EATING FOR WELLNESS:

The Yogic Diet

CONSIDER:

 What role does the food you eat play

in your OVERALL WELLNESS?

 Why you choose to eat what you do?

Influences on eating habits?

 How is diet related to the Yogic

Lifestyle?
UNDERSTAND HOW FOOD IS
ASSOCIATED WITH EVERY
DIMENSION OF WELLNESS

 Physical: Physiological nourishment

 Emotional: Affects feelings

 Social: Used for celebrations

 Intellectual: Forming decisions regarding

selections
UNDERSTAND HOW FOOD IS
ASSOCIATED WITH EVERY
DIMENSION OF WELLNESS

 Spiritual: Used with rituals

 Environmental: Food quantity and
quality concepts
 Occupational: Economic relationships:
obtaining and using food
STUDIES REVEAL 6 SHORTFALLS IN
OUR EATING HABITS

1. Too few fruits and vegetables

2. Too little fiber
3. Too much fat (animal/saturated)
4. Too many refined sugars
5. Too much food overall
6. Inadequate water intake
Changing our DIETS
 Goal is to promote ‘wellness’
 Typically
 High amount of fresh fruits/veggies

 Whole grain products

 Minimally processed

 Low saturated fat/animal protein

 Low refined sugars

 Lots of water

 Organic and local!

YOGIC DIET
 One of 5 Fundamental Points
 “Besides being responsible for building our
physical body, the foods we eat profoundly
affect our mind. For maximum body-mind
efficiency and complete spiritual
awareness, Yoga advocates a lacto-
vegetarian diet. This is an integral part of
the Yogic lifestyle.”
http://www.sivananda.org/teachings/diet/diet.html
YOGIC DIET
“The Yogi is concerned with the subtle effect
that food has on his mind and astral body.”
“…preferring [foods] which render the
mind calm and the intellect sharp.”

“One who seriously takes to the path of Yoga

would avoid ingesting meats, fish, eggs,
onions, garlic, coffee, tea (except herbal),
alcohol and drugs.”
http://www.sivananda.org/teachings/diet/diet.html
THE VEGETARIAN

 The basics first…

 Why Vegetarian?

 Health
Animal products and disease

Vegetarian diet health benefits

 Ethics
Environmental

Animal
NUTRITION BASICS
Principles of a healthy diet
Balance
 Among carbs/fat/protein
Variety
 Select foods from different sources

Moderation

 Macronutrients -
 Carbohydrates, protein, fats, water
 Micronutrients -
 Vitamins and minerals
NUTRITION BASICS
 Carbohydrates – (50 – 65% of total
calories)
 Provide energy, fiber, sweetener
 Simple versus complex
Choose whole grain, unrefined,
natural sources
NUTRITION BASICS
 Fats (< 30% of total calories)
 Provide energy, insulation, protection
 Essential fatty acids
Immune function, hormone production,
cell membranes, vision, cardiovascular
health
 Saturated versus unsaturated fatty acids
Choose unsaturated

Avoid hydrogenated oils, animal fat,

coconut and palm oils
Good fats – nuts, seeds, avocado, olive
NUTRITION BASICS
 Protein (0.8 g/kg healthy body weight)
 Many many functions – tissue formation
and repair, fluid balance, immunity,
hormones and enzymes…
 Plant versus animal protein - incomplete
and complete
 Plant protein: fiber, vitamins, minerals,

unsaturated fatty acids

 Animal: cholesterol, saturated fatty
acids, too much protein(?)
COMPLEMENTARY PROTEIN

Beans (legumes)

Grains Nuts/seeds

Vegetables
 Vitamins and Minerals
• Vitamins
• Composed of carbon and other elements
• Must be obtained from diet
• Are essential to at least one vital process
• Are found in nearly all foods, particularly fruits and
vegetables
• Minerals
• Composed of elements other than carbon
• Serve important structural, electrical, and chemical
roles in the body
WHAT ARE VEGETARIANS?

Many subcategories – none

consume MEAT
 Lacto – consume milk products
 Lacto-ovo – consume milk and eggs
 Vegan – consume NO animal products
Yogic Diet
Benefits of the Yogic Diet
 Health
Animal products and disease
Vegetarian diet health
benefits
 Ethics
Environmental

Animal
HEALTH
 Animal products (milk, cheese, butter, meats,
eggs)
 High in saturated fat, cholesterol, protein
 Low in fiber, vitamins, phytochemicals
 Slow to digest – remains in body a long
time!
 Hormones, antibiotics and pesticides
HEALTH
 Propaganda and misleading advertising
 Association between animal product
consumption and…MANY DISEASES!
 CARDIOVASCULAR diseases
 CANCERS
 Diabetes
 Hypertension
 Asthma
 Gallstones
 Irritable bowel syndrome
 Osteoporosis…Mg, methionine…
HEALTH
 Vegetarian diet…
 High in fiber, phytochemicals, vitamins,
minerals
 Low in saturated fats, cholesterol,
hormones, steroids, antibiotics
 The vegetarian diet has been shown
improve or reduce the severity of or
cure:
Diabetes, cancer, heart disease, liver
disease, kidney disease, gastro-
intestinal health, osteoporosis…
"The time will come when men such
as I will look upon the murder of
animals as they now look on the
murder of men."

Leonardo da Vinci
 "For as long as men massacre
animals, they will kill each other.
Indeed, he who sows the seed of
murder and pain cannot reap joy
and love.“

Pythagoras, mathematician
“Now I can look at you in peace; I
don't eat you anymore.“

Franz Kafka
ANIMAL ETHICS
 ‘Happy Cows’ – no more!!
 Corporate farming – over 10 billion animals
killed each year in US [www.themeatrix.com]

 Space
 Drugs, antibiotics, hormones
 Disease
 Fear – nurture – instinct…
 (Paul McCartney quote)

 Desensitization
"Our task must be to free ourselves . . . by
widening our circle of compassion to
embrace all living creatures and the whole of
nature and its beauty.
Nothing will benefit human
health and increase chances of
survival for life on earth as much
as the evolution to a vegetarian
diet.“
Albert Einstein, physicist, Nobel Prize 1921
ENVIRONMENTAL ETHICS
 Supporting a meat based diet sustains
industry that WASTES:
 Land – all types
 Water
 Energy
 Food
 It also produces significantly higher
pollution of:
 Air and water
Feces, fuel, chemical
Can the Yogic
diet contribute
to
WELLNESS?

HOW?
HOW TO…
 This is MUCH MORE than going to
McDonald’s and ordering a salad!!
 Choose fresh, raw, local, organic foods
 Choose whole grain, unprocessed,
unrefined, and non-GMO
 Prepare your own meals
 Plan meals to include grains, vegetables,
oils, and protein
 Support local – non-corporate food
sources
Applied Review
 Record everything you eat/drink for at least one day.
 Evaluate your diet by identifying foods -
 high in carbs/pro/fat

 low in vitamins and minerals

 high in calories

 that are organic/local/from out of the country

 you consider ‘high quality’

 you feel should be eliminated (and eliminate

them!!)
 Are you following the Balance/Variety/Moderation
guideline?
 Visit www.fitday.com (create free account) for more
dietary analysis tools and info!
SOURCES AND USEFUL LINKS
 www.goveg.com – great site with info on ALL
aspects of vegetarianism
 www.vegan.org – good source for VEGAN
lifestyle
 http://www.bhj.org/books/diets/contents.htm - the
Bombay Hospital Journal eBook of role of
vegetarian diet on health.
 http://alumnus.caltech.edu/~brett/whyveg.html -
homepage of a vegetarian with great info and
links