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Excess heat in the body can lead to imbalances in your doshas. There are three doshas in the ancient Ayurveda - pitta, kapha & vatta. To quickly explain, doshas are the energies that make up our physical bodies. Kind of like the chakras (energy systems) in our body, but for the physical body and not energetic. These doshas pretty make up our composition in our physical bodies and usually there is one of the 3 that is predominantly more present, which is what makes up our mind-body composition or constitution. These doshas reflect our emotional tolerance, aging as well as disease and health conditions and what we can do to keep everything at bay. The goal here is to keep your 3 doshas in balance. Ayurveda is a very complex yet elaborate system, which is very ancient but very effective and accurate.
For the purpose of this article we will focus on the pitta dosha solely, as this reflects the time of the season we are currently in.
When we refer to words such as irritable, rage, angry, hot headed or burn-out, we are referring to episodes of increased heat in our physical bodies. This excess heat is referred to as a "pitta" imbalance.
Every summer we deal with a daily increase and accumulation of heat in our bodies - from the food we eat (yes food can cause heat) to the weather outside. As you have surely noticed, every fall birds fly south, leaves fall and change colour, days get shorter and whales migrate. The reason for this is due to this thermal excess that accumulates over time. All life follows the seasons, we are not impervious to this law of nature, although we think ourselves special as human beings.
During the summer all seeds, nuts, fruits, grains and legumes grow and accumulate heat from the sun/environment. Come fall, these foods are harvested for our benefit and consumption. This is where the old adage of "Eat with the season" comes into play. We use these nutrient dense/rich foods in the fall when all is starting to die around us and in preparation for a cold and morbid winter famine. Consuming these foods ensured us the energy and immune boosting insulation in order to handle the hard cold winter season.
Unfortunately today we have adopted a new approach, which is affecting our health in a huge way. We have completely opted out of the fruit and grain diet and replaced it with meat and vegetables. Being available to us 24/7, I could see why the change, but that still doesn't make it right? Yes life is busy and yes we are all short on time, but we all have the same amount of time in a day, it's a matter of what you want to invest your time in. I think food is of utmost importance. I mean really, it is our fuel, it is what gets us through the day and keeps us strong. So why would we sacrifice that? That is the million dollar question. Is it convenience (i.e fast food).. who knows! The funny thing is that we think we can eat the same foods 24/7 365 and get away unscathed. Look even the most primitive animal knows instinctively that it needs to eat with the season. Maybe out of choice or maybe because Mother Nature provides different things at different times of the year. Either way, they are doing the right thing, and we the human race, with our science and technology, can't follow a simple rule - so much for the power of conscious decisions/choices, but I digress.
Fruits such as apples & watermelons to name a few, are natural superfoods that are used to cool us down. This is the intrinsic intelligence of nature. Everything is there for us, all we have to do is just listen and be conscious of our decisions.
When we ignore our body's need to be cooled down with nutrition, we lose out on two important benefits. Firstly, we don't get the necessary energy reserves and fuel provided to us from these cooling foods and secondly we don't allow our body to dissipate the excess heat that is accumulating in our physical bodies, which will carry on into the winter season.
Now you are probably asking yourself, "Ya so isn't that good. Winter is cold, so the excess heat will keep me warm."
Sorry doesn't work that way!
What really happens is this. Winter is a very dry season. This dryness is responsible for an imbalance of our mucus membranes: skin, joints, intestinal trace & respiratory tract. Our immune system, which is predominantly in our intestinal tract and respiratory tract reacts to this drying out of our respiratory and intestinal tract, therefore signalling the production of excess mucus to compensate for the dryness in our bodies. Albeit this being a normal reaction for our body, it is not a natural one as this has been signalled due to imbalance and not due to natural occurrence. This excess mucus becomes a breading ground for bacteria, hence the runny nose and looser stools.
It is a known fact that how well you take care of yourself (lifestyle, diet etc...) in the summer and spring will be directly related to how well you cope with fall and especially winter.
Life is a cycle, and it is demonstrated to use by the 4 seasons. How can we think it beneficial to do the same thing all year round and pay no attention the change in seasons? It's a mystery! We need to reconnect to Mother Nature and start to live as the birds, whales and all animals do. We need to synchronize ourselves with the rhythm of nature once more. If you want to get back that vibrant feeling of being energetic and healthy, this is the first step that needs to be taken.
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Some Facts About Pitta:
- Metabolism
- Hot, Moist, Light
- Fire and Water elements
- Late spring into summer
- To increase/balance pitta use pungent, sour, salty, hot foods
- To decrease pitta consume more sweet, bitter, astringent, cold foods
- Top oils for pitta are sesame, coconut and ghee
Body type of pitta:
- medium frame & weight
- thin, hair with curls
- soft, pink to reddish skin
- small to medium teeth
- good strength
- good endurance
- intellectual, aggressive and a good memory
- short fuse temperament
- likes order
- good digestion and normal bowel movements.
- preference is cold foods and drinks
- good with saving money , but likes to spend
- decent sex drive
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