Ayurveda Pitta Diet
PITTA DIET SHEET
This information has been provided by Dr. Lad, in his book: Ayurvedic Cooking for Self Healing. This book is a good resource of knowledge and menus. Please note the qualities of foods is not universal, and different practitioners have different beliefs about the energetic qualities of food. This is meant to serve as a guideline to help you gain better understanding of yourself, not suppress yourself! Remember a list of balancing foods is not to totally avoid foods not on the list. It just means favor the list, and eat other foods in less quantities. The foods to favor will cause specific influences over time that the designated dosha needs to maintain balance in the body and physiology.
FAVOR THESE foods (Pitta)
Beverages: almond milk, aloe vera juice, apple, apricot, berry, cherry, grain coffee, grape, mango, mixed vegetable, orange, peach, pear, pomegranate, prune, rice milk, vegetable bouillon
Herbal Beverages: alfalfa, bancha, barley, blackberry, borage, burdock, catnip, chamomile, chicory, comfrey, dandelion, fennel, ginger-fresh, hibiscus, hops, jasmine, kukicha, lavender, lemon balm, lemon grass, licorice, marshmallow, nettle, oat straw, passion flower, peppermint, raspberry, red clover, sarsaparilla, spearmint, strawberry, violet, wintergreen yarrow
Condiments: black pepper, chutney, coriander leaves, dulse, hijiki, kombu, lime, sprouts
Dairy: butter-unsalted, cheese-soft/unsalted-cow’s or goat, ghee, whole milk (avoid homogenized if possible)-cow’s and goat, lassi
Food Supplements: aloe vera juice, barley green brewer’s yeast, calcium, magnesium zinc, spirulina, blue-green algae, vitamins D, E, EFA’s (essential fatty acids) found in cold process oils from cod liver, evening primrose, black currant seed, flax seed, borage; whey powder as a protein supplement
Fruits (ripe and sweet): apples, applesauce, apricots, avocado, berries-sweet, cherries, coconut, dates, figs, grapes-red and purple, limes, mango, melons, oranges, papaya, pears, pineapple, plums, pomegranate, prunes, raisins, watermelon
Grains: whole; amaranth, barley, cereals-dry, couscous, durham flour, granola, oat bran, oats, pasta, rice cakes, seitan (wheat meat), spelt, sprouted wheat bread (Essene), tapioca, wheat, white rice– basmati is best, (If digestion is weak carbohydrates and proteins may be separated by a meal in the same day-e.g., rice and dal).
Legumes: adzuki beans, black beans, black-eyed peas, chick (garbanzo beans) peas, kidney beans, lentils-brown and red, lima beans, mung beans, mung dal, navy beans, peas-dried, pinto beans, cheese, flour, split peas, white beans
Meats: buffalo, chicken–white, egg white, fish-fresh, rabbit, turkey–white, pheasant, venison
Nuts: almonds without skins, charole (common to India), coconut
Oils: ghee, olive oil-cold applications only, [sunflower*]; external use only-avocado, coconut, walnut; * only cold processed, fresh, dark bottle
Seeds: Flax, halva, popcorn, psyllium, pumpkin, sunflower
Spices: basil-fresh, black pepper, caraway, cardamom, cinnamon, coriander, cumin, curry leaves, dill, fennel, ginger-fresh, mint, orange peel, parsley, peppermint, saffron, spearmint, tarragon, turmeric, saindhava (rock salt), vanilla, wintergreen
Sweeteners: barley malt, fructose, fruit juice, maple syrup, rice syrup, raw sugar or sucanat, rock crystal sugar, honey (light colored)
Vegetables: artichoke, asparagus, beets, bitter melon, broccoli, Brussels sprouts, cabbage, carrots, cauliflower, celery, cilantro, cucumber, dandelion greens, fennel (anise), green beans, Jerusalem artichoke, kale, leafy greens(lettuces), leek-cooked, mushrooms, okra, olives-black, onion-cooked, parsley, parsnip, peas, peppers-red and sweet, potato (white or sweet), prickly pear leaves, pumpkin, radishes-cooked, rutabaga, spaghetti squash, sprouts, squash-winter and summer, taro root, watercress, wheat grass sprouts, zucchini
THINGS TO AVOID
Frozen, canned, fried foods, leftovers
All ice cold food and drink
The combination of Milk or yogurt with fruits, vegetables, fish (is toxic)
Honey cooked in anything (is toxic)
Fruits and vegetables in the same meal
Sweet, flour desserts after a meal (before is best)
Alcohol, caffeine–in coffee, tea, chocolate, other beverages (affect meditations and transcending)
All refined grains and sugar and foods containing them