Not all food nourishes our bodies; others have an effect on our thoughts and spirits. Ancient Indian yogis and sages held the view that food is the source of the life force that supports our bodies and ensures our well being.
For well being and a healthy lifestyle, it is crucial to make the proper food choices.
Hinduism holds that nature has implanted a variety of systems within each of us that affect our temperament and add to our individual variations. Internally, the proportions of the three elements—sattva (goodness), rajas (passion), and tamas (darkness)—in a person profoundly affect our attitudes and the foods we consume.
THE SATTVIC DIET
The Sattvik diet, which takes its name from the Sanskrit word for "sattva," emphasises freshly prepared, straightforward food for a healthy, active, robust, informed, and moral way of life. It emphasises cooking only the necessary quantity of food, eating everything in moderation, and minimising dish waste.
Sattvik meals also have a cultural and religious significance. Families often fast on Hindu holidays, especially Navaratri and Diwali, and then break the fast by consuming Sattvik meals after offering them to the Almighty and praying. The Sattvik meals are thought to cleanse the body of all toxins and negative energy in addition to strengthening vital organs like the heart, brain, lungs, liver, and kidney tissues.
A Sattvik diet facilitates our spiritual development regardless of the yogic path we select to approach God: bhakti yoga (the road of devotion), karma yoga (the path of selfless action), jnana yoga (the path of wisdom), or raja yoga (the path of meditation). Hindus reject the notion that being vegetarian automatically makes one a better person than someone who eats meat. They hold the opinion that Sattvik food consumption facilitates yogic advancement.
The ulterior idea of the Sattvik diet is to incorporate foods and eating habits that are “pure, essential, natural, vital, energy-containing, clean, conscious, true, honest, wise”. Additionally, the Sattvik diet specifies how food should be prepared: with respect, consideration, and kindness for all living things. Raw ingredients should be obtained from plants that have been grown organically, are fully ripened, and have been harvested according to the season. However, the Sattvik diet actually has all six flavors—sweet, bitter, salty, sour, spicy, and astringent—instead of being bland and faint.
Specific Vegetarian Foods To Avoid In Sattvik Diet:
Even though onion and garlic are both vegetables and only plant products, they are categorically forbidden from the Sattvik diet, according to ancient ayurvedic texts. This is due to their inherent capacity to incite negative tendencies such as excessive worry, despair, frustration, and mood swings, which impair the equilibrium of the body and mind.
PRINCIPLES OF YOGIC DIET
The yogic diet places a strong emphasis on eating organic, whole foods that support physical, mental, and spiritual well-being and are consistent with yogic philosophy. The yogic ideals of ahimsa, sattva, and saucha serve as its main guiding principles.
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AHIMSA:
The word ahimsa is often interpreted as nonviolence. The concept of ahimsa holds that all living things are interconnected and that if you do not damage living creatures, the world would be a better place. Reducing or stopping the consumption of meat and dairy products is the most obvious strategy to avoid harm.
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SATTVA:
Yoga techniques seek to develop the equanimity known as sattva. A diet rich in Sattvik foods will support a peaceful heart and clear thinking. Fresh vegetables, nutritious grains, legumes, mild therapeutic spices, and other gently sweet fruits and vegetables are typically Sattvik diets.
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SAUCHA:
Purity and cleanliness are practises associated with saucha. Getting rid of or reducing impurities in your body by eating solely chemical-free, organic foods is one of the simplest ways to promote saucha.
HEALTH INCENTIVES OF SATTVIC DIET IN YOGA
1. Promotes Gut Health
The Sattvik diet ensures that large nutritional reserves are retained in fruits, vegetables, nuts, seeds, and herbs, as well as easy nutrient absorption in the body. It consists of a variety of wholesome plant-based foods that are cooked simply by boiling or steaming. This promotes healthy digestion, energy production, and metabolism regulation, all of which support disease resistance.
2. Improves immune system performance
The Sattvik diet treats seasonal infections and diseases like cough, cold, and flu while boosting the immune system and reducing inflammation to prevent chronic illnesses like diabetes and heart disease later in life.
3. Detoxifies The Body
The Sattvik diet also includes light, fresh meals that are delicious and easy on the stomach, preventing bloating, indigestion, exhaustion, irritability, and lethargy. In this way, a complete Sattvik diet keeps the body in shape, prevents toxins from entering the bloodstream, and promotes mental peace.
4. Promotes Mental Health
Regularly following a basic Sattvik diet offers amazing benefits for mental health, such as increased brain power, optimal nervous system performance, improved memory, concentration, and intellect. Additionally, it reduces anxiety and depressive symptoms, improving mood and encouraging contentment.
HOW TO FOLLOW SATTVIC YOGIC DIET
Eat fresh seasonal foods
Purchase seasonal, fresh products and stay away from processed and packaged foods, especially if they are organic.
Be a Vegetarian
For yogis, a plant-based, whole-food diet is crucial. High-quality sources of protein include nuts, dairy goods, leafy greens, and legumes.
Avoid chemicals and stimulants
Purification of the physical and energetic bodies is one of hatha yoga's objectives. To adopt a healthier lifestyle and foster purity in the body and mind, avoid processed foods, artificial sweeteners, caffeine, alcohol, and smoke whenever you can.
Eat at regular intervals and allow space between meals
It's important to leave at least five hours between meals, with the exception of the first meal of the day. This enables your body to completely process the last meal. Your meals will taste better and you'll be less prone to overeat if you eat at regular intervals.
Eat two hours before asana practice or sleep
Keep your meals light and small to prevent the pain of a full stomach during asana practise. Additionally, it's crucial to eat at least two hours before doing yoga.
Make lunch the biggest meal of the day
According to Ayurvedic belief, the digestive fire is at its peak at noon, hence the biggest meal should be eaten then. For a yogi's lunch, raw veggies and challenging-to-digest proteins are ideal. Small amounts of healthy fats should come from foods like nuts, seeds, cold-pressed olive oil, high-oleic safflower oil, and other healthful sources.
Eat mostly cooked foods at dinner
At dinner, make an effort to consume a lot of prepared veggies. Include calming soups and root vegetables like beets, carrots, sweet potatoes, yams, and winter squash.
Emphasize healing herbs and spices
The medicinal properties of foods like turmeric, cardamom, cinnamon, ginger, fennel, mint, basil, cumin, parsley, cilantro, and black pepper are highlighted in a yoga diet.
Work on including more of these therapeutic herbs in your meals to make your diet more healing. Some of these can be added to herbal teas as well.
Eat with mindfulness and a positive attitude
More significant than the food itself is how you approach. Yoga advises that eating should be a loving and grateful act because you are obtaining food from Mother Earth, and you should respect that.
By focusing on both what you're grateful for and what you're not, mindful eating can help you prevent mindless snacking or bingeing. You can start learning how to eat consciously, limit how much you eat, and comprehend what your body requires to preserve balance and health when you achieve peace of mind regarding food.
Consider fasting
The act of fasting involves depriving oneself of food and/or liquids for an extended length of time. Fasting is done to purify the body, pursue spiritual growth, or show devotion to a particular deity.
The restrictions for the various fasting techniques also varies, for example, from abstaining from all food and liquids to simply a limited number of items. It's not advisable to fast for longer than a few days because it puts an undue amount of strain on your body's processes.
CONCLUSION:
The Sattvik diet is based on Ayurvedic principles, which promotes both health and happiness. It cleanses the mind and purifies the body and also re-energizes the Pranas within, which consequently helps the sense in taking leaps and the body stretching without discomfort.
The modern lifestyle is very challenging and taking a severe toll on our bodies. It is high time we considered the Sattvik diet as a dietary option to ensure a healthier body and a peaceful mind. Embark on this culinary journey, and you would never want back to your coveted chickens and eggs!
Mr. Harish Singh Pawali aka Hari Pawali
Owner and Founder of Shree Hari Yoga School
