Health Is Above Wealth Diet and Health Nutrition and Health The
Total Page：16
File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb
Index Health Is Above Wealth Diet and Health Nutrition and Health The Body Machine Food and Body The Mysterious Palace of Brahman Upanishads on Food Digestion, Absorption and Assimilation. Masticate Well Care of the Teeth Avoid Over-Eating Dietetic Rules Give up Meat-Eating at once The Inner Factory Constituents of Food Diet in Diseases Growth and Development of Children Health Menu Milk-Kalpa Moderate Diet (Mitahara) Yogic Diet Diet for Immortality Invalid Food Recipes Acid and Alkali Forming Foods Foods Deficient in Sodium Chloride Foods Rich in Iron Diet and Health Alphabets Yogic Diet Thanksgiving to the Lord Salutations to the Lord Inner Ruler Body-Temple Most Perfect Food Currents of Vegetarianism Vegetarianism and the Hindu View of Life Ancient Indian Analysis Hints on Health Place of Diet in Ancient India What to Eat and Why Proteins and Minerals Fats and Carbohydrates Vitamins—Their Sources and Functions Rare Values of Common Articles of Diet How Much to Eat Food Habits Landmarks in the Growth of Children A Wise Man Yogi's Cure Success Tonic Anti-Divorce Tonic Diet and Health PUBLISHERS' NOTE Sri Swami Sivanandaji Maharaj was a doctor before he embraced the holy Order of Sannyasa. Even before he began his medical career, he enthusiastically conducted a medical journal called "Ambrosia" in which he published regularly articles on health and hygiene, diet and healing. This volume from the pen of the sage-doctor is of the greatest value, not only to the members of the medical profession, but to the layman as well who will gain immense knowledge from it, for enjoying good health and long life. 16th May, 1958 -THE DIVINE LIFE SOCIETY CONTENTS Health Is Above Wealth 11 Diet and Health 12 Nutrition and Health 14 The Body Machine 16 Food and Body 17 The Mysterious Palace of Brahman 19 Upanishads on Food 21 Digestion, Absorption and Assimilation. 24 Masticate Well 26 Care of the Teeth 27 Avoid Over-Eating 29 Dietetic Rules 31 Give up Meat-Eating at once 32 The Inner Factory 35 Chapter II Constituents of Food 38 Chapter III Diet in Diseases 78 Growth and Development of Children 93 Chapter IV Health Menu 98 Chapter V Milk-Kalpa 104 Moderate Diet (Mitahara) 105 Yogic Diet 106 Diet for Immortality 106 Chapter VI Invalid Food Recipes 109 Chapter VII Acid and Alkali Forming Foods 112 Foods Deficient in Sodium Chloride 113 Foods Rich in Iron 113 Diet and Health Alphabets 114 Yogic Diet 117 Chapter VIII Thanksgiving to the Lord 121 Salutations to the Lord 121 Inner Ruler 122 Body-Temple 123 Most Perfect Food 123 Currents of Vegetarianism 124 Vegetarianism and the Hindu View of Life 127 Ancient Indian Analysis 128 Chapter IX Hints on Health 132 Place of Diet in Ancient India 147 What to Eat and Why 147 Proteins and Minerals 147 Fats and Carbohydrates 148 Vitamins—Their Sources and Functions 149 Rare Values of Common Articles of Diet 152 How Much to Eat 153 Food Habits 154 Appendix Landmarks in the Growth of Children 159 A Wise Man 160 Yogi's Cure 160 Success Tonic 161 Anti-Divorce Tonic 161 Diet and Health 162 Chapter 1 HEALTH IS ABOVE WEALTH Health is the greatest wealth and asset for you. Without good health and strength, you cannot achieve success in life and God-realisation. Without good health, you cannot enjoy life. Good health comes from following definite rules. Those who ignore the rules of health, suffer much and die prematurely. Even for spiritual pursuits good health is the prerequisite. Without good health you cannot penetrate into the hidden depths of the vast ocean of life within and attain the final beatitude of life. Without good health you cannot wage war against the turbulent senses and the boisterous mind. Health is wealth. Health is a covetable possession indeed. Good health is a valuable asset for one and all. You should have physical as well as mental health. If you do not possess good health you cannot prosper in any walk of life. Health is that state in which a man sleeps well, digests his food well, is quite at ease, is free from any kind of disease or uneasiness. When you are in a state of perfect health all the organs, viz., heart, lungs, brain, kidneys, liver, intestines, work in perfect harmony and concord and discharge their functions satisfactorily. The pulse rate and the rate of respiration are in perfect order. The bodily temperature is normal. A healthy man smiles and laughs. He is cheerful and happy. He discharges his daily duties with ease and comfort. A healthy man is capable of doing work for a long time without getting fatigued. His bowels move very freely every day. He possesses the highest kind of mental and physical efficiency. Health is a positive state. It is not simply negation of dis-ease. A healthy man can turn out more physical and mental work. He can practise good meditation for a long time. A healthy man need not be necessarily strong and robust and a strong and robust man need not be necessarily healthy. Health is a gift from Mother Nature or Lord who is the power behind life. Health is your birthright but not disease. It is as natural to be well as to be born. Health is above all gold and infinite wealth and treasure. It enlarges the soul and opens all its powers to receive instructions and relish virtues. "This Atman cannot be attained by a weak and unhealthy man." This is the emphatic declaration of the Upanishads. Emerson says, "The first wealth is health. Give me health and a day I will make the pomp of emperors ridiculous." He who has good health has nothing more to wish for. He is really a blessed man. Ramalinga swami sings, "I want a life with health and without disease." The first requisite in life is good health. Health is a sine qua non to every kind of enjoyment in life. DIET AND HEALTH The meals should be taken at regular hours and nothing is eaten in the intervals. After the stomach has digested a meal it requires an interval of repose, or it will soon be worn out by an excess of labour. Regularity in the hours of meals cannot be too strongly insisted upon. The stomach should not be disappointed when it expects to be replenished. If disappointed, either from the action of its own secretions, or from a want of sustainment in its muscular action, even a diminished amount of food will be taken without appetite and will be sure to cause bad symptoms. Any change in the time of meals and the nature of the meals should be gradually made. Sudden changes in the nature of meals are highly disastrous to the health and should be entirely deprecated. Simple wholesome food and only enough to maintain the proper weight for age and height—as much spent for fruit and fresh vegetables as for meat; a sufficiency, but not a great ex-cess of proteins or nitrogenous foodstuffs (which are tis-sue-builders or flesh-formers); carbohydrates or starches, fats or hydrocarbons (which are heat or energy producers) in proper hygienic proportions, minerals including lime and iron; a sufficiency of that vital growth stimulating element, vitamin; and last, but not the least, a proper balance in the week's menus of fuel foods, tissue-building foods, and regulating food—all will, doubtless, pave a long way in the practical achievement of splendid health, high vitality, and remarkable longevity. You must practise dietetic rules, if you are to enjoy good health. Merely knowing the principles will not make or keep you well. You may believe ever so much in dietetic rules, may see others benefited by obedience to them; but, if you want health, vigour, and vitality for yourself, you must yourself lay hold of them. The diet should be such as can maintain physical efficiency and good health. The well-being of an individual de-pends on perfect nutrition more than on anything else. Various sorts of intestinal diseases, increased susceptibility to infectious diseases, lack of high vitality and power of resistance, rickets, scurvy, anaemia or poverty of blood, beriberi, etc., are due to faulty nutrition. It should be remembered that it is not so much the climate as food which plays the vital role in producing a strong and healthy body or a weakling suffering from a host of diseases. An appreciable knowledge of the science of dietetics is essential for everybody especially for spiritual aspirants, to keep up physical efficiency and good health. Aspirants should be able to make out a cheap and well-balanced diet from only certain articles of diet. What is needed is a well- balanced diet not a rich diet. A rich diet produces diseases of the liver, kidneys and pancreas. A well-balanced diet helps a man to grow, to turn out more work, increases his body-weight, and keeps up the efficiency, stamina and a high standard of vim and vigour. You are what you eat. Health, strength, stature, weight, capacity for endurance and hard work, physical and mental efficiency, output of work, power of resistance against disease—all these depend upon diet. The well-being of man depends on perfect nutrition. A well-balanced and healthy diet only can produce perfect nutrition and can maintain physical efficiency and health. A man is what he eats. If he takes wholesome, well-balanced diet, he is healthy, strong and efficient. He can turn out more physical and intellectual work. If the diet is faulty, he be-comes weak, sickly and inefficient.