Understanding the Sattvic Diet for Balanced Well-being

What Are the Three Food Types?

Traditional yoga teachings divide foods into three categories: sattva, rajas, and tamas. These are known as gunas, and they represent the three qualities found in everything, including food.

Sattva: This is the highest guna, representing harmony and balance. This is the ideal condition.

Rajas: This guna represents movement and activity. Excess rajas causes stress, overstimulation, and overexcitement.

Tamas: This is the fundamental guna. It connotes pessimism, weakness, and laziness.

When you follow a “yoga diet,” also known as a yogic diet, you eat more sattvic foods. Many experts recommend listening to your body and eating the foods it requires, so this may look different for different people depending on how strictly you adhere to it.

What Basically Are Sattvic Foods?

Sattvic foods are generally ripe, raw, or lightly cooked and freshly prepared. Foods that are old or poorly prepared are not sattvic. Sattvic foods are high in nutrients and low in processed and fried foods. Sattvic foods include the following:

• Sprouted Whole grains.
• Complete grains.
• Fruits and vegetables from the land and sea.
• Fruit juices in their purest form.
• Milk made from nuts and seeds.
• Cheese. 
• Legumes.
• Nuts.
• Seeds.
• Seeds that have sprouted.
• Teas with honey and herbs
• Ghee

Sattvic diet foods to avoid

• Foods that are salty and sour.
• Tea.
• Coffee.
• Booze.
• Onions and garlic.
• Food that has been frozen.
• Quick food.
• Foods that have been microwaved.
• Foods that have been processed.
• Meat.
• Fish.
• Eggs.
• Food that has been previously prepared or leftovers.

 Advantages of sattvic diet

Sattvic diets are very healthy because they emphasize fruits, vegetables, and whole grains. It provides the same advantages as a typical healthy vegetarian diet, such as lower risks of:

Heart disease:

People who eat a vegetarian or vegan diet have a 30% lower risk of dying from ischemic heart disease than meat eaters. Plant-based diets are higher in fiber and lower in saturated fat.

Cancer:

A vegetarian diet rich in whole plant foods reduces your risk of cancer as well. Phytochemicals found in vegetables and fruits may help prevent cancer. Fiber-rich diets can also help you maintain a healthy weight, which can reduce your risk of some cancers.

Diabetes type 2:

Maintaining a healthy weight through a plant-based diet can reduce your risk of developing type 2 diabetes. According to research, vegetarians are less likely to develop type 2 diabetes than meat eaters of the same weight.

Stroke:

A plant-based diet can reduce your chances of having a stroke. A healthy diet in this context means avoiding added sugars, refined grains, and potatoes while eating plenty of leafy grains, beans, and whole grains.

Concerns Regarding the Sattvic food

Although the sattvic diet is very healthy, it does exclude some beneficial foods. Many root vegetables, including onions and garlic, are not sattvic. It can also be difficult to maintain a sattvic diet because all foods must be freshly prepared, which can take a long time. It is critical to consume a variety of fruits and vegetables in order to obtain all of the nutrients required for good health. 

If you are unable to consume frozen or canned foods, it may be difficult to obtain a diverse range of fruits and vegetables. Choose foods high in vitamins and minerals to ensure you’re getting enough nutrients. Many people use supplements, such as multivitamins, to ensure that they are getting all of the necessary nutrients. However, it is preferable to consume a wide variety of fruits, vegetables, grains, and other nutritious foods.