Ancient Indian Food, In Vedic time, a complete meal had to contain all six tastes pungent food, acidic food, sweet food, salty food, bitter food, alkaline food.
It contains five types of food:
Bhakshya (crunchy/chewy foods)
Bhojya (semi-solid)
Cushion (suckable, like mangos)
Layer (likable, like honey)
Peya (drinkable).
Ancient Indians divided all foods into three categories which affect the taste buds, body, and mind:
Saatvik foods
These foods provide nutrition, simple to digest, it’s juicy, and makes the brain calm and clear. It helps the body in spiritual progress, it’s strictly followed by sages and monks. Consuming an appropriate sattvic diet generates sattvic energy in the mind, leading to enhancement of sattvic thoughts and creating an impression of the merit accrued, on the subconscious mind. Sattvic foods promote longevity, virtue, strength, health, happiness, and joy.
Foods affect both the body and the mind. Sattvic foods affect positively the body, mind, spirit, and soul. Sattvic keeps the mind as calm, food is natural, fresh, and grown without any chemical fertilizers or pesticides which gives a message of life, freshness, energy, and happiness to all cells of our body. This increases life energy, whereas processed food reduce. It is pure and encourages purity of body and mind which dominates the volatile emotions and calms the mind.
The statement, “we are what we eat” is correct and trustworthy. They make the mind and thinking balanced, clear, and non-violent. Sattvic foods sharpen your intelligence and also improve your memory. Sattvic food not only provide positivity to the body and mind, but also your kitchen and home as these foods are free from any form of cruelty whereas non-vegetarian food, spreads negativity, violent emotions, and aggressiveness.
A sattvic diet is necessary to keep the body healthy; the journey of a human being should not be from a human to a demoniacal attitude, but from a humanitarian attitude to divinity. However, only sattvic food is not enough in the journey towards divinity. Everyone should commence spiritual practice, and that is the need of the hour.
Rajasik foods
Include very hot, sour, dry, salty, and spicy foods, eggs, fish, meat, etc. They heat the body, stimulate the senses, and make the mind restless. Rajasik (originated from the word “Raja” means king, means kingly) denotes activity, decision-making energy that is required for tasks, and mental robustness. The Rajasik food helps the mind to push yourself beyond your normal capacity. It also encourages aggression.
In excess can leave a person feeling busy, overwhelmed, and bothered and also disrupt the equilibrium of body and mind. When consumed in moderation, a person is goal-oriented with a stable mind. But this go-getter attitude is accompanied by a restless nature that yearns to be honored and admired. They also tend to be more selfish and aggressive and have more worries than happiness. Thus, they are victims of their limitless desire for more and tend to opt for anger, hate, and manipulation.
Rajasic food stimulates and overexcites the body and the mind. This can lead to hyperactivity and overexertion of both. The mind becomes restless and doesn’t switch off even when it’s supposed to be resting or sleeping.
Tamasik foods
Include red meat, alcohol, onions, garlic, overripe fruits, and fermented foods. This food lowers the body’s ability to fight disease and disrupts the proper functioning of the immune system. In certain conditions, like overeating, reheating, leftover or stale food, what was once sattvic food can turn Tamasic.
Tamasic foods can bring stability. This comes in handy during times of physical pain and stress, as it helps dull the senses, allowing your body the space to repair itself. Other times when Tamasic foods can bring relief is during extreme conditions – for eg; bitter cold, physically strenuous work, etc. In such conditions, the Tamas element tethers you to perseverance. But if you are looking to light, stress-free, labor-free life, keep Tamasic foods to the minimum.
A person who eats mainly Tamasic food will age faster. This type of food also brings about intense mood swings, insecurity, irritability, and cravings. A Tamasic person is usually unable to deal with others calmly. He tires quickly and sleeps more than 8 hours a night.
