We’ve reached the peak of summer here in the southern hemisphere and I can already feel nature in full bloom. The sun is beaming down each day, temperatures are rising and there is a greater sense of vibrancy and radiance.
Ayurveda views the season as a time dominated by pitta dosha which holds a warm, light, and active quality. In the simmering heat, it’s natural for us gravitate towards foods that are cooling & hydrating to balance our body.
During this time of year, many of us start reaching for lots of raw & cold foods like big salads, smoothies, ice cream & icy cold drinks to cool down. Whilst these can be lovely from time to time, if we consume these things in excess, they can also start to weaken our agni & send vata dosha out of balance.
In Ayurveda we understand that all foods hold a type of ‘virya’ or energy. Everything we consume can either have a cooling or heating effect on the body. Foods that are considered cooling are things like leafy greens, zucchini, coconut milk, basmati rice, avocado, ghee, and cooling spices like coriander & fennel.
When we then cook and transform these foods into nourishing, warm meals our body can still receive that cooling effect that it craves whilst keeping our digestive fire balanced. This is also how we can keep vata dosha calm and bolster ourselves from post summer depletion.
To shift into the season, we can adopt changes in our ahar (diet) to balance pitta dosha. The foundation of Ayurvedic practice is ‘like increases like and opposites balance’ so to balance pitta dosha we must invite the opposite qualities of cooling, hydrating, and calming into our diet.
Supportive Ahar for Summer
Tastes - favour tastes in your food this time of year that are sweet, bitter, and astringent such as fresh fruit, leafy greens and mung beans. Avoid foods that are overly salty, pungent, and sour such as excess salt, hot spices, and fermented foods.
Qualities of food – we want to embrace foods that have a cooling, hydrating and calming effect on the body such as cooling spices, water-based fruits & vegetables and whole grains. We also want to avoid foods that are overly heating and drying to the body such as chilli, caffeine, and fermented foods.
Vegetables that have a light quality, such leafy greens kale and lettuce, asparagus, green beans, beetroot, celery, cucumber, broccoli, fennel, zucchini, sweet potatoes, pumpkin, and cabbage. Avoid vegetables that are heating and ‘rajasic’ such as tomatoes, eggplant, garlic, and onion.
Fruits such as mango, pineapple, watermelon, berries, apricots, cherries, figs, kiwi, limes, coconuts, and sweet oranges. Avoid sour fruits such as lemon and grapefruit.
Grains that have a cooling and calming effect such as white basmati rice, oats, barley, spelt, sweet brown rice and soba.
Spices that have a cooling quality such as coriander, cardamom, dill, fennel, parsley, fresh basil, fresh ginger (not powdered), saffron and curry leaves. To keep your agni balanced a small amount of heating spices such as turmeric, cinnamon, and black pepper. Avoid overly heating spices such as chilli, asafoetida, dry ginger, fenugreek, and mustard seeds.
Legumes such as split or whole mung, split peas, adzuki beans, chickpeas, black beans and small amounts of tofu.
Nuts and seeds are generally best avoided as they more heating however, soaked, and peeled almonds, sunflower seeds and pumpkin seeds can be supportive.
Oils including ghee, coconut oil for cooking and olive, flaxseed or sunflower oil for dressing are supportive.
Dairy can be supportive for pitta dosha as it holds a cooling and calming quality. During this time of year, you can enjoy ghee, fresh panner or cottage cheese, warmed cow’s milk with cooling spices and small amounts of yoghurt. You may also like to have a ‘takra’ with your lunch time meal, which is a wonderful digestive drink made of yoghurt and water. Avoid aged cheese and commercial yoghurt as it has a heating quality. If you do not consume dairy, option for fresh coconut or oat milk in the summer.
Sweeteners including maple syrup, agave nectar, dates, and fruit juices. Avoid honey, molasses, and chocolate.
We can start to introduce these types of foods into our meals by simply trying new seasonal vegetables, switching up our spice mix and changing our grain or legume choices. For example adding more fennel seeds and coriander to our dahl, adding coconut to our morning porridge and choosing more water based fruits & vegetables such as leafy greens, zucchini and watermelon.
Remember, the foundational principle of Ayurveda is balance and whilst this may be the most supportive ahar for the season, we don’t want to treat these as rules. When our agni is strong and we have no symptoms of imbalance, we can enjoy everything in moderation. Let this guide act as inspiration and try out a new spice, vegetable, or recipe you haven’t made before!