A healthy vegetarian diet for Yoga part 8
A healthy vegetarian diet for Yoga
The above will serve as a useful guide to your future eating habits and with a little experimenting you will find a diet that keeps you healthy and provides all the essential elements you need. Though diet is very much a matter of individual taste and circumstances, here is a list of ‘musts’ that I learned from my own Yoga teacher.
1. If you do not want anything, then do not eat it even if you think it is good for you. By all means eat meat if you like it but do not eat it merely because you think you cannot live without it. Apart from cheese, eggs, and nuts, the soya bean products, weight for weight, contain more protein than the best steak. Soya bean is not only cheaper and more nutritious but it is also non-acid forming.
2. Eat a little less of everything but do effect this very gradually. Do not starve yourself or suffer hunger pains between meals but do try to cut down on your intake of food.
3. Avoid the ‘dead’ and devitalized foods, i.e. everything refined, bleached, or preserved. Eat wholewheat bread, raw sugar, or honey.
4. When eating fruit do not throw away the peel. Eat it with the fruit, or in the case of oranges, lemons, or tangerines the peel can be grated to add a delicious and tangy flavour to other foods. Always cook potatoes in their jackets, either baked or boiled. Much of the protein in potatoes is usually thrown away with the peel. And remember the tops of celery, carrots, turnips and beetroots are too nutritious to be thrown away. Cut them up and steam them with the rest of your vegetables.
5. Instead of serving just one vegetable at a meal, cut up several kinds and steam them very slowly in very little water. Do not overcook, in fact many vegetarians prefer chopped or diced vegetables to be slightly underdone. This preserves the natural texture and flavour. Always cook vegetables slowly in a pan with a tight fitting lid and avoid copper cooking pans if possible.
6. Do not drink too much tea or coffee as tannic acid and caffeine are not beneficial to the body. By all means enjoy a cup of tea or coffee but make a mental note that you will gradually cut down your intake. At the same time try to drink more milk, either hot or cold, but please never iced.
7. Do not throw away water in which vegetables have been cooked. Why dump vitamins down the sink when they make an excellent basis for soups? With a little seasoning added they are very palatable to drink just as they are.
8. Avoid fried foods especially if you are over forty. When you do eat fatty foods choose what are known as unsaturated fats-corn oil, sunflower seed oil, and soya bean oil. Avoid animal fats such as butter, lard, and dripping, and also avoid olive oil and margarine.
9. Experiment with cheeses. They are all a wonderful source of protein and America alone has many fine cheeses with which to vary your diet to say nothing of the delicious cheeses from other countries. Be adventurous, try new things, and above all eat only what is pure and natural. Do not over-indulge and whenever you are tempted to reach for that chocolate box go to the fruit bowl or the honey pot instead. Try dates instead of sweets.
To conclude I will list the five basic Yoga rules for the maintenance of health and the prevention of disease.
1. Natural wholesome food, enough and no more for the body’s needs.
2. Proper breathing and breath control exercises, for the increased oxygenation of the blood.
3. The practice of relaxation of the body and of the mind.
4. Regular exercise to stimulate the circulation and to keep the spine supple and healthy.
5. The practice of concentration and meditation, and the correct method of directing the thoughts towards positive spiritual growth.
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admin | November 7, 2007