Yoga involves twisting and bending with different poses. Initially, it may cause discomfort as all muscles get stretched. If you eat certain foods or big meals, which overflow around your belly and interfere with yoga poses. But it does not mean that you should stay completely empty stomach for doing yoga.
Trying some planning, and trials you can know what is best to consume before yoga and after yoga.
When Should You Eat Before Yoga?
Table of Contents
Eating light food before one hour of your yoga session works effectively, but it may also vary according to different types of body.
If you feel hungry and directly go to yoga from your work or because of a tight schedule, eating some quick bites of proteins or light carbs is a better option than staying empty, and not having enough energy to perform in yoga class.
After yoga, it is fine to eat anything you like. However, after your yoga session, you will notice your body and eat a light snack. Yoga is a good option for good health and reduces unwanted weight.
Pre-Yoga Meals:
Green Smoothie
Image SourceGreen smoothies are the best way to get the freshness of energy without any crashes or spikes. However, the important thing is to keep it simple. It is very beneficial to load up the smoothies with nutrients with increased ingredients.
Tip: Drink your smoothie before 20 minutes before the yoga practice to prevent weighed down feeling.
Avocado and Whole Grain Toast
Image SourceIt can be a little heavier if you have a long yoga class or have late dinner. Adding avocado provides good fat, the complex carb present in whole-grain toast will make digestion slow and leave you less interrupt savasana with the grumbly tummy. Pour some lemon juice or salt over the top of tasty zing.
Green Juice
Image SourceGreen juice from fresh-pressed provides low calories. It is the best way to begin light practice. The chlorophyll present in green helps to improve your oxygen consumption and provide natural energy. You can consume this way till the time of yoga practice.
Bananas and Nut Butter
Image SourceBananas are the best fruit to provide quick energy before doing yoga. Whereas, nut butter like cashew, peanut, or almond will maintain the energy. Therefore, you do not crash for 20 minutes into your yoga session.
Tips: Consume this meal before 30 minutes of a yoga session for good results.
Eat Simple carbs
Image SourceConsider simple carbohydrates with few quantities of fat, protein, and fiber for staying energetic and powerful. Some of the favorite pre-yoga snacks are apple, banana, peanut butter, hummus, and avocado toast with crackers or carrot.
Energizing Snacks
Choose nut butter, fruit smoothie, toast, and avocado or eat anything you feel energizing for your body, said by Lauren Fowler, a registered yoga teacher and dietitian nutritionist in San Francisco.
Easy-To-Digest Foods
Image SourceBefore performing yoga, choose foods, which are easy to digest easily and provide you balanced energy such as a combination of protein, whole grain, carbohydrates, and fat, said by registered yoga instructor and dietitian.
Eat 2-Hours Before You Start The Yoga Practice
It would be helpful to have a meal 2-hours before your yoga class, said by Alish Temples, a licensed yoga teacher, and dietitian in Virginia.
Avoid Spicy, Acidic Foods, and Fatty
Eating acidic, spicy, or fatty foods cause to upset your stomach. Try also to skip food that is slow digestible as they could make you feel discomfort during yoga practice.
Let The Food Get Digested Before Starting The Practice
Allow yourself at least 30 minutes to digest the foods before starting yoga. Try experimenting with your body and check what makes you comfortable.
Spinach and Coconut Milk Smoothie
If you are busy, the coconut milk and spinach smoothie are good for before yoga sessions, as it provides a good amount of nutrients.
Blend:
- 1 cup – spinach
- 1 cup – coconut milk
- 1/2 banana
- A few slices of pineapple
- 1 tsp of peanut butter
Tip: Freeze the spinach in the night, which will prevent the muddy taste of spinach. It will also make your smoothie cold and nice.
Nothing
Eating nothing is another good option before doing yoga sessions, especially your timing is in the early morning. Expert yogis follow yoga on an empty stomach and advance their techniques.
Tips: Make sure you have normal blood sugar as it can be dangerous to perform yoga with abnormal levels of sugar. Take your doctor’s advice before starting yoga.
Post Yoga Meals
Image SourceDuring post-yoga, try to keep the eating simple. If you need to follow later and feel to having before dinner, then keep it light like a snack-size portion. Add more veggies to have a healthier dinner.
Egg whites, Veggies, and Sprouted Toast
Image SourceAfter a rejuvenating session on the yoga mat, do not overload your body with heavy food. Try choosing egg whites (since they’re so low in fat and cholesterol, you can stack upon them), with sprouted toast (optional), and a few veggies lightly sautéed in coconut oil. You can include a little sprinkle of parmesan to the top for additional flavor.
Quinoa Cooked or Oatmeal with Almond Milk
If you don’t like eating oatmeal because of no flavors, then add flavors in it. Oatmeal is the most lasting food to manage bad cholesterol. It provides soluble fiber like beta-glucan.
Consuming oats is linked with an average 7% reduction in LDL cholesterol shown by research.
Many different things also affect heart health, such as your lifestyle and smoking, but oatmeal is good for the heart.
The fiber present in oatmeal also makes you full for a long time and prevents frequent hunger. It also prevents constipation and manages blood sugar.
You can combine oats with milk and fruits without sugar. You can also use non-diary milk, which contains low sugar and fat. You can also include fresh berries to increase natural sweetness.
Hummus and Veggies
Veggies with hummus make it light snack before dinner. Hummus will give a good and natural umami flavor and help to keep you full, but not much stuff. Try fresh veggies like carrots, broccoli, cucumber, celery, and red peppers.
Salad with Salsa or Clean Guac
Image SourceThe guac and salsa should include one amount of sugar and salt. The best way to skip this is to prepare yourself using sabra guacamole pack or salsa. Also, try to find clean brands that contain whole foods with fresh guac.
Steamed Veggies and Avocado
You can add avocado and steamed veggies in your post-yoga eatings. It will fulfill your nutritional requirement for fats and make the meal lighter cooked with veggies and creamy texture without hurting the gut health.
Almonds and Greek Yogurt
Try adding more proteins after a yoga session. It helps in muscle recovery, and carb will raise blood sugar levels.
Combine low-fat Greek yogurt with oats and top with cashews or almonds. Also, include one teaspoon flax seed and chia seeds.
If you wish to add more protein, then include one teaspoon of whey protein powder.
Avocado with Eggs
Eggs and avocado are the best sources of healthy protein and fat. It will take around 20 minutes for preparation.
- Cut the avocado and split it open and take out the pit.
- Scoop out the avocado to make the space for the egg.
- Wrap the aluminum foil over every avocado like a basket.
- Crack one egg on every half of avocado and season with one little bite of black pepper and salt.
- Place the avocado on 350 degrees for 20 minutes.
Re-hydrate after class
Image SourceAfter doing intense workout or normal workout, your body needs to re-hydrate after doing yoga also. Re-hydrating post-yoga helps to prevent dehydration, soreness, and cramping. It is especially important if you are following hot yoga. Try to drink enough water as your body needs and re-hydrate the electrolytes. It can be a conscious effort and easy thing to make a schedule for drinking water hourly.
A nice method to drink one glass of water first toward the beginning of the day, another glass following a couple of hours before your lunch, one glass while lunch, one glass in supper, and drink another glass of water before bed.
Try to drink water infused with lemons, cucumbers, or lime to make it more nutritious and flavorful. Coconut water is also the best source of electrolytes. Also, add a water-rich with foods like citrus, kiwis, pineapple, celery, watermelon, and tomatoes.
Try to avoid consuming alcohol, caffeine, and other sugary drinks, which cause you to dehydrate your body.
What To Eat In Different Yoga Classes?
Generally speaking, consuming a meal consisting of protein, fats, and carbohydrates and some dense nutrients after a yoga practice, whether it be after yoga or within one hour, it is going to be favorable for most people.
Have a look at five different post-yoga meal and snack options for five different yoga timings.
An Early Morning Class
Image SourceIf you are performing yoga asana early morning between 4-8 am, performing with an empty stomach, or completely stomach. After class, make sure to re-hydrating with 1/2 litter of water. Then eat something little fat, protein, and carbohydrates. This include:
- Sprouted toast, scrambled tempeh with coconut oil, and veggies.
- Drink smoothie with greens, fruits, with hemp seeds or chia seeds.
- Eat one or two bananas with stir-fried greens and a handful of almonds.
- Eat a bowl of oatmeal or cooked quinoa with almond milk, walnuts, and berries.
Lunchtime Class
Image SourceIf you have a yoga class during lunch hours, you most likely to eat something light till you finish the yoga with a piece of fruit and then eat a well-balanced lunch later. Here are some best ideas.
- Eat sprouted grain crackers with hummus and veggies
- Eat sprouted grain with salsa, black beans, and guacamole.
- Drink green salad and cooked beans and grains with sliced avocado.
- Choose something filling to balance with protein, carbs, and fats.
Mid-Afternoon Class
If your yoga class timing is mid-afternoon, then you may be busy for digesting lunch, so you cannot eat anything more and have a light snack after class to manage till dinner times. Here are the best ideas:
- A handful of almonds and apple.
- Eat some fruits, seeds, and mixed nuts.
- Eat a piece of gluten-free or sprouted bread with jam or nut butter.
- Consume sprouted veggies or crackers with hummus.
- Eat light to have space for dinner.
Early Evening Class
Image SourceAn early evening yoga class, for the most part, will mean you are sparing your supper until after class. Ideally, you eat a brisk snack before class, so here are some supper choices to help refuel your body after a yoga session, that won’t break your sleep with a huge amount of digesting:
- Make a soup with beans/lentils, veggies, and quinoa or barley.
- Have a salad with raw guacamole, salsa, and fried beans.
- Eat a rice bowl with veggies and tahini or nut-based sauce.
- Eat Avocado and a big plate of steamed veggies.
Late Night Class
Image SourceIf you have a night yoga class, you are most likely to have dinner before class only. Anything after yoga class should be light before going to bed without a large meal to digest, but also do not sleep hungry.
- Have a bottle of coconut water with an apple.
- Eat almond butter with banana.
- Eat sprouted grain and guacamole or gluten-free toast.
- Drink Miso soup.
Information before and after yoga
The most important and simple things to know before and after yoga. Know your body and how it is reacting to yoga moves and weaknesses. It will increase your self-awareness.
Yoga is certifiably not a serious practice! So be content with what you do at this very moment and let adaptability and quality develop with time. The more you can practice into yoga, your posture becomes perfect (through right breathing), the simpler it becomes.
- Naturally, there are some practical things to follow to get the complete benefit of yoga.
- Wear stretchable and comfortable cloths. Remove loose jewelry.
- Choose a sticky yoga mat and keep a small cotton towel to wipe the sweat.
- Avoid spicy and heavy meals before yoga.
- Take proper rest after yoga at least for 10 minutes with normal breathing.