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Is Eating Before Yoga Good Or Bad?

Yoga Should Be Practiced After Food Or Empty Stomach

Yoga is an exercise of the body and mind that has been around for many centuries. It has its origins in India as early as 2,000 BC. For yoga to be successful, an important preparation is to avoid eating meals prior to beginning the practice. Generally, it is encouraged to not eat 1 to 2 hours prior to performing the Asanas (physical exercises) and Pranayama (Breathing techniques). Let us look at some of the reasons why it is better to perform yoga on an empty stomach.

Digestion Requires Energy: To begin with, digestion requires energy. If you exercise right after you eat food, this energy is diverted from the stomach to the muscles. Thus, the digestive system becomes limited in its capacity to digest food properly.

Yoga Uses Core Conditioning Techniques: Another cause for concern is that when one twists, bends or even compresses the torso while performing yoga exercises, the food can push against the lining of the digestive tract. This pressure on the lining tract can lead to damage of digestive tissues or aggravate existing digestive problems.

It Can Make You Uncomfortable: Food in the digestive tract can also cause gas or bloating making it very uncomfortable to perform yoga poses. At worst, if you eat too close to yoga practice, regurgitation or a burning sensation in the stomach may occur from improper digestion. A relatively empty stomach makes inversions and bends a lot easier to do. Moreover, when there is little food in the digestive tract and less waste in the bowels, the ‘Prana’ or life energy from yoga moves more freely through the body.

You Can Burn More Fat: If you practice yoga on an empty stomach, your body normally taps into energy stores such as body fat. This allows your calories to burn faster and more efficiently and you become fitter. Eating before yoga floods your bloodstream with sugars which your body burns off before even getting to the fat stores. Therefore, eating before yoga is counterproductive to losing weight.

You need not practice yoga on a completely empty stomach as this could lead to low energy levels. You can eat something like a high-nutrient bar approximately 30 minutes before beginning yoga. This small amount of food will be digested quickly, give you energy and not have adverse effects while exercising. Ideally however, yoga should be practiced on an empty stomach early in the morning.

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