Yoga Diet - The Three Gunas

Written by: Jennifer Bagus

The Yoga Diet is one the Five Principles of Yoga. You will soon notice that eating properly will aid your health and make you feel fit and cleaner. The Yoga Diet is a perfect complement to Yoga Exercise. Despite the fact that the Yoga Diet is not a diet in the common sense of the word, you will probably lose considerable weight by just eating only healthy foods. Even if you do not want to become a vegetarian, following these basic Yoga Diet rules as it will make you feel so much better.

In the unmanifested universe, energy has three qualities, known as
1. Gunas, that exist together in equilibrium
2. Sattva (purity); Rajas (activity, passion, the process of change)
3. Tamas (darkness, inertia).

Once energy takes form, one quality of the three predominates. Thus on an apple tree, some fruits are ripe (sattvic), some are ripening (rajastic) and some are overripe (tamastic). But no matter what quality prevails, an element of each of the other two will always be present as well - parts of the apple will be in all the different stages. The Three Gunas encompass all existence, all actions.

Sattvic Food

  • the purest Diet
  • the most suitable one for any serious student of Yoga.
  • nourishes the body and maintains it in a peaceful state.
  • calms and purifies the mind, enabling it to function at its maximum potential.
  • leads to true health; a peaceful mind in control of a fit body, with a balanced flow of energy between them. Sattvic foods include:

  • cereals
  • wholemeal bread
  • fresh fruit and vegetables
  • pure fruit juices
  • milk
  • butter and cheese
  • legumes
  • nuts
  • seeds
  • sprouted seeds
  • honey and herb teas

    Rajastic Food

  • very hot, bitter, sour, dry or salty food
  • destroys the mind-body equilibrium, feeding the body at the expense of the mind
  • too much Rajastic food will over-stimulate the body and excite the passions, making the mind restless and uncontrollable
  • eating in a hurry is also considered rajastic

    Rajastic foods include:

  • hot substances, such as sharp spices or strong herbs
  • stimulants such as coffee and teas
  • fish
  • eggs
  • salt and chocolate

    Tamastic Food

  • A Tamastic Diet benefits neither the mind nor the body.
  • Prana, or energy is withdrawn, powers of reasoning become clouded and a sense of inertia sets in.
  • The body's resistance to disease is destroyed and the mind filled with dark emotions, such as anger and greed.
  • Overeating is also considered tamastic.

    Tamastic food includes:
  • meat
  • alchohol
  • tobacco
  • onions
  • garlic
  • fermented foods such as vinegar
  • stale overripe substances