5 Simple Āyurveda Recipes to Stay Cool This Summer

The heat is real and our bodies need support to adapt to these astronomical temperatures.

Āyurveda speaks of ritucharya or lifestyle and dietary routine to cope with the bodily and mental impacts caused by seasonal changes.

Āyurveda does not give a single-size-fits-all recommendation. Instead, it focuses on optimizing the digestive fire or Agni and practices that suit your specific dosha or constituency. For simplicity and brevity, I haven't added details about the Āyurvedic doshas or constituencies. I've focussed on recipes that are safe and balancing for all doshas.

Wherever possible I have added links to the items on Amazon. If you're traveling this summer, don't miss my article on Energy Hacks for Long Flights.

Here are quick simple recipes and tips to stay cool.

1. Drink fresh coconut water.

   Coconut water is renowned for its cooling properties and is an effective pitta-pacifier. It unclogs body channels and counteracts dryness caused by toxins (ama). Additionally, it repairs the gastrointestinal tract and has a sweet quality (snigdha) that restores vitality (pranaropana).

   
   

2. Cool down with Rosewater lemonade:

   Ayurvedic texts associate roses with romance because they balance Sadhaka Pitta, the sub dosha of Pitta that governs emotions, and their effect on the heart. Sadhaka Pitta can easily become imbalanced in summer due to the hot, humid weather.

   Just add Rosewater to your homemade lemonade. My go-to recipe is

   1 lemon or lime freshly squeezed

   slightly cooled water

   1 tbsp rosewater

   rock candy/rock sugar/mishri

   or

   2 tsp jaggery powder (jaggery is unrefined sugar and is a high source of iron)

   *Mishri or rock sugar is light, easy to digest. It is unprocessed sugar and considered beneficial in small amounts.

   
   

3. Dairy Free Gulkand(Rose Petal Paste) milkshake (non dairy)

   Gulkand or rose petal jam is added to milk as a cooling drink. Soak 9 almonds overnight. Peel the skin and blend with 5-6 tbsp water and 1-2 cardamom pods. (Use only the seeds) till it forms a paste. Once the almonds are completely blended into a seamless paste, add more water. Add in 3/4 tbsp gulkand. Chill and serve. (Gulkand is a summer cooler). Please note that almonds and all nuts are heat producing and must be soaked overnight to extract the heat. Please do not use store-bought almond milk.

   
   

   

4. Vetiver Water

   Vetiver, a top cooling herb in Ayurveda, soothes fevers, inflammation, burning sensations, upset stomachs, and nervous disorders like stress and anger. It helps with excess Pitta, and drinking Vetiver-infused water is an excellent remedy for heat-related issues like heat stroke and heat exhaustion. Steep vetiver roots in your drinking water. Change the roots after 3 days. Traditionally this is done in an earthen pot as it keeps water cool naturally.

3. Heat-free mangoes (its a thing)

   When I was a kid, if someone had too much acne in summer, they would be asked how many mangoes they ate. But of course they are too delicious! Ripe mangoes are heat-producing. To remove excess heat, soak your whole mangoes overnight in water. Discard the water in the morning and eat your mango heat-free. Raw mango can be a summer cooler in the form of aam panna. See the recipe here. Replace sugar with rock candy.

Traveling this summer? Read my article on super useful and practical Ayurvedic Energy Hacks for Long Flights here.