Food gives us energy.

Have you thought about where food gets its energy from?

Plant-based food gets its energy from the Sun. Whoever eats it gets this energy. We do not get all of the food’s energy. Those who eat the food raw soon after cutting get the most of it and in the purest i.e, sattvic form. 

Sattvic food helps us feel light and gives us calm energy. The food that disturbs our calmness and makes us feel heavy is tamasic. The food in between is rajasic.

Sattvic food includes items that grow and ripen naturally. Fruits, vegetables, whole grains, and nuts are all sattvic. Having sattvic food is good for mental and physical health. Such food also helps increase our well being, prana (the life force), love, and enthusiasm, 

Rajasic food is the food that has too much salt, spices, sourness or bitterness. Such food is dry and hot by nature and produces excessive thirst, heartburn, and disease. Such food also produces emotions like sorrow and grief.

Food items that are rotting, stale, and have a bad taste on their own are tamasic.

Meat, onions, garlic, mushrooms, overripe and underripe fruits, and vegetables all are Tamasik. Fermented foods like vinegar, processed food, alcohol, and even leftovers are considered Tamasic.

Hindus in India, during some fasts, avoid onion and garlic. This is because they produce heat in the body, especially onion. Both together are also called ‘Rajogini’. Such substances make us lose control of our instincts. When that happens we give in to desires and forget our priorities. Yogis and sages don’t have them at all because of the effect they have on our mind and body. 

We like food as per our nature. For example, those who have a sattvic nature like sattvic food.

The good thing is that food changes us from the inside and it has the power to change our body and thinking. So, by having sattvic food we can change our nature, and what we like and how we think.

The time between fresh produce leaving the earth and when we eat it also impacts the value we get out of it. We can’t be over conscious about it, just practical, because everyone does not live on a farm.

Sattvic food is the best food for our well being but most of us end up eating tamasic food without knowing it. Because most of us food that is refrigerated or packed long before we eat it and is laced with preservatives.

It is not practical for most of us to ditch the refrigerator altogether. But if the weather permits try and eat what you cook in the morning by evening without putting it in the fridge. Also instead of getting fruits and vegetables for the whole weeks and putting them in the fridge for long, buy them twice a week and eat without storing them in the fridge.

You can’t know the impact of fresh food on your well being unless you try it for a couple of days. If you want to see, try it and see how you feel. If you feel good then try to make some changes to your lifestyle and incorporate it on a permanent basis.

If you don’t you can stick with a routine that works for you.