According to Ayurveda summer is a season that triggers Pitta. Pitta administers digestive energies; i.e. “agnis” or fire energies in the body. Pitta manages various heats in our body – it is in charge of how food gets digest as well as how our sensory perceptions metabolize. Aggravated Pitta or pitta imbalance affects our physical, mental, and emotional fitness. We may experience impatience and anger at slightest trigger, develop sweaty body, sensitive skin etc.
By adopting a healthy lifestyle and following few basic diet prescriptions to beat summer, we can lead a cool and healthy life even during the peak season.
The most basic, age old, and fundamental way to counteract the weather is by opting for diet that is juicy, consume cooling foods with high-water content, and avoid or minimize heavy, spicy foods food and drinks that cause heat in the body.
List of Body & Mind Coolants: Stick to your meal time, more so during summers. Irregular meals will affect digestion and with fire energies already aggravated the sufferings will be worse. Fix a meal time and stick to it. Smaller frequent meals work well during summers too.
Along with maintaining a cool diet and fixed timings, another important aspect to consider is following an exercise regimen. Don’t stop exercising during summers because it is hot or you sweat a lot. Sweating is good for you because it cools you down by getting the heat out of your body. To keep your mind cool opt for meditation. A few minutes every day set aside for meditating will do you a lot of good for many years to come.
Foods you should say YES to: Ayurveda suggests including grains viz. white basmati rice, quinoa, amaranth, barley, and oats in your diet. Fruits such as melons (especially water melon as they have high water content), pears, avocados, grapes etc should be higher on the list during summer months. Herbs like cilantro and mint should be eaten aplenty. Try including coconut water and fresh coconut in your diet. Vegetables namely leafy green veggies, zucchini, cucumber, asparagus, broccoli, carrots, sweet potatoes & corn etc should also be consumed. Important Tip: Include cilantro, cucumber and coconut in your diet generously. Chutneys and salads should be permanent accompaniments. They not only add taste and tang to the good but are also good for health during summer months.
Say NO to: fried foods, vinegar, alcohol, spices, citrus fruits (sour), fermented foods, curds, hard cheese, tomato. Avoid ice cold drinks, or water straight from refrigerator.
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