Pranic Value of Food: Scientific and Yogic Perspective

What is Prana: For a yoga practitioner or teacher, prana is not an abstract idea. It is a lived experience. We encounter it most clearly through the process of breathing; regulated inhalation and exhalation that directly influence vitality, mental clarity, and inner stability. Breath is the most immediate and observable movement of prana, which is why yogic practice gives such importance to pranayama.

At the same time, yogic understanding recognises that prana can also be taken in, influenced, increased, or depleted through other sources. Breath is one pathway, but not the only one. Food, sensory impressions, lifestyle, mental state, and the surrounding environment all participate in the movement and regulation of prana within the system.

This is why yogic living pays close attention to what we eat, how we live, and how we interact with the world.

Food, in particular, is understood as a direct carrier of prana. Beyond nourishing the physical body, it influences vitality, steadiness of the mind, and the overall balance of the system. Seen from this perspective, diet is not merely nutritional; it is fundamentally pranic in nature.

To approach the pranic quantum, we must first understand how food physiologically affects the human body.

Food affects the body through a step-by-step biological process that every human goes through.

• The process begins with ingestion. When food enters the mouth, chewing breaks it into smaller particles and mixes it with saliva.

• Saliva contains enzymes that start carbohydrate digestion. At the same time, taste, smell, and texture send signals to the brain, activating the digestive system. Even at this stage, food begins influencing the nervous system as some foods stimulate, some calm, and some dull responsiveness.

• Next comes gastric digestion in the stomach. Hydrochloric acid and enzymes break down proteins and further liquefy the food.

• Different foods remain in the stomach for different durations. Light foods pass quickly, while heavy, fatty, or highly processed foods stay longer and demand more digestive effort. This directly affects post-meal energy, which is why some meals leave a person alert, while others induce heaviness or sleepiness.

• From the stomach, food enters the small intestine, where absorption and assimilation occur. Nutrients such as glucose, amino acids, fatty acids, vitamins, and minerals are absorbed into the bloodstream and lymphatic system. These nutrients are then used to:

  • produce energy (ATP),

  • build and repair tissues,

  • synthesise hormones and neurotransmitters,

  • regulate immunity and metabolism.

• At this stage, food literally becomes part of the body and brain. The quality of absorption determines physical strength, hormonal balance, and even emotional stability.

• Finally, undigested residue reaches the large intestine, where water and electrolytes are absorbed, and waste is eliminated. Foods that are difficult to digest or poorly assimilated tend to leave behind excess waste, fermentation, and toxins, burdening the system and slowing metabolism.

This physiological process clearly shows that digestion, absorption, assimilation, and post-meal energy vary depending on the type of food consumed. These observable differences were recognised and articulated as the three categories of food described in traditional scriptures such as the Bhagavad Gita and various yogic texts.

• Sattvic food: These foods are generally fresh, simple, and close to their natural state. When eaten, they do not demand excessive digestive effort. Assimilation happens efficiently; as a result, prana circulates freely.  Fresh fruits, raw or even boiled vegetables without excessive spices, whole grains, simple dals, or a freshly prepared khichdi are everyday examples. After eating such food, the body feels nourished but not burdened, and the mind remains calm and attentive.

• Rajasic food: These food items are stimulating in nature. Often making digestion forceful rather than smooth. This may appear as restlessness, impatience, or excess alertness. Spicy, oily, and overly salty foods, excessive onion and garlic, and strong tea or coffee are common examples. After such meals, people often feel unable to sit still, constantly checking their phone, speaking rapidly, or feeling mentally unsettled, while finding it difficult to settle into focused or quiet work. With regular reliance, rajasic food can over-stimulate and exhaust the nervous system.

• Tamasic food:  This is categorised based on the heaviness it introduces into the system. These foods are difficult to digest, slow to assimilate, and often leave behind a lot of waste. The mental effect is equally clear: dullness, sleepiness, lack of motivation, or mental fog. Stale food, reheated leftovers, highly processed items, excessive meat, alcohol, or overeating late at night all fall into this category. The body feels heavy after consumption, and the mind loses sharpness. Instead of supporting activity or awareness, such food pushes the system toward inertia.

Although these food categories are based on direct experience, many people still do not view food in this way. Instead, food is often reduced only to basic nutrients such as fats, carbohydrates, and proteins. While this nutritional view is important, it is not complete. More often than not, strong objections to experiential food classifications simply reflect personal taste preferences rather than careful observation. Most modern research around food is also driven by commercial and monetary interests.

However, a few scientists have looked beyond this narrow lens. One such researcher was the French scientist Andre Simoneton, who proposed that food carries a measurable wavelength, and that only those foods whose vibrational range aligns with the human wavelength truly contribute to wellbeing.

Simoneton’s Central Question: Simoneton’s work was driven by a simple but radical question for his time:

Do foods possess a measurable vital quality, and does this quality interact with the human organism?

Rather than approaching nutrition chemically, he approached it vibrationally, assuming that:

• Living organisms emit subtle radiations

• Health corresponds to a specific range of radiation

• Foods that match or support this range sustain vitality

Human Radiation: Simonton’s Findings: Using radiesthetic methods (pendulum and scale), Simoneton reported that:

• A healthy human body emits radiation in the range of 6,500 to 10,000 angstroms (Å).

• Values below 6,200 Å were associated with fatigue, illness, or reduced vitality

• Values approaching or exceeding 10,000 Å were considered a sign of high vitality and well-being.

Simoneton extended this inquiry to food substances. He reported that:

• Fresh, raw, and naturally grown foods such as fruits, vegetables, and sprouted grains exhibited higher wavelength readings as high as 6,500-10,000 Å.

• Cooked vegetables, eggs, cooked fish, milk, sugarcane, etc. showed 3,000-6,500 Å. The vitality here was relatively low compared to the earlier category.

• Meat, Alcohol, stale, processed food all showed the wavelength below 3000 Å. The further the food was altered from its natural state, the lower its measured wavelength appeared to be.

This closely resembles the explanation of Sattvic, Rajasic, and Tamasic categories of food described in traditional texts, doesn’t it?

Not just the wavelength, Simoneton also observed the way the pendulum moved over different food items:

• Foods corresponding to the Sattvic category produced smooth, steady, and well-defined rotations, indicating harmony with the human system.

• Rajasic foods caused faster but less stable movements, reflecting stimulation and agitation.

• Tamasic foods showed weak, irregular, or no pendulum movement at all, suggesting low vitality.

This pattern further reinforces the traditional understanding of Sattvic, Rajasic, and Tamasic foods.

Resonance: The Core Principle: Simoneton’s key insight was not merely numerical; it was relational. He proposed:

·        Foods that match or exceed the human radiation range support health

·        Foods far below this range create physiological strain

·        Chronic consumption of low-radiation foods leads to vitality loss

This perspective closely mirrors long-standing traditional Indian understanding, or simply common sense, since these effects are experiential and can be directly felt in one’s post-meal energy levels and mental state.

Knowledge, Commerce, and the Blind Spot in Food Science: Unsurprisingly, this line of inquiry was never explored further or brought into the mainstream. Modern research tends to progress most rapidly in areas with clear commercial value, and a framework that simply suggests eating fresh, natural food offers very little scope for monetisation.

Growing one’s own food, eating closer to nature, and relying less on processing do not generate profitable industries. It is therefore no surprise that such observations remained on the margins, despite being easily verifiable through everyday experience.

Ultimately, this perspective invites individuals to look at food through the lens of knowledge, vitality, and sustainability rather than trends or labels, and to make informed choices based on what genuinely supports life, leaving the final judgment to their own experience.