What it is the diet that best support a meditation practice?

Over the last two years I decided to spent my birthday on a meditation retreat.

Lucky enough, this year it was in Easter which allowed me to go on a four days meditation retreat in the Blue Mountains. It was beautiful and of course, challenging in may ways.

Even though you are suppose to be "mindful" and to "clear your mind", I could not stop thinking about food... Ok, let me change that comment, I thought just a little bit ;)

Having spicy food, dairy and flowery products or sugar as part of the menu made the following question to pop-up into my mind ... "What it is the diet that best support a meditation practice?" .

To answer this question, I cannot stop going back to the experience I had on a Buddhist monastery in Thailand years ago.

The menu was two simple and whole meals a day, breakfast and lunch.

Rice was the main source of carbohydrates (even for breakfast in the form of "cream" or "porridge"), food was not spicy, there were plenty of vegetables and not a sign of meat or even fish.

From my own knowledge and experience I can tell you that flowery products promote mucus and do not assist to have a clear mind. Grains are a lot better option and amongst them, wholemeal rice is the winner to meditate.

In another hand, there is plenty of evidence that meat does not assist you to concentrate sufficiently to take you to deep states of meditation. Beans, tofu, tempeh, natto or nuts are a good source of protein instead.

Roots and round vegetables are also good and of course spices are out of the window. However, this does not mean boring or tasteless food. Different ways of cooking allow to simply and naturally enhance flavour when preparing meals that nourish the body while nourishing the mind.

Rule of thumb though, chew very very well and not over eat or starve yourself.

In some countries monks even eat small portions of meat or fish and manage to meditate. However, they do eat simply, mindfully and with gratitude for what is given and available to them so keep that in mind.

I was surprise how little I ate this time without feeling hungry which took me to the next question or realization... How much energy my brain takes on my normal daily life?

Anyway, some of the meditators made the comment of how difficult they found to meditate in the afternoon / after lunch so I wonder, could a change in the menu prevent this from happening?

I cannot wait for the month of August to come as I will be deciding the menus and directing the kitchen in the centre and hopefully, answering to this question.