Meat & Animal Products Overview
Energetics: Sweet/warm/sweet V↓PK↑ Tamasic.
Indications: Meat is the most nourishing food, excellent for debility, convalescence, lowering high vāta disorders. Meat is considered deranging and makes more toxins or āma, especially in pitta personality. It promotes infections, fevers, tumors and increases irritability. Meat is considered a highly tamasic food, which interferes with spiritual elevation. It may be because meats trigger the adrenals to secrete epinephrine and norepinephrine, which are very stimulating hormones that create alertness and irritability. Also, meat promotes the increase of sexual hormones, which interfere with spiritual evolution. The Vedic texts (Śāstras) state that it is acceptable to take the life of an animal in few instances; if it is your job i.e., fisherman, and if one is weak and it is needed to preserve or save a human life or people who are fighters like soldiers and need that irritation to fight. For those who purchase meat, free-range and humanely treated animals provide much better quality meat.
Organs (i.e. Liver): Very nourishing to their respective organs but produce low tissue quality and dulls the mind.
Bones and Bone Soup: Nourish marrow but are heavy, tend to make blood toxic.
Preparation
Cooked properly with digestive spices is good. Raw or not completely cooked increases āma,
and aggravates blood.
Salt: Softens and tenderizes, MSG has many side effects.
Raw or not completely cooked: Very aggravating for āma and the blood
Soups and Stews: Easier to take.
Deep-Fried: More difficult to digest, as meat already has excessive amounts of saturated fats, and frying in lard is aggravating to doṣas and blocks the srotas.
Canned: Very tamasic and is more putrefied and can cause more allergic reactions.
Combinations
It is better not to combine certain foods.
Do not combine with milk. The combination of two heavy proteins leads to the clogging of srotas. It does not combine well with bread or potatoes.
Timing
Times either during the day or the season
Season: Avoid in summer due to its warm energy, better for those in high altitudes or northern latitudes and people who do hard manual labor. Combines very well with raw vegetables, leafy greens, vegetable juices, bitter herbs, and spices.
Animal Products List
Animal Oil
Actions: Very hard to digest, PK↑; increases āma and cholesterol.
Beef
Energetics: V↓PK↑
Taste/Rasa: Sweet
Potency/Virya: Warm
Vipaka: Sweet
Actions: Nutritious
Indications: Builds blood and muscles, strength, endurance. Cures dry cough, emaciation, fatigue, wasting of muscles, diseases caused by Vāta
Contraindications: Aggravates toxic blood, reduces compassion, irritation (tamasic)
Chicken/Turkey
Energetics: V↓PK↑ is less likely to aggravate Kapha slightly due to being dry and lean.
Taste/Rasa: Sweet
Potency/Virya: Warm
Vipaka: Sweet
Actions: Dry, light.
Indications: Easiest meat to digest. It improves absorption, anorexia, debility, convalescence (especially as soup). Tamasic.
Duck
Energetics: V↓PK↑
Taste/Rasa: Sweet
Potency/Virya: Warm
Vipaka: Sweet
Actions: More nutritive
Indications: It improves absorption, anorexia, debility, convalescence (especially as soup). Tamasic.
Contraindications: Harder to digest than turkey or chicken.
Eggs
Energetics: V↓PK↑ Less Tamasic than meat
Taste/Rasa: Sweet
Potency/Virya: Warm
Vipaka: Sweet
Actions: Tonic, nutritive, demulcent, aphrodisiac
Indications: Vigor, fertility, convalescence, sexual debility. Egg whites are more cooling hence better for Pitta while the yolk is heating and may aggravate Pitta.
Lamb/Mutton
Energetics: V↓PK↑ Tamasic
Taste/Rasa: Sweet
Potency/Virya: Hot
Vipaka: Sweet
Actions: Aphrodisiac
Indications: Irritant, promotes sexual activity, with garlic aggravates the blood. Watch for allergies.
Lard
Energetics: K↑↑, āma ++
Taste/Rasa: Sweet
Potency/Virya: Warm
Vipaka: Sweet
Actions: Clogs channels, promotes obesity, skin diseases, gallstones.
Pork
Energetics: VP↓K↑ Tamasic
Taste/Rasa: Sweet
Potency/Virya: Cool
Vipaka: Sweet
Actions: Nourishing
Indications: Alleviates vāta, promotes strength
Contraindications: Dullness, heaviness of mind and senses, clogs srotas (channels)-particularly bacon is difficult to digest and heavy from high fat concentration. It increases fat tissue more than any other meat.
Venison
Energetics: V↓PK↑ Tamasic
Taste/Rasa: Sweet
Potency/Virya: Warm
Vipaka: Sweet
Actions: Nutritive, aphrodisiac.
Indications: It strengthens kidneys and bones, promotes fertility and growth
Fish Overview
Energetics: V↓PK↑ Tamasic
Taste/Rasa: Sweet, salty
Potency/Virya: Warm
Vipaka: Sweet
Actions: Tonic, rejuvenating, laxative, lighter than meat.
Indications: Builds plasma. Contains oil that nourishes the liver, skin, eyes, strengthens the heart, reduces cholesterol and arteriosclerosis. Shellfish are generally good for the kidneys, reproductive tissue, and impotence. They reduce vāta and increase pitta and kapha. May cause diarrhea or nausea due to allergies.
Preparation: Freshness is important. Canned or salted aggravates humors and causes āma. Steamed or baked is best.
Combinations: Does not combine well with milk, sugar, meat.
Combinations: Fish can be antidoted with spices: mustard, horseradish, ginger, garlic, perilla (shisho).
Sour sauces are more P↑; aggravate blood, may cause diarrhea.
Freshwater Fish
Energetics: VPK=; PK↑ (in excess)
Taste/Rasa: Sweet, astringent
Potency/Virya: Warm
Vipaka: Sweet
Actions: Less salty hence better for Pitta and Kapha. Trout easiest fish to digest
Ocean Fish
Energetics: V↓PK↑
Taste/Rasa: Sweet, salty
Potency/Virya: Warm
Vipaka: Sweet
Actions: The same as fish in general
