The nutrition of yogis is inextricably linked with the performance of asanas and lifestyle. Their diet is based on Ayurvedic teachings. Some products are strictly prohibited for them, others are consumed in small quantities and at a certain period of time, and third yogis eat constantly.
Three types of food in yoga
According to Ayurveda, even the best and cleanest foods are not always healthy. So, there is food that should be consumed only in winter or summer. Some foods should be eaten in the morning, because they excite and give energy, others in the evening, as they calm and set you up for a long sleep.
Yoga (the secrets of the ancient foundations of nutrition have survived to this day) divides all food into three types:
- Sattva, which means "purity." This includes all fresh vegetarian food. Mostly seeds and sprouted grains, fruits, wheat, butter, milk and honey.
- Rajas is a food that excites the body. It is better not to use products from this category or to reduce their amount in the diet to a minimum. This includes citrus fruits, tea and coffee, as well as spices, fish, seafood, eggs, alcohol, soda, garlic and onions.
- Tamas is a rough and heavy meal. It is difficult to absorb by the body. It does more harm than good. Relaxes, after eating it makes you want to sleep. These are root vegetables, red meat (beef and pork), all canned foods, mushrooms, food with a heavy taste (roach, etc.). This includes frozen food and one that has been stored for some time. These are also considered dishes that are heated a second time, alcohol and food that was cooked in a restaurant or store.
Absolute vegetarianism is what yoga promotes. Meditation and nutrition here are closely intertwined. A person engaged in yoga for a long time, completely abandons animal products and completely switches to natural products. After all, it is they who charge the body with energy and make the body clean.
Yoga Nutrition Principles
Ayurvedic teaching is the basis of the nutrition of yogis. The transition to such a diet should be gradual. Based on it, it can be said that proper nutrition of yoga contains about 60% of natural raw foods (vegetables, nuts, herbs and fruits), 40% of the diet is given to food that has undergone heat treatment.
Yogis' food is closely interconnected with energy - prana. You need to eat so that the products provide energy and vitality. Most of all for this purpose, natural, thermally unprocessed food is suitable.
Each dish should be prepared with a mood. When cooking, a person should experience pleasure, meditate. Eat the process itself. This attitude of the cook charges the food with positive energy.
Eat should be leisurely and in a relaxed atmosphere. Chew each piece thoroughly, at least 40 times. This is how solid food can turn into liquid. You need to drink the liquid slowly, in small sips, savoring every drop. On the day you need to drink no more than 10 glasses of water.
The nutritional system of yogis implies a minimal amount of “gross-material” food, which gradually should be replaced by energy from the Cosmos. Therefore, all foods that nourish the body must be healthy.
Yogis are advised to eat only when there is a feeling of hunger. If the body does not want to eat, it is better to drink water. It is important to learn to distinguish a real feeling of hunger from other similar instincts. You need to listen to yourself and not pay attention to generally accepted nutrition rules.
Yogis eat no more than 2-3 times a day. In their opinion, more frequent meals disrupt the digestive process. These are mainly small portions with healthy foods, which are enough just to saturate the body. They stop eating with a slight feeling of satiety. Once a week, some yogis spend a fasting day only on water.
The meat is not eaten here, as it is obtained by force. It clogs the body. Causes decay processes. Toxic, since animals are not always fed with useful products, and sometimes chemicals are added to the feed. It leaves purine bases in the body that the liver cannot process. The remains of such substances make a person angry, unbalanced. Meat accelerates puberty. It makes men coarser, brutal and causes more base desires. The human body is aging faster.
According to the yogis, man is naturally herbivorous. For normal life, cereals, nuts, vegetables, fruits and milk are enough. It is believed that there is no point in poisoning yourself with meat and killing living beings. Food should be healthy and simple.
It can be said that proper nutrition of yoga is lacto-vegetarianism. Any food of animal origin is inadmissible here: meat, fish, eggs. The exceptions are milk, dairy products and honey.
Each time after eating, yogis thank the higher powers for the food that they have at the moment.
Feast should be from dishes made only from natural raw materials: clay, glass, wood and porcelain. It is not recommended to take food from plastic and metal plates.
Yoga and nutrition for beginners are interconnected. Experienced practitioners advise patience in choosing food. Go to vegetarianism slowly. If you can’t do this, then it is recommended that you at least observe the posts and arrange fasting days.
Yoga Tips for Choosing Products
The nutrition of yogis includes a minimum amount of animal fats. It is believed that they provoke the onset and progression of atherosclerosis. They act destructively on the joints. Slagging the body and negatively affect the liver, gall bladder. It is advised to replace animal fats with vegetable fats. It can be any vegetable oil, with the exception of palm oil.
Yogis do not eat sugar and those products where it is present. Replace it with honey, fruits, berries and dried fruits. In their opinion, sugar carries harm in the form of: caries, obesity, metabolic disorders, diabetes, hypertension, etc.
They exclude salt from their diet or reduce its use to a minimum amount. The ban on food applies to garlic and onions. They are used sparingly, only in alcohol tinctures and for colds.
Exciting drinks are not drunk during yoga classes. This includes alcohol, as well as tea, coffee, hot chocolate and condensed milk. Yogis do not accept tobacco and the smoking process itself.
The diet of yoga does not include yeast products, pastries and confectionery. They are replaced with yeastless chapati flour cakes.
Yogis eat so that their body does not become clogged. They aim to make the body clean and the mind bright.
The composition of the diet
Yoga nutrition consists mainly of cereals, legumes, vegetables, fruits, nuts, honey, wholemeal bread and dried fruits. The main thing is that the products are not subjected to heat treatment. A special place in the food system is given to milk. It is considered vital for the body. It is a bright and pure sattva product that can give peace and harmony to the mind.
The combination of milk with vegetable oil, lemon, salt and yogurt is considered incompatible. At one meal, do not eat food with different temperature conditions. So, you can’t eat cold salad and hot soup or chocolate with ice cream in one main meal. Yogis do not recommend drinking tea or coffee immediately after eating. It is advised to wait 1-1.5 hours, and then drink drinks. You can not heat honey to 70 ° C and above, since it is able to turn into poison and loses all its healing properties.
The nutrition of yogis (menu for every day) includes only healthy products for the body, with minimal heat treatment. According to their position, food should heal the body, not contaminate.
Before eating, yogis thoroughly wash their hands and rinse their face. Do not watch TV while eating, do not read newspapers and do not talk. Fully focus on the absorption of the dishes and try to enjoy the taste of the products.
Yogis nutrition: menu for the week
Nutrition according to the yoga system for many people seems strange and unacceptable, but despite this, it helps to strengthen their health. Increases the stamina of the body. Cleanses the body. Heals. It gives energy and gives strength.
Here is an approximate weekly ration of these people:
- Monday. It is considered a milky day, giving rest to the digestive system. Three cups of milk are drunk per day. It can be both warm moist and sour.
- Tuesday. In the morning they eat oat grains or milk. Beans are soaked from the previous evening in water and a tablespoon of honey is added to the dish. For lunch, eat rice or potato soup with a small amount of vegetable oil and feta cheese. Dinner ends with sour milk.
- Wednesday. For breakfast - fruits or dried fruits. If they are not enough, then after fifteen minutes you can drink a cup of milk or tea with cheese. You can add 2 bread slices. For lunch, before the main meal, they eat fruit, and then a vegetable salad seasoned with vegetable oil. A variety of vegetables can be included. For dinner, drink a glass of kefir.
- Thursday. Breakfast consists of fresh or dried fruits. For lunch, a vegetable salad with lemon juice or vegetable oil. Sprouted wheat with honey and nuts is added to the diet. For dinner, eat fruit and some wheat.
- Friday. Eat rice based foods. Breakfast is milk with rice. For lunch, tomato soup or hot with the addition of spinach and rice. Here you can make a variety of rice dishes, including fresh vegetables. The main thing is that they do not violate the principles of nutrition of yogis. To the main dish, you can add a couple of slices of bread from whole grains. Dinner is completed with milk and rice.
- Saturday. Breakfast on this day consists of sprouted wheat, milk and cottage cheese. For lunch, yogis eat vegetarian soup, vegetable salad and some bread. Dinner ends with sour milk or cottage cheese.
- Sunday. The diet is saturated at its discretion. Some allow meat.
This is just an approximate yoga menu. Nutrition rules allow you to create your own diet and enjoy a meal.
Nutrition and Yoga
As you practice yoga, a person develops and grows. When a certain developmental point is reached, the novice yogi will automatically begin to eat live and healthy food. At the first stage, yogis become vegetarians, then vegans. In the future, some will switch to raw food diet, and some will choose prano nutrition.
The nutrition of yogis in this case says that:
- Food should not be a product of violence. Therefore, eggs, fish and meat are excluded. They charge the body with destructive energy.
- Food gives stamina. Cleanses the body and thoughts. Changes the mindset. With the transition to vegetarianism, thoughts become more elevated.
- Nutrition stops the aging of the human body.
- Products must be fully absorbed in the body.
- Vegetarian food contains very little fat.
These are just a few of the basics that hatha yoga gives. Nutrition should be reasonable, and the process of digesting food should not interfere with classes.
After eating, you should wait three hours and only then you can do yoga. After asanas, you can eat only after an hour.
The desired results in yoga can only be achieved by observing certain nutritional rules. To do this, you should listen to your feelings, then spiritual and physical development will not keep you waiting.
Yoga Breakfast Features
The morning of the yogis is the time from dawn to noon. During this period, preference is given to sattvic food, as it is the purest and most noble. These include fruits: banana, coconut or coconut milk, raisins, pears. You can not eat citrus for breakfast. Refrain from tea and coffee. These drinks are advised to be used for lunch, since the energy in the morning is already at its height, and by lunch it is significantly reduced. Morning time is considered the most suitable for eating nuts (preference is given to cedar and almonds) and seeds. The most useful dish is nuts mixed with dried fruits: dates, dried apricots, raisins, prunes, figs.
Before use, the nuts are fried and processed into a paste by the blender. Yoga is not advised to eat peanuts - peanuts. They are considered heavy food along with melon and watermelon. Benefits at this time will bring “live” yogurt or buttermilk. All sweets that you want to eat are best consumed in the morning.
Yoga time
From noon until 3 p.m. - lunch time. Despite the fact that the sun helps to digest food taken at this time, yogis still recommend not to get involved in heavy foods. In their opinion, blood at this time loses its energy and becomes thick. Therefore, during this period, dishes containing liquid are eaten.
Do not drink canned or reconstituted drinks. They can only harm the body. Fruits and dried fruits of yoga are advised to choose in the market, and not in the supermarket.
A little ginger and green cardamom are added to tea or coffee. Drinks are drunk with roasted nuts.
For lunch, they use wheat, sprouted and slightly fried. Whole -grain yeast-free cakes will bring satiety and benefit . Do not eat yeast bread, as it gives only satiety and does not add health. Yogis love to eat rice with dahl. Useful is water with the addition of lemon juice or honey, as it improves digestion.
About how a yogi dines
Dinner yoga ends at 18 o’clock. In the evening, you can not heavily strain the stomach, since digestion processes slow down their work. At this time, consume vegetable soups, steamed, boiled or stewed vegetables. You can’t eat root vegetables and citrus fruits, as well as seeds, nuts and rice for dinner. It is especially harmful to eat animal products.
It is forbidden to eat fried and spicy dishes. At this time, it is better to refrain from vegetable oil. At this time, vegetables should be cooked in water or ghee. Buckwheat with milk is considered good food. Any dish can be replaced with a glass of milk with the addition of ghee. Do not drink hot milk.
Food for winter
According to the yogis, winter food requires a special approach. It should not only nourish the body, but also warm it. The warming properties at this time of year are hot vegetable dishes, which add potatoes, turnips, carrots, tomatoes, pumpkin, squash, greens. If the yogi does not adhere to the sattvic diet, then small amounts of garlic and onion are allowed.
The use of citrus and dairy products should be minimized. Cheese is an exception. Nuts help keep warm. They are consumed whole, fried or processed into pasta, in which raisins should also be added. Do not drink ice cold drinks in winter. Ginger, black pepper or fenugreek seeds are added to the tea.
Allows you to achieve a lot in the life of a yogi. Healthy eating is an essential companion of asanas and helps to achieve physical and psychological perfection.