Yoga Info

Wellness

This page addresses several physical and mental wellness issues. Read the evidence supporting this page.

Diet

There is massive, strong evidence that eating a wide variety of fruits, berries, vegetables, whole grains, nuts, legumes (beans) and skim milk and avoiding processed foods and saturated and trans fats will prevent disease and maintain health.

Eat a small, healthy breakfast even if you are not very hungry when you get up. Otherwise, you will eat something unhealthy and full of calories at the office when you do get hungry.

Eating protein with every meal reduces food cravings.

Eating frequent small amounts of protein and complex carbohydrates improves mood and reduces food cravings by stabilizing blood sugar.

Chewing food thoroughly improves digestion and reduces food cravings.

Drinking water before meals results in less food consumed.

The right amount and quality of sleep reduces food cravings.

Dieting (restricting calories for a few months) rarely works. Most people regain the lost weight. To take weight off permanently, gradually convert to a healthy diet and increase the amount of daily exercise you get. Weight loss of more than one pound a week is unrealistic and may damage your health. Much of the weight loss above one pound is water rather than stored fat.

There is no evidence that detoxifying or cleansing diets have any effect.

Supplements

The best source for vitamins and minerals is the food you eat rather than supplements. That said, even people eating an excellent diet are commonly deficient in a few areas (as much as 40% of the population are deficient in Vitamin D, linked to depression, during the winter). There is little evidence that taking vitamins and minerals much in excess of your daily requirement results in better health and several vitamins such as Vitamin A can be toxic is large quantities.

Vegetarian, Vegan Diets

Nutritionally excellent diets including meat are easy to design. With a little care, nutritionally excellent vegetarian diets can be designed and are usually lower in calories, salt, sugar and saturated fats and are more sustainable than conventional agriculture. With considerable care, nutritionally excellent vegan diets can be designed. The decision to avoid animal products is a philosophical/ethical decision compatible with yoga's goals

Organic

Organic food contains less pesticides and herbicides than regular produce and organic agriculture is more sustainable than conventional agriculture. However, there is little evidence that the reduced levels of pesticides and herbicides actually results in better health. In addition, there is no evidence that organic food contains more vitamins or minerals. Organic food is much more expensive than regular food but if that isn't a problem, there is no disadvantage to eating an organic diet.

Fiber

Most people do not get enough fiber (substances such as cellulose that cannot be digested). If you increase the amount of fiber in your diet, you will feel full sooner and the fiber will slightly decrease the number of calories you absorb from the rest of your diet. This may produce a small weight loss even if you do not change anything else in your diet.

Salt

Most people consume far more salt than they need. This increases rates of heart disease, stroke and heart attack as well as increasing blood presure. Processed foods are usually extremely high in salt. Eating a healthy diet will automatically reduce the amount of salt you use.

Water

The amount of water you need depends on your age, weight, diet (fruit and many vegetables contain large amounts of water), illness (fever, diarrhea and vomiting), amount of physical activity as well as on the temperature and humidity of your surroundings. As a result, any general rule such as "drink 8 glasses of water a day" is meaningless. If you are thirsty, drink. Water rather than sports drink are best for satisfying thirst. If you are older, thirst becomes less reliable as an indicator of your need for water. If your urine is anything other than light yellow or has a noticeable odor, you need to drink more water. Drinking a cup of water every hour does not have any negative heath consequences and may have minor beneficial effects. If you are having problems with water retention, check with your doctor before doing this. It is possible to drink too much water. Drinking three liters of water in an hour or drinking more than a liter per hour for several hours (unless you are in an extremely hot, dry environment or are exercising extremely heavily) can have serious medical consequences.

Any substance that affects your mind is probably incompatible with yoga's goals. Here is a brief summary of some common psychoactive compounds.

Caffeine

There is no evidence that caffeine in moderation (the equivalent of two cups of coffee per day) is harmful to health and limited evidence it can have minor beneficial effects. Larger amounts of caffeine increase urination, anxiety, irritability and nervousness. Caffeine is mildly addictive for some people. If you do drink coffee or equivalent liquids such as colas, do not do so after 2pm so that they will not interfere with your sleep.

Alcohol

There is no evidence that alcohol in moderation (the equivalent of one drink per day) is harmful to health. However, alcohol is addictive for some people and a source of empty calories for everyone. If you do drink alcohol, do not do so after 6pm so that it will not interfere with your sleep. Do not drink when you are pregnant or nursing. Any amount of alcohol may seriously harm your baby.

"Recreational" Drugs

There is evidence is that marijuana is less damaging that alcohol but it can cause serious mental problems if abused. There is massive evidence that using drugs like cocaine, heroin, meth, etc. in any form are very harmful to health.

Tobacco

There is massive evidence that using tobacco in any form is extremely harmful to health. And, nicotine is extremely addictive.

Sleep

Most people need 7-8 hours of sleep per night but don't get it. This results in poor concentration, decreased mood and increased food cravings. To improve sleep quality,

Get moderate daily exercise (yoga is an excellent choice). Avoid exercise for two hours before going to bed.
Expose your eyes to strong sunlight for several minutes every day before mid-morning. The sunlight should be as strong as you can handle without squinting. Don't wear glasses or sunglasses. This resets your body clock. If you are exposed to a lot of artificial light your body may get out of sync leaving you in a "wake" cycle when you should be entering a "sleep" cycle.
Meditate/relax daily especially before going to bed. This will reduce your need for sleep and improve its quality.
While you are lying in bed waiting to fall asleep focus on your breathing. This prevents you for rehashing your day.
Avoid eating for at least an hour before going to bed.
Avoid alcohol and coffee for several hours before going to bed.
Avoid reading and watching television in bed.
Have a hot bath and warm milk before going to bed.
Have a quiet time without television or loud music for at least 15 minutes before going to bed.
Go to bed at the same time every night and get up at the same time every morning. If you are having serious trouble sleeping doing this on weekends as well will help.
Sleep in a quiet, dark, cool room. If you do not have a quiet, dark room, earplugs and a sleep mask will help.
Buy a new mattress if your current mattress is more than five years old.
If you haven't fallen asleep in 30 minutes, get up, do something else and try again in 30 minutes. Laying in bed fretting makes the problem worse.