As per Hinduism teachings, healthy eating means eating
measured, limited or moderate amount of food. The food should be pure, tasty and wholesome –
it should be an offering to God residing in the person. A person should not eat
too much or too little. Eat only after the previous food has digested. A person
should leave one-fourth part of the stomach empty; fill one-half of stomach with
food and one-fourth with water.
Gheranda Samhita (V.16) states that if a student practicing
yoga without giving due consideration to healthy eating habits may suffer from ailments and no benefit can be derived from Yoga.
The Bhagavad Gita stresses the importance of moderation in
all aspects of life. “The practice of Yoga would not do any good to one who
eats too much or too little or to one who commits excesses regarding sleeping
or waking.” (Gita VI.16).
The Bhagavad Gita further declares: “Yoga can remove pain
and sorrow from the life of that person who is moderate and appropriate (yukta)
in diet, entertainment, work and play, sleep and waking life.” (VI.17)
Various aspects of health eating habits and food intake are
discussed in ancient Hindu texts like overeating, attitude towards a meal,
when to eat, what not to eat, the proper time for eating, the things to be
included and quantity.
Hatha Yoga Pradipika (I.57), healthy eating or mitahara is
mentioned as one of the four essential qualities needed by a student for achieving
the final goal of Yoga. The other three qualities are – brahmacharya, freedom
from cravings, and complete devotion to the practice of Yoga.
Hatha Yoga Pradipika (I.17) and Darshan Upanishad (I.6) - healthy
eating is counted as one of the ten abstinences that a student of Yoga must
practice. Eating in moderation is included among the five observances in
Markandeya Purana (36.17).
As per Bhagavad Gita, eating is a form of yajna (sacrifice).
“Those who eat what is left over after offering the food to the gods in a
sacrifice become free from the impacts of wrong acts, whereas those who cook
food just for eating and filling the belly, without the idea of offering it in
a sacrifice, become wrongdoers.” (III.13)
Similar emphasis on the attitude of considering eating as an
act of making an offering to the Lord, rather than as one of satisfying hunger,
is found in Yoga Kundalini Upanishad (I.3) and Hatha Yoga Pradipika (I.58). In
fact, this attitude is an essential characteristic of health in Hindu religion
by definition. Both texts have defined healthy eating as “that meal which is
wholesome and tasty, which leaves one-fourth part of the stomach empty, and
which is eaten as an obeisance to Shiva, who resides inside the body.”
The fact of leaving one-fourth part of the stomach empty, filling
one-half with food and one-fourth with water, is mentioned in several texts
apart from Vishnu Purana (VI.7) and Gheranda Samhita (V.22).
In Yoga-Yajnavalkya (I.66-67), the quantity of food is
defined in terms of morsels (mouthfuls). It says that eight mouthfuls are good
enough for a sage, sixteen for the elderly or who has entered the stage of
vanaprastha, 32 mouthfuls for a householder or family people.
Manusmriti is very critical about overeating. “It causes
ill health, reduces one’s life, makes one wrong and disliked in society”
(Manusmriti II.57).
Manusmriti (IV.62) states that one should avoid eating at
sunrise and at sunset, and after a heavy meal during the day, the night meal should
be foregone.
In Hatha Yoga Pradipika (I.15), overeating is included in the six
ways of behavior harmful to Yoga.
Food available abundantly in a particular region is ideal
for the climate of the region.
Eating meat and fish is not considered sin but texts point
out that great virtue lie in eating in moderation and having a wholesome meal.
Source – Encyclopedia of Hinduism Volume VII page 169 -170 –
IHRF.