There are many variables to consider when thinking about how long before a yoga class you should eat. Your answer is likely to change frequently and your answer won’t be the same as everyone else’s.
However, there are some guidelines that can help you figure out what’s right for your body, mind, and practice.
You might be doing yoga while pregnant, in which case it’s not unusual or wrong for yogis to eat during class. You might be managing diabetes or otherwise on a strict diet that requires you to eat before, during, and/or after class. You may feel hungry because you’ve just got home from a busy day at work. Or you might be dehydrated because it’s 40 degrees and you spent all day operating a blast furnace. Or, you may be preparing for a high-paced power yoga class, in which case your last big meal should be at least two hours before.
In addition to encouraging you to eat mindfully to slow down and appreciate the way in which you nourish your body, here are some general guidelines and recommendations to think about when eating before yoga.
Recommendations for Eating Before Yoga
Self-study or svadhyaya is an important part of a broad, rounded yoga routine. In our context, this principle of self-observation will affect how you think about nutrition and how food affects your body, mind, and practice.
Strict yoga practices and traditions often recommend refraining from food and drink altogether. Unless you’re practicing a specific style or aiming to gain withdrawal benefits such as enhanced clarity while fasting, however, eating and drinking keep our engines going in this modern world.
Generally, thirty minutes to an hour is a good amount of time before yoga to eat a very light but nutrient-dense snack, like fruit. However, an individual’s digestion time can vary due to numerous factors, including genetics, metabolic rate, stress levels, gut microbiome, medications, what was eaten, and how much of it was consumed.
When It’s Best to Do Yoga on an Empty(ish) Stomach
Wait about two hours after your last big meal before doing more intensive yoga (ashtanga, vinyasa, power yoga) or deeper twists.
Larger, healthy snacks or meals, which might better support a more intense or longer yoga session, will typically require more processing time, perhaps two or three hours.
So—while the type of yoga you do and conditions such as temperature will likely dictate your eating and drinking habits—it may be better to practice once your food has more or less moved on out of your stomach.
This is because:
- Digesting food gives your body additional work when it would be better off just receiving the benefits of yoga.
- Depending on the kind of yoga you do, some postures may be uncomfortable on a full stomach. Some poses, like downward-facing dog, will downright make you p… nauseous. Or, a deep twist after dinner could be painful on a full stomach.
- In addition to various asanas, yogic breathing or pranayama can put pressure on your stomach, in which case you’ll find it more comfortable if you haven’t eaten a big meal recently.
One way to avoid potential stomach-related discomfort is to do your yoga session before eating in the morning. Stomachs tend to be nice and roomy after a night’s sleep. (Or morning’s sleep if you’re a night worker).
When It’s OK to Eat Before (and During!) Yoga
On the other hand, eating before physical activity can provide nutrients for your body and an energy boost so that you can get more from your session. While doing yoga on a full stomach can be uncomfortable, doing yoga when you’re actively hungry can be distracting, too.
If practicing yoga first thing in the morning on an empty stomach makes you feel queasy—or if the thought of that scenario makes you bilious—eat. People commonly eat before a long, restorative session. And if your blood sugar is low and you need a snack in the middle of a prenatal/postnatal yoga class, you’d better snack right on!
What to Eat Before Yoga
Again, what you eat comes down to your individual circumstances.
Still, a few general principles can help you make healthy decisions about your body.
Consider Consuming…
A light snack can be a good idea to give you some energy, without making you feel heavy or bloated.
Prioritize foods that are:
- Easy to digest
- Light but satisfying
- Energy-packed; a balance of simple carbohydrates and protein can help you keep energy levels up throughout your yoga session
Think about nuts, lemon water, yogurt, or salad as good pre-yoga nutrition. Fruit and vegetables that are high in fiber move through the stomach quickly compared to other food types. So, eating these can help you feel comfortable enough to do yoga more quickly.
Once you’ve eaten your delicious, healthy pre-yoga snack, you might want to resist the temptation to go straight into downward dog.
Drinking water before, during, and after your yoga class will help you stay hydrated and comfortable, especially if it’s a hot day. Room-temperature water will do your body a favor—it won’t have to expend energy warming the liquid to process it.
Drinking tea or warm water during a long restorative class can be a vital part of the experience. And it makes sense to drink as much as you need during a hot vinyasa class to avoid dehydration, which could impact your health as well as your session. Note that for meditative purposes some teachers or styles encourage no consumption during class whatsoever, so find the class that best suits your biological needs!
Perhaps Avoid…
- Heavy meals that will take your body a long time to digest. Red meat, for example, might take several hours to process. Note that your body doesn’t triage different food types and digest them at different speeds. Rather, things that require more processing power increase the digestion and transit time for everything else in your belly.
- Spicy food—this can upset your stomach if you’re not used to it, which, in turn, can impact your yoga practice.
- Fatty food—high-fat foods need special enzymes to break them down, thus increasing the work your body needs to do during digestion.
- Coffee—whether you actually want a “coffee boost” or not will depend on your yoga goals and the type of yoga you’re doing. Just note that coffee before class may increase your heart rate and actually contribute to dehydration. Drinking coffee an hour or two before class might give your body time to process it.
When and What to Eat After Yoga
Some yoga instructors may say that you should give your body a while to drink in all that yoga goodness before eating or drinking.
Others will chug down a whole bottle of water in front of the class and grab a snack.
You might need water or the hit from a healthy snack right after your practice. Do what feels right for you, paying attention to how it makes your body feel.
Consider Consuming…
Eating after exercise allows you to replenish your glycogen, which is energy stored in your muscles, and protein, which helps repair and rebuild micro-tears. The intensity of your yoga session will influence the importance and quantity of any post-yoga snacking. The typical energy expenditure of a power yoga class and a yin yoga session, for example, are far removed, though both require energy.
A snack of oatmeal with fruit is great for refueling, recharging, and repairing. More salad, tofu, quinoa, nuts, vegetables, soup, or a green smoothie all make good refuelers.
Perhaps Avoid…
Food to avoid is anything that makes you feel heavy, tired, and/or actually slows down digestion, such as highly processed and refined foods.
Sugary food can lead to higher blood pressure, inflammation, fatty liver disease, dementia, and diabetes.
You Don’t Want to Be Upside Down With a Full Belly
Over time, your attention will help you learn about your body, what it needs to feel healthy, and when. Until then, you could try following the guidelines in this post as your starting point.
When it comes to eating before yoga, what works best for you will be individual to you. So pay attention to how your body feels and follow your instincts. You can also try different strategies to see how they impact—or not—your yoga practice.
Generally speaking, when you put good fuel into your body, you’ll get better performance from everything from your mind to your muscles.
Replenish your energy after your session with something that feels truly nourishing to you.
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