Sattvic
diet.

Texts / Thoughts.
What sattvic food might be
Lots of people outside of India, or unfamiliar with yoga and its philosophies might never have heard the term of sattva or a sattvic diet. I never was in india myself or had education in this topic. So I had to read and research a lot about it, the longer I did yogasana in my daily life. Still found no final idea about it. What I experienced was, that there came a certain time, when I started to feel that some foods are less liked by my body and mind than others. 
 
Since I’m not a trained teacher nor a doctor or studied in the ancient books and languages, I can only write down my own ideas, experiences and learnings about it.

Modern, to english/german translated literature about yoga tells that sattva is a state and term of and for pureness. In the section of food this might be fresh, in a good environment grown food which is cooked by a loving minded person, eaten in a calm and secure place. Food that causes the body almost no effort to clean itself and which also does not disturb the mind after eating. 
Sattvic food should keep the body light, supple and well and never cause sickness or pain.

Most people in modern world will never think about those facts and do eat as their senses please. Which is now common and learned since childhood and through advertising.
To eat sattvic is very, very strenuous (for me, since I have a lot of allergies and intolerances). In yogic literature they say sattva in terms of food is milk, ghee, some fruits, some vegetables, grains, small legumes and water. I’ve tried – it helped for a while but still wasn’t working that good for me!

Maybe it’s the cold environment where I live, the ever changing seasons, the bodily constitution the genetic defects, or the self-abuse of my body in my youth through alcohol, diets and such. Maybe it’s the whole package of what is/was. And also an awareness of what I would try to avoid in sight of future…
Dairy, vegetarian, vegan
Since a sattvic diet propagates a vegetarian diet, the use of fresh milk and clarified butter (ghee) is very understandable. It was the only way to avoid a lack of B12 or iron in bygone times.
Since it was very common to have a cow available in ones closer region and to live in harmony with the environment, this diet is one of the farmost best ideas I've ever read about. 
Today I think people often overdo these two dairy products and invented a lot of strange new things out of it (in some cases as a necessity, to store and survive on it). We’ve lost the idea of animal-human connection and farming. Milk and butter became all other than this mysterious "sattvic". It is now a mixture of high tech mother cows packed up in a carton box.

And in my case: as a baby I had to vomit from cows milk. As a child I was vulnerable for throat and ear infections and had lymphatic problems. And when I got older I noticed the interconnections between those complaints, the consumption of dairy products and my health state. I always had a strange feeling about dairy products or eggs. I was very interested, when I heard the first time about vegan diet and sticking to this I could solve the problem of my lactose intolerance. My health and overall feeling increased, exept of being a bit less strong but more sensibel.
I don’t dare thinking about, the now necessary supplements and vitamin pills in my stomach daily, being considered as sattvic…but it is as it is.
Legumes and grains
Legumes and grains are sattvic. What if one is allergic and has intolerances? I can’t eat them without developing stomach pain, eczema, running nose and breathing problems. Where shall proteins come from, when abstaining from meat and milk already? Uff, the protein-list gets quiet small.
Fruits
Freshly plucked fruits are very pure and sattvic. I guess almost everyone did enjoyed that feeling already, in plucking a fruit from a tree! It is the thing you give your child, when it is still small and pure and obeying.
But don’t think about the malaise feeling, after eating a delicious apple, date or banana if you suffer from a fructose or histamine intolerance. I do let fruits aside most of the times. But to be honest, in my opinion it is one of the most beautiful foods in the world. It is raised by sun and we don’t even have to cook it.
Sometimes and when in good state, I allow myself to try some fruits or berries.
Vegetables
In the sattvic concept, vegetables (raw) and cooked are well desired. But, there are some which bring acidity or heaviness to the body or mind. Those are: onion, garlic, leek vegetables, mushrooms, tomatoes and other nightshades. I can confirm this, since I've experienced the effects on my own body. I also have to leave aside pumpkin, celary, spinach, and some more because of my histamine intolerance. During pollen season, I even have a hard time to eat carrots. Because of latter and the fructose, I sadly do not eat raw vegetables. 
I sometimes eat bell peppers, even that it’s considered a nightshade vegetable or a fruit, it seem to cause only few symptoms on me (so far). So in summer I eat them, mostly cooked.
What else might be sattvic?
It's also how we eat, when we eat, how much we eat. How it is prepared, where the food is coming from. How it has been grown, for example organic food, or raised by a person you love. It is also about being fresh and not being horted in a place, for longer time than necessary.