Food for a Healthy Body and Mind

[Guest guest]

Sai Ram,

 

Here is an extract from the discourse Swami gave regarding food for a

healthy body and mind. This article appeared in the magazine Sathya

Sai Newsletter, May-June 2004.

 

"The right food is essentially sathwic (calming). This means that

the food must not contain stimulating ingredients such as red meat,

fish, onions, and so on. In your lodgings, of course, no meat or fish

are served, but onions are used quite extensively, because onions

keep the food fresh. Onions also have the advantage of improving your

digestive powers. A popular Telugu saying declares, "The good done

by the onion (ulli) cannot even be done by your own mother (thalli).

 

In any case, onions should not be used excessively. You must also

take care to avoid excess of spices, chili, and salt. Many people

think that sathwic refers only to fruits and milk, but these can also

be thamasic (tending to make one dull or inert). For example, eating

two bananas is enough. If you eat four bananas, it becomes thamasic.

Do not drink condensed milk. Condensed milk contains plenty of fat

and calcium, but it is also liberally laced with glucose. When the

blood is saturated with too much glucose, the residual glucose turns

into acid. Thus you develop boils, and the acid and blood combine to

form stones in gall bladder.

 

Be sure to drink at least seven to eight cups of water daily. Water

cleanses your intestines. This also ensures that stones do not form

inside your kidneys because water goes through the kidneys and

constantly flushes them. Eat rice and vegetables too. Green leafy

vegetables are the best of the lot. Under the skin lies a very thin

secondary layer. This layer protects the skin. Green leaves

strengthen this layer, apart from having many other benefits. Green

leafy vegetables are also very good for heart patients, because green

leaves are totally free of oils. Other vegetables may contribute

somewhat to cholesterol.

 

What must you do when you have excess cholesterol? Cholesterol is

essential to some extent. The limit prescribed is about 10%. If it

raises to 20% or 30%, your nerves and veins harden like rusted pipes.

This consequently thickness the blood, making the heart pump less and

less effectively. The heart is responsible for pumping the blood and

sending it to the lungs, which purifies the blood and distribute it

to the entire body. When the heart pumps fewer times, more and more

cholesterol accumulates there, which is dangerous for the heart.

Therefore it is advisable to eat a white onion or take garlic pills

daily. A daily intake of one pill after lunch will get rid of

cholesterol problem. Green leafy vegetables are very healthy for the

body.Drumsticks are good for the brain. Do not eat too many potatoes.

Potatoes contain 80% starch, so they make you slightly fat, and give

you very little in terms of health.

 

Tomatoes are also good. In my opinion, the seeds of tomatoes may be

removed and a curry made of the rest of the tomato. This is because,

the seeds of the tomatoes are not digested easily. They can remain in

the digestive canal and gradually turn to stone by combining with

glucose. These stones may remain as mass, causing frequent trouble.

 

We must also eat in limited quantities. You should be able to get up

from your plate with the same feeling of lightness with which you sat

down to eat. That is the correct limit. You sit down quite easily to

eat, but when you get up, you require support. Many people develop a

paunch because of over eating. Proportion is very important, because

it confers health to the body.

 

Never take meat, cigarettes, or intoxicants and drugs. Habitual

cigarette smokers develop cancer. You can perform this test on

smokers. Take a white cloth and put it across the mouth after the

person has smoked. Bright red dots will appear on the cloth. When the

external cloth itself has been so noticeably spoiled, you may well

imagine how much destruction smoking causes to the veins and the

lungs. The two fingers that hold the cigarette also develop a yellow

discoloration. White spots appear on the lips. The skin around the

lips turns dark.

 

One must also avoid eating curds (yogurt). Instead, it is better to

drink two cups of buttermilk. Curds have too much protein."

[Guest guest]

Sai Ram.

How do you get the Sathya Sai Newsletter? Can we in the UK it?With

love and light,Madhvi Duty is God, Work is Worship