Any trainer or exercise enthusiast nowadays says that carbohydrates need to be apportioned and meals should not be predominantly laden with carbohydrates. My friends have reduced a lot of Rice and Roti also. They have introduced Proteins like Soy, Mung, Besan and Eggs in their Diet. Some even go to the extent of taking extra Protein via Supplements. 🫛🫘🍛🫓🥚🤔🌾[…]

Is there any Truth in this kind of Diet where Rice and Phulkas and Parathas are reduced, and exercisers instead consume a variety of other foods? Doesn’t Life become tedious with so much attention given to Food,  or is it how Conscious Living and Caring for one’s physical looks like?

Should people who want to build Strong Bodies for Integral Yoga consider this kind of carefully selected Diet with any seriousness, or brush it off like it’s a fad? Because Dining Hall Food designed by the Mother is Simple and Nutritious too (though people might argue that it doesn’t produce Athletes). I am confused. Please clarify. 

The scientific world measures and is obsessed with quantities. It calculates the amount of energy and the actual requirement. What it misses, since it cannot measure, is the qualitative aspect of food, such as the three modes or gunas, the occult atmosphere in its preparation and the dining space, the inner state and attitude while eating. It is somewhat like taking into consideration the mileage that a car gives while making everything else as secondary. 

So too with food. The human body is an instrument and the most important factor about healthy living is the forces that drive and use the instrument. Whereas this qualitative side is much more important for healthy living. For example, greed and fear are two of the most important elements to be avoided. Sri Aurobindo wrote the most important one-liner with regard to food as follows.

‘Spiritually, I should say that the effect of food depends more on the occult atmosphere and influences that come with it than on anything in the food itself.’

(Ref. https://incarnateword.in/cwsa/31/food#p60)

As to the exact amount of proteins, etc., I suspect that there is in it quite an element of propaganda to sell certain products that are in excess, soya, for example. These things are best regarded as fads that change with time and the regions. It is best to stay with the food that generations have used before us in certain geographical areas and their climate. It is the result of a cumulative experience and an intuitive knowledge that often surpasses scientific studies. 

Affectionately,

Alok Da