Interpretation

Rajasic food: excessively stimulating foods that excite the passions and agitate the nervous system. The qualities — bitter, sour, salty, very hot, pungent, dry, burning — describe highly processed, spicy, and artificially flavored foods as well as alcohol. These foods produce pain (duhkha), grief (shoka), and disease (amaya) because they create temporary excitation followed by crash, disturb digestive fire, and inflame the passions. The rajasic person reaches for these foods for stimulation, just as they reach for stimulation in all other areas of life. Diet and consciousness mutually reinforce each other.