2
The Yoga Diet Three types of food Yogic philosophy holds that there are three types of food, corresponding with three states of mind: Sattvic
food is pure, sweet and fresh. It includes fruit and vegetables, preferably eaten raw or lightly cooked, as well as nuts and seeds, legumes, whole grain, honey, water and milk. Truly Sattvic food is organic, and, fortunately, even supermarket chains offer a good selection of organic foods nowadays. Sattvic food promotes a clear mind, an even temper and spiritual growth. Food preparation is also important, and if the cook is in a good mood, and there is a relaxed and friendly atmosphere round the table, the Sattvic qualities are considerably enhanced. Sattvic food passes easily and quickly through the digestive system, supplying energy, vitality, strength and endurance.
Rajasic
food includes most spicy foods and foods that are salted and very sweet.Taken to excess, they can be overstimulating, and because they are strong and easy to like, you can form an unhealthy attachment to them. Salt, onions and garlic are Rajasic, as are coffee, tea, and chocolate.Too much Rajasic food makes you restless and unbalanced. Eating in a hurry is very Rajasic.
Tamasic food is stale, overripe, highly processed, polluted, badly cooked, or for any reason hard to assimilate. Many foods contain toxins or carcinogens or simply take a long time to digest, causing ‘sluggish digestion’. Meat, alcohol and marijuana are in this category, as are foods that are fermented or contain preservatives. Such things taken to excess will make you dull and lazy, sapping your energy, and reducing your ability to achieve your material and spiritual goals. Š Copyright Prue Charlton, 2004. All rights reser ved.
w w w. yo g a d i e t . c o m . a u
9
The Yoga Diet Even when you’re in a hurry, you can still eat a banana and another piece of fruit with a small carton of yogurt.This is far better than toast and coffee or a packaged, highly processed cereal. If you adopt the Yoga Diet, you will start to buy more fruit, and better fruit, because you’ll be eating lots of it and loving it.
Fruit: the best you can get and plenty of it Don’t shy away from things that appear to be a bit expensive, like fresh dates and berries. Compared with all the other things you could be eating — things with very little food value and too much fat, refined carbohydrate and sugar — high quality fruit is cheap. And instead of giving you bad digestion and a host of health problems, it will keep you looking good and feeling great. Fruit is a staple of the Yoga Diet, and you don’t only eat it for breakfast.You can enjoy it for between-meal snacks, and dressed up with a little of what you fancy for dessert. If good fresh fruit is hard to find, poach dried fruit or, when all else fails, use frozen. Canned fruit, however, does not have the life in it (or prana) that fresh, naturally ripened fruit has, and it often contains sugar, which eats up nutrients and impairs your mental health. You’ll find that you spend more time at the greengrocer, keeping an eye out for delicacies like fresh figs and the first mangoes of summer. You’ll become more in tune with what’s good and when, and plan trips to growers’ markets and food-producing areas to buy direct from the farmer. If money is no object, you can subscribe to suppliers like Snowgoose and receive a beautiful timber box of the best that can be found every month, delivered to your door.
© Copyright Prue Charlton, 2004. All rights reser ved.
w w w. yo g a d i e t . c o m . a u
17
The Yoga Diet
Snacks Good snack foods include: • a carton of yogurt; • rice with stewed fruit (for sweet-tasting rice, add a bit of coconut milk/cream to the cooking water); • a wholegrain cheese sandwich; • carrot sticks and hommos or baba ganouj (eggplant dip); • cottage cheese and herbs on bread; • hommos on rye; • raisins and almonds (in equal amounts); • miso soup, with or without buckwheat noodles and tofu; • baked beans on toast; • a smoothie, with the addition of healthy supplements like wheat germ, lecithin and brewers yeast; and • all fruit including dates and figs, which are great sources of energy and iron.
By the way, a banana is the ideal snack for a number of reasons. It contains lots of B vitamins, vitamin A, potassium (good for arthritis and rheumatism) and is justifiably known as a ‘good mood food’. So grab a banana! (Try to buy a brand that supports sustainable practices. Some of the big names don’t.) That’s the Yoga Diet.What could be simpler, healthier, more versatile or more convenient?
More about rice Rice is a cereal grain that has been cultivated for thousands of years and comes in hundreds of varieties, including Basmati, meaning ‘queen of fragrance’. Easy to digest, Basmati rice is also a great healing and cleansing food for all body types. © Copyright Prue Charlton, 2004. All rights reser ved.
w w w. yo g a d i e t . c o m . a u
28
The Yoga Diet
Food and the mind The mind–body connection is basic to yoga, but it’s still new to western science. A pioneer in the field is Patrick Holford, whose book, Optimum Nutrition for the Mind, is a fascinating study of the effects of different foods on different conditions, including mental illness, IQ, memory and mood. His findings include: • Maintaining even blood sugar levels is essential to good emotional and mental health.This is best achieved by avoiding refined carbohydrate and sugar. • Eating a big meal too close to bedtime interferes with sleep. It is impossible to function properly unless we sleep properly. • Good sleep is regulated by the pineal gland, or what yogis called ‘the third eye’. Eating whole foods including tofu, nuts, seeds and milk stimulates the pineal gland. • Magnesium — found in vegetables, fruits, nuts and seeds — was used before lithium as a mood stabiliser in the treatment of manic depression. • Optimising your nutrient intake can both prevent and reverse mental health problems, as well as improving mental performance and emotional balance. • Alzheimer’s disease is higher in people who eat lots of fried and processed foods. In short, as Yogis have known for thousands of years: • The food you eat affects not only your body but your thoughts and feelings.The mind and body are completely interconnected. The most powerful good mood foods are: green leafy vegetables, peas, celery, asparagus, shellfish, oily fish, liver, nuts and seeds, wheatgerm, oats and barley (unrefined), pulses and fruit, especially bananas. If you tend to feel down after meals, have five to six light meals a day © Copyright Prue Charlton, 2004. All rights reser ved.
w w w. yo g a d i e t . c o m . a u
32
The Yoga Diet
(made by packing cow horns with manure and burying them for a set period of time) are applied to fields in a particular way that enhances the life of the soil and creates the best conditions for growth. Biodynamic food carries the Demeter brand name. Another way to support sustainable farming practices is to join a group of people to support a local organic or biodynamic farm by subscription. Called CSA (community-supported agriculture), this practice is well established in the USA and the UK, often in connection with Steiner schools.
Yoga, diet and healthy ageing Ageing gracefully is ageing slowly. No one wants to grow old before they have to, but lack of care for the body often makes the slide from middle age into decrepitude unnecessarily slippery.The pity of this is that you deny yourself the opportunity of enjoying all the advantages that the wisdom of years can bestow, whether in a long and successful career or in retirement. Yoga has always been associated with longevity and healthy ageing.The Yoga Diet is designed to give your body what it needs to maintain and regenerate itself. Sattvic foods slow down the ageing process in a number of ways. First, they provide the nutrients neccessary to maintain healthy tissue and organ function. Secondly, they help to de-toxify the body, because they act in the intestines in a way that prevents the growth of harmful bacteria — ones that cause fermentation and putrefaction and lead to chronic degenerative disease. What’s needed is food that passes quickly through the system, and if you follow the Yoga Diet you can expect to up to 4 bowel movements a day: on rising, before lunch, before dinner and before retiring.You can certainly continue to fine tune your diet, eating more Sattvic food and less Tamasic food, until your bowels move at least twice a day.When © Copyright Prue Charlton, 2004. All rights reser ved.
w w w. yo g a d i e t . c o m . a u
36
The Yoga Diet
To start the day To help remove toxins, mix warm water with a pinch each of ground cumin and ginger, or have a glass of warm water with lemon juice. This is a very purifying drink that can be taken at any time, especially in winter when lemons are at their best and you need vitamin C to ward off colds and flu. It may be sweetened with honey.
Bircher muesli Serves 5
250 g (1/2 lb) rolled oats 2 apples, grated 1 T honey 1/2 cup sultanas
1. Mix the first six ingredients and refrigerate overnight. 2. Just before serving, fold in cream, add fruit and sprinkle with almonds.
1 cup milk or juice of 2 lemons 155 g (5 oz) chopped or slivered almonds (I have read that two almonds a day will prevent cancer.They are certainly one of nature’s special foods, and can be eaten every day, preferably blanched as the skin is slightly toxic.) whipped cream (optional) fresh or stewed fruit
Š Copyright Prue Charlton, 2004. All rights reser ved.
w w w. yo g a d i e t . c o m . a u