You are what you eat: Eat like a Yogi not Like a Bhogi!!!

A diet that is wholly conducive to the practice of Yoga and spiritual progress is known as the “Ayurveda Diet.” This Ayurveda Diet has an intimate connection with the mind, as the mind is formed from the subtlest portion of food. Sage Uddalaka instructs his son Svetaketu, saying, “Food, when consumed, becomes threefold: the gross particles become excrement, the middling ones flesh, and the fine ones the mind. My child, when curd is churned, its fine particles rise upwards and form butter. Similarly, when food is consumed, the fine particles that rise upwards form the mind. Hence, verily, the mind is food.” Additionally, the Chhandogya Upanishad states: “By the purity of food, one becomes purified in his inner nature; by the purification of his inner nature, he verily gains memory of the Self; and by the attainment of the memory of the Self, all ties and attachments are severed.”

Diet is of three kinds, viz., Sattvic diet, Rajasic diet, and Tamasic diet. The Ayurveda Diet includes Sattvic foodstuffs such as milk, barley, wheat, cereals, butter, cheese, tomatoes, honey, dates, fruits, almonds, and sugar-candy. These foods render the mind pure and calm. In contrast, the Rajasic diet consists of foodstuffs like fish, eggs, meat, salt, chillies, and asafoetida, which excite passion. The Tamasic diet includes items such as beef, wine, garlic, onions, and tobacco, which fill the mind with anger, darkness, and inertia.
Food plays an important part in meditation. Different foods produce different effects on various compartments of the brain. For purposes of meditation, the Ayurveda Diet recommends food that is light, nutritious, and Sattvic. Milk, fruits, almonds, butter, sugar-candy, green gram, Bengal gram soaked in water overnight, bread, etc., are all very helpful in meditation. Thed (a kind of root available in abundance in the Himalayan regions) is very Sattvic. Tea and sugar should be used in moderation, and it is better if you can give them up entirely. Dried ginger-powder can be mixed with milk and taken frequently, which Indian Yogis particularly enjoy. Another beneficial substance is myrobalan of the yellow variety, which can be chewed now and then. In the Vagbhata, it is described as even superior to a nourishing mother, taking care of the body better than a mother does. A mother may get annoyed with her child sometimes, but myrobalan always maintains an even temperament and is cheerful and enthusiastic in attending to human well-being. It preserves semen and stops all nocturnal emissions. Potato, boiled without salt or baked on fire, is also an excellent food for practitioners following the Ayurveda Diet.

A beginner should be careful in choosing food-stuffs of Sattvic nature. Food exercises tremendously vast influence over the mind. You can see it obviously in everyday-life. It is very difficult to control mind after a heavy, sumptuous, indigestible, rich meal. The mind runs, wanders and jumps like an ape all the time. Alcohol causes great excitement of the mind.
Evolution is better than revolution. You should not make sudden changes in anything, particularly so in matters pertaining to food and drink. Let the change be slow and gradual. The system should accommodate it without any trouble. Nature never moves by leaps.
Aspirants should be able to make out a cheap and well-balanced diet from only a certain articles of diet. What is needed is a well-balanced diet, not a rich diet. A rich diet produces diseases of the liver, kidneys and pancreas. A well-balanced Yogic diet helps a man to grow, to turn out more work, maintains his body-weight, and keeps up the efficiency, stamina and a high standard of vim and vigor.
Where can Sannyasins in India, who live on public alms, obtain a well-balanced diet? On some days, they receive only pungent foods, on others, only sweet meats, and yet on other days, only sour items. Despite this, they are able to draw the requisite energy through the power of meditation. The Ayurveda Diet emphasizes balance and nourishment, yet this unique Yogic method remains unknown to the medical profession and scientists. Whenever the mind is concentrated, a divine wave bathes all the tissues with a divine elixir. All the cells are renovated and vivified.
The vast majority of persons dig their graves through their teeth. No rest is given to the stomach. After all, man wants very little on this bountiful earth—a few loaves of bread, a little butter, and some cold water. This will amply suffice to keep life going. The Ayurveda Diet supports this simplicity, advocating for minimal and balanced nourishment. However, people, on the contrary, stuff their stomachs with all sorts of things, both eatable and uneatable, due to the force of habit and passions.
A Yogic student who spends his time wholly in pure meditation requires very little food. For such a practitioner, the Ayurveda Diet of one or one and a half seers of milk and some fruits per day will quite suffice. However, a Yogi who engages in vigorous active work needs abundant, nutritious food. Moderation is Yoga. Eat to live, not live to eat. Follow this golden rule, and be happy. By adhering to the principles of the Ayurveda Diet, you can then devote more time to Yoga practices. For further guidance, consider exploring online Ayurveda courses.
You are what you eat!!! Nature of food influences your consciousness!! Eat Like a Yogi not a Bhogi!!