Let us first understand a little about Pitta dosha.
Among the tridoshas (3 Doshas- vatha, Pitta & Kapha), Pitta dosha is primarily responsible for all the transformations in the body. It is a combination of fire and water elements.
Pitta dosha is responsible for all the metabolic and biochemical reactions in the body.
From being the agni (digestive fire) which produces energy from food, pitta dosha is responsible for vision, body temperature, appearance, skin appearance to the minutest chemical changes at the cellular level, therefore pitta dosha is imperative to the proper functioning of the body.
Appetite, thirst and digestion are some of the primary functions of pitta dosha. When the pitta dosha gets aggravated or imbalanced or there is excess pitta in the body several mental and physical functions are disturbed.
One of the most commonly experienced symptoms is a headache.
A pitta headache can be acute and can last for hours. The pain can be sharp, penetrating, shooting and gets intense as the sun comes up.
The patient may have nausea, intolerance to light and sound, vomiting, dizziness, bitterness and foul smell in the mouth and weakness. Other symptoms may be excessive body odour, generalized body pain, heartburn, hyperacidity, gassy pains felt in the upper back and abdomen.
The pain also gets worse if hot, oily, salty and spicy food is consumed. Constipation or diarrhea and other digestive troubles are commonly associated with Pitta headache.
The properties of Pitta dosha are hot, fluid, pungent, light, spreading, slightly oily, sharp and unctuous. So, any activity or food which matches these properties will naturally aggravate pitta dosha.
What are the Foods to avoid to help balance pitta dosha and reduce pitta headache:
Wheat and wheat products.
Milk and milk products.
Tubers like potatoes, sweet potato, colocasia, tapioca etc except yam. Root vegetables are heavy to digest.
Other vegetables to avoid: Brinjal, Cauliflower, mushroom, green chillies , Capsicum, cabbage, cauliflower, peas and amaranth.
Lentils like horse gram, Bengal gram,Kidney beans/Rajma, Livia, white chana. Refined flours like besan and maida
Grains like rice, barley, ragi, little millet, barnyard millet and sorghum can be used. Oats increases acid in the body and are not suitable for you. Sweets can be taken in moderate quantities. Milk sweets are most suitable.
Oils like coconut oil, sunflower oil are more suitable than sesame and mustard oil at least till the time your pitta dosha is pacified. Ghee can be used with hot meals. Honey should be taken in small quantities or avoided.
Meat- limited use (only in curry or soup form, not in fried/barbecues/Kabab form). Avoid all seafood. If eating eggs, take only white part.
Refrain from packaged foods like oats and flakes, processed food like noodles, pasta and aerated drinks and frozen food.
Fruits which are sour in taste, tamarind and sour curd. Heavy to digest fruits like jackfruit can be avoided.Nuts like peanut, cashew nut, pista due to their high pitta content.
Tea and Coffee on empty stomach
Deep fried food should be strictly avoided.
Fermented foods like bread, old idli/dosa batter, sour cream, cheese can quickly increase pitta dosha. Processed foods like noodles, items baked with margarine, dalda and other bad fats are harmful. Indo-chinese foods with high amount of recycled oil, garlic and chillies can make you lead to pitta headache. High salty foods like pickles and dishes with garam masala can be avoided.
What are the recommended foods to help balance Pitta dosha:
Fresh, light, less oily, less spicy, warm (not hot) food with little cow’s ghee is the ideal food to balance pitta dosha. Meals on time are extremely important to avoid increase in the pitta. Do not wait till you feel intense hunger to consume food. This will trigger the pitta dosha.Choose naturally sweet, slightly bitter and astringent foods. Raw foods are good in small quantities, but should be balanced with cooked food. Avoid consuming food when it is very hot. Cool it before consuming.
Vegetables growing on creepers like ash gourd, snake gourd, ridge gourd, bottle gourd, little gourd and cucumber, okra, beans, white onions are light to digest. Creeper vegetables have slight tikta rasa (bitters) and are healing in nature and are perfect to reduce the pitta dosha. The gourds have liver protective action and are extremely beneficial to you.
Green gram is best as it aids in digestion and has a cooling effect on the pitta dosha. Plenty of boiled and cooled water is advisable. Coconut milk, Sarasaparilla juice and tender coconut water is helpful.
Nuts: Soaked almonds, walnuts, apricots, black raisins, fresh/dry dates can be eaten in small quantities
Buttermilk and cow’s ghee should be from grass fed cow’s milk
Fresh ginger, Cumin seeds, dhaniya, curry leaves, coriander leaves and small amounts of ajwain, saunf can be used in cooking pathya food.
Useful remedies and lifestyle changes recommended to help reduce excess Pitta dosha in the body leading to Pitta headache:
Mix 1 tsp of pure sandalwood (white) paste/powder in water in 200 ml of water. Keep it closed for a few hours or overnight. Consume early morning with red sugar candy powder.
Make juice of fresh and raw bottle gourd or ash gourd juice and consume early morning
Boil 1 tsp each of cumin seeds, coriander seeds, fennel seeds and a quarter tsp of ajwain seeds in 200 ml of water, reduce to half, add half tsp of sugar and sip when it is lukewarm.
Taking 1 tsp of Avipatti churnam with warm water at bedtime will help flush excess pitta from the body and will help reduce pitta headache.
Apply 1-2 tsps of warm Castor oil on the crown of the head once a week. It cools your eyes and it is very important to cool the eyes as it is one of the locations of Pitta dosha and straining of eyes can cause pitta headache.
Practice foot massage with oils like Chandanadi tailam and Himasagara tailam.
Apply any of these oils on the scalp and gently massage. The cooling herbs and also the improved blood circulation will help to relieve a pitta headache- Asana Vilwadi tailam, Balaguduchyadi tailam, Madhuyashtyadi tailam.
Lavender and rosemary aromatic oils are most suitable for foot massage to cool the imbalance of pitta
Make sure you get adequate sleep and the gap between dinner and bedtime should not be more than 2 hours.
Monitor your blood pressure levels to see if it may be contributing to the headache.
Anxiety is a common and important cause for imbalance of pitta causing a pitta headache. Exploring the reasons for the anxiety and finding remedies to improve mental health will help in reducing pitta headaches.