One of my favorite things about summer is its carefree simplicity. Fresh fruits and vegetables are more available and taste better. The digestive fire is higher, so it’s easier to eat some raw food. In fact, raw foods are cooling, so they help keep your body balanced in the heat.
And when you work with the season, it can become one of the most supportive times of year for healing your gut. It’s important to be mindful about reducing inflammation. And it’s ideal for building strength and restoring vitality.
In Ayurveda, summer is the season of Pitta or fire. Pitta is associated with heat, transformation, digestion, metabolism, and intensity.
Balanced Pitta supports healthy digestion, strength, sharp focus, and vitality. When Pitta is high, it can show up as inflammation, “quick” or acidic digestion, and skin issues. If internal Pitta is high, you’ll also feel emotionally “overheated”, irritable, or frustrated.
Some of the most common Pitta-related concerns include:
- Inflammation
- IBS-D and loose stools
- Acid reflux and excess stomach acid
- Acne, rosacea, and other inflammatory skin conditions
- Anger, frustration, and irritability
You might think of these as separate concerns. But from an Ayurvedic perspective, all these “tells” are connected. Cooling excess internal heat is the most important way to alleviate them.
Why Summer Offers a Unique Opportunity for Healing.
Many people struggle with low digestive fire during the colder months. This can show up as bloating, food sensitivities, sluggish digestion, or low energy. During summer, your digestive fire naturally becomes stronger. If you use this to your advantage, you stand to become healthier all year long.
Summer can become a powerful season for rebuilding strength. It’s also easier to calm other Vata and Kapha symptoms.
- Vata types feel warmer, grounded and more relaxed. It’s easier to gain a little weight if you need to.
- Kaphas also stay warm more easily, especially during exercise. The warmer weather is helpful for dropping some weight if you need to. The extra sunshine will leave you feeling lighter and more inspired.
- Pittas, you need to make sure the heat doesn’t pull you off track. It’s the most important season of the year to make sure your symptoms don’t run away with you.
Many foods that are harder to digest during winter become much easier to tolerate in summer.
As digestion becomes stronger, you may find you can gradually expand your food list. Which has wonderful long-term benefits when you’re mindful about it. This means eating more healthy foods, especially fruits, vegetables and plants. Avoid reaching for junk foods, which will deplete your system, even if you can tolerate them now.
Summer is the perfect time to support your gut and build vitality. Do it when it’s easier, before the colder months return!
The Liver, Inflammation, and Keeping the Blood Clean
Summer is also an important time to support the liver.
Excess Pitta can accumulate in the blood and contribute to inflammation in the body. Supporting your liver helps the body process heat effectively. This, in turn, reduces inflammation.
Surprisingly, simple foods and herbs can make a real difference.
Dandelion tea and dandelion greens are classic examples. They’re naturally bitter, which is one of the tastes that helps balance excess Pitta. Bitter foods are great for Kaphas, too. They can be a delicious addition to your plate. Note: Vata types do best with only a little bitter taste.
Including bitter foods regularly helps support the body’s natural cleansing processes. A simple way to eat them is in salad with lettuce, a fruit, like orange slices or grapes, and a drizzle of premium olive oil.
The Three Tastes That Balance Pitta
Ayurveda acknowledges six tastes: Sweet, sour, salty, pungent, bitter, and astringent. For balancing Pitta during summer, the most supportive tastes are:
- Sweet
- Bitter
- Astringent
A small amount of the salty taste can also be helpful, especially if you’re sweating.
During the warm weather, it’s wise to go easy on:
- Sour and acidic foods (this includes alcohol and anything fermented)
- Spicy or pungent foods
- Excessively heating foods, like fatty meats, salty snacks, and anything oily
Hydration Is About More Than Drinking Water
Getting enough ounces of water each day doesn’t automatically make you hydrated. When your body is dehydrated, like it is first thing in the morning, it won’t absorb water efficiently.
A more effective approach is:
- Sip water throughout the day. Drink consistently rather than large amounts in fits and starts.
- Support hydration with electrolytes when needed.
- Go easy on ice-cold drinks.
Cold drinks can feel refreshing in the moment, but they can weaken digestive fire. Your body has to work harder to bring it up to body temperature.
Why Pitta Still Needs a Little Salt
Salt is generally not one of the primary tastes used to balance Pitta. But we all need a little salt! If you’ve eliminated packaged and restaurant foods, you might have to make a point of adding in a little.
When temperatures rise and sweating increases, the body loses minerals and electrolytes. This is one reason why a small amount of the salty taste becomes important. It helps replace what you lose through sweat. It also supports healthy hydration because it helps your body retain water.
This is also why too much salt isn’t great for Kapha types, who retain water too easily. If you get swollen ankles or fingers in the heat, you don’t need much salt at all.
Simple Homemade Electrolyte Drink
- 4 cups filtered water
- Juice of 1 lemon or lime
- 1/8 tsp mineral-rich salt, like sea salt or Redmond’s Real Salt
- A small amount of fruit, like pineapple, orange, watermelon or cucumber (about 1/4 cup)
- Optional: a few mint leaves or a tablespoon of maple syrup. Yum!
Blend everything together in a high-speed blender. Sip throughout the day, particularly during and after time outdoors or exercise.
When the doshas are out of balance, we become more sensitive to heat and cold. Many people assume they simply can’t handle the heat, or the cold. And if you’re very sensitive, you might not like either one.
As your body comes back into balance, life gets easier. Foods become easier to digest. Temperature swings become easier to tolerate. You have more energy available for the things you love.
The goal isn’t to push through discomfort. It’s to build resilience, so your body can respond more easily to the world around you.
Ready to stop guessing and discover how to work with your body this summer instead of against it? The Summer 5-Day Gut-Brain Reset helps you build on the natural advantages of the season. It includes:
- Simple, non-food practices you can do in minutes each day
- Delicious recipe suggestions
- A fresh way of making sense of your symptoms.
I’d love to have you join us.
Holly Blazina is a monthly blog contributor to the Wellness Universe. You can learn more about her work as a gut-heart-mind-Spirit healer here.
Connect with Holly on The Wellness Universe and follow her on Facebook and Instagram.
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Holly Blazina’s Gutsy Type Method is an alchemy of the Yoga and Ayurveda traditions, Embodied Vision™ Coaching, and her work as an author, flamenco guitarist, composer and recording artist. She helps empaths solve their gut issues, amplifying their personal power in service of their life’s purpose.
Holly, this is such a timely and informative reminder that healing is often found in working with nature rather than against it. I especially appreciated how you explained the connection between the seasons, digestion, inflammation, and emotional well-being in such an approachable way. Your practical suggestions make Ayurvedic wisdom feel accessible and empowering. Thank you for sharing your beautiful knowledge and encouraging us to nurture our bodies with greater awareness this summer.