Pitta: The Real Reason for Your Acne, Heat & Burnout

Are you experiencing acne on your face?

Do you also tend to get acidity quite often?

Do you usually feel very hot and get irritated by the heat? If you answered yes to most of these, there's a high chance that you're a Pitta body type. Now, if you've never heard this term before, don't worry. In Ayurveda, each of us is born with a unique body type— Vata, Pitta, or Kapha. And Pitta is the one dominated by the fire element.

This inner fire of a Pitta, when balanced, is a superpower. You experience flawless digestion, a well-toned body. You're sharp, driven, and powerful. But when you unknowingly eat food and live a lifestyle which goes against this body type, that same fire can go wild, and that's when the problem begins. Skin keeps breaking out, acidity turns into painful ulcers. You work very hard but end up feeling burnt out. Worst of all, you develop a temper which pushes away those very people you love the most. In part 1, we'll do a quick In part 2, we will reveal those 3 foods which are the absolute worst for this body type.

In part 3, you will receive a pitta-pacifying meal plan based on the timeless wisdom of Ayurveda.

And finally, you will get to know 3 life-changing habits that every pitta should do to deeply cool their body, heal their skin, remove acidity from life, and feel centered even when working hard.

Let's begin with the 7 signs of a pitta body type. Each time you hear one and think, that's me, give yourself a mental tick. First, you have a medium build, neither overly thin nor excessively large. You can also gain or lose weight easily depending on what you do. Second, you have fast digestion. How do you know this? You rarely have the problem of constipation. Instead, you have very frequent bowel movements. And when you miss a meal, you get hangry, irritated, and physically uncomfortable. Third, now this is a big one, so listen close. You really can't handle too much heat. Instead, you love colder temperatures. I remember this so distinctly. Once I walked into my brother's room at night. I think it was around November in Delhi, so it was almost winter, and yet his AC was on, on full blast. That's the moment I realized my brother is surely a vitta. Fourth, you have slightly oily skin prone to pimples, rashes, and even redness. By the way, later in this video, we'll discuss one of the best-kept ancient secrets which really helps to improve a pitta skin. The 5th characteristic is about hair. If you've noticed the tendency for premature greying, it's a sign that you are this body type. Okay, moving on. A pitta person has a lot of fire element not just in their body but also in their mind. So the 6th characteristic, you're fiercely ambitious. If you skip social plans to finish work, have an attitude of perfectionism in everything, and can't relax unless your to-do list is complete, even on weekends, then please put a tick on this characteristic. Alright, the last characteristic, you are quick to lose your anger and snap at people, whether it's when someone cuts you off in a traffic jam Or when someone makes a careless mistake, or when things don't go as per the schedule you've set. Sometimes people even tell you, "इसका तो गुस्सा नाक पे चढ़ा रहता है." I remember I was talking to a doctor and he said something that really stuck in my head. He said, "Basically, Pitta people are like wasabi. If you've ever had sushi with wasabi, you'll know how sharp, pungent, hot, and spicy it can be." That's the very nature of pitta. It's beautifully also described in the Ashtangridham, which says, pittam sasneh tiksnu ushnam laghu vishram saramdramam, which means pitta is slightly oily, piercing, hot, sharp smelling, and fluid. Now if you found yourself relating to multiple characteristics, you're most likely a pitta body type, or might even have pitta as a secondary dosha in your body type. Like it is for me personally. Or it could even be that temporarily your Pitta dosha is high or aggravated in your body. Either way, if you did relate to these, then you're in the right place. Let's move to the next part of our video.

You see, when it comes to the Pitta body type, more important than eating the right foods is to avoid the wrong ones. That's why instead of straight jumping into the meal plan, we'll first cover what are those things that you should always stay away from. Here's a table with 6 healthy-looking dishes. Now here's the catch. 3 out of these 6 will actually increase your pitta, putting it out of balance. Can you spot exactly which those foods are? Let's see if you can get it right. We'll give you a few seconds. Alright, are you ready for the answers? The first food Pitta needs to stay away from spicy curries. Yes, even the homemade ones. This is ironic because of all body types, Pittas crave chaat pata and spicy food the most. But it's also what harms them the most. You see, spices such as red chillies, garlic, onion, hing, too much ginger or mustard— what do you think their nature is like? Hot or cold? Yes, they're super heating in nature. Think of it like this. When you burn your hand, how utterly stupid would it be if you go and dip your hand in hot water after the burn? Extremely silly, right? What do you need to actually do? Probably an ice pack, isn't it? Now, as a pitta, when your body already has a tendency to be heated, eating spicy meals is exactly like putting a burnt hand in a jug filled with hot water. It's bound to cause acidity and over time, even painful ulcers. So what do you need to do instead? Simple! Use chillies in moderation. Instead of red chillies, use the green ones which are milder.

Wait, wait, wait! Are you seriously asking me to give up spices? What am I supposed to eat? Boiled lauki for the rest of my life?

Not at all! You can absolutely use spices. Just avoid the ones that are heaty in nature like the ones I told you about. Instead, use the more cooling spices. For example, fennel, coriander, turmeric, cardamom. Not to forget fresh herbs instead like coriander leaves, Basil leaves, mint leaves. Trust me, your food will be even more flavorful this way. In just a few minutes, we'll take you through an entire meal plan which will give you complete clarity. For now, the next food I'd like to highlight from this table is this crispy, golden, definitely delicious but highly pitta aggravating vada. Hey, come on!

It's just vada.

This though is not even spicy. Well, it might not be spicy, but it's deep fried. Now, when a Pitta body eats oily food like this, or this, or this, or this, that too multiple times a week, what happens? Now, there's a really cool example to understand this better, so pay attention. Imagine there is a havan happening. At first, the fire is calm, but as soon as the oil is added, what happens? The fire explodes, it rages, it may even go wild, right? Now, the The same exact fire element that's outside of you is also inside of you. It's already quite high in a pitta body type. So eating oily food basically pours fuel on your inner fire, which then starts to flare up. And what do you think is the first place this will show? Your skin! Now this oil sneaks into your diet mainly from 3 places. Either from restaurant food, or from packaged food, because things like bhujia or chips can literally be 40% just oil. Or lastly, too much oil used in your home-cooked meals. Now for the first 2, you want to reduce and avoid as far as possible. And for the 3rd, when we get to the meal plan section, we'll share one magical ingredient that will make your need to use oil while cooking at home almost zero without compromising on taste. From that same table, this plate of poha is a far better choice for you. The last Pitta aggravating food on this table is something I think many of you would not have expected. It is this plate full of pineapple.

Pineapple? But it has so many vitamins. It's completely natural.

Yes, no doubt it's nutritious and natural. But you see, in Ayurveda, there are 6 tastes described: Madhura, Amla, Lavana, Kattu, Trikshna, and Kashaya. In English, these are sweet, sour, salty, bitter, pungent, and astringent. Now, the taste of pitta is intrinsically sour, salty, and pungent. And remember the core Ayurvedic principle? The best food for you is the one that's opposite of your own nature. So when a pitta eats sour food, it only amplifies their inner fire. That's why fruits like pineapple, kiwi, raw mangoes, tamarind, too many tomatoes, and even certain kinds of berries, if they're too sour, can aggravate pitta. Not just fruits, even highly fermented foods like pickles, kombucha, vinegars also create imbalances within their own systems. Instead, what Pittas need is the sweet taste, which is cooling and grounding. So that plate of bananas you see is actually perfect. Keeping this principle in mind, what would you choose for Pitta? Imli chutney or coconut chutney? Yes, coconut chutney. A steaming tomato soup or a moderately warm pumpkin soup? Yes, the pumpkin soup. We want you to understand the concept so you can always make your own decisions. So let's summarize everything we've learned so far. Limit spicy, oily, hot, and sour. It's the gentle and cooling which gives you most power. Now we will move on to the next part, which is about meal plans.

All right, in the next few minutes, we'll share with you a meal plan. When you hear this for the first time, you'll think, oh, but how will I change so many things? But please know that you don't have to change everything together. Even if you start by replacing just one or two meals, you'll start to see See less internal heat, no more breakouts, acidity reducing, and even a cooler mind because ultimately जैसा अन वैसा मन. So for pre-breakfast, there are three options which you can take, each of which will literally act like a fire extinguisher inside a Pitta body. Option one is ash gourd juice. Do you know that Vagbhata Rishi, the saint who got Ayurvedic wisdom to humanity? Said that among all the fruits that grow on a vine, ash gourd, which is also called kushmand, is the most supreme, especially for pitta. Just drink a glassful 1 to 2 hours before breakfast. It cools your mind and clears your skin. The second option is a cooling cucumber mint juice. To make this, blend a fresh cucumber and a handful of mint leaves, and if you have aloe vera at home, add a small spoon of its gel. Then simply strain it and sip slowly. This juice works like internal air conditioning. Another option for your morning is coconut water with sabja seeds. If it's winter where you are and juices feel too cold, you can go for herbal teas made of cooling herbs. 3 amazing herbal teas that you can have are fennel tea, mint tea, or even hibiscus tea. Okay, let's move to breakfast. I'll share with you two options: one light and one slightly heavier. For pittas, fruits are an incredible breakfast. One of the best fruits that a pitta can actually eat in the summer are melons. All kinds of sweet fruits are great for pitta. The only kind of fruits that you should really avoid are the sour ones, like we discussed before. Along with your fruits, have a few black raisins. Or kala munakka. It's best to have them soaked overnight. These too help cool your digestive tract. Another fantastic breakfast option for you are smoothies. Now one thing that you have to be a little careful about as a Pitta, you really want to limit the amount of nuts you eat in a day. We would suggest not having more than 10 to 12 nuts in a day, even in the form of nut butters or nut-based milks. Why? Because nuts are heaty and oily. You can see this for yourself. If you just press a walnut in between your fingers, you will see how much oil oozes out. Instead, you know what one of the best foods for you is? It's coconut and coconut milk. You can make smoothies using this. Oh, and also, pittas have a very tikshna agni, strong digestive fire. So if you've had a morning workout or you genuinely feel more hungry even after having fruit, You can also have a more filling cooked breakfast like a moong dal chilla, millet upma, quinoa upma, or poha filled with veggies. Now before we move to lunch, I want to remind you one of the most powerful quotes I have ever come across about health. It's from our ancient texts and it says, when your food is wrong, medicine is of no use, and when your food is right, Medicine is of no need. And quite honestly, in the last 8 years of Satvic Movement, we've seen this come true not once, but again and again and again with millions of people. When someone starts to eat the right food, which by the way you are taking a step towards by listening to these words right now, automatically the need for medicine starts fading away because then Mother Nature Becomes your doctor, your healer. All right, ready for lunch? One fantastic lunch option for a pitta is a delicious Buddha bowl. To make this, you really only need four components. Well, of course, vegetables. Take any two or three vegetables like cucumber, bell peppers, carrot, and if you want something more substantial, you can even use steamed veggies like pumpkin, broccoli, or beetroot. Second is leafy greens like lettuce, spinach, coriander, mint, basil, or even if you have parsley available, that's great. Third, you need a fat component. So for this, thinly grate some coconut and add. If you're living outside India and have access to avocados, you could add those too. You can also experiment with different types of dressings. Lastly, toss in a handful of legumes like moong sprouts or boiled chickpeas. Or a grain like barley. Sprinkle some salt and whatever flavouring you like, and your delicious Buddha bowl is ready. See, you have to take the concept and then make your own version of this as per your preferences. You can even pack this up and take it to work. You can cook the legumes and vegetables, but as far as possible, keep your bowl raw. Remember that pittas absolutely thrive on raw food. It's fantastic for them. Especially during the warm summer months. By the way, we've also shared some finger-licking recipes for this in our Satvik food books. And we just launched a new one called the Quick and Easy Food Book. Sharing recipes that you can make actually under 30 minutes and many even under 20 minutes. Coming to dinner, you can take the classic sabzi roti and dal. Or a comforting khichdi or millet or a quinoa dish with veggies. You can have whatever you prefer. Just remember the golden principle that we discussed before: limit spicy, oily, hot, and sour because it's the gentle and cooling which gives you most power. Now, when choosing your grains for the evening, remember that amaranth, also called cholai, and barley, also called jow in Hindi, are two grains which are excellent for pitta. Being shita, cold in nature, they bring balance. To your body. Now, we earlier told you that we'll share with you a magical ingredient that will make your need for oil almost zero in your cooking. Well, this special ingredient is coconut giri or thinly grated coconut. Whatever sabzi or veggie that you're cooking, initially cook it in simple water, and then toward the end, after switching off the stove, simply stir in a handful of this. It gives your dish that natural fat and beautiful mouthfeel. Without needing to use oil at all. It's a simple shift but a very powerful one. For your mid-meals, you can enjoy cucumber slices or seasonal fruits. One amazing drink for pittas is kokum sharbat and even bael sharbat or simple coconut water. There's so many options. Okay, so that completes our meal plan. I know that it can be slightly overwhelming to receive all this knowledge together, but like we said earlier, Start with what you can do, and trust me, the rest will follow. By the way, we are still yet to discover those three life-changing practices for Pitta, and also we have a small gift for you to share at the end. But before we move any further, I want to take a short pause and share with you something which I found very interesting the first time I learnt about it. In this video, we're discussing about Pitta, but do you know that there are two more doshas, two more body types? Vata and Kapha, which we've also made detailed videos about, by the way. Now, every body type— Vata, Pitta, and Kapha— has an animal that perfectly represents its qualities. Do you think you can guess which animal represents which? Well, Kapha is like the elephant— calm, slow, steady, and majestic. Vata is like a bird— light and always moving. And now for Pitta. What do you think? Well, your symbolic animal is the tiger— has a sharp gaze, piercing focus, gets ravenous when hungry. Or even a lion, who's powerful, assertive, and a born leader. That's the power of Pitta. When balanced, it can move mountains, and the next part of this video will help you do exactly that.

These practices are depicted through the 3 S's. The second one is something which Pitta's resist doing the most but also the one they need the most, so don't miss that one. Alright, let's start with the first one. This is something so potent that sages have been applying to their foreheads for centuries to cool the mind and even awaken spiritual awareness. Any guesses? Well, it's sandalwood, also called Chandan in Sanskrit. Instead of expensive face washes and creams, use sandalwood powder to wash your face in In Ayurveda, it is said that it has a sheeth virya, a cooling potency, making it one of the best remedies to soothe the skin of a pitta person, healing acne, redness, and blemishes. Just get pure sandalwood powder. It's easily available online. Keep a jar in your bathroom. Whenever you want to wash your face next, mix a little with rose water or plain water. Apply it like a paste, gently massage it, and rinse it within a minute. Use it every alternate day. Both Subah and I personally haven't used a single chemical-based product since the last eight years, and today our skin stays quite happy and healthy, all thanks to these gifts that Mother Nature so lovingly gives us.

Let's move to the second S, which I believe is one of the most important ones for Pitta, especially if you're feeling burnt out, exhausted, or just. Snappy. It is schedule joyful activities. You know, the truth is you don't feel tired because you're doing too much. You feel tired because you're doing too little of the things that fill you up. You see, pittas are the transformers of the world. They don't just dream, they execute things, make them happen. Just like the fire in the stomach turns food to nutrition, pittas have a strong fire in their mind. Which turns ideas into action. Now, this rampant fire and ambition brings you success, but eventually also leads to burnout. And slowly, the same fire that once drove you starts consuming you. So what can we do to counter this? Pick anything you love that takes your mind off work. It could mean learning how to play an instrument, involving yourself in art or pottery, Dancing, going for walks with your loved ones. For me personally, the most joyful activity is kirtan or devotional singing. Every morning I try to take out just about 40 minutes and this fills my cup to the brim. And when my cup is full, I can give more to my work, to my service, to the people I love. Don't leave this to chance. Block this in your calendar. That's why we say schedule your joyful activities.

The third lifestyle habit is the stomach wet pack. It's a part of nature cure and is shockingly effective. Here's how you do it. Take a white cotton cloth about half the size of a bed sheet. Fold it into a 10-inch wide belt. Dip it in cold water. If your tap water is cold, great. If not, just add a few ice cubes. Wring it out and wrap it around your abdomen. That's it. Just leave it there for 30 minutes. You can go about your day. Work, read while it works its magic. No matter how cold it is when you apply it, it comes out hot when you take it off. Just in 30 minutes. Because the cloth basically pulls out all of the excess heat from your stomach. You can do this even every day. Friends, you don't need anything fancy. Just a plain white cotton cloth. In case you want a ready-made one, we've stocked it on our website for you to make the process easier. The link is in the description below.

All right, now just as we promised, we have a small gift for you for watching till the very end. We've created a special Pitta pacifying yoga and pranayama flow on our yoga channel, specially to cool your body down, which you can simply play and follow along every day. The link is in the description below.

In case you're a mixed body type, which most of us are, and would like to learn more about the other doshas, you can watch this video for Vata and this video for Kapha.

Also, if this video touched you, please share it with someone who you think might be a Pitta. This wisdom is a precious gift that's been passed down from our ancient texts, and we really want your help to help it reach every home.

That's all from us today. We'll see you again very soon.