A 1999 study of the American Cancer Society
suggests that over one-third of the 563,100 cancer deaths
were caused by nutrition. But more importantly, on the brighter
side, it concluded that MOST of these could have been prevented.
Why? What’s going wrong? Despite our improved standard of
living, why are infections and disease more rampant. Why are our
bodies not able to respond effectively? The
answers lie in eating habits. Little do we realize that being
fed on “junk” food and the “rushed” eating habits are taking a
heavy toll of our physical AND mental health.
Some of us have begun to acknowledge the
downside of these foods by resorting to “health diets” such as
“high fibre”, “low cholesterol”, “diet-foods” etc.
But herein lies the problem. We go overboard
in the opposite direction. This leads to a unique set of
problems. As years pass by, don't be too surprised if we have a
whole new set of illnesses caused by these so-called
“health-diets”.
The need today is to build up our immune
systems. So then, what de we eat and how?
It’s astonishing that despite having the solution in front of
our eyes we choose to ignore it. In our enthusiasm to develop
new fashionable foods, we have turned a blind eye to what has
existed for centuries…. Yoga has developed an
eating philosophy and a concept of a balanced wholefoods diet.
These powerful principles help in maintaining a healthy body
along with a stress-free mind. What’s most important is that
they have existed for centuries and it’s NOT some
“recently-developed untested and unproved fad”. Ancient yogis
are known to have lived to well over 100 years of age WITHOUT
disease or illness.
Yoga does not dissect food into vitamins,
minerals, protein etc. Instead, the true benefits of these vital
ingredients can be had only when they are NOT isolated but as
much in their original form as possible.
Foods must be as close to their “whole” or
natural state as possible. Such foods are called wholefoods and
are not pre-processed in any way.
The key to true health is to have a balanced
wholefoods diet. Such a diet ensures that the 3 functions of
digestion – absorption, assimilation and elimination –
work in perfect harmony.
Often “synthetic” or “processed” foods create
conditions that disrupt the harmony between these 3 functions.
Over years, this leads to severe physical and psychological
problems.
How do we go about adopting a wholefoods
routine? Firstly, we MUST set aside time for eating. We owe that
commitment to ourselves. Food CANNOT be treated as one of those
“rushed” affairs. Believe me, once you realize the gains, you’ll
be wondering why you didn’t do it before.
The next is to get down to wholefoods
selection, setting wholefood menu plans and preparing wholefoods
dishes. The golden rule of wholefoods cooking is to keep it
simple.
If you feel clueless about it, you may like
to read the “Yoga, Food and Health” book which deals into every
aspect of wholefoods cooking and eating INCLUDING menu plans and
recipes.
I have found this book to be a useful
directional guide. We have made special arrangements with
the Australian authors to provide an easy downloadable version.
For details,
click
here
The bottomline…Let’s not ignore the early
signs of personal illness until it’s too late. Let’s go back to
the basics to develop an eating format that will make our bodies
stronger and more resistant to infections, allergies and
attacks.
Best wishes,
Arun Goel |