Ayurveda Diet : FurtherHealth.com

Ayurveda Diet : FurtherHealth.com

Ayurveda describes food according to its effect on the body. Three kinds of food form the major classification under the system - satvik, rajasik, and tamasik. These words are derived from the three Sanskrit words satva, rajas, and tamas.

Satvik Food
Satvik food is simple and is easily digestible. It is basic and is cooked using minimal heat. It does not involve extensive processing, and is hence usually closest to the way the food item exists in its natural form. Satvik food is usually eaten fresh and immediately after it is prepared.
Vegetables, fruits, milk and milk products consumed in their natural and near-natural forms are good examples of satvik food. In a satvik diet, vegetables like onion, garlic, red chilies and black pepper and such other pungent and astringent spices are prohibited.
Common spices like ginger, turmeric, coriander, cardamom, cinnamon, and aniseed are strongly recommended. They have certain properties that are very helpful for digestion. They keep the digestive system and other related systems of the body toned up. However, raw food does not come under a satvik diet, though fruits are an exception.
There is a scientific reason for this - raw vegetables usually provide the ideal environment for parasites. Fruit juices, on the other hand, are generally safe, because of their high acid content.
Cows milk is the most satvik of satvik foods
Cows milk is considered the most complete, nourishing, and satvik of all satvik food. Buffalo milk is not considered to be as nourishing, and is generally not considered a part of a satvik diet. However, in the absence of cows milk, goats milk can be used as a replacement.
Ayurveda has a whole body of work dedicated to describing the benefits of cow's milk. It also discusses how to take care of cows, and gives reasons for the practices prescribed in it.
Milk products like butter, ghee (cooked and dehydrated butter), and unrefined mustard oil are considered satvik as long as they are used sparingly.
While the mustard oil can be heated a little to get rid of its astringency, butter and ghee ideally can receive only a very nominal amount of heat for the shortest possible time, for it to retain its satvik qualities.
Satvik food is best for health and vitality
A person who eats satvik food has an ideal combination of physically, mentally and emotionally harmony and well-being, and is at peace with himself. Such a person is always focused in his work, sleeps less and remains energized all day long.
Disease and disorder free, a satvik eater remains sensitive to the various nuances of his sensory being. On exposure to adverse conditions, a satvik person remains largely unaffected. Even if he falls sick his recovery period is very short, much shorter than a person on a rajasik or tamasik diet.
A person on a satvik diet is usually of a generally calm disposition. She/he is not provoked easily and aggression, in most situations, is not in his nature.

Rajasik Food
Rajasik food is heavy to digest. Those who must do physically strenuous work can take this kind of heavy food. Vegetables cooked in excess butter, with spicy and strong flavoring agents, make for a typical rajasik preparation. Cooked fresh, rajasik food is rich in nutrients with minimum dilution with water.
Heavy on salt and sugar, rajasik food takes longer to digest than satvik food, calls for extended sleeping hours and is sexually stimulating. It takes hard work to digest a rajasik preparation. A rajasik eater is aggressive and generally overflowing with energy. This energy, when used wisely, can be channeled to lead the person towards prosperity, power and prestige, as ayurveda describes.
A rajasik person, i.e. a person on a rajasik diet, has love for life and all the pleasures it offers. He has the capacity to suffer its pains, its as well as its trials and tribulations. Compared to a satvik person a rajasik person would lead an eventful but shorter life.
A rajasik person is usually a good worldly being, while a satvik person is equipped to explore life beyond physical pleasures.

Tamasik Food
Unnatural, overcooked, stale, and processed food makes for a Tamasik diet. Thus refined food - be it cereals, oils or hydrogenated butter, stimulants and beverages like tea, coffee and soft drinks, fast and ready-to-cook (precooked and warmed) food items like burgers, pizzas, pastries, and chocolates, as well as intoxicants like tobacco and alcohol are tamasik.
A tamasik person, i.e. a person with a tamasik diet, leads a life of sickness and pain, and is always at grave discomfort with himself. He forgets what it is like to lead a full life - to be hale and hearty all his life.

source: http://www.furtherhealth.com/article/19_4_Ayurveda-Diet/