Month: August 2018

As a nutritionist, I come across various kinds of literature on nutrition, varied dietary patterns, eating behaviours, lifestyle modifications etc. Reflecting back, I conclude that most of this knowledge we already know, it’s been passed onto us from our mothers and grandmothers…it’s in our system but we’ve lost the thread somewhere!

We come from the land of Ayurveda, from the land of Krishna. Developed centuries ago, his knowledge as passed on in the Bhagavad Gita remains true even today.

To quote, “Yukaharaviharasya yuktachestasya karmasu. Yuktasvapnavabodhasya yoga bhavati duhkhaha”. (Bhagavad Gita chapter 6 shloka 17).

It means “the one, whose diet and movements are balanced, whose actions are proper., whose hours of sleeping and waking up are regular, and who follows the path of meditation, is the destroyer of pain or unhappiness.” 

Thus, if you read carefully, the Bhagavad Gita clearly explains how we can optimize our health and wellbeing through eating right, balanced sleep and exercise.

We are what we eat – the importance of eating right:

The origins of this sage advice come from ancient traditions which guided us on how to harmonize ourselves with the Greater Universe that exists within and around us.

As Krishna says in The Bhagavad-Gita 17 Chapter 8–10 Verse.

“Foods in the mode of goodness increase the duration of life, purify one’s existence and give strength, health, happiness and satisfaction. Such nourishing foods are sweet, juicy and palatable. Foods that are too bitter, too sour,too  salty, pungent, dry and hot, are liked by people in the modes of passion. Such foods cause pain, distress, and disease. Food cooked more than three hours before being eaten, which is tasteless, stale, putrid, decomposed and unclean, is food liked by people in the mode of ignorance.”

Thus, the food we eat not only nourishes our body but also affects our mind and emotions. As per scriptures, nature, which is a primary force of life is composed of three qualities called Gunas. These are Sattva (Tranquil or subtle energy), Rajas (Active energy) and Tamas (dull energy).

Like all things in the universe, the food we eat also has one or more of these qualities or energies that affect our mind, body and soul. Therefore, food is divided into Sattvic, Rajasic and Tamasic foods and each of these affect our mind, body and soul.

Sattvic, Rajasic and Tamsic Foods

Sattvic Foods

āyuḥ-sattva-balārogya-sukha-prīti-vivardhanāḥ
rasyāḥ snigdhāḥ sthirā hṛidyā āhārāḥ sāttvika-priyāḥ

(chapter 17, verse 8)

Satvic foods promotes longevity, virtue, strength, health, happiness, and joy are juicy, smooth, substantial, and nutritious. 

Sattvic food is always fresh, natural (very less or no further processing on food), freshly cooked and lightly seasoned. It is a wholesome meal which consists of whole grains and legumes and fresh and organic vegetables and fruits.

Rajasic Foods

kaṭv-amla-lavaṇāty-uṣhṇa- tīkṣhṇa-rūkṣha-vidāhinaḥ
āhārā rājasasyeṣhṭā duḥkha-śhokāmaya-pradāḥ (chapter 17, verse 9)

Rajasic foods are those that are very bitter, sour, salty, hot, pungent, dry, and burning.

An excess of flavour defines Rajasic foods. Rajasic foods are irritants and stimulants. Any canned food (fruits, beans, vegetables) that are sweetened or salted are Rajasic. Also Bottled Fruit Juices and Fermented Foods are Rajasic in nature. All tempting foods come under the category of Rajasic food. This includes fish, meat, eggs, sharp spices and stimulants such as coffee, tea, chocolate etc

Tamasic Food

yāta-yāmaṁ gata-rasaṁ pūti paryuṣhitaṁ cha yat
uchchhiṣhṭam api chāmedhyaṁ bhojanaṁ tāmasa-priyam (chapter 17, verse 10)

The foods are stale, tasteless, putrid, rotten, refuses and impure.

This includes over-processed, no longer fresh, and difficult to digest foods. It also includes food that is prepared unconsciously or with the distracted mind. Examples include French fries, pickles, preserved meats, hard liquor etc.

All 3 of these qualities (Sattvic, Rajasic, and Tamasic) are necessary for survival and to move in a progressive direction in life.

A Sattvic mind has a calm, clear, creative thinking that allows it to easily find effective solutions to life’s problems. Then we need a little bit of Rajas to implement these creative ideas and solutions. A little bit of Tamas is required to bring these activities to an end when the problem is actually been solved.

How to Balance Your Sattvic, Rajasic and Tamasic Diet:

The base of our diet should always be Sattvic. As mentioned above, the majority of your diet should consist of fresh or freshly prepared grains, vegetables, fruits, nuts, seeds, beans, milk, ghee (clarified butter), cold pressed oils and natural sweeteners (Honey, Jaggery).

We need just a small amount of Rajasic foods to stimulate creativity and Tamasic food can be helpful when an excess of Rajas is present to bring the stability.

Keeping Your “Inner Flame” Burning Bright Through Diet

 “You are only as old as your Agni” – Dr Vasant Lad

According to ancient wisdom, we have our own mini-sun, also known as inner flame within us. Just as if the sun were to disappear, all life would come to an end. Similarly, if our inner flame were to be extinguished, we would also die.

Physical and mental strength, enthusiasm and courage, and especially longevity and overall health are all said to be directly related to the health of our agni.

We can protect and balance our inner Agni via the proper consumption of food and drinks in the right quantities and at the right times, keeping the seasonal effects of foods in mind.

In Conclusion

To conclude, I’d like to say moderation is the key. Educate yourself on proper nutrition, be kind to your body, and see what foods work for you.

Lord Krishna also spoke about spiritually charged foods. When food is prepared with love and consumed mindfully and with reverence, the body is believed to become filled with health, serenity, vitality, hope, and joy.

Do try and incorporate Sattvic food into your lifestyle with small steps at a time.

Wishing you all abundant physical, mental, and spiritual health this Janamashtmi – Jai Shri Krishna!

 

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Packaged food is the quick fix for today’s on- the- go generation. From the early morning biscuits to the breakfast cereal, mid morning chips to post lunch chocolate, evening tea cookies to instant noodles – the list is endless!

Yes, I know you look for reassuring words  printed in bold- sugar free, low calorie, fat free, no preservatives, all natural before picking any packaged food item. But those bold claims at the front of  your favourite or usual go-to packaged foods can be quite misleading if you don’t read closely. The so called food packets are full of harmful hidden ingredients that are posing hormonal disturbance and other serious health problems and keeping you away from your health goal.

Here we learn  handy ways to understand food label ,detect marketing deceptions and make healthful choices:

1. Read the ingredient list: Don’t just read the calories. The most important thing to look at FIRST in any packaged food item is the ingredient list, mentioned at the back of the box. The Ingredient List states the main ingredient first(by weight), followed by the rest of the ingredients in descending order(by weight).

For e.g:

 

In this particular biscuit packaging, sugar is the biggest component , bigger than even the flour, making it an unhealthy choice .

2. Length of the Ingredient List: The fewer the ingredients the better is the packaged food. Would recommend to buy foods with max five or less ingredients. The longer the list, the more questionable the health quotient of the product.

The above packaging is of a popular tea time snack but how many ingredients can you relate with  actual food in the long list? Most of ingredients are actually chemicals in form of preservatives, colourings ,emulsifiers and  added hidden sugars.

 

3.Look for real ingredients:In comparison, when you see this label for a sweet granola type product, the list is also long but the ingredients are real making it a better  choice.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Many times sugars and trans fats are mentioned by different names such as high fructose corn syrup, barley malt, sucrose, maltose, maltodextrin, rice syrup or trans fat as partially hydrogenated vegetable oil. Be wary of such food products.

 

4.Understanding the Nutrition Facts on the label:

 

Pic Courtesy: FDA

1. Look for Number of Servings Per Container: This tells us the size of a single serving and the total number of servings per container (package).As clearly mentioned there are two servings in the above container and it is not meant to be finished at one go. Next time before having that packet of chips all at one go, check the mentioned number of servings.
2. Check the calories per serving and how many servings you’re really consuming:  As mentioned in the point above, if you double the servings you eat, you double the calories, fats and carbs too . If you eat whole packet at one go, as per the label above you eat two servings and hence 500 Calories (250*2).Similarly the amount of fat and carbs you ate also doubled the amount mentioned on the label.
3. Check for saturated fat,sodium and trans fat:This one is a no-brainer, limit the amounts of saturated fat and sodium, and avoid trans fat Choose foods with as less of these nutrients whenever possible.                              An important not to be missed point here is, your packet food is not trans fat free even though its label mentions trans fat as 0g. As per FDA, If one serving of any food product contains less than 0.5 gram of trans fat, it is mentioned must as 0 g. As given in the label below, when the Nutrition Facts label says a food contains “0 g” of transfat, but includes “partially hydrogenated oil” in the ingredient list, it means the food contains trans fat, but less than 0.5 grams of trans fat per serving. So, if you eat more than one serving, you could quickly reach your daily limit of trans (as per the American Heart Association). For e.g.

• Secondly, sodium levels are another red flag that you must check. The American Heart Association recommends no more than 1,500 mg per day for most adults. We consume 2,300 milligrams (mgs) a day in 1 teaspoon salt! While we cook with salt levels in check, most of us overdose on sodium from processed, pre-packaged and restaurant foods. This significantly affects blood pressure and heart health.

 

4.Dietary fiber, protein, calcium, iron, vitamins and other nutrients: These are beneficial nutrients and you may look for them in real whole foods like fresh fruits, vegetables,seeds and nuts and not in packaged foods.

5. Information shown in these panels is based on 2,000 calories/day: Unless you are an athlete or do hard labour, most of us need less than 1600 calorie per day. Hence, most of these values are already on the higher side for us.

6.The % Daily Value (DV) :tells you the percentage of each nutrient in a single serving, in terms of the daily recommended amount. (in this case, in one serving of 228g, this is the percentage of the nutrient that you are consuming.)

To simplify it,use 5:20 ratio rule. If you want to consume less of a nutrient (such as saturated fat or sodium), choose foods with a lower % DV — 5 percent or less. If you want to consume more of a nutrient (such as fiber or protein), seek foods with a higher % DV — 20 percent or more.

 

I hope this blog helps you making healthier and better food choices . You may find retaining this information overwhelming at one go. I urge you to go point by point and make it a gradual learning process. Do educate your family and your children as well. A nutritionally knowledgeable family is a healthy happy family!

 

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