What are the main causes of ill-health?
Food is the main factor in maintaining good health or causing diseases. Millions of living beings grouped as species dwell on the earth; they sustain themselves by means of food secured from Nature, as provided by Nature.
Birds and beasts do not suffer from cardiac and digestive ailments to which man is prone. They lead natural lives. It is only man that is an exception. In order to cater to his palate and other senses, he changes the composition and characteristics of the things provided by nature and prepares, through the process of boiling, frying and mixing, concoctions which have no vitality in them. This artificial lifestyle takes a heavy toll on his health. Birds and beasts do not adopt such destructive methods. They eat things raw and consume the strength-giving vital essence. So, they do not fall victim to the many ills that man brings on himself.
Plant a boiled pulse in the soil; it won’t sprout. How, then, can it contribute life to the living? The Vitamins and proteins that are valuable ingredients are destroyed while it is cooked to please the palate! The billions of cells in the body are so interdependent that when one is weakened or damaged, all of them suffer. There is a limit and a balance which every limb and organ has to maintain. Insufficient or improper food will endanger this balance.
There is an axiom believed in by men of yore, which says: ‘One meal a day makes a ‘Yōgi’, two meals a day make a ‘Bhōgi’ and three meals a day make a ‘Rōgi’. ‘Yōgi’ is the contented God-centred person. ‘Bhōgi’ is the one revelling in sensual pleasure. ‘Rōgi’ is the one ridden by illness.
The quantity of food intake by the well-to-do is now much beyond essential requirements. Over-eating has become a fashion. The breakfast does not serve to break any fast, for, there has been no fasting at all! It is as good as a full meal. Lunch is pressed in and consists of many dishes, chosen for the palate rather than to assuage hunger. Tea is tea only in name; it includes rather heavy fare, out of all proportion to the needs of the body. Dinner at night is the heaviest meal and includes the largest variety and soon he goes to bed, weighted with unwanted stuff, to roll from side to side, in a vain effort to get a few minutes of sleep.
‘Eat in moderation and live long.’ This is the advice handed down through the ages by the seers of the past. This advice is seldom heeded. People fill themselves with such large quantities of food that they find it hard to rise from the eating plate. Ruining their digestive system by consuming heavy, rich foods, the affluent are proud when they host costly banquets. The modern man consumes many artificial foodstuffs and a variety of alcoholic drinks, which are injurious to health.
What is the cause of heart ailments?
Many doctors say that they are due to smoking, consumption of fatty foods, overeating and other habits. Heart diseases are found to be more rampant among non-vegetarians while vegetarians are not prone to heart ailments to the same extent. This is because of a higher percentage of fats in non-vegetarian food which increases the cholesterol in the blood.
Worry causes high blood pressure and ‘hurry’ causes diabetes. Both of them are like twins, one acting on the heart inside and the other externally on the blood. So, worry, hurry and curry (fatty foods) are the root causes of cardiac ailments. The consumption of large quantities of fat is the cause of cardiovascular diseases. Doctors advise against the consumption of fatty foodstuff which causes an increase in weight resulting in susceptibility to cardiac diseases The presence of toxins also inflicts equal damage. Everyone should know how to control these causes.