Pitta Diet – Shopping List
If you are on my online programme “7 steps to better Sleep” you will have taken step 3, which is all about food and diet. You will have already completed step 1 and will be familiar with body bio-energies, in particular your dominant body bio-energy. In step 2 you learned about lifestyle balancing, which is important to support your diet changes.
And now, you will need a shopping list!
Remember to understand the general concept behind this shopping list and not get hung up on the minute detail. If overall your diet reflects the body bio-energy that you need to balance, then that is perfect. I want to empower you to be able to think on the spot and not have to carry a list with you all the time.
And, if you research deeply enough, you will find some inconsistency between lists. This is because produce varies in taste by region and time of year, for example, some strawberries are sweet, others are sour. Some produce has one cooling aspect and one warming aspect and whether to include or exclude it is based on an editorial decision. For example, turmeric: it is bitter and a bit spicy, and gives you one flavour to avoid another. So you could say that it balances itself out and include it or else avoid it for its heating aspect. I personally would not cut it out for lifestyle balancing purposes.
My experience is that once you have the items on this new shopping list at home, you will try and use them. I would place the new ingredients on an open shelf, so you can see them daily. The last thing you want is for them to move to the back of the cupboard.
Your motto is: “greens and beans” and you will want mostly dry, chunky, detoxing and alkalising. You want to remove the heat, the sourness/acidity and the saltiness in your body, hence avoid these tastes. You want lasting freshness, so spices should not be heating but of the cooling type.
Remember to say yes to things that are sweet, bitter and astringent (green taste) and you will be balancing your pitta body bio-energy.
Spices
Say no to heating spices, such as chillies, garlic, salt and cloves. Spices and flavouring without heat or which are cooling are:
1. Basil (fresh)
2. Cardamom
3. Coriander
4. Cumin
5. Dill
6. Fennel
7. Mint
8. Neem leaves
9. Orange peel
10. Parsley
11. Mint
12. Saffron
13. Tarragon
14. Turmeric (it is a little heating, but also with bitter flavour so it balances itself out)
15. Vanilla
The following spices are detoxifying but a little heating. When you use small amounts and choose fresh not dry (dry intensifies), it is possible you can still benefit from their actions: fresh basil, cinnamon, black pepper and fresh ginger.
Oils and Fats
Say no to almond, apricot, sesame, corn and safflower oils. The fats which are cooling or neutral are the following:
1. Coconut oil
2. Flax seed oil
3. Ghee (butter with milk solids removed)
4. Olive oil
5. Primrose oil
6. Sunflower oil
7. Soy oil (careful most soy is GMO modified today – choose organic)
8. Walnut oil
9. Avocado oil
Sweeteners
Sweeteners without heat are mainly plant-based unrefined syrups. They are not white sugar, honey, molasses (refined cane sugar), or jaggery.
1. Barley malt syrup
2. Maple syrup
3. Rice syrup
4. Date sugar or date syrup
5. Agave syrup
6. Sugar cane syrup
7. Fruit juice syrups (grape, pomegranate, etc.)
8. Dried fruit sugar such as Fructose
9. Stevia herb
10. Coconut sugar
11. Unrefined and raw cane sugar such as brands: Turbinado or Sucanat
Nuts & Seeds
Many nuts and seeds are heating in nature; the ones that are not are here:
• Almonds (soaked and peeled)
• Charole nuts (look a bit like peanuts)
• Coconut
• Flax seeds
• Pumpkin seeds
• Sunflower seeds
• Hemp seeds
Vegetables & Legumes
Knock yourself out on vegetables and beans. There are a few that are heating or warming such as: beets, horseradish, garlic, chillies, tomatoes, beets (raw) and miso paste, to mention just a few. If in doubt, use the taste test; if it tastes a little spicy, sour, or acidic then stay away.
Grains
Put pasta and couscous on your shopping list! But a bit too heating for you are: buckwheat, corn, millet, polenta, rye, and yeast in bread. I personally don’t have a problem with gluten, but I would recommend choosing high quality grains. I tend to prefer to buy the grains in bulk as much as it is possible and mill them myself in a flourmill or alternatively in my Vitamix blender just before I use them. The best grains without heat are:
• Amaranth (is naturally gluten free)
• Barley (contains gluten)
• Sorghum Flour (is naturally gluten free)
• Oats (is naturally gluten free)
• Quinoa (is naturally gluten free)
• White rice (is naturally gluten free)
• Wheat (contains gluten)