How Sattvic Food Transforms Your Energy and Mood
That sense of lightness and clarity after eating well-prepared, fresh food — combined with feeling deeply grounded and satisfied? That's sattva.
When people first discover Ayurveda, they're attracted by the peace surrounding this ancient wisdom. This peace feels different from how much of the world operates today. We tend to swing between extremes of being too busy with too little time and completely checking out in front of the television.
Ayurveda was originally grounded in the idea that we can experience freedom from suffering. This happens by coming into harmony with the four pillars of health.
- Ahar: Eating foods that nourish our bodies and minds
- Vihar: Living in alignment with nature's rhythms
- Nidra: Appropriate sleep
- Brahmacharya: Management of our energy, particularly sexual energy - both in our physical actions and in our minds.
We come into balance in these four areas by increasing sattva. This guide aims to provide information on ahar. When you mostly eat sattvic foods, your body's ability to digest (not only foods but also life experiences and emotions) improves. As a result, painful symptoms or diseases reduce or completely disappear.
Ayurveda isn't a one-size-fits-all, if you need personalized guidance on which foods will best support your unique self, schedule your 1:1 Ayurvedic Health Consultation with one of our counselors and receive your custom recommendations.
The Three Qualities That Shape How You Feel
You know how some foods leave you feeling clear and energized, while others make you feel sluggish or agitated? Ayurveda explains this through three qualities called sattva, rajas and tamas. They're present in everything - your food, your environment, and even your thoughts.
TAMAS
Tamas feels heavy and stuck. Think of those days when you can barely get out of bed, or when you're mindlessly scrolling your phone for hours. In food, it's leftovers, processed meals, overeating, and anything that makes you feel sluggish.
When tamas dominates your life, you find yourself sleeping too much, feeling unmotivated, lazy or reaching for “comfort” foods that leave you more tired than before.
When a seed is resting, inert in the darkness of the earth, it’s in a state of tamas.
RAJAS
Rajas is constant motion and stimulation. It's the feeling of being wired but tired, rushing through your day, or that jittery energy after too much caffeine.
When rajas takes over, you might experience anxiety, trouble sleeping, or find yourself always busy but never truly productive. You're moving, but not in a sustainable way.
When a seedling pushes through the earth to reach the sun, it’s in a state of rajas.
SATTVA
Sattva is the sweet spot of feeling balanced. It's waking up refreshed, having steady energy throughout the day, and feeling both calm and alert after meals.
When sattva is present, you feel grounded yet light, peaceful yet energized. This is what we're aiming for - it's where true health lives.
When a seedling has turned into a full bloom flower, it’s in a state of sattva.
Easy-To-Digest Foods: Nourish Without the Crash
Fresh fruits and vegetables, whole grains, legumes, and nuts form the foundation of sattvic eating. But here's what makes the difference: how you prepare and eat them matters just as much as what you choose.
Raw kale salad might seem healthy, but it could leave you feeling scattered or bloated. The same kale, gently cooked with warming spices, becomes deeply nourishing and easy-to-digest.
Learn these preparation methods with our Ayurvedic Recipes & Cooking Guide Bundle - It'll teach you the proper food combinations and spices to enhance digestion, and how to work with food qualities to create healing meals.
This is only a partial list to have you think about the qualities and how they make you feel.
Think fresh, seasonal, and prepared with care. When possible, choose organic foods free from chemicals and genetic modification. The closer your food is to its natural state - and the more mindfully it's grown - the more it supports your body's natural balance.
Fruits - apples, apricots, berries, dates (fresh), dragonfruit, feijjoa, figs, grapefruit, grapes with seeds, longons, lychee, kiwifruit, mangoes, melons, nectarine, oranges, peaches, pears, persimmon, pineapple, plums, pomegranates, prunes, starfruit, tangerines (sweet), raisins
Legumes - adzuki beans, anasazi beans, black beans, black eyed peas, broad beans, brown lentils, cannellini beans, edamame beans, fava beans, green lentils, lima beans, mung beans, fresh snap peas, split mung beans, split peas
Nuts - almonds, brazil nuts, cashew nuts cooked, chestnuts, coconut, filberts, gingko, hazelnuts, macadamia nuts, pine nuts, walnuts, pecans, pistachio, tahini, tiger nuts
Oils - almond oil, coconut oil, flaxseed oil, ghee, macadamia nut oil, mustard seed oil, sesame oil, olive oil
Other - honey, maple syrup, raw milk, raw sugar cane, watercress, fresh wasabi, rose petals, lavender flowers, fresh almond milk, fresh rice milk, fresh coconut water
Spices - anise, basil, black pepper, brown mustard seeds, cardamom, carob, cilantro, cinnamon, cumin, coriander, dill, fennel, ginger, mint, lemon grass, sesame seeds, sorrel, turmeric, vanilla bean
Vegetables - artichokes, asparagus, bamboo shoots, beets, bitter gourd, bok choy, broccoli, brussel sprouts, burdock, cabbage, carrots, cauliflower, celeriac, celery, corn, courgette (zucchini), cucumbers, daikon, fennel bulb, flowers (edible), green beans, dark leafy greens, jerusalem artichoke, kohlrabi, lotus root, okra, parsnips, snow peas, spinach, summer squash, sweet potatoes, turnips (sweet), yacon, yams
Whole grains - amaranth, barley, rice (high quality, basmati, jasmine…), buckwheat, cornmeal, farro, kamut, millet, oats, quinoa, rye, spelt, teff, wheat, wild rice, fresh pasta, fresh noodles
Foods That Overstimulate
These are called rajasic: they're stimulating and contribute to physical and mental stress. They create energy that doesn't last. Eaten in moderation, they won't hurt but having a diet mostly composed of rajasic foods leads to anxiety, fatigue, constant up and downs, inflammation, extreme emotions and other symptoms and diseases...
Fruits - dates (dried), bottled juices, guava, lime, lemon, passion fruit, papaya, soursop
Legumes - kidney beans, navy beans, pinto beans, red lentils
Nuts and seeds - hemp seeds, peanuts, sprouts, sunflower seeds
Oils - avocado oil, hemp oil, peanut oil, sunflower oil
Other - fresh cheeses, avocado, cottage cheese, egg, all fermented foods, ice cream, miso, molasses, sucanat, olives, salt, vinegar, yogurt, commercial almond, hemp or rice milk, all caffeine (including cacao, chocolate, coffee, caffeinated teas, decaf tea and coffee)
Spices - asafoetida/hing, cayenne, chili pepper, fenugreek, garlic, excess of any spice
Vegetables - eggplant, onions, capsicum (bell peppers), leeks, hot peppers (chilis), potatoes, radishes, sea vegetables, sprouts, tomatoes
Whole grains - Commercial rolled oats, parboiled grains
Hard-To-Digest Foods That Make You Feel Sluggish
These are called tamasic: they're heavy, processed, or past their prime and create sluggishness phisically, mentally, emotionally and spiritually. These drain your energy rather than nourish you. Eating mostly tamasic foods leads to feeling negative, stuck, unmotivated, brain fog, and that heavy feeling that makes you want to just lie on the couch.
Fruits - all over-ripe fruits, bananas
Grains - all exposed to light or more than one year old, extensively refined grains, dried and packaged pasta
Legumes - all canned, older than 2 years, garbanzo beans (chickpeas)
Nuts and Seeds - all old or exposed to light, chia seeds
Oils - all older than 1 year or rancid, canola oil, vegetable oil, rapeseed oil, safflower oil
Other - alcohol, all animal flesh (beef, chicken, fish, fowl, goat, lamb, pork, rabbit, shellfish, turkey, venison), artificial sweeteners, barbecued or blackened foods, food with preservatives or synthetic ingredients, deep fried foods, frozen foods, leftovers, margarine, condiments, all refined sugar, old tea bags, smoked food, microwaved food
Spices - all old or stored in the light
Vegetables - all mushrooms, pumpkin, winter squash
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