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Sattvic Eating For Dummy

JustGeorge

Not As Much Fun As I Look
Staff member
Premium Member
The dummy being me. I don't get it!

I get the concept of tamas, rajas, and sattva and that some foods fall into each category. Its easy to understand that beer and potato chips are tamasic, and to grasp why this is so. But past that, I get confused.

I read a banana is rajasic. Does this mean one should avoid bananas? From what I understand, rajasic food is better than tamasic food, but not as good as sattvic. Should rajasic food have any place on the table?

And then I see articles on eating for your dosha, and while one food is rajas for one, it may be sattvic for another, and tamasic for the next guy... and then I feel discouraged at my lack of knowledge on the topic.

My husband and I have been wanting to change our eating habits, and these concepts do interest us, but we're kind of at a loss on where to begin, and how to apply this in a family setting.

Any advice or tidbits of knowledge regarding this topic?
 

Sirona

Hindu Wannabe
The Hare Krishna teaching on food is actually very simple. You must not consume meat (eggs, fish, seafood), stinky food (onions, garlic), stimulants (tea, coffee, chocolate). The idea behind it is not to eat food which "whips you up" or which harms animals. In comparison to modern vegans, the Hare Krishnas are "outdated", but milk plays a certain role in this religion as Krishna was a cowherd boy.
In my temple, milk was delivered by a farmer who was a believer. He let his cows live a "protected life", meaning they wouldn't be exploited or slaughtered.
There are special days (Ekadashi - Wikipedia) on which the Krishnas abstain even from grain.
 

JustGeorge

Not As Much Fun As I Look
Staff member
Premium Member
The Hare Krishna teaching on food is actually very simple. You must not consume meat (eggs, fish, seafood), stinky food (onions, garlic), stimulants (tea, coffee, chocolate). The idea behind it is not to eat food which "whips you up" or which harms animals. In comparison to modern vegans, the Hare Krishnas are "outdated", but milk plays a certain role in this religion as Krishna was a cowherd boy.
In my temple, milk was delivered by a farmer who was a believer. He let his cows live a "protected life", meaning they wouldn't be exploited or slaughtered.
There are special days (Ekadashi - Wikipedia) on which the Krishnas abstain even from grain.

I had to giggle at the stinky foods... my oldest son complains that all foods stink(he's hypersensitive, though).

I've thought about that some regarding dairy. Though mainstream farms are often harmful to their animals, dairy doesn't have to be derived cruelly.

I do keep Ekadashi. :) I don't eat anything at all on that day, though I do take water, tea and milk. It seems there's a lot of various rules regarding what to do on the day that don't always align, so I just went with what my doctor told me to do.
 

Vinayaka

devotee
Premium Member
The dummy being me. I don't get it!

I get the concept of tamas, rajas, and sattva and that some foods fall into each category. Its easy to understand that beer and potato chips are tamasic, and to grasp why this is so. But past that, I get confused.

I read a banana is rajasic. Does this mean one should avoid bananas? From what I understand, rajasic food is better than tamasic food, but not as good as sattvic. Should rajasic food have any place on the table?

And then I see articles on eating for your dosha, and while one food is rajas for one, it may be sattvic for another, and tamasic for the next guy... and then I feel discouraged at my lack of knowledge on the topic.

My husband and I have been wanting to change our eating habits, and these concepts do interest us, but we're kind of at a loss on where to begin, and how to apply this in a family setting.

Any advice or tidbits of knowledge regarding this topic?

From what I've heard from you, it sounds like you're already doing really well. When I think of food, I have two different 'this or thats'. The first is 'dead or alive', and the second is 'fresh or stale'. So the idea is to eat as much alive fresh food as possible. In this house we eat about 60% fruits and vegetables, 30% grains, and 10% meat alternatives, including nuts, seeds, and dairy. We avoid processed foods, and white everything. (White sugar, white flour) In addition, I avoid gluten.

Originally we did a lot of reading, but now it's more 'feel'.

Aren't there on-line ayurvedic questionaires that help determine doshas?
 

JustGeorge

Not As Much Fun As I Look
Staff member
Premium Member
From what I've heard from you, it sounds like you're already doing really well. When I think of food, I have two different 'this or thats'. The first is 'dead or alive', and the second is 'fresh or stale'. So the idea is to eat as much alive fresh food as possible. In this house we eat about 60% fruits and vegetables, 30% grains, and 10% meat alternatives, including nuts, seeds, and dairy. We avoid processed foods, and white everything. (White sugar, white flour) In addition, I avoid gluten.

Originally we did a lot of reading, but now it's more 'feel'.

Aren't there on-line ayurvedic questionaires that help determine doshas?

That makes a lot of sense. Thanks. Dead/alive Fresh/stale really puts it in much simpler terms. I think I may be over thinking things.

A week or so ago, I tried to do the 'feel' thing by tasting each food that was available without judgement, and trying to determine what state it belonged to. I remember trying a gas station pastry and immediately thinking 'tamas'. Honestly, I'd never eaten anything so stale(at least to recent memory), and at that point I didn't like it anymore.

What we eat varies a lot, but we do tend to be vegetable heavy. I don't use a lot of 'whites' other than rice. I've tried to switch to brown, but the kids just won't eat it. I tried making brown for just myself for awhile, but it became a burden to have to deal with another pot to watch.

I have seen some of the information on dosha and used the online quizzes, but I get lost on what to do with the information. For example, I am kapha and my husband pitta and my oldest son is vata. I then feel confused on how one would cook for so many different types successfully without making each person a separate meal.
 

Vinayaka

devotee
Premium Member
That makes a lot of sense. Thanks. Dead/alive Fresh/stale really puts it in much simpler terms. I think I may be over thinking things.

A week or so ago, I tried to do the 'feel' thing by tasting each food that was available without judgement, and trying to determine what state it belonged to. I remember trying a gas station pastry and immediately thinking 'tamas'. Honestly, I'd never eaten anything so stale(at least to recent memory), and at that point I didn't like it anymore.

What we eat varies a lot, but we do tend to be vegetable heavy. I don't use a lot of 'whites' other than rice. I've tried to switch to brown, but the kids just won't eat it. I tried making brown for just myself for awhile, but it became a burden to have to deal with another pot to watch.

I have seen some of the information on dosha and used the online quizzes, but I get lost on what to do with the information. For example, I am kapha and my husband pitta and my oldest son is vata. I then feel confused on how one would cook for so many different types successfully without making each person a separate meal.

I agree that you're overthinking it. If you eat a variety of food, and you're not hungry, you're probably okay. I remember moving out of home for the first time with a friend, and neither of us knew anything about cooking or nutrition. It was KD about half the time. We batched it for around 9 months and neither of us died.

When I said 'feel', I meant with the gut, and the body. Some foods just feel healthier, and you don't feed the taste buds.
 

JustGeorge

Not As Much Fun As I Look
Staff member
Premium Member

ajay0

Well-Known Member
The dummy being me. I don't get it!

I get the concept of tamas, rajas, and sattva and that some foods fall into each category. Its easy to understand that beer and potato chips are tamasic, and to grasp why this is so. But past that, I get confused.

Knowing the characteristics of Sattva, Rajas and Tamas you can find for yourself whether food is sattvic, rajasic or tamasic by the characteristics they induce in you.

Knowing the gunas and their characteristics is the key to this.

I read a banana is rajasic. Does this mean one should avoid bananas? From what I understand, rajasic food is better than tamasic food, but not as good as sattvic. Should rajasic food have any place on the table?.

Banana being a fruit is not rajasic, but sattvic. This is my own observation as I found them conducive to better meditation later on. It might have some rajas as well, but that is not such a bad thing, and is preferable to tamas. Stale, processed food are deficient in prana and tamasic.


Should rajasic food have any place on the table?.

Sattvic food is the best. But if one is feeling tamasic, and highly dull and lethargic, you can take rajasic foods like tea, coffee, milk, chillies and so on.

And then I see articles on eating for your dosha, and while one food is rajas for one, it may be sattvic for another, and tamasic for the next guy... and then I feel discouraged at my lack of knowledge on the topic.

My husband and I have been wanting to change our eating habits, and these concepts do interest us, but we're kind of at a loss on where to begin, and how to apply this in a family setting.

Any advice or tidbits of knowledge regarding this topic?

Fruits and vegetables recently plucked are high in prana and should be consumed early. This ensures high prana levels within oneself, dispelling physical and mental ill-health and diseases. Meditating and chanting while preparing and consuming food also increases prana levels in the food taken.

Medical systems like reiki, pranic healing all focus on curing a person by channeling prana to the patient. Prana is known as chi in chinese and ki in japanese and is an integral part of their healing systems. All diseases , physical and mental, emerge when the prana level in the body goes below a certain critical level. By raising the prana again, these diseases can be cured.

I had met a reiki master who was also adept in meditation and got a shot of prana from her which made me energetic without fatigue for days. So I knew that reiki can be pretty potent from this experience.

The hugging saint Mata Amritanandamayi , while hugging disciples, gives a huge capsule of prana to them, which results in healing miracles and so on. These healing miracles is one of the reason why she became very popular. I had similarly got a huge prana boost from a hug by Mata Amritanandamayi when she visited my town, and could feel the energy levels within me becoming vibrant .

By increasing prana within oneself , one can heal oneself from most physical and mental issues. A master can heal by transferring prana to the other person. Being in nature like forests or beaches also helps increase prana within oneself as such regions are rich in prana.

Healing miracles that one come across in Hatha yoga, chanting, faith miracles through prayer, reiki, and traditional medical systems around the world, are all due to such increases in prana.


As a general rule, all fresh fruits and vegetables (except for radishes, onions and garlic) are sattvic.
Stale and rotting fruits and vegetables are of a tamasic nature. So is processed foods which is tamasic.

You can find details on sattvic, rajasic and tamasic diet here....

Three Types of Food | The Art of Living

Sattvic diet - Wikipedia
 
Last edited:

JustGeorge

Not As Much Fun As I Look
Staff member
Premium Member
Knowing the characteristics of Sattva, Rajas and Tamas you can find for yourself whether food is sattvic, rajasic or tamasic by the characteristics they induce in you.

Knowing the gunas and their characteristics is the key to this.



Banana being a fruit is not rajasic, but sattvic. This is my own observation as I found them conducive to better meditation later on. It might have some rajas as well, but that is not such a bad thing, and is preferable to tamas. Stale, processed food are deficient in prana and tamasic.




Sattvic food is the best. But if one is feeling tamasic, and highly dull and lethargic, you can take rajasic foods like tea, coffee, milk, chillies and so on.



Fruits and vegetables recently plucked are high in prana and should be consumed early. This ensures high prana levels within oneself, dispelling physical and mental ill-health and diseases. Meditating and chanting while preparing and consuming food also increases prana levels in the food taken.

Medical systems like reiki, pranic healing all focus on curing a person by channeling prana to the patient. Prana is known as chi in chinese and ki in japanese and is an integral part of their healing systems. All diseases , physical and mental, emerge when the prana level in the body goes below a certain critical level. By raising the prana again, these diseases can be cured.

I had met a reiki master who was also adept in meditation and got a shot of prana from her which made me energetic without fatigue for days. So I knew that reiki can be pretty potent from this experience.

The hugging saint Mata Amritanandamayi , while hugging disciples, gives a huge capsule of prana to them, which results in healing miracles and so on. These healing miracles is one of the reason why she became very popular. I had similarly got a huge prana boost from a hug by Mata Amritanandamayi when she visited my town, and could feel the energy levels within me becoming vibrant .

By increasing prana within oneself , one can heal oneself from most physical and mental issues. A master can heal by transferring prana to the other person.

Healing miracles that one come across in Hatha yoga, chanting, faith miracles through prayer, reiki, and traditional medical systems around the world, are all due to such increases in prana.


As a general rule, all fresh fruits and vegetables (except for radishes, onions and garlic) are sattvic.
Stale and rotting fruits and vegetables are of a tamasic nature. So is processed foods which is tamasic.

You can find details on sattvic, rajasic and tamasic diet here....

Three Types of Food | The Art of Living

Sattvic diet - Wikipedia

Thanks for all the information!
 

ameyAtmA

~ ~
Premium Member
Very nice points - especially the point about prANa - that is the whole point.

Namaste @JustGeorge

I presumed you started this thread AFTER pondering over the 3 Bhagavad Geeta shlokas in chapter 17 about sattvik, rajas and tamasic food? It can be tricky event after reading those shlokas.

For reference, here is my post on an old thread - it mostly highlights what Krishna calls sattvik, rAjasic and tAmasic and comes from the reverse direction : People in the mode of <...> like <...>. Keeping in mind, the modes are fluctuating and people are not always

satvik food
...From the Bhagavad Geeta:

BG 17.8
Foods that increase life, intelligence, strength, health, well-being - emotional and physical, love and harmony, that are full of nourishment, taste, pleasing to the mind, easy to digest, well-absorbed in the body, are dear to those in the mode of goodness (sattva-guNa) [ It automatically implies that sAttvic food increases sattva-guNa which is the gateway to guNAteeta - transcending the material nature]

BG 17.9 People in the mode of passion (rAjas, rajoguNa) are fond of foods that are bitter, sour, salty, very hot (temperature-wise), spicy-hot, too dry, foods that create a burning sensation and give rise to sorrow, anxiety, disease.

BG 17.10 Beings in the mode of ignorance (tamoguNa, tAmas) are fond of uncooked/half-cooked, tasteless, smelly, stale, pre-eaten, inauspicious foods. [uncooked does not include salads and things we eat raw, but food that is supposed to be well-cooked and left uncooked]

BG 6.16 Arjun, this Yoga (refers to dhyAn yoga , in samAdhi state of paramAtmA) is not attained by one who sleeps too much or too little/ never sleeps, and eats too much or too little.

---
So... rAjasic - the tricky part -- any extreme -- "ati", "atirek" -- too hot, too spicy, too bitter, too pungent, too dry, too sweet -- is rajasic. Basic food offered to Gopal Krishna is not ultra sweet. The sweet in sweet shops is rajasic and if not fresh/has preservatives, also a bit tAmasic.

So if someone told you banana is rAjasic, they may be saying it is overloaded with sugar. I would not worry about it as long as you limit the bananas in a week. Kids can have as many of course.

In a commentary on DnyAneshwari a.k.a. bhAvArtha deepikA , which in turn is Sant Dnyaneshwar maharaj's translation-commentary over the Bhagvad Geeta, the author added a comment on BG 17.8 -- mango, grapes, milk, are sattvic. Sour fruits are not.

Hope this helps.
 

JustGeorge

Not As Much Fun As I Look
Staff member
Premium Member
Very nice points - especially the point about prANa - that is the whole point.

Namaste @JustGeorge

I presumed you started this thread AFTER pondering over the 3 Bhagavad Geeta shlokas in chapter 17 about sattvik, rajas and tamasic food? It can be tricky event after reading those shlokas.

For reference, here is my post on an old thread - it mostly highlights what Krishna calls sattvik, rAjasic and tAmasic and comes from the reverse direction : People in the mode of <...> like <...>. Keeping in mind, the modes are fluctuating and people are not always

satvik food
...From the Bhagavad Geeta:

BG 17.8
Foods that increase life, intelligence, strength, health, well-being - emotional and physical, love and harmony, that are full of nourishment, taste, pleasing to the mind, easy to digest, well-absorbed in the body, are dear to those in the mode of goodness (sattva-guNa) [ It automatically implies that sAttvic food increases sattva-guNa which is the gateway to guNAteeta - transcending the material nature]

BG 17.9 People in the mode of passion (rAjas, rajoguNa) are fond of foods that are bitter, sour, salty, very hot (temperature-wise), spicy-hot, dry, that create a burning sensation and give rise to sorrow, anxiety, disease.

BG 17.10 Beings in the mode of ignorance (tamoguNa, tAmas) are fond of uncooked, tasteless, smelly, stale, pre-eaten, inauspicious foods.

BG 6.16 Arjun, this Yoga (refers to dhyAn yoga , in samAdhi state of paramAtmA) is not attained by one who sleeps too much or too little/ never sleeps, and eats too much or too little.

---
So... rAjasic - the tricky part -- any extreme -- "ati", "atirek" -- too hot, too spicy, too bitter, too pungent, too sweet -- is rajasic. Basic food offered to Gopal Krishna is not ultra sweet. The sweet in sweet shops is rajasic and if not fresh/has preservatives, also a bit tAmasic.

So if someone told you banana is rAjasic, they may be saying it is overloaded with sugar. In a commentary on DnyAneshwari a.k.a. bhAvArtha deepikA , which in turn is Sant Dnyaneshwar maharaj's translation-commentary over the Bhagvad Geeta, the author added a comment on BG 17.8 -- mango, grapes, milk, are sattvic. Sour fruits are not.

Hope this helps.

It does help, thanks.

I think one thing I've noticed with this conversation is I'm not always aware of how foods affect me, even immediately. I think I eat too fast, and don't pay attention to what I'm doing. (Not hard to do with three kids, let alone three kids that all have different issues with food.)
 

ameyAtmA

~ ~
Premium Member
It does help, thanks.

I think one thing I've noticed with this conversation is I'm not always aware of how foods affect me, even immediately. I think I eat too fast, and don't pay attention to what I'm doing. (Not hard to do with three kids, let alone three kids that all have different issues with food.)
Totally understand. We have all done it. Eating in a rush, without thinking.
That is the thing. In the shlokas Krishna makes us think and be meditative about the food we eat.
 
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