Yoga Food-Sattvic, Rajasic and Tamasic Diet

What is the Yogic diet?

• Yoga Foods like Sattvic (Positive food), Rajasik and tamasik (Negative foods) play a vital role in an individual’s overall health.
• A balanced diet means proteins, carbohydrates, fats, vitamins, minerals, roughage, and enough water to make a person healthy and happy.
• This includes cereals, pulses, nuts, oilseeds, vegetables, fruits, fats, oils, etc.
• A diet deficient in one of these elements can lead to various ailments.
• The amount of nutrients and calories differs from individual to individual and is based on the age, sex and activity undertaken.

Types of Yogic diet

• There are three types of yoga food: sattvic, tamasic and rajasic.
• Sattvic food is exclusively a yoga diet.
• Like yoga, it calms, cools and relaxes your body and mind. Satvic food helps to detoxify the body, thus ensuring purification.
• Satvik food promotes health, happiness, harmony, longevity and purity.
• Tamasic food is harmful and not good for health and a happy life.
• Rajasic food is bitter and sour, yet it cooks fresh but contains more oils and spices than sattvic food.

What is Sattvic yoga food?

Sattvik food primarily contains cellulose, roughage, water, vitamins and many minerals. These foods are sweet, lightly sour, soothing, and tolerably alkaline, e.g., tomato salad and juice. Sattvic food is associated with the following properties.

• Satvik yoga food is considered positive food.
• These foods are fresh, non-stimulating, soothing, lubricant, and non-constipating.
• Essential for superior moral and intellect discipline and controlled spiritual inclination.
• Non-stimulating Diet.
• They are alkaline and live foods.
• They come under non-mucous forming foods.
• They are energy-providing foods.

Benefits/advantages of Sattvic food

• These foods are soothing, refreshing and rejuvenating, thus suitable for health.
• Easier for digestion and assimilation, helpful for normal excretion.
• These are cleansing in nature and help to detoxify the body.
• It is juicy, pleasant, agreeable and conducive for longevity, strength, purity of mind and happiness.

Examples of Sattvik food

• Non-stimulating diet: Vegetables, fruits, whole wheat flour, less polished rice, millets, bran, carrots, radish, boiled vegetables, legumes, salads, sprouts, nuts, natural condiments, ginger, cumin, coriander, coconut, yoghurt
• Alkaline diet: All fruits, fruit juices, vegetables, fresh bread, roti, milk, coconut water
• Live food: Fruits, vegetables, sprouts
• Non-mucus-forming diet: Fruits, vegetables, salads, soups
• Energy providing healthy food: fruits, juices, honey, jaggery, milk, nuts

What is Tamasic yoga food?

Tamasik foods lack cellulose, roughage, water, vitamins and minerals. It is on account of processing methods. Some of the essential features of tamasic food are:

• They are poor in minerals.
• They are starchy, proteins, spicy, fried, refined, and fatty foods like milk products.
• Stale, fermented, pungent and constipating.
• They are stimulating diet.
• They are acidic.
• They ensure mucus formation.
• Due to high proteins and high fats provoke desire, selfishness, indiscipline and uncontrolled behaviour as well as mood swings.

Disadvantages of Tamasic food

• Pungent, bitter, spicy, irritating and acidic (tomato soup) leads to hyperacidity
• Difficult to digest results in constipation
• Retained in the body for longer and needs positive food for elimination.
• One should eat harmful food sparingly.
• They are responsible for many diseases.
• The presence of excess fat leads to obesity.
• Due to bitter, harsh, intense and irritating leads to depression.

Examples of Tamasic food

• Food and diet like Excess protein, flesh, egg, soybean, white flour, fried fast food, Excess starch and sugar form gases.
• Stimulating Diet: Spicy and fried food, alcohol, chillies, sauce, black pepper, cinnamon, tea, coffee and tobacco
• Acidic Diet: Preserved fruits, jam, jelly, flavoured drinks, preserved food, soups, fermented bread, cakes, white flour, sausages, pickles, papad
• Mucus forming Diet: Milk and milk products, bakery products, spices
• Disease producing Food: Fermented, stale food, sweet products, ice creams, chocolates, heavy foodstuff

What is Rajasic yoga food?

Rajasik foods are poor in minerals, vitamins and other essential nutrients. They are deficient in fibre, roughage and cellulose. Some of the vital properties of Rajasic food are:

• They lack minerals
• Because of bitter, pungent, spicy and acidic, they lead to acidity and hyperacidity.
• Due to its starchy and fried features, it causes digestion problems and constipation.
• They come under hostile groups of food.
• They are stale and fermented.

Disadvantages of Rajasic food

• They cause acidity, hyperacidity and sometimes ulcers.
• It causes constipation and other problems associated with it.
• They are responsible for lifestyle-related disorders such as obesity, arthritis, diabetes, etc.
• It may cause anxiety and depression due to its bitter and pungent features.
• It may also cause irregular behaviour and ADHD.

Examples of Rajasic food

• Foods like Spicy food, fried food products, savoury and spicy ones, acidic food, excess sugary food, food forming gases, etc.
• Stimulating food: Fried food, alcohol, sauce, tea, coffee, tobacco and other beverages.
• Acidic Food: Jam, jelly, preserved food, soups, fermented bread, sausages, pickles, papad, etc.
• Dead Food: Egg, meat and fish
• Mucus forming food: Milk products and bakery products
• Disease producing Food: Stale food, fast food, junk foods, fermented foods, etc.