Food Every Yoga Practitioner Should Be Eating 

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Brandon

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Practicing yoga is so much more than just an exercise — it’s an entire lifestyle that includes everything from mindset to diet. Mindfulness and meditation isn’t something that stops once you get off the yoga mat. It needs to be practiced in every aspect of our lives, and most especially in what we put into our bodies. 

In a previous post, we talked about ‘7 Health Wonders Water Can Do To Our Body’, and how something as simple as drinking water can protect our nervous systems, aid in digestion, and even help us control our calories. Today, we’ll go a little more in-depth into what other things we can eat that can help us maintain our health and provide the optimum performance and mindset for yoga. Here are a few of these foods below. 

Healthy Nuts 

Nuts are more than a light snack that you can eat on the go— they’re also packed with healthy fats and nutrients that can keep you healthy and glowing. According to the Harvard Women’s Health Watch, nuts can help you improve your heart health, reduce the chances of respiratory disease, and lower your risk for cancer. 

They contain healthy fats like omega-3 and omega-6 fatty acids, and a diet of just 1 ounce of nuts daily can drastically lessen your risk for cardiovascular diseases and prevent arrhythmias. Improved cardiovascular health can make your yoga practice easier, which can in turn strengthen and maintain your heart health. 

Probiotics 

A healthy gut is key to a healthy body, and one of the best ways to achieve this is by taking probiotics. Brightcore says that taking probiotics can improve your digestive health and boost your overall immunity, making you healthier and stronger. 

While the term itself can sound kind of scary, probiotics are actually readily available in a ton of the food that we eat. Fermented food is a great source of healthy bacteria, and is now more easily accessible than ever. Including yogurt, kimchi, or even kombucha into your daily diet is enough to maintain a healthy level of probiotics in your gut, and can even help you feel lighter and more nimble. 

Beets 

Beets may seem like a humble root crop, but there’s so much that they can offer a yoga practitioner. Eating beets can help improve your circulation, eye health, athletic performance, and even lower your cholesterol levels. The Cleveland Clinic reports that beets contain nitrates, which help widen your blood vessels and allow more oxygen to circulate to your brain and muscles. 

Depending on the part of the beet that you eat, you can find a host of different health benefits. The more common red and purple beetroots are packed with betacyanins and antioxidants, while beet greens have high levels of vitamin B and can easily be sautéed or tossed in a salad. 

Green Leafy Vegetables 

You should always eat your greens, especially when you do yoga. The health benefits of dark green leafy vegetables are well-documented, but they’re still worth discussing. Verywell Fit writes that vegetables like watercress, chard, spinach, and beet greens are nutritional powerhouses that deliver vitamins A, C, K, into your body, as well as antioxidants, fiber, iron, calcium, potassium, and much more. 

Green leafy vegetables are also chockfull of macronutrients like complex carbohydrates and fiber, which are essential for active lifestyles. They’re also low in calories, which makes it easier to tuck away a full plate of salad with no regrets. If you need a foundational ingredient to build your healthy diet around, then green leafy vegetables should definitely be the cornerstone of every great diet.

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About Brandon

Former corporate sales rep turned nomadic entrepreneurial yogi. Street food ninja, avid outdoorsman, craft beer geek, and live music junkie. Co-founder of The Yoga Nomads.

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