Comparing organic raw cacao and most commercial chocolate is like comparing a perfectly ripe, fresh, organic, wild blueberry with the synthetic chemical blueberry flavoring in a jelly bean. The processing and the toxic additives are not digestible and are lacking in prana, aggravate all three doshas, builds ama, and contributes to disease. But don’t despair. With a little education, you can learn how to use this wonderful food to your benefit.
There could be many reasons for someone to choose to eat a vegan diet or live a vegan lifestyle: health, ethics, and environmental concerns lie at the top of the list. Many yogis adopt this practice in conjunction with the ethical observance of ahimsa or non-harming, and in general, both yoga and its sister science, Ayurveda, seek out a sattvic diet—a diet containing pure foods that are high in prana or energy.
Ayurveda teaches us that our gut health is a determining factor of our overall health, and it’s important to learn how to keep our agni, or digestive fire, strong and efficient. Our agni is a big soup of acid, bile, and enzymes that help transform food into usable energy. Maintaining a balanced agni translates into better digestion, elimination, and immune function.
The saying “You are what you eat” takes on increased importance in Ayurveda, which teaches that food affects you both physiologically and psychologically. To be more Ayurvedic, we can modify this saying to “You are as healthy as the tastes you consume.” Everything you eat has a certain taste and that taste has specific actions on the body and mind.