Yoga exercises can be used to improve the health, either for physical purpose or psychological. Asanas and pranayama are used to take care of asthma or arthritis, pranayama and meditation for increasing inner peace, better relationships, expression of repressed stresses, etc.

Yoga is believed to calm the nervous system and balance the body, mind, and spirit. It is thought to prevent specific diseases, maladies by keeping the energy meridians open, and life energy flowing.

Yoga has been used to lower blood pressure, reduce stress, and improve coordination, flexibility, concentration, sleep, and digestion.

It has also been used as supplementary therapy for such diverse conditions as cancer, diabetes, asthma, AIDS and Irritable Bowel Syndrome. 

Yoga and Diet

The development of our body, physical, mental and spiritual, is reflected in the kind of food we eat and our stage of consciousness is revealed in the nature of that chosen food. In yoga, it is advice to take a sattvic or a pure vegetarian diet. Such a diet, encourages the development of the higher qualities of peace, love and spiritual awareness.

The basis of an ideal sattvic diet is the attitude of ahimsa or nonviolence. A sattvic diet is foremost purely vegetarian, a lot of emphasis is put on natural foods, i.e., foods grown in harmony with nature, on good soils, ripened naturally, cooked in the right manner and with the right attitude of love. Taking such a diet helps in the development of prana or vital energy and spiritual consciousness.

The aim of a yogic diet is the development of air and ether elements (vata), it is best suited not only for detoxification of the body but also for widening the parameters of our mind, and for the same reason, some yogis recommend raw foods coupled with frequent fasts. They believe that a reduction in the body ultimately results in the expansion and development of the mind—increasing detachment and lowering our physical consciousness while raising the spiritual counterpart. 

Nonviolent yogic diets consider not only the doshas or the ayurvedic humors of vata, pitta and kapha but also the role of prana. Good raw foods, such as cucumbers, radishes, carrots, tomatoes, parsley together with spices like ginger, cayenne, cinnamon and basil, flushes both the mind and the body with pranic energy, raw foods, grains and dairy products are used for cleansing the nadis or the channels of the subtle body because they bring with them an increase in prana.

A combination of yogasanas, pranayama, mantra, meditation and a yogic diet works wonders for those intent on cleansing both the physical and the subtle body.

Foods to eat in Yoga

• Fresh, sweet fruits of all types.
• All types of vegetables except onions and garlic.
• Whole grains, such as-- rice, wheat and oats.
• Ideally beans like-- mung, aduki and tofu etc..
• Not overly roasted or salted nuts and seeds such as-- almonds, coconuts, walnuts, pecans & sesame.
• Butter, ghee and all good natural plant-based oils like sesame, olive and sunflower.
• Dairy products like-- milk, ghee, yogurt and cottage cheese etc.
• Natural sugars such as-- jaggery, honey, maple syrup and molasses.
• Ginger, cinnamon, cardamom, fennel, cumin, coriander, turmeric, fenugreek and other such sweet spices.
• Herbal teas, natural water and fresh juices, particularly of the lemony kind.
• Foods prepared with love and consciousness. 

Foods to avoid in Yoga

• Meat, fish, chicken and eggs.
• Artificial, processed & junk foods.
• Animal fats, margarine and poor quality oils.
• Factory farm dairy products.
• Garlic, onions and other over-spiced food.
• Fried food.
• Old, stale, over and reheated food.
• Alcohol, tobacco and other stimulants.
• Artificial beverages.
• Microwaved and irradiated food.
• Genetically engineered food.
• Foods eaten in a bad environment or eaten quickly.