This guide looks at three of the main religions in the world, particularly in the Far East and Southern Asia. These religions focus on the forces of nature and energy to create a spiritual way of life.

Following some particular practices in these religions, diet advice and considerations can vary, which we will explore below.

Buddhism

Buddhists believe in a cycle of karma and reincarnation. Humans are reborn after death until one achieves Nirvana, a state of enlightenment.

Siddhartha Gautama was the first person to reach this state of enlightenment and was, and is still today, known as the Buddha.

The first precept in Buddhism is 'I undertake the precept to refrain from taking life'. This means that many Buddhists follow vegetarian and vegan diets, though some do indeed eat dairy or are lacto-vegetarian.

Some common deficiency potentials with such diets are focused on protein, iron, and vitamin B12.

Second Nature encourages you to eat a balanced diet to ensure adequate intake of these nutrients. This means eating protein, fats, vegetables, and complex carbohydrates in each meal.

Some milk replacements today are soy milk, almond milk, hazelnut milk, cashew milk, rice milk, oat milk and hemp milk.

Soy milk will have the closest nutritional profile to cow's milk, providing more protein, vitamins, minerals and calcium than the other milk alternatives. Despite this, soy isn't an exact replacement for cow's milk, and nutrients like vitamin B12 will need to be sourced elsewhere.

Vegetarian products can be made from a range of ingredients. Some are made from mixed vegetables, some from mycoprotein sources such as soya, seitan, tofu, tempeh, or Quorn, and some are from beans and legumes (which would count as a carbohydrate source).

It's always helpful to check labels to see what's in them and to ensure no added artificial ingredients or added sugar has been added.

Here is our guide on vegetarian and vegan recipes and resources that can help plan balanced meals.

Taoism

Taoism follows a similar way of life to Buddhism. The important Taoist principles are inaction, simplicity and living in harmony with nature. Taoism philosophy is based on unifying the opposite forces: yin and yang.

Taoist ideas, such as Tai Chi Chuan, Qigong, and various martial arts, are also expressed through movement and exercise.

A Taoist’s diet

Taoists avoid strong-smelling plants such as onions and garlic, believing this clouds mental clarity.

They follow a diet of Ch’ang ming, meaning ‘long life’, which is made up of the following principles:

These principles align well with Second Nature’s balanced and mindful approach.

Yin and Yang foods

Yin and yang is a main principle of Far East Asian medicine, and they apply to all aspects of life and health, including diet.

Yin and yang represent the dynamic balance of opposing forces. Following a diet without upsetting this balance is very important in Far East culture.

Each person's body has a unique blend of yin and yang, and they must tailor their diet accordingly. If someone has a more yin body type, for example, they would be better off eating more yang foods to balance this.

Those with the yin body type tend to have slighter builds. They are sensitive to cold and prefer hot foods and warm drinks.

Those with the yang body type are robust, sturdy, and energetic. They usually prefer cooler weather and cold foods and drinks.

A diet based on the yin-yang principles can provide the following benefits according to Far East Asian culture:

Here’s a list of many Yin foods associated with cooling:

These would be added to the diet of Yang people to bring balance. Yin exercise types are aerobic exercise.

Yang foods are associated with fire and produce heat:

Yin people eat these to bring heat and balance to their cooling nature. Yang exercises include strength and endurance sports.

Neutral foods fall somewhere in the middle and can be eaten by both yin and yang body types:

Including a variety of all food groups and a rainbow of vegetables and fruits in your diet can bring a natural balance to your lifestyle. However, if you want to adapt your diet to be either more yin or yang, your health coach is on hand to help.

Shintoism

Shintoism is a strong religious belief mainly followed in Japan.

In Shintoism, spirits called Kami are worshipped and respected. They take the form of nature in life, such as wind, trees, rain, rocks, mountains, and rivers. This is believed of all humans when they die - they become ancestral Kami.

Food offerings to Kami are made throughout the seasons. The offering meals are called Shinsen (神饌) and consist of traditional staple foods such as rice, mochi (rice cake), sake, salt, water, and the best catch of fish from the sea.

The time before a Shinsen meal is called Itadaki-masu (いただきます).

This means ‘to receive’. Shintoists also express gratitude to the animals and plants that sacrificed their lives and the cooks who prepared the meals.

After a Shinsen meal is referred to as Gochiso-sama (ごちそうさま).

The word means to express gratitude toward hospitality and food.

Generally, Shintoists follow a vegetarian diet to respect the nature they worship. No meat is allowed, though Shintoists can eat fish.

Shintoism has been established for so long in Japan that many of the foods Shintoists consume, the rest of Japan does as well.

To respect these three beliefs and their vegetarian and pescatarian way of eating, here are some suitable Second Nature recipes you could try, influenced by the Far East:

Other guides you may be interested in:

Japanese balanced eating

Chinese balanced eating

Chinese New Year

Following Second Nature the Far East Asian Way