If you have just taken your dosha quiz and discovered you fall into the Pitta dosha body type, then you’re likely doing a little bit of research to find out what that means, and how to start applying that knowledge to your everyday life. This post discusses everything you need to know about the Pitta body type, and how the Pitta dosha can effect your mind and body if it is your dominant dosha.
What personality traits is Pitta dosha responsible for, and what happens when Pitta goes out of balance? Keep on reading to find everything you need to know about Pitta dosha.
Emotional and mental characteristics of the Pitta dosha body type
Pitta dosha makes highly focussed, motivated, strong-willed individuals and capable leaders. Their passion and dedication are exemplary, and once they have set their heart on something, they will stop at nothing to achieve that goal. Pitta dosha individuals have a remarkably sharp intellect, and a high information-processing gives them the resources to organize and digest ideas beautifully. They are not creative thinkers like Vata, but they are great at implementing ideas with their organization skills.
Their friends describe them as energetic, honest, sensible, caring, and practical. They are passionate lovers and are generally characterized by intense emotions. The temperament of Pitta people resembles that of fire, which means they can be aggressive and get jealous.
Here are some key personality / mental traits of the Pitta dosha:
- Doesn’t mind taking responsibility
- Sharp and intelligent
- Quick to learn new things
- Good memory
- Often organised and structured in their work and life
- Goal orientated
- Clear-thinking
- Eloquent, often a confident speaker
- Hot-headed
- Prone to judge themselves
- Prone to judge others
- Competitive
- Determined
When out of balance…
When experiencing an imbalance, Pitta dosha individuals tend to overthink and overwork. They start losing sleep because of their tendency to take up more work than they can reasonably accomplish. Besides, they start seeking perfection in everything, which makes them overcritical of themselves as well as others. An imbalance also means they will experience more outbursts of anger and feel irritable.
Physical characteristics of Pitta dosha
Individuals with dominating Pitta dosha have a medium frame and average musculature. Their bones and muscles are fairly strong, not so robust like Kapha but stronger than Vata people. As their constitution has more fire element, their body temperature is noticeably warmer than usual. They also show a general intolerance towards hot weather and foods with warming energies. Pitta people feel comfortable in cold and windy environments.
The skin and hair represent the oily quality of Pitta dosha and is mostly on the greasier side for pitta dosha body types. Since they are dominated by the energy that controls digestion, they have a very quick metabolism and a great appetite. Their food and water consumption is higher than others, but they don’t gain too much weight because of a fast metabolic rate, this is perhaps why most Pitta dosha body types are of an average weight – because whilst they have high appetites, they also have the high metabolism to sustain it.
Their weight, however, can change fairly easily, infact most pitta body types have a good metabolism, so they don’t struggle either losing or gaining weight. Unfortunately, a quick metabolism also means faster ageing, which makes their lifespan shortest in comparison to other doshas. Moreover, premature signs of ageing, greying of hair, wrinkles are very common for Pitta individuals. Their sleep quality and immunity against diseases is moderate and lies between that of Vata and Kapha.
To sumarise, here are the pyhsical characteristics of the Pitta dosha body type:
- Oily hair
- Fine hair
- Active / fast metabolism
- Often hungry and thirsty
- Enjoys the cold, more than the heat
- Prone to Inflammation injuries
- Flexible joints and good movement
- Moist and oily skin
- Elastic skin
- Shiny nails
- Average sized limbs with well-defined muscles
- Average weight
Eating habits for the Pitta dosha body type
I have written about this in more detail, but here are are some key takeaways for Pitta body types looking to start tailoring their eating habits towards their dosha type.
Pitta dosha can gravitate towards hot, sour, spicy and pungent flavours and smells (as these are the attributes that make Pitta dosha unique). Pitta dosha body types will find themselves gravitating towards these strong, hot, spicy and sour flavors because that is what the body type thrives on.
However, it’s important to get a balance in your eating habits, to ensure you’re balancing the other doshas in your body too. Try and balance the hot, spicy, flavorsome foods with cool and sweet foods too – to help with digestion and help balance out the doshas in your body.
Some other changes you could make to your eating habits are:
- Reduce sour, salty and strong tastes – this can increase Pitta (which you already have plenty of) so reducing these flavors will help keep your body in balance.
- Cold drinks and refreshing beverages – so if you can gradually change to a room temperature drink, this can help.
- Avoid eating late at night – as this can stimulate Pitta at the wrong time.
- Try mindful eating – ensure when you eat you focus fully on the experience and the enjoyment. Don’t eat when distracted, feeling rushed, or angry.
- Opt for foods that are ‘cooling’ in their nature – such as coconut and coconut milk, mung beans, milk, mint, etc.
