In yoga communities you might hear the words sattvic, tamasic, and rajasic tossed around and you might feel at a loss, not understanding or remembering what these terms mean. These three words root in the sanskrit words sattva, tamas, and rajas which are used in various contexts.
Let’s go back to the basics: sattva, tamas, and rajas are the three main “gunas” or qualities that determine the nature of everything in the universe. Ayurvedic philosophy states that the gunas combine and interact to form everything—from energy to matter to consciousness.
Simply put, sattva is goodness that engenders harmony, tamas is darkness that generally disturbs, and rajas is motion which stimulates and agitates.
Let’s dig a little deeper into what sattva and sattvic, tamas and tamasic, and rajas and rajasic mean, and discuss how they pertain to diet and food.
Sattva and Sattvic
Sattva means pure, wise, honest, true, clean, strong, and conscious. Other interpretations include the words vital energy and even nature and essence. This means that a sattvic diet includes foods that are pure and natural.
Which Foods Are In A Sattvic Diet?
Which foods are in a sattvic diet? Foods that are balance the energy and keep the body pure. Not only that, sattvic diet goes a step further to make sure that the food comes to your body in an honest and wise way, which means eating fruits and vegetables that are in season, and choosing sustainable eating practices.
Sattvic diet goes so far as to s
Tamas and Tamasic
Sanskrit for tamas is literally darkness. Tamas is a force that disturbs. Generally, this force leads to destruction. Tamas can also be described as dull, lethargic, lazy, unmotivated, or depressed.
Which Foods Are In A Tamasic Diet?
A tamasic diet is one that is very unhealthy that causes destruction to the body. Tamasic foods include beef, pork, lamb, cheese, garlic, onions, mushrooms, alcohol and any fermented foods. Curiously enough, tamasic foods also include avocados, watermelons, brown rice, and black beans. If these foods are consumed in small amounts, they can be grounding. If they are overconsumed, they cause an abundance of problems for the body and for the mind.
Tamasic foods also includes any foods that are either overripe or underripe or stale. Ayurvedic and yoga practitioners generally believe that by eating such foods you are doing harm to your body and to your mind, which will cause a loss of life force, of prana. Consuming tamasic foods regularly will inhibit the body’s ability to fight illness and disease and will negatively impact the whole immune system.
Rajas and Rajasic
Rajas is the quality of motion. It stimulates, excites, and agitates. Rajas is always associated with motion, movement, and activity.
Which Foods Are In A Rajasic Diet?
Rajasic foods cause restlessness and overactivity in the mind and body, and particularly affects the nervous system. Overconsumption of rajasic foods can cause distress, aggression, and heightened emotions. Rajasic foods are recommended to consume only in moderation, during the midday meal when it is believed that the body’s strength is at the highest. If eaten in proper amounts, rajasic foods can provide determination, energy, mental strength, and can even enhance goal-setting and decision-making capabilities.
Rajasic foods include foods that are too spicy, sour, pungent, or bitter. Specifically, a rajasic diet includes foods such as refined sugar, coffee, chilies, peppers, pickles, sour cream. Some additional foods that are included on a rajasic diet list is fish, shrimp, chicken, potatoes, cauliflower, corn, apples, guava, and bananas.
Have any questions about sattvic, tamasic, and rajasic diets or what these three gunas mean? Drop me a line at @wildyogatribe.com
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