CHAPTER 2
SECOND
BEST FOOD FOR OUR BODY
We have seen how the best food for our body
is fruits, vegetables and nuts. But through the years after the discovery of
fire, we have changed our habits. We have started eating cooked food. Cooked food
has now become the common food and the habit pattern of our mind has changed.
It is not easy to change over from cooked food to raw food in a day. Our mind
will create all sorts of fear in our mind that we will become weak and die
without cooked food.
But the change is possible. We can start
with one day of raw food per week. Our weight will reduce at first but as the
days go by we will start gaining weight in spite of the fact that we are still
eating only raw food. We will start feeling young and energetic all the time.
Our skin will become smooth and shinning. Our hair will become strong, black
and stop falling. Wrinkles on the face will be reduced. We will start looking
younger.
When we cook food, nutrients in the food
get destroyed. The more we heat, the less nutrients we remain. If we cannot
give up cooked food all together, we can try with half cooked or half boiled
food so that we that all the nutrients will not get destroyed. Just make the
vegetables soft enough to chew and eat. Some people think that eating such half
cooked vegetables will lead to indigestion. But that is not true. God has given
us teeth to chew. If we chew properly and allow our saliva to get mixed with
the food before swallowing the food, we will never suffer from indigestion.
Some people cook the food so much that the
food enters the throat immediately without staying in the mouth for long. This
is not right. Food has to remain in the mouth for a while so that it gets mixed
with the saliva properly. Saliva helps in digestion. Only a patient who has
lost his teeth needs to eat a fully cooked food. All others can eat half cooked
vegetables which is much better for health.
Roughage or fibre is very important for
food to move through the intestine after digestion. If our food is devoid of
roughage, it is not able to move easily through the intestines. If food remains
in our body for long after digestion, it rots there and starts smelling. Smelly
gasses emanate from this rotting food. If this rises to other parts of the
body, we suffer from stomach aches and also head aches. The food becomes toxic.
Our body starts absorbing this toxic matter leading to more suffering.
When we apply heat to the vegetables, the
fibre or roughage is lost. Hence fresh, raw vegetables are the best for our
body. It is very important that food does not remain in our body for long after
the process of digestion is over.
Some nuts like green gram are too hard to
eat. We can soak them in water and allow them to germinate. Such germinated
grams are very good for our body. They are full of nutrients. Eating just one
spoonful of such germinated grams will give our body so much freshness and
energy for the whole day’s work. Germinated grams (raw) are also good roughage.
If you want to consume more then you can cool them partially. If you cook them
totally, you will be destroying the nutrients completely.
Boiled vegetables also form the second best
food for the body. Boiled beans, beetroot, potato, carrot, etc can be included
as a dish during lunch. Cook them just enough to be able to chew easily. Don’t
cook them so much that you are able to swallow them without chewing!!
Coming to rice, boiled rice, red rice are
the best since nutrients will be intact in it. White rice is the worst since it
has absolutely no nutrients in it. It will only form bulk. White rice has no
roughage to help the disposal of digested food from the intestine. We can
replace rice with wheat, ragi or jawar. These have more nutrients. If you want
to become thin, you can stop eating rice.
By following the above tips, you can help
your body remain healthy longer. Your soul need not look for another body
(vehicle) so soon. To say in simple terms, you will live longer.
