Most people who seriously practice yoga are vegetarians. Some adhere to veganism and a raw food diet. But basically, yogis refuse only meat, fish and eggs, while leaning on dairy and fermented milk products, not at all disdaining thermally processed food. And I know at least one fairly famous yogi who eats meat without a twinge of conscience.
I haven’t eaten meat for seven years now, since I started doing yoga. I didn’t intend to become a vegetarian, I just realized at one fine moment: I don’t want to, because I don’t get pleasure from it, but I feel a heaviness in my stomach.
Yogis who become vegetarians cite two reasons:
1. “It’s better for your health.”
2. “This is the tradition set forth in the ancient texts.”
But the connection between health and giving up meat is not so obvious. Of course, enthusiastic fans of vegetarianism and veganism praise the rejuvenating and cleansing properties of these nutritional systems. On the other hand, meat-eaters remind us that protein is much better absorbed from meat than from plant foods, and vegans have to consume vitamin B 12 exclusively in synthesized form.
Nutrition during yoga classes
Following the ancient rules is an even more controversial issue. Yoga, of course, came from India, a largely vegetarian country, but does this mean that we should copy the Indian experience exactly? In the texts Gheranda Samhita and Shiva Samhita, not only meat is described as unclean food, but also any food that has stood for several hours. The topic of ahimsa, or non-violence, is complex, multifaceted and not limited to dietary choices. Vegetarianism does not make a person a saint. You can refuse animal food, but at the same time harm people.
Many yogis become vegetarians to strengthen their spirit. But often it is not their decision. It is dictated by an authoritative instructor, a friend, or a book. If you choose a vegetarian diet contrary to the needs of the body, won’t this lead to anger towards all meat-eaters and a strong desire to eat forbidden foods?
There was a period in my life, about a year, when, under the influence of people who were authoritative for me, I adhered to a plant-based diet. But the body went on strike: skin problems began, hair and nails became weak and brittle - then I added fish and eggs to the menu and felt better. Now the basis of my diet is vegetables, fruits, grains, nuts and dairy products, and 2-3 times a week I eat fish, seafood and eggs.
No need to cut from the shoulder. One type of diet may not be best for everyone. With practice, sensations, habits and preferences, particularly in food, change. Some people become vegetarians, some don't. The main thing is that it is a conscious choice.
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Today it is fashionable to eat healthy. But in the modern world it is difficult to maintain a healthy lifestyle by giving up only junk food.
Yogis practice proper nutrition. For them, this is not just recommendations for eating healthy food, but it is also a healthy lifestyle philosophy.
Yogis believe that all food has energy. By eating food, a person changes his emotional state.
What yogis eat - rules and principles of yogi nutrition
Yogi philosophy closely related to the concept of prana or psychic energy. Prana - the result of interaction between people and products. A person can get prana from any food, especially if he cooks it in a good mood. There are principles of proper nutrition that yogis adhere to.
Here are the main ones:
The essence of nutrition is not restrictions
The main thing is that the food is healthy for the body, fresh and natural. The process of preparing food is also very important; the product itself is only of secondary importance.
Giving up meat is the wrong step
Many yogis believe that meat dishes are “dirty” foods. This is wrong. A properly prepared dish and the culture of its consumption can benefit the body.
No - calories!
Yogis don't count calories.
The amount eaten remains in the background
Yogis believe that anyone can normalize weight. And the principles of nutrition are the same for everyone, despite the fact that some want to lose weight and others want to gain weight.
There are many rules by which yogis eat.
The most important nutritional rules:
- Drink only purified raw water , at least 2-3 liters per day
- Don't eat if you don't feel hungry. To make sure what you want to eat, drink a glass of water. You can eat after 30 minutes
- Don't wash down what you eat. This leads to poor chewing of food
- Eat fresh food – vegetables and fruits, as well as seeds and nuts
- Avoid eating if you are sick, tired or feel any discomfort . You can replace food with water
- Consume only warm drinks and foods. Such food will not disturb the tone of the digestive organs
- Replace sugar with honey or dried fruits
- Train yourself to eat a portion of salad or cabbage for lunch
- Reduce your salt intake. You can replace table salt with sea salt, because it contains more than 64 useful components that are beneficial for the body. You can also include seaweed, horseradish, radishes and greens in your diet instead.
- Between morning and evening meals must pass at least 12 hours
- Food must be chewed thoroughly and moistened with saliva. Such food is absorbed faster in the body and does not rot.
What yogis can and cannot eat - why don’t yogis eat meat and garlic?
According to the system of proper nutrition, yogis divide food into three types. By identifying them, you can understand which foods are valued by yogis and which are not consumed at all.
Rajasic
There is a belief that Indian kings ate such food. The main goal of consuming such food is to gain pleasure. It doesn't matter how much you eat or whether the foods are healthy.
Kings included in their diet fried, baked, salty, sweet and fatty. There were not even proportions or rules for eating rajasic food. The main thing was to eat.
Yogis believe that such food is unhealthy, it leads to disease and is very harmful for any person. This type of diet leads to obesity, accelerated aging processes and premature death.
Tamasic
This food comes from heat treatment of products or any other. When preparing tamasic food, a variety of spices and salt are used.
However, yogis do not completely abandon these components and such food. They are in favor of consuming spices - but in moderation, avoiding constant dependence.
Tamasic food is harmful to health. It will not be of any benefit to those who strive to lead and practice yoga or sports.
Sattvic
This food is the healthiest. It is prepared with a minimum amount of spices and undergoes little heat treatment.
Sattvic food includes live, freshly picked greens, vegetables, and fruits. It is filled with energy and brings great benefits to the body, bringing vitamins to it.
Also, such food should be easy to prepare. Yogis believe that she is for strong and spiritual people.
Having identified these types of food, it can be understood that Yogis don't eat animal products. Basically, they reject eating meat. And dairy products produced by animals are treated well. Yogi philosophy says: do no harm to living things. That is why there is such a ban.
5 reasons why yogis prefer not to eat meat:
- Any product has memory. Meat at the moment of murder imprints horror, so it carries negative energy
- The food must be clean, and the animal could eat anything, even pesticides
- Rajasic food poisons the body and causes putrefaction in the intestines.
- Meat is poorly processed by the liver. This affects not only the physical state, but also the emotional one - it makes a person angry and aggressive
- The aging process in the body occurs much faster
According to yogis, a person should not eat meat at all. He cannot destroy living beings. For a full life, it is enough to eat cereals, fruits, vegetables and dairy products.
By the way, yoga Same don't eat. They consider it tamasic food.
Yoga menu – hatha yoga diet
Yogis believe that in order to achieve success in health practice, it is not enough to perform breathing exercises and asanas. Proper nutrition is also necessary for a healthy lifestyle and longevity.
We list the main food groups that are included in the diet of yogis:
- Dairy and fermented milk products. This group includes: cheese, cottage cheese, sour cream, yogurt, butter, etc.
- Sweets. Products such as honey and fruits are very beneficial for the body.
- Cereal dishes. Cereals such as rice, wheat, rye, barley, as well as legumes (beans, lentils) and oilseeds (sunflower and other oils) are not harmful.
- Vegetables. Yogis prefer to eat tomatoes, cucumbers, eggplants, spinach, cauliflower, celery, lettuce and any other greens. Carrots, potatoes and other root vegetables are also used in cooking.
- Wild berries and fruits. This group includes various berries and nuts rich in vitamins.
Today, hatha yogis, especially European followers, make some deviations from the centuries-old dogmas of proper nutrition. It is believed that a well-prepared dish can bring positive energy to the body , regardless of what products it is made from.
Basics of yoga nutrition for weight loss - is it possible to eat before and after yoga?
If you dream of becoming slim, then yoga nutrition is for you.
- You need to eat three times a day
- It’s better to start with a glass or two glasses of clean water.
- Plan breakfast for 7-8 o'clock in the morning, lunch - preferably from 13 to 15 o'clock, and dinner - in the evening, almost at 19.00
- Small snacks between main meals are undesirable and harmful to the body.
- If you do yoga, it is better to eat three hours before practice.
Hello, dear readers! In the conditions of modern lifestyle, habits instilled by civilization, and under the influence of a massive advertising attack of “food products” that are unedible and harmful to health, there is no need to talk about natural nutrition.
This systematic nutrition for yogis was taken from Andrei Lappa’s book “Yoga - a tradition of unity.”
Just as there is no need to talk about the natural state of people’s consciousness. Therefore, it is absolutely necessary to use special nutritional rules that restore the natural functions of the body, protect human health and allow it to be strengthened.
1. Eat to live, don't live to eat.
Proper nutrition is not an end in itself, but a means to an end. You need to eat only healthy foods that will help you achieve the necessary physical and mental qualities.
Appetite is the desire to eat something tasty.
And hunger is, on the one hand, the readiness to eat any food (as, for example, after strenuous physical labor) and, on the other hand, exact knowledge of what kind of food the body currently requires (calorie or vitamin, sweet or salty, liquid or hard, ordinary or unusual - chalk or salt, for example, etc.).
It is necessary to stop eating before you feel full and your stomach is full. Having filled the stomach to half, you should leave one quarter of its volume for water and one quarter for the free movement of digested food and expanding gases in it.
3. How you drink is how you live
The human body is largely composed of water. And metabolism depends on its quantity and quality.
By controlling the drinking regime, you can have a significant impact on the internal rhythms and state of the body.
In any case, it is better to drink half a glass of water or herbal tea half an hour before meals. And after eating, drinking water or a brew of herbs and rinsing the mouth and esophagus, you should limit the amount in order to avoid diluting the gastric juice and worsening digestion.
4. Drink solid food and eat liquid food.
During the digestion process, the interaction of food with saliva is important.
Saliva is an active biochemical substance that is absolutely necessary for the complete digestion of food.
And in order for it to be released and participate in the digestion process, solid food must be chewed to the state of a liquid mixture with saliva, without any remaining unchewed pieces of food.
And liquid food (milk, soups, compotes, juices, herbal decoctions, etc.) should not be rushed to swallow, but first make “tasting” movements with the tongue and jaw, mixing the food with saliva. Only after this can you swallow it.
5. Enjoy your empty belly
You need to live while maintaining calm. And when you eat, there is no need to rush or strive to eat more, even if you are eating a delicacy. Food should remain in the mouth as long as its taste is felt.
This technique allows you to get maximum taste sensations from a minimum of food. Using this technique, you can, on the one hand, enjoy the sensations of taste for a long time and, on the other hand, be satisfied with a third of the usual amount of food.
Since the saturation of the brain centers depends on the number of signals received from the receptors of the oral cavity, teeth, etc., and not on the feeling of fullness of the stomach. This technique allows you to avoid overeating, slagging and obesity.
6. Don't chase two birds with one stone
There is no need to combine food with something that distracts attention from it. For example, with reading, conversation, watching TV, etc.
When attention is distracted, the brain centers do not receive enough information signals about the quality and quantity of food consumed.
While eating, you need to think about food, about its wonderful qualities, the benefits and pleasure it gives, receiving joy and maximum positive emotions.
Eating is an indivisible ritual, a prayer to the Supreme Ideal.
7. Morning begins in the evening
You should not eat less than 4 hours before bedtime. And better - 7 hours before bedtime. There are a number of serious reasons for such a proposal.
Firstly, food is normally digested and moves in the stomach and intestines only while a person is awake and moving.
And most importantly, while his body is in an upright position, the direction of the gravitational component contributes to the easy movement of food in the intestines.
If you eat before bedtime, then during sleep, when all vital processes are inhibited, the gravitational component, directed perpendicular to the body of a lying person, does not help the movement of food in the intestines, which leads to its stagnation and fermentation, slagging of the body, and formation on the walls intestines, fecal stones, increased volume of the intestines and abdomen, deterioration of intestinal motility, the development of diseases of the digestive system, poor sleep and insufficient recovery during the night.
And secondly, the suggested meal time before bed is related to the actual speed of digestion of certain foods.
Carbohydrate foods (vegetables, fruits, grains, etc.) are completely digested and pass through the intestines in about 4 hours. And protein foods (meat, legumes, nuts, etc.) - in 7 hours.
In general, to stimulate a powerful metabolism, increase endurance, physical strength, improve health and increase life expectancy, it is best to eat once a day - during the day.
8. Don't force yourself
Violence towards yourself is just as harmful as it is towards others.
If there is a need to change your usual diet and exclude some foods from it, then it is better to do this smoothly and gradually so that the metabolism has time to readjust and the “pressure” of habits decreases.
9. Purity is a sign of divinity
To maintain health, it is absolutely necessary to maintain not only external, but also internal cleanliness.
The Tradition of Yoga has accumulated a wealth of experience in cleansing activities for the restoration, healing and strengthening of the body, which is borrowed by everyone in the world who is involved in health improvement - from single enthusiasts to the largest medical corporations cultivating rehabilitation methods.
Currently, a lot of special and popular literature has already been published, where you can find answers to all questions about special methods of cleansing the body.
10. What you eat is what you are
The body is formed from the elements that enter it. And it acquires the qualities of these same elements.
Eat only fresh, clean, pleasant-tasting, lively, vitamin-packed food full of energy.
By managing your diet, you can consciously influence the formation of your body, state of feelings, consciousness and cause-and-effect relationships (Destiny).
This is a fact tested over centuries and the practical experience of many natural scientists.
11. Don’t combine incompatible things
Digestion of various products occurs due to various biochemical reactions: acidic or alkaline.
Combining such products in one meal leads to acid-base neutralization and the formation of useless salts, which significantly complicates the digestion process.
In order to avoid such phenomena, the compatibility of foods in one meal should be taken into account. For this purpose, many special compatibility theories have been developed.
12. “There are no dogmas,” says the first dogma
When determining the diet and diet, you should, of course, take into account all the above instructions and rules, but you should never forget to focus primarily on good health and be guided by an intuitive sense of common sense.
Dear readers! We hope this article sheds some light on the path to wellness. Don't forget to subscribe to our blog updates and share useful information with your friends on social networks.
Recently, the system of proper nutrition has become increasingly popular in the world. Some try to combine their diet with sports, yoga, etc. Others emphasize their outlook on life with their choice. In our article we want to reveal how important proper nutrition is for yoga, what principles exist and how it differs from what we are used to.
In yogic culture, much is based on cosmic energy. And nutrition is no exception. The yogi menu is based on prana. This is the energy that arises from the interaction between the cook and the product, and it can be extracted from everything that can be eaten.
Naturally, you shouldn’t put everything into your stomach. Important principles in the yoga nutrition menu are:
- eating only fresh food;
- proper preparation of absolutely any dish.
But if everything is clear with the first, then the second requires special attention. Proper preparation means a special state of the cook. When he cooks, he meditates in a way. At this time he is in a state of energetic fullness.
It is worth considering that yogis pay special attention to the very process of eating food. Food must be chewed very thoroughly. It is recommended to perform the chewing movement 40 times or more, but in no case less. This is an effective way to extract prana.
The drinking regimen is closely related to the eating regimen. You should drink water like this:
- in small sips;
- 1 hour before meals;
- 1 hour after eating;
- minimum: 10 glasses per day.
Dietary regimen for a practicing yogi
It is important to remember that you should not subject your body to any stress immediately after lunch/breakfast/dinner. Your stomach should be three-quarters full, and no more, and you should be filled with a feeling of lightness.
Eating a nutritious meal before doing yoga can lead not only to difficulty performing the exercises, but also to difficulty controlling your breathing. After all, one of the goals of “oriental fitness” is the smoothness of this vital process.
Below are the following dietary rules:
- start the lesson no earlier than 3 hours after you have eaten;
- It is allowed to eat only 45 minutes after completion of the lesson;
- overeating is prohibited;
- eat only when you feel hungry.
Among the foods that a yogi consumes, there are 5 groups.
Cereals: dishes based on grains and legumes. Rye, rice, wheat, barley, lentils, and beans are widely used. This group also includes oils.
Milk-based products (sour cream, cheese, yogurt, cottage cheese, etc.), and, of course, milk itself.
Common and available seasonal vegetables, for example: cauliflower and celery, tomatoes and eggplants, cucumbers and parsley, as well as any other greens. The menu of yoga practitioners includes all sorts of root vegetables, for example: beets, potatoes, carrots and many others.
Nuts and berries (blueberries, raspberries, lingonberries, blackberries, etc.), in particular wild ones.
Yogis prefer natural sweet products to confectionery. They may have honey, fruits and dried fruits for dessert.
Taboo for a yogi
Since yoga classes are based on contemplation of the inner world, a high concentration of consciousness is required. Because of this, you should avoid tonic drinks such as coffee, alcohol and cocktails. It is advisable to switch to green tea.
On training days, it is advisable to skip the consumption of garlic and onions. This is due to their properties to excite the central nervous system. It is worth excluding spices from the diet, leaving only ginger, which can be added everywhere.
If you are confident in your abilities and have a serious intention of learning the secrets of the sages of India, your products should be overly processed during the cooking process.
It would be a good idea to stop eating canned vegetables, fruits, meat and fish, and also give up as much as possible:
- mayonnaise;
- snacks;
- smoked meats;
- fast food;
- sweets.
Yoga practitioners have long argued that diet changes need to be gradual. After some time, the new diet will become a habit, and the body will tell you what it needs to replenish its energy reserves.
Experiments with traditional recipes are welcome. You realize that what you eat affects both your body as a whole and your state of mind.
Many people turn to yoga in an effort to achieve the desired external shape. After all, not only exercises, but also nutrition during yoga contributes to weight loss. By practicing this Indian teaching, you avoid as much as possible those products from the food industry that nutritionists so strongly do not recommend.
Food classification
As Eastern sages and philosophers teach us, all food that enters the human body can be:
- sattvic;
- rajasic;
- tamasic.
The healthiest dishes for you will be those that fall into the first category. To prepare them, you need a minimum of spices and minimal heat treatment. Fruits, vegetables and greens “fresh from the garden” are considered to be filled with prana. Sattvic food is very simple in terms of cooking technology. This is food for those who are strong in spirit.
The second group includes dishes for pleasure, which, according to legend, the nobility preferred. The amount eaten and the benefits do not matter.
On the menu of high-ranking officials one could always find fatty and fried, salty and baked food. And the “high society” did not deny itself sweets. And excessive stay on such a diet has always threatened with serious consequences, including:
- obesity;
- illness;
- acceleration of aging processes;
- premature death.
The third group of products does not exclude heat or other types of processing, as well as the addition of salt and spices. However, it is important to monitor all supplements and not become dependent. Dishes in this category are not good for health in general, and especially for athletes and fans of a healthy lifestyle (healthy lifestyle).
Lactovegetarianism
There are many reasons why followers of Indian sages give up meat. First of all, this is the desire not to harm living beings.
Also, Indian wisdom says that all products of animal origin are harmful to humans. The only exceptions are milk-based products (this explains lacto-) and everything produced by bees.
The diet of Indian sages has been used as the basis for dietary principles in modern vegetarian culture.
Eat meat - you bring old age closer.
Living organisms consume everything indiscriminately, while pure consciousness requires a pure body.
The strongest argument for vegetarians is the toxicity of meat products: meat is imbued with the horror of the animal at the moment of killing.
The human liver is not able to process purine bases that remain in the human body after eating meat. Because of this, people are characterized by anger and aggression.
Meat products provoke rotting processes in the human intestines, which leads to general intoxication.
Sexual functions and meat consumption are interconnected. A person becomes mature early, and then his functions fade away.
Those who eat meat are brutal, down to earth and rude.
Man came into this world as a herbivore, say yogis, and it is not typical for him to eat meat. Even if we consider only the teeth. We don't have fangs at all. We are adapted to eat food mainly of plant origin.
Yogis argue that there is no need to harm living beings and poison our flesh, and we can safely create a complete diet for ourselves based on milk, cereals, vegetables and fruits.
Photos of nutrition for yoga
Do you know what yogis think about nutrition, how and what they eat? We will talk about this in our article.
Breakfast
Contrary to popular belief, yogis consider a hearty breakfast to be the enemy of man. This is due to the fact that from midnight to noon a person’s energy is not tuned to eating. If you still want to have breakfast, you can drink juice, herbal tea or eat some fruit. After 12 noon you can eat 2-3 times. Yogis do not eat later than 18 hours and believe that the stomach should rest between meals.
It is very important, according to yogis, in what emotional state a person prepares and eats food. Negative vibrations are absorbed by food and, instead of benefiting, will cause harm to the body. And a dish prepared in a good mood and with good thoughts will be tasty and healthy.
Meat
Yogis do not eat meat because they consider it a harmful product, both in terms of its effect on the human body and for moral and ethical reasons. Animals eat a lot of toxic substances and fertilizers along with their food. Eating meat causes rotting processes in the intestines and poisons the entire human body. Purine bases, which appear after the digestion of meat, make a person angry and irritable. In addition, meat leads to premature aging and problems with sex life.
But yogis are wise people, and realizing that it is very difficult for a Westerner to give up meat, they say that Westerners have reasons why they eat meat. The cells of Western humans, yogis believe, are genetically poisoned because for centuries our ancestors ate meat. In addition, most of us live in cold climates, and lost calories are replaced by eating meat. In addition, Western people lead a more active lifestyle, which also requires replenishing calories through meat consumption. And finally, eating meat is a habit that is difficult for many to give up. Taking all this into account, yogis believe that a Western person does not have to give up meat, but still reduce its consumption: no more than once a week. Including large amounts of meat in your diet will inevitably lead to serious diseases.
Bread
Products made from flour using yeast are harmful to the body. Yeast suppresses the intestinal microflora, and this has a detrimental effect on health. Yogis bake bread at home from wholemeal flour without yeast.
If you buy bread in a store, you need to remember:
black bread is healthier than white bread;
It is better to eat bread made from wholemeal flour;
limit the consumption of bread with yeast.
An excellent way to replace bread is with sprouted wheat grains, which are extremely rich in vitamins and microelements. One to two tablespoons of grains will provide a feeling of satiety and the daily requirement of vitamins needed by our body.
Cooking method:
Rinse the grains with cold water. Place in a deep plate. Pour in cold water until the water lightly covers the grains. Cover the plate with cheesecloth and leave at room temperature for 24 hours. It should be remembered that the sprouts should not be more than 1 mm; this is the length of the sprouts that guarantees maximum benefits from their consumption.
Digestion
Yogis believe that human nutrition should be aimed solely at maintaining health and high physical and mental activity. The desire of people to get pleasure from food and the use of complex recipes for cooking for this purpose lead to a significant reduction in benefits and even cause harm to the human body. People forget that they are part of nature, which has taken care of ready-made food for humans. Plant food is natural, natural food for humans.
Yogis attach great importance to the issue of digestion of food. They believe that long, thorough chewing of food is very important and do not advise drinking while eating. Yogis see nothing wrong with eating dry food, provided that the food is chewed well. Yogis even mix liquid food first with their tongue in their mouth, and only then swallow it. They believe that this way of eating will fill the body with maximum energy.
Yogis have a nutritional motto: drink solid food (chew it thoroughly and bring it to the consistency of saliva) and chew liquid food.
Type of person and nutrition
Yogis eat simple food. When eating, they always follow the rule: in the stomach, solid food should make up 2/4, liquid 1/4, and another 1/4 should remain free. Among yoga products, special preference is given to vegetable oils, which, in their opinion, promote a clear mind and good mood.
The human body of a yogi is compared to a plant, and in order to properly feed your inner “plant”, you need to know what type the person is.
There are three types of people from the point of view of Ayurveda:
Signs of this type of person: thin body, narrow chest, thin bones, dry skin and hair. They love changes in life, think and act quickly, but also get tired quickly. These people are characterized by a constant feeling of hunger and sudden changes in mood.
PITTA type
Signs of this type of person: average build, very sensitive to the sun, hair is usually light. They attach great importance to food, and their mood depends on it. They prefer fatty foods with seasonings. They are leaders by nature and very demanding of others. Sometimes they are aggressive and overly straightforward. They do not tolerate heat well.
KAPHA type
Signs of this type of people: short stature, wide chest, oily hair, usually dark in color, prefer sweets in food. They are homebodies by nature, tolerant of others, speak little and are very thrifty.
