Above: Sheetal Rawal, scientist (human genetics) & founder of Apsara Skin Care
By: Marty S.
While it may be good for your internal health and the health of your skin, dieting is not meant to be taken lightly. It takes time trying to build a diet plan that works for you and your schedule. You have to factor in the time it takes to cook your meals, what groceries you have to buy when you should eat your food, et cetera. However, if you are no stranger to diets and you either want to try something new or upgrade an existing diet, we would like to recommend a sattvic diet, which includes food for beautiful skin.
According to Ayurveda, all food can be split into 3 categories: sattvic, rajasic, and tamasic. Whereas rajasic foods stimulate your body and tamasic foods slow it down, sattvic foods exist within that happy medium; they are balanced and healthy foods designed to nourish you from the inside out, both physically and mentally. A sattvic diet is a favorite among those that practice yoga, and following one means that you will want to avoid rajasic and tamasic foods as much as you can.
Because you don’t want to eat foods that can disrupt your body’s natural balance, you might struggle with learning how to adapt your lifestyle to a sattvic diet. Still, the benefits associated with a sattvic diet plan shouldn’t be ignored. Now that you know what is sattvic diet, let’s learn how to switch to a sattvic diet food chart and how this particular diet can keep your mind calm and your skin decades younger. Glowing, youthful skin starts with your diet so don’t miss any of this crucial information!
What Foods Can You Eat with a Sattvic Diet?
First, let’s talk about the foods you can eat. In a sattvic food diet, you are allowed to eat whole grains, seasonal fruits and vegetables, nuts, seeds, and legumes. When preparing your meals, you are only allowed to cook with plant-based oils and mild spices, for example, turmeric, basil, and coriander. There’s no guide to how and when to eat your meals, but all the food that you eat should be ripe, organic, and unprocessed.
Now, let’s talk about the foods you can’t eat in a sattvic diet. As we mentioned above, a sattvic diet means that you can’t eat rajasic and tamasic foods; in other words, you can’t eat any foods that stimulate your body or slow it down. There are some fairly obvious foods that you could guess are either rajasic or tamasic, for instance, processed foods, deep-fried foods, and foods that contain refined sugar. However, a sattvic diet plan does limit foods you can eat that you would consider healthy. For example, though all fruits and vegetables are healthy and good for you, not all of them can be eaten regardless of what season it is. Citrus fruits such as lemons and limes contain a lot of Vitamin C, but they are considered rajasic and thus cannot be consumed regularly under a sattvic diet. Similarly, a cup of coffee or tea may be good for you in moderation because both of them are good sources of antioxidants, but because of the caffeine, they are considered rajasic in nature.
Overall, with a sattvic diet, you have to pay close attention to the foods that you eat. If you are consuming too many foods that are upsetting your body’s natural balance, then you are much better off pursuing a seasonal diet or a clean diet.
"My favorite thing about [the Ayurvedic Vitamin C Natural Glow Serum] is that it feels super light while also being moisturizing and nourishing in many ways, but doesn’t feel too heavy on my skin."
How Can a Sattvic Diet Help You Get Radiant, Ageless Skin?
A sattvic diet does take a lot of work so you might wonder why you would want to try it in the first place. To start, a sattvic diet is rich in nutrients, high in fiber, and low in fat. Not only can this diet help you lose weight, but living a sattvic life can also help you get glowing, youthful skin. Fiber is particularly important for your internal health and your skin health because it helps clean your gut, and improving the health of your gut is very important in Ayurveda. Better gut health generally leads to better digestion and less inflammation within your body, and that could translate into a more prominent skin glow and less pronounced lines and wrinkles.
Second, a sattvic diet is designed to provide inner peace and mental clarity. Ideally, among the three different types of foods, you should want to eat sattvic food items over rajasic and tamasic foods. You don’t want your diet to excite your mind to exhaustion (rajasic) nor do you want it to slow it down to a stupor (tamasic). This is crucial when you are experiencing stress. Stress has known to increase inflammation in your body as well as early signs of aging. If your diet isn’t equipped to handle stress or if you are eating foods that could be increasing your stress levels, your premature lines and wrinkles could start to look more prominent. By prioritizing sattvic foods with this diet, it may become easier to approach situations in your life with more calmness and balance. With less stress and eating this healthy food for beautiful skin, you might begin to feel more youthful, both inside and out.
Though dieting can help you lose weight, not doing it properly can lead to early aging. Listen to this episode of the Apsara Skin Care Podcast to find out more! Enjoy and don’t forget to subscribe to my YouTube channel!
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Go natural. It is good karma!