We Are What We Eat

Food and drink are practically indispensable to life, as they are the primary support of it.

Despite this fact, many people do not pay proper attention to nourishment and consequently eat and drink without observing any rule whatsoever.

On the other hand, some people have come to develop an obsession for diet. Among the most famous diets, we mention the macrobiotic Zen and vegetarianism.

Unfortunately, the yogic teaching on food and drinking has not been sufficiently investigated in the West. It is true, however, that a number of diets and health systems, based on oriental teachings, have emerged in the West, but still, these tend to present only bits of the truth on diet, as it is exposed in the yogic treaties.

Diet is an important issue in the Yogic and oriental medicine. The common characteristic of their system of nourishment is the classification of food according to its taste. All qualities a type of food has are based on six tastes, which combined make up the entire range of known tastes.

The yogic teaching indicates the fact that the papillae extract the essence from the food even before this latter gets into the stomach, where takes place the process of digestion.

Regarding food, the Westerners are usually concerned with the content in proteins, amidine, and vitamins, disregarding however the fact that food brings also subtle energy to the person eating.

Generally, the Westerners have the tendency of putting on too much weight. They eat too much, and then they find their rescue in different kinds of diets.

The yogic tradition indicates that one must eat levelheaded, regularly, and at the right time. Moreover, it indicates that that one must pay attention to the process of digestion, and consume food according to one own nature.

According to the yogic teaching, the taste of an aliment influences directly the feelings and emotions a person has. A certain combination of tastes may induce an exaggeration of the sexual energy, while another may induce anger and fury.

The connection between taste and feelings has been thoroughly gone into two thousands years ago, by the ancient yogis. The difference and uniqueness of each of us should be taken into consideration, as human beings are all different as regards their temperament.

Consequently, the yogis regard a balanced diet as having utmost importance in reaching spiritual freedom.

The 'yogic' cuisine requires that all ingredients be cleansed and carefully prepared before using them. The mental attitude with which one prepares the food 'brings' a certain type of subtle energy to the food, influencing even its taste.

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