"Let the yogi eat moderately and abstemiously; otherwise, however clever, he cannot gain success." Siva Samhita
The human body needs food for two reasons: as fuel to produce the energy it needs and as a raw material to regenerate the body and continuously renew the tissues. A pure and natural diet is the best way to support our body’s two basic needs.
All energy comes from the sun. So the closer our food is to this source, the more energy it has. Human beings can only draw vitamin D and life energy (prana) directly from the sun, whereas plants use photosynthesis to convert sun energy into matter. Therefore, a vegetarian diet delivers nutrients directly ‘from the source’. Meat or fish, by contrast, contains only ‘second hand’ nutrients – the natural energy of the plants has already been metabolised in the body of the animal.
We are what we eat. This is true in more ways than one. As mentioned above, we need food to maintain the functioning of our body. But food also has more subtle effects: it forms the substance of our mind and can thus influence the mind in a very subtle way. This is another reason why we should eat natural foods. Fresh, light and nutritious food keeps the body trim and flexible, the mind clear and sharp and makes both body and mind receptive for the yoga practice.