Yoga over centuries has developed a concept of a balanced wholefoods diet and an eating philosophy. These principles of good eating use powerful techniques which help in maintaining a strong and health body, a stress-free mind and a positive spirituality within this mixed up world.

Wholefoods are edible substances, which are as close to their "whole" or natural state as possible. They have not been pre-processed in any way, which would disturb their nutrition or flavor. They are therefore free of all processing additives or subtractions.

Yoga does not dissect food into vitamins, minerals, protein etc. The yogic philosophy is that the true benefits of these ingredients can be had only when they are NOT isolated but as much in their natural form as possible.

Food and diet occupy an important place in the world of yoga and naturopathy. The effects of improper eating manifest themselves in unwanted appearance, incorrect thought, behavior and hence action.

In yoga, foods have been classified as Rajasik, Tamasik and Sattvik.

Rajasik Foods:
Food of a king or of a restless and energetic disposition. A large variety of foods having different methods of preparation such as fried, highly seasoned, or baked, form this category. Alcoholic and processed beverages as well as sweets come in here. [Top]

Disadvantages:
These foods impart extra weight and fat to the body and create a feeling of uneasiness after eating. [Top]

Tamasik Food:
Food causing a lethargic disposition. Foods, vegetarian or non-vegetarian, that are prepared with excess spices, salts and hot seasonings are Tamasik foods. [Top]

Disadvantages:
These foods perpetuate laziness and people eating these are characterized by a rough and intolerant temperament. [Top]

Sattvik Food:
Food of a Yogi... Foods which are cooked with minimum amount of spices or seasonings and are fresh are sattvik foods. These foods retain their nutritive value as they are cooked in a very simple fashion one of the most powerful & delicious foods which have tremendous benefit on the overall system is sprout. Yoga recommends such foods. [Top]

Yoga's View Of Nutrition
The basic principle of nutrition, from the yoga perspective, is to eat small quantities of high quality foods. The high quality foods are those which promote the life force of the body without producing toxins. The recommended foods are fruits, vegetables, whole grains and nuts.

Incredibly, yoga's principles of nutrition are very similar to what modern science has discovered in more recent times. [Top]

Meat
The yoga advises to be cautious of eating meat. Not all yogis are vegetarians, but they all recommend eating meat in strict moderation. According to yoga, the meat, being animal flesh, has a low vibration rate and will lower the life force of the person eating it. This will cause a reduction in vitality and slow down your progress from yoga. Meat also contains toxins, especially lactic acid, which is a waste product of muscle metabolism.

We now know that meat contain fat, cholesterol and other substances that are toxic to our bodies. Thus the advise to eat meat in moderation is certainly well taken. [Top]

Fruit
The yogis' favorite food is fruit. They consider fruit to possess the highest life force of all foods. Fruit is also very nutritious. They can be eaten raw or unprocessed and are easily digested. It provides a quick and sustained source of energy with no toxins. It is no wonder the yogis favor fruit. [Top]

Vegetables
The yogis consider the green vegetables such as lettuce, cabbage, broccoli and so on, to have the highest life force of all vegetables. [Top]

Fresh Food
Yoga also stresses that food should be as fresh as possible. This means we should rely more on fresh fruits and vegetables than on frozen or canned foods. Frozen food is not so bad, since the enzymes are preserved, but canned food has been preheated, which destroys a lot of the vitamins and minerals and the enzymes. [Top]

Raw Food
The yogis also state that the greater proportion of our food should be eaten raw; for example, fruits, salad, raw nuts and sprouted grains. They consider that the cooking of food causes it to lose a lot of its life force, as well as its flavor. Because of this we need to add salt, spices and sauces, which often create more problems. Modern science is in complete agreement with this. [Top]

Food Temperature
The yogis state that food should neither be too hot nor too cold. They claim that very hot or very cold food or drinks can cause harm to the tissue of the throat. Modern science also agrees with this and considers that food and beverages which are too hot or cold may irritate the throat sufficiently to predispose it to cancer. [Top]

Alcohol
Yogis do not touch alcohol, since they consider it to lower the vibrations of their subtle body (astral body). This defeats the purpose of yoga, which is to increase the vibrational level so they can gradually unfold their Higher Self.

Yoga also considers alcohol to have an adverse effect on the central nervous system, and in particular the brain. The integrity of the central nervous system is considered very important by the yogis, since one of the goals of yoga is to improve the health of this system, and much of the progress of yoga is achieved via this vital communication system.

Modern science agrees with yoga on this point, since alcohol is known to first stimulate and then shortly afterwards depress the central nervous system.

Alcohol also causes poor sleep. Alcohol cannot compare with the effects of yoga. Yoga produces a natural stimulation without the depressing after-effect. Yoga also produces a general feeling of elation. The increase in life force produced by practicing yoga cannot be duplicated by drugs. [Top]

Eat Slowly
The yogis place great emphasis on eating slowly. It is more important than on the type of food eaten. They claim that even nutritious food is not properly digested if eaten quickly. This means that, as well as not extracting all the nutrients from the food, you are also creating toxins in the body.

Even if you eat food which is not very nutritious, if it is eaten slowly and your digestive system is in good health from yoga exercises, your body will extract every last nutrient from the food, as well as eliminating all the toxins. Of course the intelligent way is to eat nutritious food and chew it slowly. [Top]