Foods That Harm Foods That Heal

[Big_Tera]

Which foods are good for us and which are not?

Many people in this day an age are , unhappy, unmotivated, do not feel content, feel confused and have lack of energy and basically not functioning to their full potential. Many are also addicted to alcohol, food and other intoxicants.

It it any wonder this is happening in modern society. I mean if you give water and good nutrition to a plant it grows beautifully and correctly with shiny foliage. But if you don't give it what it needs in terms of nutrients it will slowly start to fade away and becomes unhealthy.

So what foods are good for us and what foods are bad??

I personally only eat the following. Fruit/veg fresh Fish. Lean meats and yogurts

Foods that are the worst for our mental as well as physical health are

Are Coffee

Sugar

Alcohol

Garlic. Onions are considered bad as they make us commit sins. This is based on Indian Ayurveda texts which state that these fall in the category of making our minds became intoxicated with unmoral thoughts. It is also considered an aphrodisiac making us become more promiscuous.

[JagsawSingh]

I personally only eat the following. Fruit/veg fresh Fish. Lean meats and yogurts

:omg: You might be on the wrong forum fella. This is the Sikh forum....not the Muslim one.

For healing foods, we need to go back to basics. Our forefathers knew.......we've simply forgotten what was passed down to us.

• Lets start with the most superfood of all : ALSI (flaxseed). Our forefathers knew of it's super qualities ( and so does Fauja Singh who credits it as his secret to a healthy life) but since then we've taken it out of our kitchens and put in the barn as something to feed the cows / bulls with instead. We feed it to them on our farm to fatten them up and make them strong but we have forgotten how it was what made our Sikh forefathers so much stronger than us today.
• TULSI (Holy Basil). Not to be confused with regular basil it is a plant that was grown by the world's first great environmentalist Guru Har Rai ji at his Guru Ka Bagh garden. Many from afar, including Kings and Queens and Mughal emporers, would come to him to obtain the natural foods and medicines he had in his garden (once, famously, the Mughal Emporer himself came from Delhi to beg Guru Har Rai ji for something from his garden to cure his dying son. Guru ji obliged and saved the boy's life). Pride among them was Tulsi. It's not only a superfood its also a super drug, which can be rubbed onto ailments giving amzing results.

So here's the funny thing, both Alsi and Tulsi were always at our fingertips and our birthright. But, we've only started eating them again now that people like Madonna, Demi Moore and the rest of Hollywood have popularised them again (after they had contact with 3HO Sikhs).

p.s Our ancestors, pre-Sikhi, also had another superfood: According to the elders, our ancestors ate only minimal food, tiny amounts, and yet were bigger, taller and stronger than us. The elders say it was because they used to 'eat the sun'. 2 times a day, when the sun would not burn their eyes, at dawn and at sunset, they would stand in the fields barefoot with their feet touching the earth and perfect the art of staring at the sun for an hour or so. The rays of the sun would provide their bodies with not only enough nutruients but also brain developing nutrients.

Interestingly, many westerners have recently read up on what our ancestors did and 'sun eating' has started to become very popular and common in Hollywood and 'hippie' type circles around the globe.

[JagsawSingh]

also.....gorh (jaggery) and Pinnia (especially alsi di pinnia),

[Blessed3]

I wish I could stick to a healthy diet, it really is also down to willpower. Sugar is my biggest difficulty. I have a health condition which flarea up with different kinds of food. At present I am supposed to be avoiding anything spicy but most of our homemade punjabi cuisine is flavoured by spices.

[luckysingh99]

Maya is trai-gun......consists of the 3 gunas which are Rajogun, tamogun and satogun.

The food we eat can also be categorised into these qualities

from wiki-

Sattvic foods[edit] Nuts, Seeds, and Oils[edit]

Fresh nuts and seeds that have not been overly roasted and salted are good additions to the sattvic diet in small portions.^{[citation needed]} Choices include almonds(especially when soaked in water overnight and then peeled), hemp seeds, coconuts, pine nuts, walnuts, sesame seeds (til in Nepali), pumpkin seeds and flax seeds. Oils should be of good quality and cold-pressed. Some choices are olive oil, sesame oil and flax oil. Most oils should only be eaten in their raw state, but some oils like ghee, sesame oil, palm oil, and coconut oil can be used in cooking.

Fruit[edit]

Fruits are the major part of the sattvic diet and a maximum number of fruits are sattvic.

Dairy[edit]

The milk must be obtained from an animal that has a spacious outdoor environment, an abundance of pasture to feed on, water to drink, is treated with love and care, and is not pregnant. The milk may only be collected once the mother's calf has its share. Dairy products like yogurt and cheese (paneer) must be made that day, from milk obtained that day. Butter must be fresh daily as well, and raw; but ghee (clarified butter) can be aged forever, and is great for cooking. Freshness is key with dairy. Milk that is freshly milked from a happy cow, still warm, is nectar to man and woman. Milk that is not consumed fresh can be refrigerated for one to two weeks in its raw state, but must be brought to a boil before drinking, and drunk while still hot/warm. Pasteurization, homogenization, and the use of GMOs and pesticides are all considered poisonous to humans—as is the consumption of milk from cows that are treated poorly, and consuming cold milk. As finding milk that surpasses these standards is extremely rare, people in western countries often choose to follow a vegan Sattvic diet.^{[citation needed]}

Vegetables[edit]

Most mild vegetables are considered sattvic. Pungent vegetables like hot peppers, leek, garlic and onion are excluded, as are gas-forming foods such asmushrooms (tamasic, as are all fungi) and potatoes. Some consider the Solanaceae family (tomatoes, peppers, eggplants, and potatoes) as not sattvic, but most consider the Allium family (garlic, onion, leeks, shallots), as well as fungus (yeasts, molds, and mushrooms) as not sattvic. The classification of whether something is sattvic or not is defined largely by the different schools of thought, and - even then - individually, depending on the understanding and needs of practitioners. Sometimes the given nature of certain foods can be neutralised by careful preparation. A practice is to drink freshly made vegetable juices for theirprana, live enzymes, and easy absorption.^{[citation needed]}

Whole grains[edit]

Whole grains provide nourishment. Some include organic rice, whole wheat, spelt, oatmeal and barley. Sometimes the grains are lightly roasted before cooking to remove some of their heavy quality. Yeasted breads are not recommended, unless toasted. Wheat and other grains can be sprouted before cooking as well. Some preparations are kicharee (brown or white basmati rice cooked with whole or split mung beans, ghee and mild spices), kheer (rice cooked with milk and sweetened), chapatis (non-leavened whole wheat flat bread), porridge (sometimes made very watery and cooked with herbs), and “Bible” bread (sprouted grain bread). Sometimes yogis will fast from grains during special practices.^{[citation needed]}

Legumes[edit]

Mung beans, lentils, yellow split peas, chickpeas, aduki beans, common beans, organic tofu, and bean sprouts are considered sattvic if well prepared. In general, the smaller the bean, the easier to digest. Preparations include splitting, peeling, grinding, soaking, sprouting, cooking and spicing. Legumes combined with whole grains can offer a complete protein source. Some yogis consider the mung bean to be the only sattvic legume.

Sweeteners[edit]

Some yogis use raw honey (often in combination with dairy) and jaggery, a raw sugar (not refined). In some traditions, sugar and/or honey are excluded from the diet, along with all other sweeteners.

Spices[edit]

All spices are considered as either rajsik or tamsik. However, over time certain Hindu sects have tried to classify a few spices as Sattvic. It is however considered as inappropriate by purists.

Sattvic spices are mild spices including basil (Tulshi), cardamom (Elaichi in Hindi), cinnamon (Dalchini in Hindi), coriander (Dhaniya in Hindi), cumin (Jeera in Hindi), fennel (Sonph in Hindi), fenugreek (Methi in Hindi), fresh ginger (Adrak in Hindi) and turmeric (Haldi in Hindi). Rajasic spices like black pepper (Kaali mirch in Hindi) and red pepper are normally excluded, but are sometimes used in small amounts, both to clear channels blocked by mucus and to counter tamas. Salt is good in strict moderation, but only unrefined salts, like Himalayan salt or unbleached sea salt, not iodized salt.

Sattvic herbs[edit]

Other herbs are used to directly support sattva in the mind and in meditation. These include ashwagandha, bacopa, calamus, gotu kola, gingko, jatamansi, purnarnava, shatavari, saffron, shankhapushpi, tulsi and rose.

Rajasic (stimulant) foods[edit]

Stimulant foods, also called mutative foods, mutable foods or rajasic foods, are foods that often provoke mental restlessness. They are not completely beneficial, nor are they harmful, to body or mind. Foods that cannot be categorized as either sentient or static are classified in this food group.

These foods are thought by some to cause aggressive and dominating thoughts, especially towards others^{[citation needed]}.

Stimulant foods energize and develop the manipura (navel) chakra and body but do not promote advancement in the higher chakras.

Such foods include: caffeinated drinks such as coffee, tea (both black and green), cola drinks, energy drinks, brown or black chocolate, ginkgo biloba, spicy food, salt, and unfertilized egg.

Tamasic (sedative) foods[edit]

Sedative foods, also called static foods, or tamasic foods are foods whose consumption, according to Yoga, are harmful to either mind or body. Harm to mind includes anything that will lead to a duller, less refined state of consciousness. Bodily harm includes any foods that will cause detrimental stress to any physical organ directly or indirectly (via any physical imbalance).^{[citation needed]}

They are, however, sometimes necessary during times of great physical stress and pain. They help dull the pain and lower consciousness, allowing the body to repair itself. Such static foods may be deemed necessary in times of war or great distress.

Static foods stimulate and strengthen the lower two chakras, but will not assist in beneficial development of the higher chakras. In fact they are usually detrimental to the advancement of the higher chakras.

Such foods include: meat, fish, fertilized egg, onion, garlic, scallion, leek, chive, mushroom, alcoholic beverage, durian (fruit), blue cheese, eggplant, opium, and stale food.