The Sattvic Diet

Although not necessarily raw, the sattvic diet is a radical diet or, rather, a life style propagated by people who renounced aggression of any kind.


"Sattva is defined as the quality of purity and goodness. Sattvic food is that which is pure, clean and wholesome. A sattvic diet is food that gives life, strength, energy, courage and self-determination. In other words, sattvic food gives us more than the gross physical requirements of the proper mix of proteins, carbs and fats etc. It also gives us the subtle nourishment necessary for vitality and consciousness. Food is seen as a carrier of the life force called prana and is judged by the quality of its prana and by the effect it has on our consciousness." -  Gary Gran

Many spiritual and religious people consider the preoccupation with the body and diet a pure waste of time and concentrate on the well being of their souls. I believe that caring for the body is absolutely vital and just as important.

"It is believed that a person's thoughts and activities are somewhere related to the kind of food he consumes. Thus if a person opts for non vegetarian diet, it is believed that his acts would somewhere support himsa (violence). While the basis of yoga is related to ahimsa that is non violence, it is said that yoga cannot be fruitful if it is not accompanied by sattvic diet. Yogic diet makes us feel fresh and is believed to help in enhancing the mind and body in a right way. But sometimes we intake a diet which makes us feel lazy and avoid our body from being accurate. Such diet is also termed as tamasic diet that leaves our body sluggish many times. Thus such food must be avoided from our daily intake.

Sattvic (pure) diet is light, refreshing, and easy to digest and does not leave a disturbing effect on our mindset. But it should be noticed that our emotions and thoughts also play a vital role in our diet. Even if we are having a perfect diet but while consuming it we are filled with negative emotions such as anger and terror, then they might have a negative effect on our life. Moreover while having sattvic diet one must consume it in a decent manner that is the food should be chewed properly and the intake should be in modest quantity. It is a point to observe that our selection of food gives a glimpse of the type of activities we might be involved in and also states our mind set." 

From time to time people from different religious traditions choose to fast or change their nutrition to detoxify their bodies. This procedure not only helps the body to rid itself from toxins, it helps the mind to find new clarity. Choosing sattvic nutrition every day brings a new dimension to physical, mental, and spiritual well being.

Most of us understand the connection between food and disease. Cancer, obesity, cardiovascular disease. Some are aware of the mind and food connection and know that even severe depression, for instance, can be alleviated with a change of diet. We know that sugar makes kids aggressive and is the main  culprit in the Attention Disorder, but instead of cutting dawn the sugar in their diet, the kids are given Ritalin.

Article source here
Image source: world wide web. Please, help with the image credit if you can.