FARMACY

June 01, 2025

TIME TO SUMMERNATE

Ayurveda healthy tips

According to Ayurveda, the qualities of summer are hot, sharp, and penetrating. That’s why our pitta dosha – the subtle fire that controls metabolism and transformation – can cause us to overheat. The sun saps the energy from the body, from the plants and the earth, increasing heat and dryness.

Pitta needs to be looked after to maintain a good energy, mental clarity, joyfulness, good digestion and blood circulation, a beautiful glow of the skin and a sound sleep.

When Pitta is out of balance it will give skin problems, hot flashes, exhaustion, indigestion or loose stool. Emotionally, excess Pitta manifests through irritation, short-temper, impatience, judgement/criticism, perfectionism…

Before Pitta reaches uncontrollable heights, remain cool, calm and pamper the liver:

With the food: As Agni (digestive fire) weakens, it is better to eat light, unctuous (slightly oily), cooling food such as salads and juices.

  • Favorable taste: Bitter taste, Sweet taste (to take moderately in case of diabetes and high triglycerides). Salty taste should be taken reasonably
  • Drink water stored in earthen pot
  • Raw food/salads are taken at lunch mainly
  • Proteins: mungdal, chickpeas, beans, sprouts, nuts and seeds, non-veg: white meat, fish, seashell, dairies for breakfast or lunch, eggs
  • Cereals for energy: jasmine rice, barley, red rice, millet (fermented ragi)
  • Vegetables: pumpkin, bittergourd, bottlegourd, snakegourd, ashgourd, cucumber (taken separately), salads, green leafy vegetables, broccoli, cabbage, celery, carrots, drumstick (moringa), zucchini, plantain
  • Fruits: amla, pomegranate, banana, ramphala, chiku, papaya, apple, grape, date, watermelon and melon (to be taken separately), coconut
  • Beverages: buttermilk, sweet lassi, coconut water, mint, lemongrass, cardamom, chamomile, nannari (sarsaparilla), amla juice, watermelon juice, vegetable juice, cucumber milk (blend ½ cup of peeled cucumber in 1 cup of milk - cow or other veg milk- with a pinch of sugar), electrolyte (1 lemon juice + 1tsp of sugar + 1 pinch salt in a glass of water),
  • Lipids: ghee, olive or sunflower or coconut oil
  • Spices: cumin, coriander, black pepper, turmeric, fennel seeds, fresh aromatic herbs (dill, coriander, fennel, mint, parsley, saffron)

Avoid:

  • Pungent and sour tastes (especially for people who are Pitta dominant)
  • Pitta increasing items: chillies, fermented food (apart from idli and dosai), deep-fried, sour buttermilk or curd, red meat, alcohol (strong liquor, red wine), coffee …
  • Drinking beverages coming from the fridge or freezer during meals
  • Ice-cream at the end of a meal (best to be taken when the digestion is finished, around 4pm)

Routine to favour:

  • Avoid direct sun contact specially between 11am and 4pm, and protect from the heat by keeping a humid towel/cap on the head
  • A nap of half an hour after lunch is allowed
  • Body massage with coconut oil – if there’s no time every day to apply oil on the body, then massage ears, hands and feet + pour 4-5 drops of coconut oil on the fontanelle
  • Bath with cool water and apply a paste of sandalwood on the face, heart and lower abdomen (these are the 3 main parts that should remain fresh to maintain the coolness in the whole body); foot bath in the evening with vetiver roots, rose water or hibiscus flowers
  • Swimming, aquagym, any water activities. Qi-Gong, Tai Chi, light running: max 30 minutes early morning or late evening; walks in green environment, forest
  • Soft yoga, pranayama (Sheetali, Sheetakari, ida nadi inhalation-left nostril inhalation), meditation with Gayatri mantra
  • Walk under the moonlight, full moon bath
  • Wear loose and comfortable cotton or linen clothes (white, blue, green, gray colours)
  • Cooling jewellery: sandalwood beads, jade, pearl, amethyst crystals, moonstone, silver, aquamarine
  • To refresh the ambiance use lemon or orange peel, jasmine flowers, lavender, wet cloth hanging at the open window, vetiver curtains

Cooling plants for the summer:

  • Amalaki – Amla: refrigerant and full of Vitamin C, rejuvenative fruit
  • Aloe vera: rejuvenates blood and tissues
  • Aegle Marmelos – Bael fruit: make juice from the pulp and decoction with leaves, it calms body and mind. It is slightly laxative, do not take during pregnancy
  • Coriander: seeds soaked in water for urinary infections, kidney weakness
  • Red Hibiscus: leaves and flowers for shampoo and conditioner; flowers for herbal tea
  • Manduka parni – Centella asiatica leaves: rejuvenative and tonic for brain and nerves
  • Pudina – Mint leaves: herbal tea or dishes
  • Radha consciousness – Clitoria Terneata flowers: herbal tea or juice
  • Sarsaparilla – Nannari syrup: soothing and cooling
  • Shataavari – Asparagus racemosus: cooling, calming Pitta, very good for Vata women to harmonize hormones
  • Vetiver roots: for bathing
  • Yashtimadhu – Licorice: to refresh the body and to calm irritation, inflammation or ulcer in the digestive tract

Wishing you a beautiful summer

Be @ Santé Clinic