Sattvic Diet

A sattvic diet, also referred to as a yoga diet or sentient diet, is a diet based on foods that—according to Ayurveda and Yoga, are strong in the sattva guna, and lead to clarity and upeksa (equanimity) of mind while also being beneficial to the body.

Such foods include water, cereal grains, legumes, vegetables, fruits, nuts, unpasteurized and unhomogenized fresh milk and fresh milk derivatives (mostly ghee, but also butter, cream, cheese (paneer), and yogurt (lassi)), and raw honey.

Foods that are kept overnight (leftovers) are considered tamasic, as they lose their vital essences and may have grown microorganisms. Any foods that involve the harm of another being are also considered tamasic, and overly-sweet foods are considered rajasic. Too much spice, sugar, or salt may render what was a sattvic food to become rajasic or tamasic.

Foods that this system considers neither positive or negative are rajasic, while those that harm the mind or body are tamasic.

Foods that are considered the most sattvic of all are fresh milk from a happy cow (see the dairy section), and fruit fallen from a tree. This is because there is absolutely no harm done to the organism from which the nutrients came, but the organism gave the food willingly and with blessings.