The Ultimate Guide to Cooling Foods in Ayurveda
- Veena Haasl-Blilie
- Jun 12
- 9 min read
Updated: Jul 10
Cooling foods to reduce Pitta and heat in your body and mind. 🪭 Learn how to eat and drink your way out of excess Pitta.
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The Ultimate Guide to Cooling Foods in Ayurveda
When summer heat lingers in the air (or when stress, too much spicy food, or hormonal changes ignite an inner fire) you might find yourself feeling inflamed, irritated, or just plain overheated. In Ayurveda, this heat often points to a Pitta imbalance 🥵
From headaches and heartburn to hot flashes and short tempers, excess Pitta shows up in both body and mind. The good news? You can begin cooling down today, simply by changing what’s on your plate.
In this guide, you’ll learn how to:
Identify signs of Pitta imbalance
Choose cooling Ayurvedic foods that naturally reduce internal heat
Avoid common ingredients that stoke the fire
Understand when food alone isn’t enough—and how to get lasting relief
Ready? Let's dive in!
What Kinds of Foods Reduce Body Heat in Ayurveda?
Ayurveda teaches that foods with sweet, bitter, and astringent tastes tend to cool the body, while sour, salty, and pungent foods increase heat.
Focus on:
Juicy fruits (like melons, grapes, and ripe mango)
Water-rich vegetables (like cucumber, zucchini, and celery)
Light grains (like white rice, quinoa, oats)
Cooling herbs (like cilantro, coriander, mint, rose)
Mild dairy (ghee, milk, homemade yogurt)
These help soothe inflammation, regulate digestion, and restore internal balance.
To truly cool the system, we have to understand what’s creating the heat. In Ayurveda, every food carries an energy that either soothes or stokes the inner fire. Foods that create internal heat elevate Pitta dosha. When we learn to recognize and tend to Pitta with awareness, the path to balance begins.
What Is Pitta, and How Does It Show Up?
Pitta is the Ayurvedic dosha responsible for digestion, metabolism, and transformation. It’s hot, sharp, oily, and intense—great for drive and clarity, but disruptive when in excess.
Physical symptoms of excess Pitta:
Burning indigestion or acid reflux
Rashes, acne, or skin inflammation
Loose stools or urgent digestion
Excessive sweating or body odor
Migraines, red eyes, or heat intolerance
Hot, heavy, or clotty menstrual cycles
Loose or urgent stools
Mental/emotional symptoms:
Irritability, impatience, or anger
Perfectionism or workaholism
Judgmental or critical thinking
Jealousy, frustration, or burnout
When you’re burning the candle at both ends (or just baking in the summer sun), Pitta can accumulate fast. Cooling foods are an essential part of turning down the heat.
The Best Cooling Foods in Ayurveda (By Category)
Your diet is one of the fastest ways to lower internal heat. When Pitta has you burning up, favor foods that are light, hydrating, and naturally sweet, bitter, or astringent. These foods carry the cooling, calming qualities needed to counteract heat.
🍌 Juicy Fruits
Watermelon, melons, pears, apples, mango
Grapes (red, purple, black), figs, raisins, berries
Coconut, pomegranate, honeydew
Note: Ripe mango may be enjoyed in moderation, but unripe or excessive mango is heating.
🌿 Cooling Vegetables
Cucumber, zucchini, asparagus, celery, squash
Kale, spinach, broccoli, cauliflower, green beans
Beets, cabbage, lettuce
Note: Raw spinach is especially cooling and beneficial for pacifying Pitta. Cooked spinach may be less cooling, especially when prepared with salt or heating spices.
🥚 Cooling Grains, Seeds, & Legumes
White rice, oats, barley, quinoa, amaranth, farro, whole wheat
Mung beans/Moong dal (most cooling), azuki beans, black-eyed peas
Red and brown lentils, chickpeas (in moderation)
Chia seeds, sunflower seeds, pumpkin seeds, coconut
🌿 Cooling Herbs & Spices
Cilantro, dill, coriander, mint, fennel,
Hibiscus, rose, cardamom
🧀 Cooling Dairy
Cow's milk (warm, spiced if needed), ghee
Soft cheeses, fresh homemade yogurt (sparingly)
🥤 Cooling Drinks
Coconut water
Melon juice
Fennel sharbat
Herbal teas (rose, hibiscus)
Room temperature water or fresh juices (avoid ice-cold drinks)
👉 Pro tip: Eat your largest meal midday, when digestion is strongest. Avoid skipping meals or eating late at night—both aggravate Pitta.
Foods to Limit – Heating Foods in Ayurveda
If you’ve ever added fuel to an already raging fire, you know what heating foods can do. These are best reduced or avoided when Pitta is high:
Spicy foods (chilies, hot peppers, garlic, onion)
Sour or fermented foods (vinegar, tomatoes, citrus, aged cheeses)
Fried, oily, salty, or heavily processed foods
Alcohol, caffeine, red meat, hard cheeses
Below are some of the most common heating foods to reduce or avoid when Pitta is high:
To help you make gentle shifts, we've included some simple cooling swaps below—easy ingredient trade-outs that calm the system without sacrificing flavor.
Cooling Ayurvedic Recipes from the Saumya Kitchen
Ready to bring the cooling principles of Ayurveda into your kitchen? These Saumya-original recipes are crafted to balance Pitta and delight the senses—with nourishing ingredients, calming herbs, and easy-to-follow steps for every season.
Cooling Ayurvedic Dishes
Cooling Ayurvedic Drinks
Refreshing Fennel Sharbat Recipe: Your go-to drink to cool down Pitta Dosha
Melon Juice
Coconut Water and add a squeeze of fresh lime juice
Herbal Teas (Hibiscus, Fennel, and Rose)
Why Cooling Foods Alone Might Not Be Enough
Eating cooling foods is one of the most effective first steps toward reducing internal heat. It’s where the journey begins—and for many people, that shift alone brings noticeable relief.
But in Ayurveda, why you’re overheated matters just as much as how to cool down. Maybe Pitta is flaring from intense emotions, a demanding lifestyle, or hormonal shifts. Maybe it's layered over a Vata imbalance, or your digestion isn’t strong enough to process even the most Pitta-pacifying meals.
To unlock long-term relief, you need to address the root causes—and that’s where personalized Ayurvedic care makes all the difference.
If you struggle with overheating during the summer months, find your body running hot throughout the year, have hot flashes, migraines, heated skin conditions, a short fuse.... I’d love to discuss how Ayurveda can help. One short call could be the start of a lifetime of relief.
Bonus Practices to Cool Body and Mind
Cooling your system isn’t just about what’s on your plate—it’s also about how you live. Ayurveda teaches us to align our habits with nature to reduce internal heat, soothe the nervous system, and calm the mind. Small daily shifts can make a big difference.
Here are a few gentle ways to support your body’s cooling response:
Practice Pranayama Breathwork (Try our free breathwork e-book)
Cooling Abhyanga Oil Massage
Find relief and focus with Nasya Oil
Regular breaks for Saumya's Guided Practices
Rose or hibiscus tea
Early bedtime + less screen time after dark
Light movement in the early morning or evening
🧭 Want a deeper dive?
Read our guide: 16 Simple Ways to Cool Pitta and Reduce Body Heat with Ayurveda
Related Reads:
Deepen Your Ayurvedic Journey – Additional Free Resources
How to Keep Your Cool" is an invitation to transform your menstrual cycle... and while you're at it, transform your life. From menses to menopause, you deserve to keep your cool. This guide will show you how.
A note: Ayurveda care is particularly essential for clients traversing perimenopause and menopause. This transformative phase of life–which can last decades–is marked by profound hormonal and doshic shifts.
“Oh my gosh this is an amazing book! The WORLD NEEDS THIS! BOOK!!” -Dr. Melissa Persons, Minnesota
A quiet revolution begins with the breath. When the breath steadies, the mind softens, and the body remembers how to feel safe. This free eBook explores pranayama—the Ayurvedic science of breath—as a simple, powerful tool to cool Pitta, calm anxiety, and reconnect with your natural rhythm.
You’ll learn diaphragmatic breathing (the foundation of all breathwork), discover practices to soothe Vata and Pitta, and receive guided tools to help you build and sustain a nourishing daily practice.
There is a saying, "The mind is more in the body, than the body is in the mind." The Saumya 3 step meditation process shifts us from fight-flight-freeze mode, to rest-restore-relax mode. Give it a try for forty days and observe the changes. The more grounded and relaxed we are, the smoother life flows.
"The breath is the connection between the mind and body, so by training the breath, we become calm, focused, and grounded, we slow down the aging process by decreasing stress. These practices are so simple and easy to have as part of our daily life. We actually feel and look younger."
- Veena, Saumya Ayurveda
When we re-learn to breath diaphragmatically, we move from the flight-fight-freeze mode, to rest, restore, relaxation mode from where we want and need to live.
Note: Certain pranayama practices (breathwork) can support balanced Pitta dosha and cool the body and mind. It is best to be guided individually by an experienced teacher.
11 minutes in the morning and in the evening, as anchors of your daily Ayurveda routine.
3. Ayurveda Daily Routines:
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Veena promptly put together a plan of action. Right away I noticed a significant decrease in the number of headaches I was getting, and when I did get them, they were much less severe than they had been in the past.
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“I was dreading and anticipating hating a weeklong outside summer event. I’ve always hated summer. Hate being in the heat. Hate being in the sun. I am SO surprised! I enjoyed being there, being outside. I tolerated the high heat well and enjoyed the whole week. I was and am in a good mood. I was not affected by the heat and sun. And, for the first time in 46 years, I didn’t get sunburnt—I tanned!” -- A.D., USA
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Cooling Foods in Ayurveda
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Veena is a Certified Ayurvedic Practitioner and meditation teacher, and monk.
She is President Emeritus and teaching faculty of the Meditation Center.
Veena fell in love with the traditional medicine used in her family’s home, learning herbal remedies at her grandmother's knee.
An experienced Certified Ayurvedic Practitioner, Veena’s deep, intuitive knowledge of Ayurveda empowers her clients to reclaim their fullest, most vibrant lives –mentally, physically, and spiritually.
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