Part 8 (1/2)

Guidelines and Perspective for Pitta Food Intake for Pitta People.

A BLAND VEGETARIAN DIET THAT IS PREDOMINANTLY RAW is best for the pitta, pitta-vata, and pitta-kapha individuals. Flesh food, eggs, alcohol, salt, caffeine, coffee, tobacco, mustard, garlic, onions, ginger, and other stimulants aggravate the emotional and physical heat and natural aggressiveness of pitta. Fruits, vegetables, and sprouts with some grains comprise the bulk of the diet. Foods that are sour, such as citrus, yogurt, sour cream, vinegar, and dill pickles, also aggravate pitta. Lemon, although sour, can be tolerated in small amounts because of its overall alkalinizing and liver-purifying effect. It is best for a pitta to avoid pungent foods and herbs such as cayenne, mustard, catsup, barbecue sauce, and salsa. The cold tastes, which are bitter and astringent, such as the leafy green vegetables, are balancing. Foods that are sweet-tasting are also balancing, except honey and mola.s.ses, which are heating. High-protein foods increase the metabolic heat by 30% and should be kept to a moderate intake. Foods that stress the liver are usually aggravating, such as coffee and alcohol. Such foods as carrots and beets, which purify and cleanse the liver, are balancing or neutral to pitta, even though they are considered slightly heating. Balancing herbs for the pitta are coriander, cardamom, fennel, and turmeric. Fruits and vegetables are the most balancing for pitta. Pittas do best when they avoid salty, pungent, and sour tastes, as well as hot, light, and dry foods. Pitta people have a speedy metabolism so they generally need to eat three main meals a day, separated by at least four hours. If necessary, light snacking two to three hours after a meal is acceptable.

Vegetables are very good for pitta. The exceptions are tomatoes, which are heating and pungent, and vegetables like radishes, raw onions, hot peppers, and raw garlic. White or yellow onions will become sweet on cooking and may be eaten in moderation. Although beets, carrots, and daikons are slightly heating, they can be eaten unless pitta is already aggravated. The vegetables that are most balancing for pitta are the whole Bra.s.sica family, such as cabbage and Brussels sprouts; asparagus, cilantro, cuc.u.mbers, celery, cress, leafy greens, green beans, lettuce, mushrooms, okra, peas, parsley, potatoes, and sprouts; and the squash family.

Sweet fruits such as apples, figs, raisins, sweet grapes, sweet plums, prunes, sweet berries, and melons are most balancing for the pittas. Sour fruits such as citrus, sour cherries, and pomegranates should be minimized. Well-ripened, sweet, citrus fruits are acceptable because for pittas the sweet taste is balancing. Other fruits that are balancing are mangos, avocados, persimmons, and apricots.

Nuts and seeds are best used sparingly because they are hot and oily. If they are soaked or sprouted, they can be used in moderation. Coconut, which is cooling, is very balancing for pitta. Sunflower and pumpkin seeds can be eaten, especially if soaked.

Grains that are heating, such as corn, millet, buckwheat, and rye, are best avoided or minimized. Barley, which is cooling and drying, is the best grain. It also helps to reduce stomach acid, which is a pitta tendency. Rice and wheat, which are sweet and heavy, are also good. Sourdough breads and other yeasted breads create a sourness that aggravates pitta.

Legumes should be taken in moderation because of their high protein content and tendency to produce gas if consumed in excess. The least aggravating legumes are mung beans, garbanzo beans, tofu, and black lentils.

Oils are generally aggravating for pitta. Small amounts of coconut, almond, olive, soy, and sunflower oils are okay. Coconut, with its oil, is beneficial to pitta because it is cooling but should be used in moderation because of the high percentage of saturated fat it contains. Sunflower and pumpkin seed oil are fine for pitta people.

Dairy products have variable effects. Sweet dairy is acceptable. Sour dairy products and hard cheese aggravate. Ghee, which is a clarified, raw, unsalted b.u.t.ter, is very balancing and calming for pitta.

Sweets are cooling to pitta. Even white sugar, which I do not recommend, can help to cool pitta. Honey is moderately heating but can be used in minimal amounts. Mola.s.ses is heating and best avoided.

Spices that are hot or pungent are aggravating to pitta. Cardamom, cinnamon, coriander, and fennel are balancing. Black pepper can be used occasionally, and c.u.min can be used in moderation, although it is somewhat heating.

Drinks that are cooling, sweet, bitter, and astringent are balancers. Pittas need a lot of water. Carbonated drinks and alcohol aggravate pitta. Salty drinks and an excess of hot teas are unbalancing to pitta. Sour drinks and citrus in excess, including orange juice, may also aggravate pitta.

Preview of Chapter 6.

IN THIS CHAPTER YOU WILL LEARN about some of the silent messages Mother Nature is continually giving to us about the food we eat. These communications come in terms of tastes, colors, and qualities. You will learn about the six tastes, six qualities, directions of action of foods, and the color code of foods as explained through the rainbow diet. The rainbow diet is like learning how to select a good wardrobe-it helps us to color-coordinate our foods with the energies of our own bodies. As we select our foods and eat them, are we ready to listen to and act on these silent messages? Are we ready to read these love notes from G.o.d?

I. Mother Nature's Clues II. Six Tastes A. Sweet B. Sour C. Salty D. Pungent E. Bitter F. Astringent III. Six Food Qualities A. Heavy B. Light C. Oily D. Dry E. Cold F. Hot.

IV. Direction of Action of Foods.

V. Rainbow Diet.

Subtle Food Messages from Nature.

IT IS APPARENT TO THE READER BY NOW that food is more than just carbohydrates, proteins, and fats. The spectrum of nutrition ranges from undifferentiated energy to various levels of differentiated energy, with these energies playing an important role in balancing, building, healing, activating, and cleansing the glands, organs, nervous system, tissues, and more subtle elements of the body, such as the dosha energies and subtle energy centers. Each food has a particular taste, quality, shape, and color that is part of Mother Nature's clues and efforts to communicate with us. Each food has its own ”personality” that affects our psychophysiological and spiritual nature. For example, the golden-colored mango and papaya have the shape and color radiance that match the pineal gland and pituitary. I have developed the system of the rainbow diet, as explained in detail in Spiritual Nutrition and The Rainbow Diet, which correlates the colors of foods with the subtle energy centers, organs, glands, and nervous system. The Chinese system has cla.s.sified the yin and yang effect of the foods according to color. The more red a food is, the more yang it is; the more a food is toward the purple side of the rainbow, the more it is considered yin. In the Ayurvedic and Chinese systems, the tastes and food qualities are important clues to the energetic effect of the foods.

The Six Tastes.

THERE ARE six TASTES AND FOOD QUALITIES that help to inform us how a food will tend to affect and interact with our doshas. Each taste is nature's way of signalling us as to how the food will energetically act on our body and mind. The six tastes are: sweet, sour, salty, bitter, pungent, and astringent.

The sweet taste can be experienced by the varying degrees of sweetness that are in sweet fruit, sugar, milk, rice, and grains. Sweetness increases kapha and decreases pitta and vata. Sweetness has the qualities of being cooling, heavy, and oily. It relieves hunger and thirst and nourishes the body. Because it increases kapha, sweetness increases tissue ma.s.s. Sweet is the overwhelmingly predominant and favorite taste in America, creating a kapha imbalance that contributes to the obesity of millions of overweight people. Eating sweets gives satisfaction and a sense of fullness on the mental plane. For those who feel lacking in their lives, sweets can become addicting because they supply the short-term illusion of mental and physical satiation. Sweets have a cooling effect on the pitta anger and a temporary calming effect on the vata fear. Too many sweets may contribute to complacency and greed, especially for kaphas, who have a propensity for manifesting that tendency anyway.

The sour taste (lemon and yogurt) unbalances kapha and pitta. The sour qualities are heavy, heating, and oily and therefore balancing for vata. Sour-tasting foods usually improve digestion and appet.i.te. ”Sour grapes” is a term that relates to a certain feeling of being deprived, or bitterness about lacking something in life. An overindulgence in sour foods may lead to envy or jealousy about what is lacking. This sourpuss tendency to envy and possess creates an imbalance in pittas. Not only does the sour taste amplify these tendencies, but these tendencies create anger. The greed tendency of kaphas may also be amplified by sour foods. Sour balances vatas by creating mental heat.

The salty taste is heavy and heating. These qualities help to balance vata and unbalance kapha and pitta. Salt increases digestive fire and helps to clean the body of wastes. Salt enhances all our appet.i.tes for life and physical indulgence in the senses. In excess, it can contribute to unbalancing the mental state of kapha. It reinforces the kapha tendency toward complacency and sense indulgence. The heat of pitta is also aggravated by salt, especially if the desires fired up by the salty food are not expressed. The vata mind, which is sometimes too ungrounded to indulge in the earthly senses, is brought more into balance by salt, in a way that draws awareness to the physical level.

Pungent foods (spicy foods such as ginger and cayenne) are heating, light, and dry. The heating and drying qualities of pungent foods help to balance kapha. Pungent foods aggravate pitta and vata. Pungent foods such as cayenne are good for reducing mucus and stimulating gastric fire in the kapha dosha. The anger and irritability of pitta are aggravated by pungent foods because fire brings out an extroverted energy and a desire for external stimulation. These qualities of pungent foods help kaphas come out of their complacency and inertia.

Foods of bitter taste (spinach and other leafy greens) are cooling, light, and dry. Foods of bitter taste balance kapha and pitta but may tend to aggravate vata. Bitter-tasting foods dry and purify secretions and increase appet.i.te, which is perfect for kapha. Bitter foods tend to amplify dissatisfaction, criticism, and grief. Mild dissatisfaction may be a stimulus to change and thus is good for balancing the complacency aspects of kapha. These same qualities of bitterness bring out insecurity and fear in vata because they enhance the tendency to change and also enhance the dry sadness of excessive dissatisfaction.

Astringent foods make the mouth pucker. Examples are unripe persimmons, turmeric, and okra. Astringent foods are cooling, light, and dry. Because of this, they tend to aggravate vata and balance pitta and kapha. These foods purify and reduce secretions, as well as dry out the body, which is excellent for kapha. Their drying and shrivelling energy creates introverted tendencies. If this withdrawal is excessive, it causes mental contraction that brings out fear and anxiety. This may unbalance the vata mind. This same contraction energy helps to balance the extroverted energies of the pitta personality.

In general, the bitter, pungent, and astringent tastes unbalance vata and decrease kapha. The tastes of bitter, pungent, and astringent have a ”lightness” quality to them, helping to free kaphas from their tendency to be complacently attached to the body and the desires of the material world. Sweet, sour, and salty tastes increase the attachment to the body and worldly desires. Because of this, sweet, sour, and salty tastes decrease vata, as vatas need to increase these attachments because of their lack of groundedness. Perhaps the food industry is aware of this because there is so much emphasis on sweetness and saltiness in most fast foods. Eating these processed, empty, foodless foods feeds the life of the senses.

Pittas are balanced by sweet, bitter, and astringent foods. Pungent, salty, and sour foods unbalance pitta. Vatas are aggravated by excessive amounts of any taste. My experience eating in the homes of Ayurvedic physicians is that they serve meals with all the tastes to create a general balance. The wisdom of eating in a way that maintains one's own dosha balance requires artful intelligence, intuition, and trial and error concerning what tastes of foods are balancing and when to eat these foods.

Chinese medicine has also systematized the meaning of the tastes of foods. They recognize five flavors (tastes): pungent, sweet, bitter, sour, and salty. According to the Chinese system, each taste affects specific organ systems.

Pungent foods act on the lungs and large intestine. They also induce perspiration.

Sweet-flavored foods act upon the stomach, spleen, and pancreas and neutralize toxins.

Bitter foods act upon the heart and small intestine. Bitter foods are also said to reduce fever and induce diarrhea.

Sour foods act upon the liver and gallbladder. They also stop diarrhea and perspiration.

Salty foods act upon the kidneys and urinary bladder and also soften hard ma.s.ses and tissues.

Food Qualities.

THE six MAJOR FOOD QUALITIES in Ayurveda are heavy (cheese, yogurt, wheat); light (barley, corn, spinach, apples); oily (dairy, fatty foods, avocados); dry (barley, corn, potatoes, beans); hot food and drink (hot tea); and cold food and drink (iced tea). Generally, heavy, oily, and hot foods tend to balance vatas and unbalance kaphas. Hot, light, and dry foods tend to balance kaphas and unbalance pittas. Pittas are more balanced by heavy, oily, and cold foods.

In the Chinese system, foods are considered for their medicinal qualities by flavor, energetic quality, direction of action in the body, and specific affinity for different organs and glands. The energy of the different foods is broken into five categories: Cold energy (very yin), such as banana, grapefruit, kelp, lettuce, persimmon, sugar, water chestnut, and watermelon.