Yogic Sattvic Diet: Food for Mind and Body

CCCJul 1, 2024

Many ancient cultures believe that you are what you eat. Today’s modern lifestyle may not allow us to maintain a diet that our body demands, but for centuries, people across cultures have inculcated dietary practices that helped them live healthy, long and fulfilling lives. In the contemporary world, dominated by the forces that sell what you eat, drink and wear, our food platter has become more packaged than ever.

While returning to the roots, living a mentally and physically peaceful life and uniting with the soul are the reasons a large number of people across the globe are resorting to yoga, the yogic sattvic diet is finding equal importance in their lives. The yoga diet includes food that is healthy and light, a diet that Ayurveda believes increases your energy and happiness levels and brings calmness to the mind, resulting in mental clarity.

So, what is the meaning of the sattvic diet, and why is it important?

Many people who follow yoga also follow a sattvic diet. Provided that it is deeply rooted in Ayurveda, the primary food items that make up a sattvic diet include nutritious items, freshly produced food, nuts, etc.

This diet is usually high in fiber and low in fat. It is strictly vegetarian. It is further divided into three types, sattvic, rajasic, and tamasic.

Let’s first understand the difference between sattvic, rajasic and tamasic before moving ahead

Sattva is believed to be the ideal state with the highest guna which represents balance and harmony. Rajasic is movement and activity. Too much indulgence in this type can cause stress, overstimulation and overexcitement. Tamasic is the base guna of the three and is usually associated with weakness, laziness and pessimism.

Aspect	Sattvic Diet	Rajasic Diet	Tamasic Diet
Definition	Promotes purity, clarity, and spiritual growth	Stimulates activity and passion	Leads to lethargy and inactivity
Energy	Balanced and harmonious energy	High energy, potentially leading to overstimulation	Heavy and dull energy
Primary Foods	Fresh fruits, vegetables, whole grains, nuts, seeds, dairy (milk, ghee)	Spicy, salty, and pungent foods, caffeine, fried foods	Meat, alcohol, processed and stale foods
Cooking Methods	Simple, natural, and minimally processed	Moderately processed, often spicy	Highly processed, reheated or leftover
Impact on Mind	Promotes mental clarity, calmness, and positivity	Increases restlessness, aggression, and excitement	Causes confusion, dullness, and depression
Impact on Body	Enhances vitality, strength, and immunity	Boosts energy levels temporarily	Leads to sluggishness, diseases, and fatigue
Digestibility	Easily digestible and light	Moderately digestible	Hard to digest and heavy
Examples of Foods	Fresh fruits, leafy greens, almonds, honey, whole grains	Coffee, tea, hot spices, eggs, garlic, onions	Meat, alcohol, stale bread, canned foods
Philosophical Context	Associated with purity, peace, and wisdom	Associated with activity, passion, and movement	Associated with ignorance, inertia, and decay
Suitability	Ideal for meditation and spiritual practices	Suitable for active, busy lifestyles	Unsuitable for physical and mental health
Goal	To achieve balance and harmony	To achieve success and power	To experience pleasure and comfort

As in Ayurveda, a sattvic or yoga diet is also a personal choice, which may vary from every body type. The followers of the sattvic diet believe that it is all about how a person’s body reacts to different foods and must be changed/altered accordingly. Since the yogic diet, or the sattvic diet, is related to Ayurveda, a practice that believes in naturalism and not harming any other creature, the sattvic diet tends to be vegetarian or vegan.

While the vegetarian or vegan part is an important element of the diet being classified as sattvic, the food items being fresh and properly cooked are also important factors. Sattvic food items are usually ripe, raw and lightly cooked. The food must be freshly prepared.

Anything that is not fresh is not sattvic. Here’s a sattvic food list:

Whole grain sprouts
Whole grains
Fresh fruits
Vegetables
Nuts
Seed milk
Cheese
Legumes
Other seeds
Sprouts
Herbal teas
Ghee

Food items to avoid when following a sattvic diet include:

Sour and salty foods
Beverages like tea, coffee, alcohol
Garlic and onion
Frozen and packaged food
Non-vegetarian items like fish, meat, eggs, poultry, etc.
Any food item that is not fresh or freshly cooked

Benefits of the Sattvic Diet

So, like following Ayurveda and its related practices provides several health benefits, the same is the case with the sattvic diet. The yoga diet, deeply rooted in Ayurveda is by nature very healthy as it creates a balanced lifestyle. By simply eating food items that are fresh and natural means you are removing anything processed, stale, sugary and unhealthy. A yogic diet will help your body remain light and give you a feeling of happiness.

Mental Clarity and Focus: The sattvic diet has a profound impact on your mental health. It increases focus and clarity. This happens due to the increase in sattva, or purity, since the diet mostly includes fruits, vegetables, whole grains, nuts, etc. Better mental health is directly related to having a more satisfactory life, enhancing your decision-making, concentration, calmness, etc.
Better Digestion and Metabolism: Our modern lifestyle celebrates oil and butter-laden food items, processed and packaged food, and other dairy products like cheese that can be heavy on the stomach. Not sattvic diet. In fact, the sattvic diet promotes food that is easy to digest. Since most food items in a sattvic diet are rich in fiber, they are easily digestible, enhancing your metabolism. Additionally, the inclusion of herbs and spices like ginger and turmeric aids in boosting metabolism and improving overall digestive health.
Improved Physical Fitness: Since processed and packaged food gets replaced with more natural options, the body gets more nutrients, including vitamins, minerals, etc. This automatically improves physical fitness. The body feels more energetic and less lethargic. The diet’s emphasis on balanced nutrition ensures that the body receives the necessary fuel for sustained energy and vitality.
Emotional Well-being: Emotional well-being is also often linked to physical fitness. If you are physically fit, you will feel more relaxed, resulting in better emotional health. The overly stimulating food items in tamasic food are also a big factor here. The calming effects of Sattvic foods are believed to foster a positive and tranquil mental state.

While yoga has its obvious benefits, a yoga diet also comes with many positives. When your body is fed with natural food items, consumed in a form that retains most of its nutrients, it gives many physical and mental health benefits. No wonder that people who follow a yogic lifestyle also follow a yogic diet. Which is why it is often called food for the mind and body.