Consequently, as the solids, liquids, gases and ethers of which the physical body is composed may be coarse or refined, gross or delicate, so will be the nature of the corresponding astral envelopes.

A physical body nourished on impure food will produce a correspondingly impure astral body, whilst a physical body fed on clean food and drink will help to purify the astral vehicle.

The astral body being the vehicle of emotion, passion and sensation, it follows that an astral body of the grosser type will be chiefly amenable to the grosser varieties of passion and emotion .. whereas, a finer astral body will more readily vibrate to more refined emotions and aspirations.

It is impossible to make the physical body coarse and at the same time to organize the astral and mental bodies for finer purposes .. neither is it possible to have a pure physical body with impure mental and astral bodies. All three bodies are thus inter-dependent.

Not only the physical body, but also the higher bodies also, are affected by the food which is eaten

Carnivorous diet is fatal to anything like real occult development, and those who adopt it are throwing serious and unnecessary difficulties in their own way, for flesh food intensifies all the undesirable elements and passions of the lower planes.

In the ancient times, men were of utmost purity and they were invariably vegetarian! A Yogi takes special pains to purify the physical body by an elaborate system of food, drink, sleep, etc., and insists on foods which are satvic, or rhythmic. A whole system relating to foodstuffs is built up to help in the preparation of the body for use by the higher consciousness.

Flesh foods are rajasic .. i.e., they come under the quality of activity, being stimulants, and built up to express animal desires and activities. They are utterly unsuited to the finer type of nervous organization. The yogi, therefore, cannot afford to use these for the higher processes of thought.

Foods on the way to decay, such as game, venison, etc., as well as alcohol, are tamasic or heavy, and also to be avoided.

Foods which tend to growth, such as grain and fruits, are satvic, or rhythmic, being the most highly vitalized and suitable for building up a body sensitive and at the same time strong.

Source: " The Astral Body " by" Arthur E. Powell "