Pitta dosha in Ayurveda

Pitta dosha

This is the second doshas in the Tridosha of Ayurveda. It mainly deals with heat, metabolism and transformation in the mind and body. Unlike vata dosha, Pitta comes from the elements of fire and water. Since it deals with metabolism it mainly deals with digestion and other body functions which work with carrier substances like enzymes, hormones and bile. The main qualities for this are having oily skin, warm body temperature, slender body, excess sweating and sharp or bright intellect person. The major causes for pitta imbalance are prolonged fasting, eating too spicy food or fermented food, emotional imbalance, anger, stress all these when repeatedly done causes imbalance in pitta.

Symptoms of imbalance in pitta dosha:

  1. Heart burn, nausea and ulcers
  2. Acute inflammations in the joints.
  3. Anger, irritability and frustration.
  4. Skin rashes like psoriasis, eczema.
  5. Bad breath and bad body odor

Remedies for pitta dosha

The main areas affected by imbalance of pitta dosha are stomach and small intestine. So eat and drink which gives soothing effects to the stomach

Dairy products like milk, butter, ghee are good for pacifying pitta so include it your diet chart every day. The sour taste products like yogurt, cheese, and buttermilk should be avoided as they may aggravate the pitta.

Include vegetables that are bitter in taste like bitter guard other important vegetables are cauliflower, asparagus, sweet potato, pumpkin. Try to avoid vegetables like green leafy vegetables, carrots, beets, garlic, and radish.

Add digestive food item like fennel, methi, turmeric, cumin in the diet.

Avoid hot, spicy and oily foods they cause the increase in pitta.

Pitta herbs needs to be bitter, astringent or sweet in taste and often act on the liver and blood of a person.  Taking these cooling herbs will reguarily will have a good effect to reduce pitta enhance the lifestyle of a person.  Some of the most commonly used herbs specific for pacifying Pitta are Guduchi, Vidari, Licorice, Neem, Kutki, Bhumyamalaki, Amalaki, Musta and Brahmi. 

Some other cooling herbs are shatavari: this belongs to the same family as aspharagus. It has bitter taste has cooling, and soothing properties. It is basically present in India. It is usually prescribed for women during menopause, the mood swings and infertility problems. As Shatavari is sweet and bitter in taste it is a good agent for balancing pitta.

Other cooling herb is Bacopa: This herb is used for proper function of nervous system and to improve memory power and concentration. It tastes sweet and bitter and balances the pitta.

Triphala is another herb which helps in balancing pitta. It tastes sweet, sour, bitter and astringent. Triphala has both cooling and heating effect. Triphala is a herbal blend made from the fruits of three trees that grow in India and middle east. The herbs that contain triphala have healing and purifying properties.

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