Rajasic people prefer food that is bitter, sour, excessively salty, very hot, pungent, dry, and burning. According to Krishna, such food leads to pain, grief, and disease.
This is food that delights the tongue but punishes the body. Heavily spiced dishes, intensely salty snacks, or scalding-hot food — all fall into this category. The pleasure is immediate but short-lived; the consequences linger.
Such food creates restlessness in the body, acidity in the stomach, and irritability in the mind. That is why Krishna links it directly to duhkha (suffering) and amaya (disease).