What Are the Best Breakfast Ideas for Pitta? [video]

Welcome to our AskBanyan series, where we answer the most popular questions about living an Ayurvedic lifestyle.

One of the most common searches on Google is “pitta Ayurveda breakfast,” and it's no wonder—because pitta often wakes up hungry.

 

 

Pitta dosha is related to the fire element. In Ayurveda, the fire element is called agni, and because pitta-types have a lot of fire in their Ayurvedic constitutions, they generally have a strong digestive fire and a good appetite at mealtimes. This means pittas usually wake up hungry and ready for a hearty meal.

Now, while a lot of pitta people do love to cook—they love playing with fire, and can often make elaborate, creative, gourmet meals—pitta is also a dosha that gives focused concentration. Often, people who have pitta as their primary dosha wake up not only hungry, but eager to get on with the day. For them, breakfast might just be about fueling up and moving on. So what are some good breakfast ideas for pitta?

Cook Up a Grain Bowl

Well, one idea to start is a bowl of grains. Ayurveda really does love a bowl of grains for breakfast. Grains are sweet and the sweet taste is a good taste for pitta.

You can use grains like basmati rice, oatmeal, amaranth, or millet in a plant-based milk. You could add flaxseed, chia seeds, pumpkin seeds, sunflower seeds—all kinds of seeds, really. Seeds are like the earth element, and since earth can sometimes help put out a fire, seeds can help balance pitta’s fiery heat.

The other thing that one could add to a bowl of grains would be something like a sun butter (sunflower butter) for a little bit of extra protein.

Go for Hot and Savory 

A second idea is to go for something hot and savory—something like a tofu scramble, a lentil vegetable stew, or a veggie omelet. This would be a great hearty way to really start the day strong.

Make Some Toast

Then, one could go with a quick and easy toast—like avocado toast, sun butter toast, Chyavanprash, or homemade berry jam on toast. Toast is excellent and somewhat drying, which helps dry up some of the extra water element that is also associated with the pitta dosha.

Turn Your Kitchari into a Crepe

I love something that comes from South India, which is a little bit like kitchari in a crepe. You could call it a kitchari crepe. This is a great macro-micro-nutrient, high-protein, high-fiber meal to start the day.

It's very quick and easy to make as long as you prepare ahead of time. Overnight, you soak rice and mung dal. In the morning, you blend it all together after you throw off the excess water. Then, you pour that into a skillet, and you make a little crepe or a pancake.

You can add things to your kitchari crepe, like a lentil vegetable stew or a tofu scramble. You can braise some grains and add those, or you could even make it a peanut butter and jelly roll, using a sun butter or an apple butter (not peanut butter).

Another option is to roll up some honey or some maple syrup, add a little bit of your favorite spice, and have it plain.  

So that's a great way to start, It's quick, it's easy. It's delicious. It's hearty.

Create a Simple Chia Pudding

And finally, my favorite, especially in the summertime. It’s so easy, and it's done in the morning when you wake up. You're going to make a simple chia pudding, or you can make chia berry pudding.

You can create a basic recipe with chia seeds, mixed with some almond milk or coconut milk, a little bit of vanilla, a little sprinkle of pink salt, and just a really small amount of maple syrup or a little drop of stevia. Let that sit overnight.

In the morning, add two tablespoons of boiling hot water to bring up the temperature. You want it to be warmer than room temperature without being too hot, and not too cool or cold to the belly.

Enjoy with coconut flakes, with roasted seeds, or maybe even a handful of blueberries.

 

I hope this gives you some good ideas. And I hope you enjoy your breakfast!

Thank you, stay strong.

 

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