Food List for the Pitta Person

Best –   consume freely
Good – 2 – 3 servings daily
Fair –     1 – 2 servings daily
Allowed occasionally – 3 – 4 servings weekly
Avoid – 1 – 2 servings weekly
Eliminate – eliminate from diet

Fruits (should be organically grown, fully ripe, and eaten one hour before or after a meal, not with the meal):
Best: apples, pomegranates.
Good: cranberries, dates, figs, grapes, melons, pears, persimmons, pineapples, prunes.
Fair: mango, oranges, plums, raspberries.
Allowed occasionally: apricots, bananas, cherries, papayas, peaches, strawberries.
Avoid: grapefruit, lemons.

[sociallocker]Vegetables:
Best: cauliflower, cilantro (fresh), sunflower sprouts, alfalfa sprouts, celery.
Good: asparagus, broccoli, Brussels sprouts, cabbage, cucumbers, lettuce, mushrooms, okra, peas.
Fair: bell peppers, parsley, raw vegetables, summer squash, winter squash.
Allowed occasionally: beets, carrots, chard, cooked onions, mustard greens, radish, seaweed, sweet potatoes, potatoes, turnips, watercress, spinach.
Avoid: limes, avocado, egg plant, tomatoes.
Eliminate from diet: chili peppers, raw onions.

Grains (whole, not refined or precooked):
Best: wheat.
Good: barley, granola, rice (basmati), couscous, oats.
Fair: millet, brown long grain rice.
Allowed occasionally: amaranth, brown short grain rice, quinoa, buckwheat, rye.
Avoid: white polished  rice.

Legumes (Pitta individuals should have no problem with digesting legumes. If they do, the gas-forming action of beans can be reduced by using cumin, coriander, and turmeric alone or mixed together. It’s also helpful to soak beans overnight before cooking. Each time you replace the soaking liquid, it further reduces their problematic qualities):
Best: adzuki beans, mung beans.
Good: Lima beans, green beans, tofu.
Fair: chick peas, kidney beans, pinto beans, soy beans, split peas.
Allowed occasionally: dal, lentils.

Nuts and Seeds:
Good: coconut, sunflower seeds.
Allowed occasionally: pine nuts, pumpkin seeds, sesame seeds.
Avoid: almonds (peeled), walnuts, cashews, filberts, pecans.
Eliminate from diet: Brazil nuts, macadamia nuts.

Dairy: (make sure to buy quality milk products (see Dairy and A-da).
Best: cream, ghee (clarified butter), whole milk.
Good: butter (unsalted), cottage cheese, lassi (diluted yogurt).
Fair: cheese, kefir.
Avoid: buttermilk, sour cream, yogurt, ice cream.

Meats, Fish, and Eggs: Ayurveda is strongly against eating animal flesh. If you do consume meat and fish, at least get fresh, local, organic; cook it at home; and avoid meat dishes in restaurants. The fact that Ayurveda recommends specific sorts of meat for different doshas simply means that this science wants us to be as healthy as possible, even if we are not vegetarian yet.
Fair: chicken (light meat), turkey (light meat).
Allowed occasionally: eggs, fish (freshwater).
Avoid: chicken (dark meat), duck, fish (saltwater), turkey (dark meat).

Eliminate from diet: beef, lamb, pork, shellfish.

Oils (choose organic nonrefined oils):
Best: ghee (clarified butter).

Good: butter, coconut oil.
Fair: soybean oil, sunflower oil.
Allowed occasionally: olive oil, corn oil, sesame oil, safflower oil.
Avoid: almond oil, avocado oil, peanut oil.
Eliminate from diet: canola oil, mustard oil, margarine.

Sweeteners (honey becomes a toxin when heated):
Good: fruit sugar, maple sugar, maple syrup, nonrefined sugar.
Allowed occasionally: molasses, honey (raw), brown sugar.
Eliminate from diet: refined sugar, artificial sweeteners.

Spices (herbs and spices play a key role in making food balancing for your dosha):
Best: coriander.
Good: cilantro, fennel.
Fair: cardamom, cumin, mint, turmeric.
Allowed occasionally: basil, cinnamon, salt (rock), nutmeg.
Avoid: cloves, fenugreek, ginger, sea salt, asafetida.
Eliminate from diet: black pepper, cayenne, horseradish, mustard seeds, garlic (raw).

See also Ayurveda on salt.

Beverages (cold drinks before meal reduce your digestive fire):
Best: water.
Good: organic whole milk (see Dairy and A-da).
Fair: sweet fruit juices (fresh made), herbal teas (fruit or astringent), tea (black or green).
Allowed occasionally: beer.
Avoid: sour fruit juices (fresh made), coffee, ice – cold drinks, herbal teas (spice), red wine.
Eliminate from diet: hard alcohol, white wine, soft drinks.

Eliminate from your diet all fried and deep fried foods (including donuts), frozen, canned, micro waved food, all low fat products and any food with a storage term that is much longer than it would be if not stuffed with chemicals. Try to eat as few leftovers as possible. The fact that fresh produce has been disappearing from the American market over the last seventy years is perhaps one of the reasons why one in five people now has some form of cancer.
Limit or stop the intake of fermented, spicy, and acidic foods like wine, beer, yogurt, cheese, miso, soy sauce, yeast, yeast breads, bananas, citrus fruits, coffee, pickles, sauerkraut, tomato sauce, vinegar, and hot spicy Mexican – type food.

For seasonal eating see: Seasons and the doshas , Ritucharya

See also Diet for the Dual Dosha Types. Non animal potein. What it means to eat fresh. 

TODAY’S TIP:  Be careful not to overeat, but make sure you have three solid meals per day.