso

Soy meat

Soy sauce

Urad dal

 

Dairy
Dairy products tend to stabilize, nourish, and cool, so many of them balance Pitta. Those to avoid are exceptionally acidic, salty, or spicy. As a general rule, cow's milk (cow's milk, goat's milk, sheep's milk, etc.) should be consumed at least one hour before or after any other food. For this reason, avoid drinking milk with meals. Almond and rice milks are good substitutes if you need to combine milk with other foods or if you don't digest cow's milk well.

 

Favor

Butter (unsalted)

Cheese (soft, unsalted, unripened)

Cottage

Cow's milk

Ghee

Goat's milk

Goat cheese (soft, unsalted)

Ice cream

Yogurt (homemade, thinned, plain)

Avoid

Butter (salted)

Whey

Cheese (hard)

Frozen yogurt

Sour cream

Yogurt (store-bought or with fruit)

 

Nuts and seeds
Nuts and seeds tend to be extremely oily and generally warming, so most of them are not very balanced for pitta. That said, there are some types of nuts and various seeds that are acceptable in small quantities; these varieties tend to be less oily and are mildly warming or cooling in nature.

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Favor

Almonds (soaked and peeled)

Charoli walnuts

Coconut

Flax seeds

Halva

Popcorn (with butter, unsalted)

Pumpkin seeds

Sunflower seeds

Avoid

Almonds (with skin)

Brazil nuts

Cashews

Chia seeds

Hazelnuts

Macadamia nuts

Pecans

Pine nuts

Pistachios

Sesame seeds

Tahini

Walnuts

 

Meat and Eggs
Pitta works best with animal-based foods that have a sweet flavor, are relatively dry (such as rabbit or venison), and are mildly warming or cooling by nature. Meats that don't work well are those that are especially oily, salty, or spicy (such as dark chicken, beef, salmon, or tuna).

 

 

Favor

Buffalo

Chicken (white)

Eggs (white only)

Fish (freshwater)

Rabbit

Shrimp

Turkey (white)

Venison

Avoid

Beef

Chicken (dark)

Duck

Eggs (yolk)

Fish (saltwater)

Lamb

Pork

Salmon

Sardines

Shellfish

Tuna

Turkey (dark)

 

Oils
Despite being oily by nature, Pitta works well with a moderate amount of oil, as long as it's cooling. The best oils for Pitta are sunflower oil, butter, coconut oil, and olive oil. It's also important to keep in mind that toxins tend to concentrate in fats, so buying organic oils may be more important than buying organic fruits and vegetables.

 

Favor

Coconut oil

Flaxseed oil

Ghee

Olive oil

Eveningflower oil

Sunflower oil

Soybean oil

Walnut oil

 

Avoid

Almond oil

Apricot kernel oil

Corn oil

Safflower oil

Sesame oil

 

Sweeteners

Since sweetness is a flavor that relieves Pitta, most sweeteners are well-tolerated by Pitta, but some are simply too hot or too processed. In general, naturally sweet flavors balance much better than sugary sweets, so even appropriate sweeteners should be used in moderation.

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Favor

Barley malt

Date sugar

Fructose

Fruit juice concentrates

Maple syrup

Rice syrup

Sucanat

Turbinado

Avoid

Honey

Jaggary/Piloncillo

Molasses

White sugar

 

Spices
Most spices are warming in nature and therefore have the potential to aggravate pitta. Favorable spices are only mildly warming, helping to maintain a balanced digestive fire without triggering pitta, and in some cases, actively cooling. In particular, the cooling qualities of cardamom, coriander, coriander, fennel, and peppermint help to soothe pitta heat. Occasionally, these spices can be used to make foods that would otherwise be too hot for pitta more tolerable. Cumin, saffron, and turmeric, while warming, also offer some particularly valuable pitta-pacifying properties.

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Favor

Basil (fresh)

Black pepper (small amounts)

Cardamom

Cinnamon (small amounts)

Coriander (seeds or powder)

Cumin (seeds or powder)

Dill

Fennel

Ginger (fresh)

Mint

Neem leaves

Orange peel

Parsley

Mint

Saffron

Spearmint

Tarragon

Turmeric

Vanilla

Wintergreen

Avoid

Ajwan

Allspice

Anise

Basil (dried)

Bay leaf

Caraway

Paprika

Cloves

Fenugreek

Garlic

Ginger (dried)

Hing/Asafoetida

Mazo

Marjoram

Seeds of Mustard

Nutmeg

Oregano

Paprika

Pippali

Poppy seeds

Rosemary

Sage

Salt

Savory

Thyme

Trikatu