Is there a Formula to Calculate Prana?

After spending a month of being entirely vegetarian and learning about Ayurveda, the anatomy of the human body, yoga, and ideas like karma, non-violence, etc. I have found myself analyzing and even more so, “calculating” what I am eating.  Calculating what?  The best way I can explain it, is by saying that I’m forming a somewhat calculated opinion on how much “Prana” exists in the food I eat.  Prana is the Sanskrit word for “life force” or vital principle.  In yogic philosophy, Indian medicine, and martial arts, the term refers collectively to all cosmic energy, permeating the Universe on all levels.  Prana is often referred to as the "life force" and also includes energies present in inanimate objects.

So, how much Prana does the orange I just ate have? How much Prana does my chicken wing have?  I want more Prana in me, so I must know how much of it I’m taking in.  Well, unlike calories, carbohydrates, proteins, etc., Prana doesn’t have any units of measurement and the packaging on a box of chocolate milk doesn’t tell me how much Prana is included per serving under how much sugar it has.  I wish it were the case though … but that would be hard as we don’t yet know how to measure it.  So, this little essay is an open invitation to all scientists, nutritionists, and mathematicians out there to work with my train of thought below and come up with a formula that might calculate how much Prana food has!

Let’s break things down into Vegetarian and Non-Vegetarian so we can cover all foods.

Fruits, Vegetables, Roots, etc.

There are several key measurable variables involved here.

• Time:  The amount of time that has elapsed from the moment the vegetable is plucked to the moment it enters my digestive system and starts breaking down.  This factor should be at its minimum for optimum Prana.
• Energy Consumed to produce:  The amount of renewable vs. non-renewable resources used to create the energy used to produce the vegetable.  The higher the renewable factor, the higher the Prana.
• Energy Consumed to transport:  The amount of non-renewable energy used to transport the vegetable from the point it was produced to my digestive track.  This factor should be at it’s minimum for optimum Prana.
• Nutrients: The overall nutritional value of the food.
• Cooking Process:  If the item is cooked, the amount of Time (not energy) invested by one human being to produce 100 grams of that food.  This factor should be at its highest for optimum Prana.  So, 100 grams of mass produced fries would have less Prana than home-made hand-cut fries.

Meats

In addition to the factors above, there are a few more relevant to animals.

• “One Bad Day”:  Did the animal live as it was meant to live naturally on Earth, until the day it was killed?  Did it live to adulthood?  If a chicken was raised in a mass produced farm, ate where it excreted, didn’t move much while it lived, this chicken would have less Prana than one that was free range, ran around, lived the natural life of a chicken, until it had its “one bad day”.  Did the animal have “One Bad Day”?  “Yes” is desired for optimum Prana.

Perhaps there are more factors, maybe many more, but I wonder if it is at all something that can be calculated.   Maybe there is a business idea there as well: certification and validation of Prana!  I would love to see on food packaging, mention of how much Prana it contains in addition to carbohydrates.  Ironically, if the food is packaged, chances are it has low Prana.

Food for thought … :)