It's a fact: yoga and a vegan diet changes you from the inside out

[Guest guest]

POSTED June 27, 7:40 AM

These men focus their energy in Warrior I.Last week, Lime posted two blogs that highlighted research from the San Francisco-based Preventative Medicine Research Institute that proved a healthy diet can help prevent predisposed diseases. A group of men who were all at risk for prostate cancer, switched to a vegan diet, became moderately active, started practicing yoga and the results were astonishing. Here's an excerpt from the Telegraph article: A vegan low fat diet combined with

yoga and exercise can help fight prostate cancer, new findings show.Researchers found that combining a diet low in fat and rich in fruit and vegetables with regular moderate exercise seems to switch on genes that fight disease, while effectively turning off others that can promote cancer.The evidence that genes are not your fate, undermining what the authors call "genetic nihilism," comes from a study of men with early stage prostate cancer but could be of relevance to a wide range of cancers, such as breast cancer.Also, read the Reuter's take on the news.

Not sure why Reuter’s felt the need to exclude the words ‘vegan’ and ‘yoga.’ But, I’ll let them slide, because this news is too great to focus on the weird stigmas against yoga and vegans. Personally, I know first hand how a vegetarian diet, yoga and other forms of exercise can change your life. I grew up as a poster child for the Standard American Diet (SAD), had horrible asthma, eczema and was more than a little overweight. I became a vegetarian when I was 13, but clueless to what being a vegetarian truly was about, I mostly ate cheese pizza, fries and pasta. It wasn’t until I moved to Chicago at age 18 to attend college and got a job at Whole Foods that I really began to understand a healthy, vegetarian lifestyle.

I just celebrated my 26 birthday and I no longer have asthma (unless I get too close to a cute kitty) and no more eczema. I know that my diet has exponentially effected this change within me and I know that my yoga practice helped me to make those changes. As I said, being meat-free doesn’t necessarily equate complete health. There are plenty of vegetarians who don’t exercise and get too much dairy and processed soy products (not all veggie burgers are made alike).

Yoga helps me be aware of what’s going on in my body. I now know what it feels like to leave a yoga class glowing and feeling healthy and happy and after you experience that feeling enough times, you just become more aware of what’s going on inside you. Bloating, gas and headaches aren’t everyday symptoms of eating and no matter how much I crave Piece, I know that the moment of perceived goodness pales in comparison to the bloating and awkwardness my body feels. I don’t think I’m hypersensitive nor am I saying that we shouldn’t eat at Piece or that everyone needs to be a vegan, but you’d be surprised that once you begin to connect with your body about how easy it is to give up those comforts and traditions that leave you feeling crappy.

 

Peter vv

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