Is Honey Sattvic? The Truth about Ayurvedic Sweeteners

The question is honey sattvic can arise when you are going deeper in your yoga practice, or simply wanting a healthier lifestyle. If you are trying to stay healthy, you are in the right place! As usual, The Indian Rose will explore contemporary topics related to health and well being with a traditional Indian angle, which often means Ayurveda and yoga, like we did with how to get rid of bad breath.

After defining what is sattvic food, and answering the question is honey sattvic, we will also discover what is panchamrit and what are the ingredients in panchamrit.

What is Sattvic food

Before you know the answer to the question is honey sattvic, it is important to have a rough idea about sattvic food. Food in yoga and Ayurveda is classified as sattvic, rajasic or tamasic depending on its qualities or properties. Sattvic food is the healthiest as it induces intelligence, positive energy, purity, relax, well being and longevity. Rajasic food induces passion and restlessness, while tamasic food induces inactivity and laziness. If you are a vegan, you should know that not all sattvic food is vegan in Ayurveda, and you might want to read our article on vegan Indian food.

Yogis should mainly eat Sattvic food because it makes the body and mind feel light, a perfect state for meditation. Sattvic eating is light eating, which not only means consuming sattvic foods, but also refraining from overeating.

Sattvic foods are fresh, local and seasonal, because they tend to grow without much human intervention and to be perishable. Moreover, most of them are sun foods: they do not grow underground. So, is honey sattvic?

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Is Honey Sattvic?

Honey is sattvic. Honey is indeed one of the main sattvic foods together with fruits, vegetables, milk and cereals. Although honey is the longest lasting (least perishable) among sattvic foods, it is nonetheless associated with freshness and positive energy. Honey is sattvic also because it is easy to digest.

One important piece of information is that honey is sattvic when it is raw, organic, free from preservatives, pure, i.e. real honey. That means non pasteurized, non heated, non processed.

Although the answer to is honey sattvic is positive, honey is one of those Ayurvedic foods to be consumed in moderation. Sattvic food should not be overly sweet. Also, never substitute honey with white sugar, which is refined, thus lacks vitality. You may however substitute honey with raw sugar or jaggery.

Also, we must add that honey is not considered sattvic by some yoga schools, which prefer to refrain from sweeteners altogether. It is however generally considered sattvic, so much so that it is routinely offered to the Gods in HInduism, being a key ingredient of Panchamrit, which we explain below.

What Is Panchamrit

Panchamrit is a sweet liquid used for worship purposes in Hinduism. It is offered to the deities during the puja. Panchamrit means “5 nectar of God” because it is traditionally made of 5 ingredients, of which, as we explained in “is honey sattvic”, one is honey.

What are the ingredients in panchamrit

The ingredients in panchamrit are honey, milk (raw and fresh), ghee, curd (Indian yoghurt) and sugar. However, according to the region, people might add coconut, bananas and saffron. Honey is believed to signify sweetness of speech in panchamrit, so honey is a truly sattvic food.

We hope we clarified all of your doubts regarding “is honey sattvic”, if you have further questions, do not hesitate to contact us or leave a comment below.

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