You are what you eat and digest. If your stomach feels heavy, it’s surely something bad that you’ve eaten. But, what about your mind when it feels cloudy, cold and fatigued? It’s time to reconsider your diet (ahara) as well as the lifestyle. A clouded mind is dangerous in every situation since it affects your individual, familial and professional life. So, how to deal with the tired tamasic brain? Understand the food-mind-lifestyle connection and alleviate the symptoms causing mental fog.
Ayurveda And The Mind
Similar to how the three Doshas – Vata, Pitta, and Kapha define each person’s constitution, the human brain is also categorized under the following three Gunas:
Sattva: People with Sattva dominance are compassionate, creative, optimistic, conscious, happy, and hard working. Their system functions well even after 4-5 hours of sleep.
Rajas: Rajasic people are egoistic, dominant, aggressive, competitive, proud, and ambitious. They toil for perfection but get mentally fatigued. Rajasic people require about 8 hours of sleep.
Tamas: Tamasic mind represents darkness, inertia, and heaviness. People with high tamas are lazy, depressive, sleepy, and inclined towards alcohol and sex. They need 8+ hours of sleep because mental work is tiring for them.
The Diet & Mind Connection
Food provides nourishment to the body as well as the mind. According to Ayurveda, the food that you eat has the ability to alter the predominance of Doshas as well as Gunas. Food can increase or decrease Vata, Pitta, Kapha, Sattva, Rajas, and Tamas in the body. Sattva is the harbinger of creativity, passion, emotions, and intelligence. The Tamas is the opposite of Sattva and is destructive. It affects the mind and brings negativity. Therefore, Ayurveda recommends having only Sattavic food and staying away from Tamasic items.
Sattvic Food
These foods help clear the clouded mind as well as relieve the tired brain. Therefore, if your head feels heavy and clouded, try these:
- Sprouts
- Apple
- Apricot
- Asparagus
- Barley
- Carrots
- Buttermilk
- Cheese
- Fennel
- Peanuts
- Walnuts
- Parsley
- Sweet potatoes
Such foods increase intelligence, maintain balance and relax the tired brain.
Tamasic Food
These foods increase mental fog. You start losing mental clarity. The list includes:
- Alcohol
- All kinds of meat
- Garlic
- Fast foods
- Ice cream
- Pasteurized milk
- Mushrooms
- Onion
- Black radish
- Soybeans
- Leftovers
- Processed foods
Clear Mental Fog With Shudh Ahara
Shudh Ahara or a Sattvic diet can help bid adieu to your tired brain:
- Eat vegetables, grains, lentils, nuts, and fruits for better mental clarity.
- Cook food in clarified butter instead of refined oil. Ghee has immense qualities and lubrication is one of them.
- Say goodbye to refrigerated, canned, and preserved food products. They harm your digestion.
- Avoid overeating to prevent laziness.
- Don’t skip meals. Eat them at the right time.
- Add spices to your food for their medicinal properties.
Calm The Clouded Mind With Vihara
Vihara is behavior. Your action represents the quality of your mind. Follow these tips to kick mental fog away:
- Focus on what brings you happiness.
- Go for morning as well as evening walks.
- Sleep early at night to ensure enough rest to the mind.
- Learn to forgive others but do not forget yourself.
- Do not overindulge in eating, sleeping, or exercising.
- Practice meditation for 20 minutes daily.
- Be conscious of your surroundings.
Note: Articles on Ayurvedum are solely for the purpose of sharing the goodness of Ayurveda and bringing awareness on natural and healthy living. Please do not substitute it for professional medical advice. Ingredients discussed can interfere with certain medications. So, before using anything to treat yourself, always consult an Ayurveda doctor or practitioner.
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