A vegetarian diet provides the essential nutrients to balance the mind and body. When a vegetarian diet is followed appropriately they can prevent and control cholesterol, high BP, obesity, cancer, diabetes and insomnia, when compared to a non-vegetarian diet.
Eating the right food, in the right quantity, with the right attitude and at the right time is a perfect yogic diet. It’s a vegetarian diet that fulfils all the nutritional needs to maintain mind-body balance. Yogic diet is classified into Sattvic, Rajasic and Tamasic — based on the three gunas or the essential qualities of nature. They’re Sattva (calmness), Rajas (restlessness) and Tamas (dullness).
Sattvic consists of natural, organic foods free from pesticides. They’re foods that have a balanced combination of whole grains, legumes, pulses, fresh fruits and vegetables, except onions, garlic and mushrooms. Dry fruits, milk and milk products, natural sugars like jaggery and honey, spices like coriander, cumin, fennel, fenugreek, black pepper, sesame, carom seeds, pomegranate seeds, ginger, basil, mint, cardamom, cinnamon and turmeric are part of the palate. It is cooked in oils drawn from sesame, sunflower, olive and coconut. Bhagavad Gita describes Sattvic food as “promoting life, virtue, strength, health, happiness and satisfaction.”
Rajasic diet consists of food that are over stimulating and destroy the mind-body balance. They cause restlessness, arouse negative emotions and lead to circulatory and nervous disorders. Sattvic food when eaten in a hurry or with a wrong attitude become Rajasic.
Rajasic foods are coffee, tea, colas, chocolates, tobacco, onion and garlic, and also foods that are spicy, sour, fried, fatty, etc. In the Bhagavad Gita, these are described as “excessively hot, spicy, bitter, salty, pungent, burning the tongue”.
Tamasic diet causes heaviness, dullness and lethargy. They destroy the body’s ability to withstand stress, lower the body’s resistance to disease. They do not have prana or the energy required for mind-body balance. Sattvic food when overeaten or reheated several times becomes Tamasic.
Tamasic foods are old, stale, burnt and overcooked. They include meat, fish, chicken, eggs, mushrooms, vinegar and alcohol. They’re described in the Bhagavad Gita as “stale, rotten, tasteless, impure, unripe and overcooked.”
— geetayoga@gmail.com