The side effect of being a high–flyer or go-getter is that not everybody is on the same fast track as you. You can multitask, handle pressure, your health is great, you are often two steps ahead of everybody else, and you hardly get sick! The secret to your success is you are blessed with a great digestive capacity; this provides you with excellent immunity, a well-built physique and better than average health. In short: you are a tower of power. So where is the catch?
All this greatness, due to a fantastic digestive system, creates a predicament too, because even greatness needs balancing. The body is not a machine, but a part of natural, biological laws. This means there is always a limit to how much biology can take a hike and a tipping point will inevitably be reached. The truth is there is a potential problem of overheating and burnout if the “play hard work hard” and “go-getting” lifestyle is not balanced. Of course, the burnout doesn’t turn up out of the blue, there are signs and symptoms that you are heading towards one!
One of the signs that you should take seriously is that you catch yourself dealing with frustration. You may have already started to accept an accumulation of lingering, chronic base-anger as normal and constantly work to keep the lid on things. And when the going gets tough, your gut-reaction is to work harder and faster and get the job done! You very happily skip breaks and burn the midnight oil; it’s something you do because you are obsessed with achieving the next big thing, because you can. As much as this lifestyle is satisfying to you, it is also a source of frustration and not what it seems, because slowly but surely you isolate yourself in work and become a bit aggressive in the eyes of others. You will find it hard to switch off even at night when you could be benefiting from sound sleep.
If this is you, then you have the body bio-energy problem of increased pitta. Some people are born with this body bio-energy problem and others acquire it throughout their life. There is no cure for it or a pill in the medical sense, but there is something that you can do to balance this energy in your life. The solution lies in diet and lifestyle choices.
You must get out of the “intensity spiral” and mingle with a lighter crowd. Seek a welcoming family-friendly energy, easy fun and light-hearted spirits. Start to make time for the creative arts, walks by the river or canal, yoga, hippies or healing, people with heart, comedy, music, and the arts and humanities. Avoid intense entertainment, movies and competitive recreational sports.
In terms of food you will benefit from cooling, detoxifying foods and should avoid those foods which create heating, so spicy, salty, and sour. You should also avoid those foods, which create acidity in your body, such as refined white flour and junk foods. Avoid toxic food and drink, such as alcohol, drugs, coffee, cigarettes, and cigars.
As a general rule of thumb, healthy foods for you are: bitter, astringent, and sweet. This includes mild, cool, dry, dense, grounding foods. Say NO to heating, mushy, soft, oily foods, and any kind of unhealthy foods. Your ideal diet should include beans, greens, and sweet fruits.
Bitter greens are, for example: kale, dandelion greens, and collard greens, bitter melon or gourd, Jerusalem artichokes, dark and bitter chocolate.
The hot spices are not for you, but you can always use non-heating spices, for example: cumin, saffron, turmeric, cardamom, cilantro, coriander, fennel, and mint.
To illustrate this concept a bit more, here are some meal ideas which would be good for balancing the increased pitta when combined with a cooling lifestyle.
Examples of a pita-pacifying diet are:
Granola with berries and almond or coconut milk
Green vegetables cooked
Cabbages cooked, including sprouts
Dhal (cooked bean stew) with rice or bread
Tofu dishes
Pasta dishes
Sweet potato or pumpkin dishes
Olives, pumpkin or sunflower seeds, dates for snacks
Salad with greens and beans and olive oil
Ice-cream for desert
Pancakes with maple syrup
For more information on how to balance your body-environment and to see my “7 steps to better sleep”, visit: Ayurvedic Health Coach, The Nutrition Healer www.thenutritionhealer.com
