The simple food which nourishes you wholeheartedly provides energy, nourishment, health, purity, and positivity is Sattvik. The pure essence of Sattvik food gives calmness, health, and mental peace. A diet loaded with seasonal fresh fruits, vegetables, germinated grains and seeds, pulses, honey, and herbs and mostly free from animal sources is considered pure. Like we address a person Sattvik based on his behaviour, food is similarly addressed Sattvik based on its elemental nature. Sattvik diet is a balanced diet that can be from any cuisine of the world and has adequate protein and fats, plant based nutrients to meet your daily energy requirements.
Whether you like cooking or hate it to the core, food is medicine for the body, and a little good intention in your diet plan can truly change your perspective on healthy life. Harmonizing the energies of the mind and body can relieve stress, increase joy, and foster spiritual connection. Diet plays a crucial role in our overall wellbeing. The complete digestion, absorption, and assimilation of food nutrients create the building blocks of the body, called ahara rasa, or “the essence of food.” When you chew and swallow your food, it mixes with saliva, enzymes and acids, and the end product is the essence or juice, which is used to make nutrients for the body. In this way, healthy digestion makes a healthy body. Complete wellness, however, considers not only physical digestion in the stomach, but mental digestion as well.
What is Sattvik diet in concept?
According to the Upanishads, everything in this universe is said to be consist of the three Maha Gunas – the Sattva, Rajas, and Tamas. Similarly, in Ayurvedic food belief system, food is categorised into sattvic, rajasic or tamasic that define gunas or nature. The stricter sattvic diet does not include onions, garlic, red chilies, black pepper, and other pungent spices because they are believed to be stimulants. Meat, fried, overcooked, and processed foods i.e. tamasic in nature are avoided. Keep in mind that there are stricter and less stricter variations of the Sattvik diet. [In nature- Sattva represents intelligence, joy, enthusiasm, purity and so considered good and benevolent; Rajas represents activity, emotions, force, energy, quickness, and instability; Tamas stands for inactivity, ignorance, mass, laziness, and stability.]
Food historians like Dr. Pushpesh Pant have likened the Gunas (virtues/attributes) to Vata, Pitta, and Kapha inducing qualities – the quality of lightness of body (Vata), the quality of heat, and action (Pitta) and the quality of bulk (Kapha). Think of vata as the currents of the body. The body knows the food goes in the mouth, then down and out; vata ushers it along. When food gets chewed, pitta moves in to break it down, liquidize it, metabolize it, and transform it into tissues. Kapha is like glue: cool, liquid, slimy, heavy, slow, dull, dense, and stable. This group of qualities provides density in the bones and fat, cohesion in the tissues and joints, and plenty of mucus so we don’t dry out.
Have you noticed that certain foods can settle you down or pick you up?
Paying attention to how food makes you feel, not just in your gut, but reflected both in your mood and in your heart, has led to a healthy body and a happy mind concept. Junk foods like fried and cheesy, sugar and stimulants such as caffeine, animal products like meat are some of the foods that are stimulating and heavy on digestion. While the Sattvik food boosts easy digestion and calms your mind.
Health benefits of Sattvik foods
Sattvik food promotes eating whole fruits, vegetables, beans, and nuts. These nutrient dense and low sugar food can be boon to body which craves for nourishment. Fried and processed food shuts down the healthy mechanism in our body and affects gut microbes. Sattvik food cuts down risk of chronic inflammation and keeps diseases like diabetes, inflammatory bowel diseases and cardiovascular diseases at bay. It can help people with weight issues with its fiber rich and less empty calories.
- Improves digestion
- Boosts Immunity
- Improves focus and reduces brain fog
- Improves metabolism and helps in detoxification
- Prevents chronic inflammation
- Helps in mental balance
- Better hormonal balance
5 Sattvik food you should always have in your kitchen shelf (depending upon the season)
- Vegetables– Spinach, Broccoli, Carrots, Cucumber, Beans, Lettuce, Bottle gourd, Cauliflower, Tomatoes, Capsicum, Pumpkin and Potato.
- Fruits– Papaya, Banana, Berries, Grapes, Melons, Guava, Coconut and Peaches.
- Sprouted Grains– Sabut Moong, Channa, Barley, Millets.
- Nuts and seeds– walnuts, pumpkin seeds, sunflower seeds, sesame seeds, flaxseed, etc.
- Pulses– Mung daal – split and skinned green gram, Chawli daal – black eyed beans, Masoor daal – split red lentils, Sabat masoor – Indian Brown lentils, Toor daal – yellow pigeon peas, Rajma – kidney beans, Hari matar – green peas.
You can try opting to replace major sweeteners with honey or jaggery.
Our food choices should be determined by the intelligence we wish to access and the needs of our bodies. By fine-tuning our intuitive faculties and connecting to our gut’s intelligence, we can develop a healthy and sustainable lifestyle based on Sattvik choices.
