We should thoroughly assimilate the fact that acquiring good health depends only on obeying the rules of Nature. In order to get rid of disease or weakness, one should think along improving the digestive system rather than taking the shelter of medicines or tonics. If the digestive power is not good, even the valuable nourishing elements will not be able to impart any benefit. They will go in the stomach and without getting digested will be excreted. If they are not digested and juices and blood are not formed, how can they nourish the body? How will they augment strength? If the digestion is proper, even an ordinary food can provide full strength. Billy-goat eats only grass and accumulates so much fat from it. Pig never gets milk, cream or butter; its food hardly contains any nourishing elements. Even then due to its digestive power, its body is quite strong. Look at other animals – buffalo, ox, horse, elephant, etc.; they are neither served wholesome dishes nor get any invigorating drinks / medicines or aphrodisiac drugs. Even then they are very strong; they acquire sufficient blood and flesh from ordinary grass and leaves.
Which eatables have vitamins and what is their quantity? Which drugs are powerful and to what extent? Instead of getting into this maze, one should assess whether one’s digestive system is functioning properly or not. If not, then the same should be considered as the root cause of all the weakness and disease; and one should pay attention to rectify the malfunctioning. A village farmer remains healthy and hefty simply by eating a coarse meal, works for twelve hours and enjoys deep sleep in the night. On the other hand, people working in cities eat sweets, milk products, pickles, sauce, and a variety of dishes, and also take tonics daily. Even then they remain weak and thin; they get tired by just sitting in the office for 6 hours, return home with the pain of migraine and do not get sound sleep in the night. All this is the play of digestive power. There is no power in the eatables; the power resides in the digestive system. The digestive juices that are excreted by the mouth, stomach, liver, intestines, etc. are so magical that when mixed with the food they make it suitable to fulfil the body’s need. The digestive juices of Billy goat make the grass such that it produces sufficient fat in its body. If the digestive power is perfect, a human being can also extract all the essential ingredients even from ordinary food.
A person desirous of rejuvenation should keep in mind that he / she should first get rid of artificiality and adopt a simple sattvik and natural way of life. Next, he should pay attention to improve the digestive system. A simple test of the digestive power is whether a person feels hungry at the right time or not; the food intake is properly digested or not; whether bowels are easily cleared or not. If these functions of the digestive system are not right, then one should try to rectify them; and if they are perfect, then one should try to maintain them.
Proper functioning of the digestive system depends on four factors. They are – (1) selection of eatables (2) the technique of eating (3) appropriate physical activity and (4) proper management of daily routine. If these factors are properly taken care of, then the digestive power will remain perfect all the time. If per chance any malfunctioning occurs, that will be rectified quickly. Now let us look more deeply into these four factors.
(1) Selection of Eatables:
A human being resembles the configuration of a monkey. The latter eats fruits and leaves. Therefore, the dieticians recommend fruits and vegetables as the best food for the human beings. There is no other food that matches its easily digestible, nourishing, invigorating and pure blood forming qualities. The scripture says – ‘Jeevo jeevasya bhojanam’ (meaning – only live eatables are best food for a human being). That is why milk, curd, buttermilk and fruits, which are supposed to be full of vitality, rank first among the eatable items for human species. Apart from being juicy and lively they also satisfy the taste buds. Next follows the category of vegetables. They certainly possess vital elements but do not fit in the criterion of taste. Therefore many of them are not consumable in the natural form. For example, gourd, pumpkin, potato, brinjal, bitter gourd, round gourd, etc. cannot be eaten raw. They have to be cooked. But there are certain vegetables like tomato, carrot, radish, cucumber, lady’s finger, etc. which can be taken in the raw form. In this sequence, dry grains / fruits occupy the third place. Sapless dry grains are less beneficial as compared with green grains. For example, gram, peas, maize, millet, wheat, etc. in the green state are more nourishing than their dry counterparts. Similarly, grapes, wet dates and green coconut are better than currant, dry dates and dry coconut respectively.
More natural and lively the food, better it is. In other words, less the food grains are processed better they are. For example, sprouted wheat or gram seeds in raw form constitute an excellent food. Next in the order of merit are daliya (coarsely ground grains), bread of unfiltered flour, bread of filtered flour and then the bread of maida (fine flour) respectively. The reason is: more the food grains are transmuted from their natural form, more they become harmful. Daliya is digested easily because the grains are only broken into small pieces; however in making maida the grains are crushed into a fine powder. As a result, the bread of maida is digested in a relatively longer time and hence causes constipation. If the same is fried in ghee or oil, much of the nourishing elements are destroyed. Therefore, poori, parantha or other fried preparations become devoid of nutrients. Khoya (a thickened milk product made by excessively heating the milk) loses all the virtues of milk. Juice of sugarcane is much more nutritious than sugar or sweets made out of it. The reason is simple; when any raw eatable is dried, heated, processed and mixed with spices, it goes on losing its nutritious elements depending on the number of cycles it has passed through.
While examining the utility of eatables, it should be seen whether they suit the taste buds in their natural form or not; they are juicy and live or not. Foods that pass this test should be considered best. There are some fruits like apple, grapes, pomegranates, etc. which can be obtained in good quantity only by rich people; however there are number of fruits which even the poor can afford to buy. For example, orange, mango, lemon, papaya, raspberry, guava, rose-apple, plum, musk melon, water melon, carrot, tomato, cucumber, etc. are such seasonal fruits which are not very costly; even the poor can buy them. Among the green cereals gram, peas, millet, maize, wheat, etc. are quite delicious; and if they are slightly steamed, the taste increases tremendously. This is followed by those vegetables which cannot be eaten raw. For example, gourd, spinach, fenugreek, potato, etc. need to be boiled before eating. However, it must be kept in mind that neither the husk of cereals nor peel of vegetables should be removed nor the juice be thrown out after boiling. The shell/husk/peel and juice of every fruit, vegetable and cereal contain nourishing elements, vitamins and minerals; and hence they must also be consumed along with other parts of edible items. Chilies and spices should best be avoided. The amount of salt that is needed for the body is normally available in the eatables. However, if there be extra need for augmenting taste, small quantity of salt may be added to the food.
Barley is the only grain among the cereals which needs the removal of husk; all other grains should be used with husk. They should be taken in the form of khichadi or daliya. The latter may be cooked in milk or whey. Pulses like moong (kidney bean), masoor (lentil), etc. should not be split. Daal of whole grains is more nourishing. While preparing roti (bread), care should be taken to make it thicker and cook it on low flame. Frying vegetables or daal with ghee or oil also partially burns their nutritious elements. Another point to remember is that a variety of vegetables or daals should not be taken in a single meal. Each edible item is digested in a different manner, and hence consuming several items together increases the chances of indigestion. Taking bread with one daal or one vegetable is enough. The tradition of decorating lunch / dinner with several dishes is really harmful for health.
Pure and succulent food is most nourishing because it is digested more easily. Easily digested food makes pure body fluids and blood; and this is the very basis of making the body healthy and energetic. The quality of an eatable should not be judged by its taste or price but by its virtue of being pure, sappy and succulent. Sweets, dishes garnished with heavy milk products like cheese, ghee, butter, khoya, etc. are devoid of wholesome elements and they are consumed more due to their taste. But they are not digested properly and hence create problems particularly for the stomach and the whole body in general.
Readymade / packaged food available in the market is much more harmful. In general, it has been observed that, in order to earn more profit, peddlers / vendors / restaurants and even the manufacturers of packaged food do not even follow prescribed norms. How can one expect healthy food from them? Sattu made in home is thousand times better than halua of the market. Similarly, non-vegetarian food, wine, smoking or chewing tobacco, etc. have no place in the human diet. Such tamasik items produce harmful effects on the mind-body system. Therefore one should keep oneself away from them; and if by chance habit of any of these has been formed, it should be rectified as early as possible.
(2) The Technique of Eating
The way of eating is more important than the quality of eatables. Taking even ordinary food in the right manner can give better results than consuming quality food in a wrong manner. In this context, one has to pay attention to three questions: (1) When to eat? (2) How much to eat? (3) How to eat? We answer these questions one by one as follows.
When to eat?
The answer to this question is that one should eat – (1) at a fixed time and (2) when one feels very hungry. One should eat when both of these synchronize. Normally for a healthy person, it is enough to take meals twice daily. These timings can be around 11 AM and 6 PM. One can adjust this time slightly according to one’s convenience. The habit of taking meals at fixed times is nicely rewarded in the long run. Further, one should not take anything in between two meals. It is a bad habit to chew something or the other throughout the day. This disturbs the digestion process. Suppose we are cooking rice in a vessel and go on adding small amounts of rice grains in it after short intervals; the result will be that some grains will be over-cooked, some of them will be half-cooked and rest of them will remain uncooked. This kind of cooking will never serve the purpose. The same rule applies to the stomach. The food once consumed gets digested by the next mealtime. Eating in between disturbs the digestion process.
One should eat when one feels very hungry and the stomach appears to be empty. If one does not feel hungry at a usual mealtime then one should skip that meal and should not take anything till the next mealtime. Supposing one does not feel hungry at 11 AM in the morning but gets hungry at 2 PM and starts eating at that time, it will disturb the cycle. Hence one should avoid this habit. Not feeling hungry at a fixed mealtime means there is some undigested food in the stomach; hence in order to digest it, missing of one meal is essential. The synchronicity of the set mealtime and intense hunger is the right time for meals.
One should not take full meal early in the morning. Whatever is consumed in the dinner in the previous night is not fully digested due to sleep. Hence stomach should get some more time after sleep to digest the same. Taking full meal right in the morning is equivalent to giving a servant another task before he has completed the one in hand. However if one feels hungry in the morning and it appears difficult to work without taking something, then a liquid diet of milk, buttermilk, fruit juice, water mixed with lemon and honey may be taken. Similarly, if hunger is felt at other times of the day, one should take liquids or easily digestible food items.
How to eat?
One should eat with a calm, pleasant and relaxed mind. It is not good to take or serve food when the mind is filled with grief, anger, excitement, pain or negative thoughts. During such moments the glands secreting digestive juices get dried and hence the juices essential for digestion are not made available for the food intake. It is well known that during excitement of any kind one does not feel hungry. This also proves that during that time body is not ready to take food. Thus one should eat with a cool and pleasant mind chewing each morsel thoroughly before swallowing it. There should be no hurry. The task of the teeth is to grind the food and the task of stomach and intestines is to digest the same. If the teeth do not grind the morsel properly and it is swallowed half-ground, the work of teeth has to be done by the stomach and the intestines and in this process they are overburdened. There are small glands in the mouth which secret digestive juices while chewing the morsel. If these juices are not made available to the food, it will be difficult to digest the food. According to Ayurveda, each morsel should be chewed thirty two times before swallowing it. In practice, such a counting is difficult. Nevertheless, one must pay attention to grind the morsel thoroughly before swallowing it. Daliya, halua, khir, etc should also be chewed properly. They should not be drunk like water. Even milk or water too should not be consumed in one go. Rather they should take sip by sip retaining them in the mouth for some time.
Considering food as Amrit (nectar) and Prasad (food offered to God), one should eat it with joy and respect. It is a bad habit to get angry or find faults in food on slight reduction in taste or flavour. Food taken with ill-will, hatred, attribution of fault, disrespect, etc. generates disorders. Thus instead of producing a beneficial effect, it proves to be harmful to health. Even if a simple food is taken with gratitude, considering it to be nutritious and healthy, it will certainly be digested fast and will also produce pure blood.
How much to eat?
The answer to this question is that one should eat less than the hunger. Everybody’s food intake and the digestive power are different. The same quantity of food cannot be prescribed for all. This decision has to be taken by the stomach of a person consuming food. The stomach tells what the requirement of the body is and what its digestive power is. We should provide whatever it asks for. Ayurvedic scriptures say that the stomach should be filled half with food and half should be left empty (one-fourth portion for water and remaining one-fourth for air). Indeed it is difficult to do such measurements, but it must be kept in mind that food intake should be less than the hunger and some space should be left in the stomach. One should not eat so much that after meals, it becomes difficult to work or move around. One should feel refreshed and energetic after meals. But if laziness or heaviness is felt it should be understood that it is due to overeating. There is no harm if the food is taken in lesser quantity; rather it is beneficial because it is digested easily. The stomach has to work very hard to process heavy food. The bile present in the gall bladder falls short for assisting in the digestion. Hence food is excreted as half-digested faeces. Therefore, it must be kept in mind that one should eat less than the full capacity of the stomach. The dinner should be taken 2-3 hours prior to sleeping. Sleeping immediately after dinner produces indigestion and also disturbs sound sleep.
Keeping in mind what to eat, how and when to eat and how much to eat; and acting accordingly removes all complaints regarding malfunctioning of stomach. This also removes constipation and strengthens the digestive system as a whole.
(3) Appropriate Physical Activity
If a machine is kept idle for a long time, its parts get rusted and the dirt is deposited on it; and if it is run excessively, its parts wear out fast and become useless. The same rule applies to the human body. Lying idle in laziness, shirking physical work in the garb of dignity drains out the life force of the body. In order to retain the power and flexibility of muscles, it is essential to give appropriate physical work to all parts of the body. Thus in order to maintain health it is absolutely necessary to undertake daily some physical activity / exercise that involves nearly all body parts. However, this physical labour should not be so much that it exhausts all the vital energy. If a person works more than one’s capacity, it increases heat within his body which, in turn, destroys vital elements. Such people do not live longer. If a person spends more than his income, he is bound to become bankrupt. Therefore, one should surely work enthusiastically, do physical labour and give work to all the body parts, but should work within the limits of his capacity. This is appropriate physical activity and only this is beneficial.
Many people earn money by mental endeavour. Such people think why they should take the trouble of doing manual work when it can be done by the servant. This is their mistake. Servant’s stomach cannot digest the food consumed by the master. If a person feels thirsty, hungry or getting relieved (of excrement or urine), he cannot get such tasks done by the servant. Even eminent persons, who are extremely busy, take up some or the other physical activity to keep themselves fit. Tasks like gardening, carpentry, laundry work, cleaning of home, etc. should form part of the daily routine. Games like tennis, football, volleyball, cricket, etc. can be chosen. To enrich our respiratory system with fresh air, it is essential to go for a morning walk of at least 3-4 miles. Practice of Yoga (Aasan / Pranayam) daily is also good. Every part of the body should get appropriate physical work, without which fat starts accumulating and the body is attacked by diseases like constipation, piles, rheumatoid arthritis, etc. Physical activity is a must for every human being whether he is rich or poor, educated or uneducated, eminent or a lay person.
(4) Proper Management of Daily Routine
Apart from proper food and physical activity, in order to maintain good health, discipline and orderliness must form part of the daily routine. There should be timeslot for each and every task, e.g. getting up, taking bath, exercise, sleeping, eating, office / social work, entertainment, etc. Married people should observe self-restraint as far as sex is concerned. Frequency of sex must not exceed once in a month or so. A wrong notion has been spread amongst the younger male generation that more sex is required to keep wife satisfied. The truth is that most women do not desire sex like sensual men. They need a spouse who is hardworking, honest, jovial, loving, faithful and upright in character. There are many couples, where husbands are invalid, but their married life is full of pleasure and peace. Excessive sex lowers the attraction between husband and wife. It also gives rise to venereal diseases. Therefore, in this matter the couples must make a healthy norm and follow it rigidly. Unrestrained sex drains the energy of both the partners and eventually leads to ill health.
All the day’s tasks should be properly scheduled. Regular and disciplined life saves a person from the clutches of diseases. Simplicity and neutrality should always be kept in mind. Plenty of clothes are not required to cover the body; in the Indian context, dhoti, kurta and chappal are enough. Of course, in order to protect oneself from excessive cold or heat some arrangement can be done. But loading oneself with heavy clothes prevents the sun rays and fresh air from reaching the skin. Its ill-effect is akin to keeping the plants away from sunlight and air. One should not always try to protect oneself from the effect of seasons. The summer, winter and rainy seasons energize the body and make it strong. They also improve the immune system of the body. People who use coolers or air conditioners during summer and heaters during winter and who never allow even a drop of rain to fall on the body, normally are seen to get affected easily by the change of weather. Their bodies become weak and they easily fall prey to viral infections and diseases. Therefore, while protecting oneself from the severity of seasons, normally one should bear the effects of seasons.
Cleanliness, purity and sanctity produce beneficial effects on health. Sweat too is dirty and toxic like urine and hence undergarments should be daily washed and dried in sunshine. The residence should not be damp; light and air must reach there. Body, clothes and house should always be pure, neat and clean. It is also essential to keep food and water and the place where they are kept clean. Cheaper items may be used but they must be neat and clean. Costly and precious items give no benefit if they are dirty and filthy.
A habit should be cultivated to keep smiling and feel happy. Howsoever big be the forthcoming agenda of work, whatever are the confronting problems, whatever be the magnitude of troubles faced, and they should not overload the mind. Sorrow, grief, worry, distress, anguish, perplexity, agitation, anxiety, uneasiness, state of uncertainty, etc. are top enemies of good health. The harm that is produced by one day’s grief, anxiety or worry is equivalent to the harm that is done by not taking food for four days. Such mental disturbances create more problems than solving them. Retaining mental balance under testing times is one of the best means of solving the problems.
Laughing one hour daily is more nourishing than drinking one glass of milk or taking 50 gm of milk fat. A person who remains cheerful, happy, glad, smiling, contented, delightful and full of hope always keeps healthy. One biologist says – “Happiness and health are intimately related, but I don’t know whether people maintain health due to happiness or they remain happy because of good health.” Indeed cheerfulness has a great effect on health. There is a French saying – ‘Laugh and grow fat’. Therefore one who laughs maintains good health. On the contrary, people who are pessimist, jealous, resentful, fretful, fault-finding and narrow-minded burn their life force in the fire of these mental disorders. Gradually they become weak and ultimately fall sick. Vices like deceit, lying, hypocrisy, robbery, ego, wickedness, bad conduct, etc. are also extremely harmful to health.
The mind should be kept calm, cheerful, pure and worry-free. One should always hope for a brighter future. Others should be treated with goodwill, a feeling of kinship, love and generosity. One should have firm faith in God and remain free from anxiety. Believing strongly that the life is protected by the Almighty, one can easily get rid of worldly fears and doubts.
Thus in order to maintain good health there is need to consciously make it a practice to (1) select proper eatables (2) eat in a proper way (3) do appropriate physical exercise and (4) manage the daily routine properly. If the mind is kept alert and the routine is practiced carefully, it will become a habit; and once a person becomes habitual of these four activities, it should be considered that she / he has conquered her / his health.
O men / women desirous of rejuvenation! These four factors are not medicines, but they are more precious than the coloured bottles costing thousands of rupees. Practice these simple rules. Your health will improve so much that it may be considered ‘rejuvenation’ as compared to its present state.
Source: Rejuvenation without Medicines
