Food As Medicine: Ayurveda And The Yogic Diet

Food As Medicine: Ayurveda And The Yogic Diet

‘Let food be thy medicine and medicine by thy food.’ – Hippocrates

Food has been used as both a treatment and preventative measure for disease around the globe for thousands of years. From Ayurveda and Chinese medicine to Western household cures, most of us have a few traditional remedies that we remember from our years growing up.

Whether you remember spending your childhood sick days sipping Haldi Doodh before bed, having chicken broth poured down your neck until you were sustained, or drinking peppermint tea until your mouth tasted like a Colgate factory, we all remember our parents teaching us the importance of food for a healthy body and mind.

So then, why are diet-related health conditions such as obesity, high blood pressure, and Type 2 diabetes on the rise?

One issue is that the food market has become flooded with unhealthy food choices that are laden with fat, sugar, and salt.

While our bodies naturally crave fat, sugar, and salt – as these nutrients are rare in the wild, and as we evolved our bodies would have needed to store this fuel for future use – we are  not adapted to choose our food well from the wide variety of sources available to us nowadays, meaning we often go for the most unhealthy option, as this is what our primal instinct tells us to do.

Additionally, even if we do have the self-control to go for the option marketed as ‘healthy’, there may be hidden sugars, fats, and salts in the product that we are unaware of.

This, in conjunction with an increasingly sedentary lifestyle, means that we are consuming more energy than we can burn off – all while failing to consume enough nutrients from high-calorie, low-nutrition food.

Food And Spirituality: The Yogic Diet

‘Eating is not just digestion – it is one life fusing into another.’ – Sadhguru

In Ayurveda and Yogic philosophy, plants and animals all have an essential life energy, known as ‘prana’. When we consume these plants and animals, that prana is absorbed into our own life force. According to yogic philosophy, food should therefore be organically and ethically sourced, because the life energy will transfer from your food to your body.

If you eat foods that are canned or reheated, and have therefore lost their pranic energy (known as Tamasic foods), it is believed that you will lose your ‘life energy’ and become unmotivated, lethargic, with poor cognition, and have a tendency towards irritability, mood swings, and low self-esteem. Tamasic foods comprise all foods which are not considered ‘fresh’, such as canned, frozen, and preserved foods.

Rajasic foods are foods that are stimulating and cause hyperactivity, such as sweets, caffeinated beverages, meat, fish, additives, and spicy foods.

Tamasic and Rajasic foods may be eaten in moderation the relieve imbalances. For example, a person who is healing and can’t exert energy might find Tamasic foods restorative. Equally, if a person is lethargic, a Rajasic meal may provide motivation.

However, for the most part, people who follow a Yogic diet aim to consume mostly Sattvic foods, which provide balance, vitality, health, relaxation, and strength. These include fresh fruits and vegetables, nuts, wholegrain, and seeds. Foods should ideally be organic and sustainably grown if possible. They should also be consumed slowly.

Although this may initially seem at odds with our contemporary understanding of nutrition, the principle still applies to modern-day science.

For instance, foods that are processed or stale do indeed make us lethargic, as they are depleted of essential nutrients and minerals. Meanwhile, spicy foods have been proven to give our metabolism a boost, and fresh, light foods that are high in vitamins and minerals do indeed make us healthier and higher in energy.

Therefore, a Yogic approach to eating may be a useful guide when choosing foods that balance mood and energy levels.

How To Eat

The Yogic way of eating is not simply about what you eat, but also how you eat.

Sadhguru gave several recommendations about how we should consume our food, ranging from well-known methods of diet control to more specific spiritual principles and food practices.

These recommendations include:

• Eating Mindfully – staying present with the process of eating your meal from start to To eat mindfully, you should avoid eating while using your phone, or your computer, or talking.
• Gratitude – eating should be considered an opportunity to be grateful for the food on your plate and the natural world which gives us everything we By expressing gratitude, we can cultivate our ability to feel happiness and to be satisfied in the present moment.
• Cross-Legged Posture – the principle is that exposing the top half of your body, while keeping your lower half folded, attracts higher, more positive energy.
• Eating With Your Hands – enables you to engage with your meal mindfully and helps you to better absorb the energy or prana of your
• Wait For Two Minutes Before You Eat And Chew 24 Times – this enables your brain to ‘catch up’ so you feel fuller more quickly.

Sources

https://www.myvestige.com/ayusante/articles/42.html

https://therefinerye9.com/basic-principles-yogic-diet/

https://www.themindfulword.org/2013/ayurvedic-food-principles/

https://isha.sadhguru.org/uk/en/wisdom/article/eating-healthy-tips-how-when-what-to-eat?