Cooling Foods

Yesterday I had a Zoom call with students in my Living Ayurveda course (check it out at www.yogaspiritonline.com). We were meeting at the transition of the seasons to talk about seasonal foods and changes in our activities that will help us feel healthy, vital and strong all year long. This month we transition into Summer, the season of fire known as Pitta.

Whether you follow an ayurvedic lifestyle or not, this information will lessen the effect of pitta’s inflammation on your body and mind. Considering how many of our physical and mental health issues are a result of inflammation, this is good information indeed.

Favor foods that are sweet, bitter and astringent. Ayurveda recognizes six tastes and these are the three that will help cool the body and mind. Enjoy apples, cranberries, dates, figs, grapes, limes, mango, melons, pears, persimmons, pineapple, plums, pomegranate, prunes, alfalfa sprouts, asparagus, bell peppers, broccoli, cabbage, cauliflower, celery, cilantro, cucumber, green beans, lettuce, mushrooms, okra, peas, potatoes, squash, turnips, zucchini, basmati rice, oats, wheat, corn, granola, beans, coconut, sunflower seeds, butter, coconut oil, ghee, corn oil, sunflower oil, flax seed, olive oil, cream cheese, milk, and cottage cheese. Sweeten with fruit juice concentrate, maple syrup, date sugar or coconut sugar.

Avoid foods that are sour, salty and pungent (spicy hot). These are the foods that increase heat in the body and contribute to inflammation: chilies, garlic, onions, pickles, radishes, lentils, nuts that are roasted and salted, sour cream, salty cheese, honey, molasses, all condiments, all animal products.

My two favorite summer anti-inflammatories are lime and fresh ginger. In general citrus fruits are to be avoided in pitta season because citrus is heating. Lime, however, is unique because it is a cooling fruit. Every morning I squeeze the juice of ¼ lime into a cup of warm water and sip it as the first fluid to travel through the digestive tract. Lime also tastes great added to a cup of water or herbal tea anytime during the day.

Fresh ginger is also unique because it is tri-doshic, meaning that it supports and does not aggravate any of the three doshas. This isn’t the case, however, for dried ginger which has a heating quality and will definitely aggravate pitta. Add fresh ginger to your vegetable stir-fries and steep it in hot water for a delicious tea. Ginger is an anti-inflammatory superfood!

Ice cream. Ayurveda tells us to always avoid icy drinks because it puts out our digestive fire. This is especially important to follow in the summer, the season when our digestive fire is at its weakest. Summer, however, is the only season when Ayurveda encourages us to enjoy a sensible portion of ice cream. Get me a spoon!