Sattva is the energy of harmony and clarity. A sattvic diet helps create happiness of mind and is made up of pure foods that are delicious, wholesome, and give mental strength.
Sattva is one of the three energies of the mind, or gunas. A sattvic diet consists of pure foods that give health, energy, joy, peace, and clarity. Our mind and body are strongly influenced by what we eat and drink. As you start to follow a sattvic diet, the positive experience of sattva will lead you to want to refine your tastes and food choices further.
A sattvic meal is prepared from fresh, natural ingredients. It is eaten freshly cooked and in moderate amounts, sitting down, and taking your time. It is easy to digest and leaves you feeling light and energized.
The guidelines opposite are designed to help you make conscious decisions about your diet. Remember that changes should be made gradually, but consistently.
SATTVIC FOODS
Try to include as many of the following in your diet as possible:
Whole grains, such as barley, millet, wheat, oats, brown rice, and quinoa
Fresh vegetables – green leafy vegetables and seeded vegetables such as cucumber and squash
Ripe, fresh fruits, such as pears, apples, plums, peaches, apricots, mangos, figs, and avocados
Nuts, seeds, and legumes, such as moong dal, lentils, chana dal, chickpeas, cashews, almonds, sunflower seeds, pumpkin seeds
Dairy products—organic, fresh milk, ghee, fresh cheese, curd, and yogurt from happy cows or goats
Spices, such as barley, millet, wheat, oats, unpolished rice, and quinoa
Natural sweeteners, such as jaggery, honey, molasses, and maple or agave syrup.
RAJASIC FOODS
Rajas is the energy of agitation Rajasic foods increase negative emotions, such as lust, anger, greed, selfishness, violence, and egoism. Rajasic foods are excessively pungent, bitter, sour, salty, dry, and burning. Tobacco is rajasic, and sattvic food eaten in a hurry becomes rajasic.
Try to avoid the following, which are rajasic:
• Unripe fruit
• Highly pungent spices, such as chile flakes, in excess
• Caffeine (in coffee, black and green tea, and soft drinks)
• Too many sweets
• Onions
• Garlic
• Radishes
• Hard cheese
• Eggs
• Refined (white) sugar
• Soft drinks
• Prepared mustards
• Heavily spiced and salted convenience foods
• Snacks with artificial additives
• Stimulants of all kinds
TAMASIC FOODS
Tamas is the energy of resistance. Tamasic foods are stale, decomposed, or unclean and can make you dull, inert, lazy, and depressed. Meat, poultry, fish, and all intoxicants (such as alcohol and marijuana) are all tamasic in nature. Sattvic food taken in excessive quantity (overeating) becomes tamasic.
Try to avoid the following, which are tamasic:
• Overripe fruit
• Mushrooms
• Vinegar
• Peanuts
• Meat
• Poultry
• Fish
• Fermented foods
• Food that has been burned
• Fried or deep-fried foods
• Barbecued foods
• Reheated meals
• Canned food
• Processed food
• Precooked meals
• Leftovers.
“The foods that increase purity, strength, health, and joy are sattvic.”