- When To Eat
What an individual consumes before, during, and after exercise is very important for performance and recovery.
The main source of fuel for the body is carbs, which store in muscles in the days before exercise. This is why a meal after exercise is most critical to being ready for the next exercise session, and recovery.
According to
ancient Ayurveda diet principles,
make sure to allow your meal to digest completely before starting exercise or yoga practice. This can take one to four hours.
- What To Eat
Well before a longer stretching session, take in high-carb foods: fruits, bread, pasta, energy bars and drinks.
- Plan Your Meals
Seriously consider the type and length of your yoga session, and how much energy you will need. Also, equally important is to hydrate well.
- Protein Myth
It's untrue to say that vegetarians don't get adequate protein, and that non-animal protein in incomplete. Quite the opposite.
In fact, most people, including vegetarians, eat for more protein than they need to, without thinking about it at all. Even during a famine, the deficiency is usually calories, not protein. Every real food has protein.
It isn't that plant protein in incomplete, it's just that they may contain proportionately less of a couple of essential amino aciids [EAAs] than the "ideal" pattern. The fact is that plant protein has extra amount of the other essential amino acids.
You can get complete protein from plants, it just takes a little bit more of them.
To meet your protein needs, your body only requires 20% complete protein.
Any one of the foods in the list below meets the essential amino acid requirement without any other source of protein. A healthy diet for hatha yoga may need to increase these amounts...
- 3 cups cooked potatoes
- 6 slices of bread
- half cup wheat germ
- 1 and half cups of wheat
- 3 cups cooked basmati rice
- 3 cups cooked spinach
- Sugars
Research shows that consuming some kind of sugar before a longer yoga practice may provide energy for your muscles when other energy stores have dropped to low levels. Each person is different, so experiment.
- Caffeine
Caffeine improves endurance in a sporting event because it's a stimulant to the nervous system. Be careful. Some people have negative effects with too much caffeine.
For deeper experiences, eliminate caffeine.
- Foods To Avoid
Anything that remains in your stomach for a longer period of time, like fat. Again, every person is different.
- Super Supplements
Due to the poor quality of our foods and soils, supplementation is a must.
Click to discover little-known secrets of super supplements
Scott Coleman
Health and Wellness Expert
Author of Healthy Diet For Hatha Yoga
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