One of the effects of the Summer season is that, especially if you have Pitta dosha in your constitution, the body and mind become prone to overheating. That excess heat can begin to have detrimental effects such as drying out the body.

Science now recognises what Ayurveda has known for thousands of years: that during the second half of Summer, not only the Earth but also her inhabitants tend to heat up.  If we do not adjust our diets and lifestyle accordingly, around mid-August we may begin to feel the consequences of this accumulation of heat.

It can show up as dry skin, irritated sinuses and eyes, and even looser stools. The throat may start to feel dry. Not only may you experience looser stools, but the intestines may also feel a little irritated and inflamed.

This is because in Late Summer there are the effects of the long summer days with increasd light and heat which increases Pitta dosha and also the rising influence of Vata dosha in the environment as we approach Autumn and so within us too.

It’s really important to follow Mother Nature’s prompting and eat the foods she provides us at this time of year . They are there to help us cool the system down and stave of the adverse effects of the season.

If we don’t antidote the heat now, with cooling foods and a lifestyle which helps keep the nervous system calm and the mind cool, the drying effects of this heat are made worse as we approach the already dry Autumn and Early Winter. We are setting ourselves up for problems, including weakened immunity.

A hot/dry Summer internal condition followed by a cold/dry Winter condition, can leave us susceptible to bacteria and so with compromised immunity. The heat which accumulates in the intestines during the Summer for example can begin to bake the heavy Winter diet so that it coats and clogs the internal intestinal wall with a dried out mucoid-like material.

Please don’t miss therefore to opportunity to enjoy the cooling fruits and vegetables that Mother Nature gives to us in plentiful supply at this time of year.

Include these fruits in your diet: apples, pears, berries and rosehips which will not only pacify Pitta dosha but boost immunity with their plentiful antioxidants and Vitamin C content.

As we enter the harvest season, enjoy whole grains from the summer harvest. Grains are generally cooling, and the heavier wheat grain will help to pacify the strong Pitta appetite. Its naturally sweet taste makes it ideal for Vata dosha also. Of course, some of us have wheat intolerance these days, and also wheat is probably too heavy for Kapha types. Alternative grains are of course available in these cases such as the lighter rice, quinoa, and millet grains.

 Enjoy grains with your lunch, which ideally can be your main meal of the day when digestion is stronger. They are also a good option for a healthy breakfast but best avoided in the evening as they are then thought to increase morning blood sugar. Eat more lightly in the evening and avoid sweets and starches.

When the weather is warmer and the family barbecue comes out, or you go round to friends for the same, be mindful to reduce quantities of hard to digest meats especially in the Late Summer. These foods can sit in the system for a long time, taxing the digestive system and thereby generating internal toxicity and perhaps more irritation or inflammation as a consequence. These foods sit in the intestines insufficiently digested. Opt for plentiful supplies of cooked, seasonal veggies, lightly steamed or raw in small amounts at this time of year.

The power of eating seasonally is in part that each season’s foods helps support the gut flora at that point in the year. Our digestive fire changes throughout the year and so the foods that create the enzymes to support digestion need to change. 

A Late Summer diet can therefore support immunity, digestion, blood sugar, balanced mood, energy and blood sugar, optimum weight, better sleep, reduced dryness, irritation, and inflammation.

As Pitta is up in the environment and within us in Summer, we can antidote its effects with the cooling, moist and heavy foods that Mother Nature is offering us.

It is advisable to avoid hot spicy and heavily oily foods which will increase Pitta dosha and its seasonal effects on the body and mind.

Cooling foods and drinks that Ayurveda recommends we favour at this time of year, do not include iced or frozen by the way. This will put out your digestive fire and simply compound matters. Ayurveda is not talking about cooling in terms of temperature. Think of cooling foods in the way that we think of cucumber and watermelon as being cooling.

Naturally sweet tastes are generally cooling – grains, sweet potato, vegetables such as broccoli, courgettes, carrots.

And astringent tastes reduce Pitta dosha: legumes, oatcakes and rice cakes (Vata types please avoid dried foods), raw apples.

The bitter tastes in Summer’s bitter vegetables are also great foods to fill your plate with, such as summer chards and kale.

A little dairy is fine for Pitta dosha but watch out for it’s mucous-forming effects.

For a complete list of foods to favour, click the link here for my Pitta dosha foods list.  It will take you to a PDF which you are welcome to download for reference. 

FOODS FOR PITTA DOSHA