Diet and Lifestyle

* Diet and Lifestyle.emlDiet and Lifestyle.eml

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There is much suffering in the world today. The "standard of living" is rising everywhere, but the "standard of health" is at its lowest! Pay a casual visit to any hospital anywhere in the world and you will see what man's "standards" have come to.

Natural calamities apart, most of today's suffering is man-made.

The poor suffer from diseases of "deprivation". These include malnutrition (including beri beri, scurvy and extreme situations like marasmus, as in Ethiopia), blindness, and diseases caused by unsanitary living conditions like dysentry, cholera, typhoid, malaria and jaundice.

The rich, on the other hand, suffer from diseases of "plenty" or "excess". These include diabetes, rheumatism and arthritis, high blood pressure, heart trouble (cholestrol), kidney failure, asthma, osteoporosis, depression, skin problems, Parkinsons disease, prostate problems, cancer, acidity and ulcers, colitis, spondylitis, thyroid problems, migraine, obesity and its associated problems, multiple sclerosis, haemmerhoids (piles), sinusitis, septicaemia - the list is endless.

There used to be a system, we believe, in ancient China, where the family doctor was paid at the end of the month - but only if no one in the family had fallen ill during the month. If someone fell ill, it was the doctor's duty to get him well AND the doctor was NOT paid for that month. Why? Because he had not done his job properly! It was the doctor's job to practise "preventive" health care - to guide the family's food and living habits in a manner conducive to maintaining good physical and mental health. In other words, the doctor had a vested interest in your NOT FALLING SICK.

Today, we have reversed the process. We go to the doctor and PAY him when we are SICK. Let us be honest - the medical profession is not responsible for this - WE are, and only WE can change this.

When the words "health care" are used, we are programmed to think of vaccinations, innoculations, medical check ups, pap smear tests, biopsies, prostate tests, urine tests, blood tests, CT scans, Ultra sound scans, MRI's etc. - in fact the list is endless and the more it costs us to get these tests done, the more we feel satisfied that a "lot" is being done by us for our health! Not withstanding all this, nations are getting more sick by the day.

While all governments all over the world have "health" ministries, "health" services, "health" insurance - health is quite conspicuous by its absence! What we have in fact are "disease" ministries, "disease" services, "disease" insurance and so on. Hundreds of billions of dollars are spent on "health care" annually, most conspicuously by countries who are at the forefront of medical technology. Yet - ill-health, not health, is the order of the day.

Why? Because, dear brothers and sisters, health cannot be "bought" in a pharmacy. It doesn't "cost" money - it only demands an uncompromising quest for wellness. The pathway of peaceful and harmonious co-existence with Mother Nature and all her creatures is the ONLY way to wellness.

Is it not ironical - we first spend money to acquire ill-health (through indiscriminate overindulgence) and then we spend more money and vast amounts of national and personal resources trying to regain our health?

Mind you, while we are visiting doctors and hospitals we continue to guzzle vast quantities of wrong foods and live lifestyles of indulgence and indolence, all of which only adds to our woes.

PRESENT DAY RESPONSE TO DISEASE
Disease has overtaken us completely and we are all looking for quick-fix solutions.
Let us take an example - I have a headache. What is my response? I pop a pain-killer into my mouth. The pain goes away - for the moment. A few hours, a few days, a few weeks later it returns. I pop some more pills into my mouth. At each recurrence, the pain gets worse, the frequency is greater and the duration is longer. Soon I have to increase the number of pills I take because the pain is no longer "responding".

This goes on getting worse until I am a full blown case of "migraine" operating at an efficiency level which is only a fraction of what God intended for me. Worse still, I will develop hyperacidity (which is a side effect of pain killers) and maybe a full blown ulcer. For this I will in turn start taking antacids which over a period of time will destroy my liver. The kidneys will be next in line - all quick-fix "solutions" have a domino effect until all our vital functions are destroyed.

Meanwhile, I will go on stuffing myself with some or all of the following disease producing "foods".

1. Undigestible foods which act as slow poisons for our body e.g.. milk, refined oils etc.
2. Foods of himsa or violence (non-veg.foods), which convert our bodies into putrefying burial grounds.
3. Carcinogenic (cancer causing), nerve-destroying additives like artificial colours, preservatives, flavours, MSG., all found in most packaged foods and drinks.
4. Caustic soda, formaline, urea, Oxytocin - (a female hormone) all in milk.
5. Irradiated foods, Microwaved foods - the disastrous effects of which are only now being understood.

HOW SHOULD WE RESPOND TO DISEASE?

Let us go back to the example of a headache given above. Pain is NOT a disease. It is the body's way of telling me that a problem AT A DEEPER LEVEL exists.

What does the body expect me to do?

The body expects me to respond in a more intelligent and responsible manner. The easiest and the best thing to do under the circumstances would be to abstain from normal food - just stay with diluted fresh fruit juice or fruit or a clear soup or best of all, just fast with lemon water and honey. Responding in this way opens up a communication channel between me and my body. Within a few hours I will know what the problem is. Most likely it is constipation or a sluggish liver.

Digesting what we eat takes up more "energy" than any other activity. When there is a headache, refraining from eating or eating only fruits (which digest themselves), is the kindest thing I can do for my body. Elimination of waste matter from the body is vastly more important than eating. This function too needs "energy" The body would be most grateful if it could use its available resources of energy to get rid of the "garbage", which, to put it mildly, is raising a "stink" inside me. That stink is the "headache".

Let us say the headache was not due to constipation but was in fact due to clogged up sinuses (there are nine sinuses behind and around each eye). My response of "fasting" would still be the best response - clogged sinuses are "garbage dumps". When there is excessive mucous being produced by the body (milk and milk products are the main culprits), the body pours the mucous into the sinuses to get it out of the way, so that normal body functions can carry on. Sinuses are empty air pockets - the body's built-in garbage bags - and the body intelligence uses them as such. When they are close to filling up, the resulting build-up of pressure in the forehead area results in the headache.

When I respond by fasting, the body takes advantage of the energy bonus to throw out the mucous. I might get severe cold symptoms with a heavy discharge from the nose. The headache backs off immediately. Being aware that it is better to have the garbage outside me than inside me - I am happy with my "cold". I continue to either fast with lemon water and honey, or I eat only fruits, boost my immune system with the Sanjeevinis, and if possible take a day off from heavy routine.

Once the garbage has been eliminated, I will be "in tune" with ME, with my inner Shakthi, and my instincts will begin to tell me what to eat.

UNDERSTANDING DISEASE

Negative emotions like resentment, jealousy and anger set off chemical reactions within us which cause us to self destruct. There are latent tendencies in all of us towards certain diseases, handed down through heredity. Our negative emotions trigger off storms within us which wake up these latent tendencies and cause disease.

What is disease but dis-ease?

Our desires are like a fire - the more we feed them the more brightly they burn. Since desires cannot always be fulfilled, frustration, anger and resentment set in.

Disease is Mother Nature's response to our indulgence and our unmitigated efforts to self-destruct through over-indulgence. Disease is Nature's way of slowing us down. In Her compassion she warns us first with minor ailments that we are headed towards a precipice. When we stubbornly refuse to listen She limits us with severe illnesses.

Health, on the other hand, is a joyous journey back to harmony. Desires, material possessions, sense gratification are viewed in their proper perspective. Love, faith, compassion, sharing and caring take the place of the negative emotions. This puts us in touch with our Inner Guide. If we are listening, if we tune in, the Inner Guide never fails to guide us.

In the Sanathana (timeless - natural) way of healing (in this we include Ayurveda, Naturopathy, Yoga, Acupuncture, Acupressure, Reflexology, Homoeopathy, Radionics, Vibro-healing, Spiritual healing and all systems where the patient is treated holistically i.e. he is looked upon as being made up of body, mind and spirit and treatment is at all three levels), we awaken the body's own healing power - THAT Cosmic Energy which when balanced, sets right all disorders at all levels of existence. This healing power is known by various names - in Yoga we call it Prana; in Acupuncture it is known as Chi; in Homoeopathy and other natural systems it is known as the Vital Force.

Therefore, in Sanathana health care we would work towards keeping THAT healing power ALIVE, AWAKE AND ACTIVE.

FOOD HABITS AND INSTINCT

Our food habits are guided by :

1. Our sense of taste
2. Conditioning through advertisements (remember, a lot of the knowledge that is acquired by the medical profession is also through advertising. This could be directly from the television or worse, in an indirect but more insidious way by vested interests who periodically come up with "studies" which are aimed at showing that "their product" is good for health). The medical profession becomes an unwitting pawn in the hands of commercial interests.
3. Conditioning through social interaction. This also includes the conditioning we receive throughout our childhood.

Many eastern nations are known for their hospitality. In India we have a saying - "atithi devo bhava". (The unexpected visitor is God). We go all out to treat the visitor like "God". We lay out the delicacies before Him which, when chemically translated, are disease causing indigestible toxins. (Please refer to the relevant section on different "foods" to understand this).

There is a general lack of awareness about the harmful effects of such foods - but what is most disturbing and unfortunate is that even those who are aware continue to serve these indigestible foods. The excuse is that it is the done thing, that the visitor would take offence if he was not given a bottled drink to quench his thirst and sugared sweets made from milk to please his palate.

It is precisely this kind of conditioning and peer pressure that we have to rise above.

Our sense of taste was provided by God to be used as a tool to verify that only wholesome, balanced food is ingested by us. But due to our senses having taken control of us, all balance has been lost. We are now slaves to our 5 senses and our tongue has lost the discrimination - that instinct - to eat only what is good for us.

In the wild, animals don't have doctors - their instinct tells them how to revert to a state of health when disease strikes. We too have the same instinct, hidden in the sense of taste, to revert to good health. Given half a chance, the body will know how to heal itself.

When we are not in harmony with nature, when we are violating God's bounty at every step, when our planet, mother earth, the animals, the underprivileged, are all crying out at the abuse heaped on them by us for our own selfish ends - our instincts become numbed and slowly die.

We will have to rise above the conditioning we are constantly being bombarded with, through the media and through social and peer pressure. We will have to return to nature and to harmony - harmony with our surroundings and with ourselves. Slowly but surely, our instincts will begin to re-awaken and guide us to a state of vibrant health.


HOW DO WE REMOVE DISEASE AND RETURN TO VIBRANT HEALTH?


We can regain our health and vitality by following the Pathway to Harmony.

The only lasting way to return to good health (it is possible!), is through acute awareness of what is causing dis-ease in our lives. An honest self-examination is called for and with courage and determination we must embark on a programme of change. What do we change?

1. Remove all that is wrong and dis-ease promoting from our Diet and Lifestyle.
2. Add all that is good and health promoting to our Diet and Lifestyle.


"A strong will is the best tonic. The will becomes strong when you know that you are a child of Immortality or a person who has earned the Grace of the Lord. Medicine and hospitalisation are for those who doubt and hesitate and argue about this doctor being more efficient than the other and this drug being more powerful than the rest. For those who rely on the Supreme Doctor, His Name is the drug that cures."
- BHAGAWAN SRI SATHYA SAI BABA


PATHWAY TO HARMONY - I - DIET


WHAT TO REMOVE FROM THE DIET

We begin by giving you a list of what to remove from the diet followed by a brief write-up on the reasons. This is a brief note on diet - not a treatise. What is given here is generally applicable. Whilst what is positively good for each person may differ, what is harmful for almost each one of us is being listed here with very brief reasons.

REMOVE

* Meats, chicken, fish, eggs (all non-veg.)
* Refined sugar, sweets, chocolates, bottled drinks, aerated
* waters, packet juices.
* Packaged foods like chips, soups, cornflakes, sauces.
* Milk, processed cheese, icecreams, mithais (Indian sweets),
* desserts, puddings.
* Refined foods including refined oil, refined salt,white flour(maida),polished white rice.
* Cooked tomatoes.
* Alcohol, smoking, tobacco products, drugs.

MINIMISE

* Usage of medicinal drugs - give the body a chance to heal itself.


WHY WE MUST REMOVE ALL NON-VEGETARIAN FOODS INCLUDING MEAT, CHICKENT, FISH AND EGGS.

* This food putrifies within a few hours and since we are by nature not equipped to pass out excreta in less than 24 hours, the putrefaction takes place within us. We are carrying around decaying corpses within us (we cannot be more graphic) and the delicate lining of the intestines and the colon absorb the resulting toxins. This is the reason that countries where meat is consumed in large quantities have the highest rates of colon cancer.
* If we wish to live long and be strong and hardworking let's learn from nature. The elephant, the bull, the horse (we measure power as horse power) are all vegetarians. The elephant lives 100 years and more. The lion and all other carnivores on the other hand live only 15 years. The lion is vicious and violent and works hard only to kill for food. The rest of the time it spends sleeping (20 hours per day).

When Shaw turned vegetarian at 25, his doctors warned that his diet would kill him. When an old man, he was asked why he didn't go back and show them what good it had done him. He replied, "I would, but they all passed away years ago".

* Our stomach has to produce a lot more acid to digest these foods. They themselves are very acidic (producing large quantities of uric acid), so anyone suffering from ulcers, arthritis, psoriasis and other skin problems, renal failure, you often don't have to look far for the cause.
* The adrenal glands or stress glands become very active in the animal during captivityand during the butchering process. The adrenal so produced is recycled to humans
* thus causing unnecessary panic, stress and fears (many present day psychiatric problems may be attributed to this).
* Further , the animals are fed all sorts of hormones and drugs to fatten them up - these are also recycled to humans and result in severe hormonal disturbances in men and women. Antibiotics are a routine part of their diet. Ingesting these will make us immune to their action should we ever need to use them.
* Besides, it makes no sense from the economics and world food shortage point of view. It takes anywhere between 12 to 20 pounds of vegetable products (as animal feed) to produce one pound of meat (enough only to feed 2 humans).

The water resources on our planet are running out. It takes 60 litres of water to grow 1 kilo of wheat, 200 litres to grow I kilo of green beans, 3000 litres to produce 1 kilo of eggs, 8200 litres to produce 1 kilo of chicken 16400 litres to produce 1 kilo of pork and 50,000 litres to produce 1 kilo of beef (Source : Higher Taste - see"Recommended Reading").

The Ogalala Water Resource in North America, probably the world's largest underground reservoir of water, was a gift to mankind from the Ice Ages. In a few years it will be completely dry. The rain forests of Africa and South America have been "cleared" to make place for growing grain for cattle for producing hamburgers for the meat eating population of the world.

We did not inherit this planet from our forefathers -WE HAVE BORROWED IT FROM OUR FUTURE GENERATIONS! Remember, everytime you eat meat, you are permanently destroying this planet.

It is indeed horrifying that thousands of gallons of blood and other waste matter from abattoirs are being poured EVERY DAY into rivers all over India.

Could this be one reason for the high incidence of gall stones in young people in India today?

Morally and spiritually, how can we justify killing another animal to satisfy our tongue. There is only one God. He created the animal too and it is to Him that we pray for compassion when we are sick or in trouble. How can we possibly expect compassion from Him when we so ruthlessly and needlessly kill and harm HIS Creation. Think about it!

"We pray on Sundays that we may have light
To guide our footsteps on the path we tread.
We are sick of war, we don't want to fight,
And yet we gorge ourselves upon the dead"
- George Bernard Shaw


- As for eggs - they rot as fast as meat and fish. Eggs provide the largest quantity of cholestrol. Besides, the unfertilized eggs are virtual chemical factories. The hens are kept in the most shocking conditions - never allowed to roam free in the sun, always sitting in one position to produce "assembly line" eggs. They are fed hormones (for better produce) and artificial yellow colour (which is one of the worst offenders in children's behavioural disorders) to make the eggs look more appetising. Unfertilized eggs are nothing but the waste matter of the hen.

That eggs are "nuggets of concentrated nutrition" is a myth that we have swallowed for too long. One egg contains almost zero iron, 1200 IU of Vitamin A, a large quantity of Vitamin D and is loaded with Cholestrol! Compare that to 6000 IU of Vitamin A in a small bunch of drumstick leaves and 10,000 IU in an even smaller bunch of coriander leaves. Both these are also very rich sources of iron (as are all green leafy vegetables). Vitamin D is available from the sun - it is formed directly on the skin by the action of the sun. AND vegetable products do not contain any cholestrol!

Most worms, ulcer, arthritis, eczema, asthma, psychiatric, heart, blood pressure, cancer, and kidney cases respond quite dramatically when all non-vegetarian foods are eliminated from the diet.


WHY WE MUST REMOVE REFINED SUGAR, SWEETS, CHOCOLATES, BOTTLED DRINKS, AERATED WATERS AND SO CALLED JUICES.


All these items have zero nutritional value. They are "empty calories" which the body must up. The so-called "juices" and "fresh juices" in packets are made from concentrate and/or pure chemicals - they contain water, sugar, artificial flavour citric acid, preservative and ZERO NUTRITION.

The level of awareness however, is so low - even in professional circles - that this kind juice is being administered as food to seriously ill patients in "modern" hospitals.

Sugar is ACID. It wears down our tissues and leaves us open to all sorts of scourges. The process of refining requires several corroding chemicals to be added to the sugar. The number of diseases which are caused/aggravated by sugar would fill a book. (In fact there is an excellent book on the subject - Sugar Blues). We will list only a few of the common ones - all behavioural problems in children (hyperactivity, tantrums, poor concentration, lagging behind in studies, lack of interest in studies , insomnia, frequent mood changes), ulcers, skin problems, arthritis, kidney problems.

Sugar unbalances us and can cause brainstorms . People suffering from psychiatric disorders, depression, phobias, fears, paranoia, compulsive behaviour and epilepsy must omit refined sugar and other products containing sugar from their diet.

We have seen many people refrain from adding sugar to their tea (and of course it's an achievement), but they undo the whole thing in the next instant by eating sweets and chocolates, gulping down colas and other bottled "soft" drinks. An eight ounce "soft" drink contains 8 teaspoons of sugar; one square inch of chocolate can containupto 20 teaspoons of sugar. A "soft" drink is anything but soft on your system. Besides sugar it contains phosphoric acid which is corrosive and prevents calcium from being utilized in the body. It makes mush out of children's teeth and can actually retard their physical and mental growth. Drinks containing caffiene (all colas) are addictive and can ruin our kidneys. Those drinks that are labelled "Diet ..." and contain no sugar, add other sweeteners which are so dangerous that they require a statutory warning in some countries (like cigarettes).

We have seen children being asked to leave schools because the school can no longer cope with them. Some schools label them retarded" which indeed they are well on the way to becoming. The irony is it's usually what the parent is feeding the child !

We earnestly appeal to parents and teachers not to give a chocolate or other junk food to a child as reward for being good. That's a contradiction. You cannot reward a child for being good with a substance that will prove harmful for him or her.

WHY WE MUST REMOVE ALL PACKAGED FOODS - CHIPS, SOUPS, SAUCES, CORNFLAKES.

Beware of additives in these commercial goods. Most additives are well known carcinogens (cancer promoting). Nutritionally, these packaged "goodies" cannot be classified as "food" by any stretch of imagination. MSG (monosodium glutamate or ajinomoto), which is added to most of these foods is responsible for nerve impairment and can and does retard mental growth of children. It is responsible for hyperactivity, loss of concentration, headaches and neck pains.

Contrary to popular belief, cornflakes are not as nutritious as they are made out to be. They contain 80% sugar and refined flour (nutritionally zero) and the remaining 20% are chemicals with fancy names. "Vitamins added" is another gimmick in actual fact these are in a form which is impossible for our bodies to assimilate and end up being treated as toxins by our system which of course means that our liver and kidneys take a beating.

We have seen perfectly good and healthy children deteriorate into sleepless demons who cannot be managed - at home or school. The trauma these children and parents suffer must be seen to be believed. But the truth is - it is of their own making. These are "junkies" of the 90's - living on junk food.

WHY WE MUST REMOVE MILK, PROCESSED CHEESE, MILK BASED SWEETS.

Although awareness in the West is growing, in India and other third world countries it is not yet understood what a damaging "food" milk is. We give below some reasons for not drinking milk. We do recommend that you further educate yourself by reading books on the subject (refer to Appendix - "Recommended Reading").

Let us look at it using our common sense - is there any other animal in nature that drinks another animal's milk after it has been weaned away from the mother's milk? Even a calf, once weaned will not drink cow's milk - so why do humans? Domestic pets (dogs and cats) drink milk because we have corrupted them into doing this.

The calcium in milk is bound up in casein. Casein and lactose are broken down in our body by rennin and lactase respectively. Both these enzymes are all but missing from the human body by the age of 3 - in many cases even earlier. (There is 300 times more casein in cow's milk than in human milk). Casein, incidentally, is the substance from which wood glue (Fevicol!) is made ! This gluey substance in milk remains undigested in our body where it sticks to the mucous membrane of the intestines. The intestines react by secreting more mucous to wash it off. Soon it begins to degenerate and putrify due to the bacteria feeding on it. This putrid matter is then pushed around in the body - never able to leave and causing more and more mucous to be produced which the body endeavours to throw out through its orifices. If you suffer from tonsilitis, bronchitis, sinusitis, ear infections, asthma, discharging eyes, vaginal discharges, amoebiasis, migraine, colitis STOP THE MILK.

The calcium in the milk is in fact a red herring - we go after it and acquire all sorts of diseases. The truth is - the more milk we drink, the more we are likely to suffer from calcium deficiency ! The high phosphorus content in milk upsets the delicate balance which the blood maintains betweeen phosphorus and calcium. Due to the high phosphorus content, the blood is forced to DRAW calcium from healthy bones and teeth - so drinking milk can actually cause osteoporosis (brittle bones) and can cause teeth to decay. Which are the countries with maximum osteoporosis? The milk guzzling countries - Sweden, USA, Finland and UK have the highest rates of osteoporosis.

The excess calcium so carried by the blood is then deposited in soft tissues causing tumours, cataracts, kidney and gall stones, spurs and bony growths, spondylitis, sciatica, thyroid problems, prostate problems, atherosclerosis (deposits in arteries) many more diseases.

What is the first thing the body does when the milk is ingested ?
The body produces acidic enzymes in order to curdle the milk so that it can stay longer in the stomach for digestion.

So how do we (please let's use common sense here) expect ulcer patients to get well with milk when its direct action is to instantly produce more acid in the body? And of course you must have heard that "cold milk" must be taken. Why? Why cold milk? Why not hot milk? Again let's use our common sense - because it is the "cold" that is working to give you temporary relief - not the milk. Cold water would be a better bet.

The things that you are told not to have are sour things. In fact lemon water and tamarind water are both powerful antacids. (This may sound peculiar when doctors keep telling us that these two items are acidic). What we view under the "microscope" in the laboratory is not necessarily how the inside of our body views it.

Inside the body both these remove acid. Take a cue from our traditional eating patterns - our chutneys, chaats, sambars, rasams - which are "hot and spicy" - always use tamarind in the recipes to antidote the ulcer causing chillies.

Another thing that antidotes the chillies is pure desi ghee (clarified butter). Again let us take a cue from our South Indian food - Every serving of rice is liberally "garnished" with desi ghee to antidote the chillies in the "hot" sambars and rasams. People with operable peptic and duodenal ulcers have been saved from the surgeon's knife by simply changing these two things :

1. giving up all non-vegetarian foods, eggs and dairy products EXCEPT ghee (cooking everything in ghee - no oil) butter and homemade yoghurt (curds).
2. introducing fresh lemon and water into their early morning regimen on waking (honey may be added but no salt or sugar).

Try it - don't take our word for it ! Within 10-15 days you will see the difference if not sooner. You may get what looks like an aggravation of cold symptoms for a few days, but that will pass - it's nothing but the body cashing in on the unexpected break to throw out accumulated garbage. Joints may also pain as the uric acid begins to come away from the joints. In a month you will fee like a new person.

There may be weight loss. This causes a lot of people to panic that they are getting "weak" Unfortunately, in India people associate "health" with being fat. Again, the awareness level is so low - very few in the medical world pay any attention to educating their patients that "fat" is not healthy. Many people are aware that at the age of 40 being overweight is not good - but few are able to comprehend that the foundation of "fat" is laid in childhood - that the foundation of all diseases starts with wrong eating patterns acquired through childhood conditioning.

It is naive and ridiculous for parents, grandparents & "well wishers" to respond to this information with the statement : "But the children must "enjoy" their childhood." Yes - enjoy their childhood visiting doctors every month, guzzling antibiotics & suffer their adult-hood with high blood pressure, diabetes, kidney disorders, heart trouble, arthritis, cancer or worse!

WHY IS MILK INDIGESTIBLE NOW?

Rennin and lactase were being produced in our bodies not long ago. Why has the human body stopped producing these two enzymes now? Why is milk consumption proving to be disastrous for mankind?

Consider this:

We call the cow "mother cow" because like the mother she gives her milk to us. In fact she is more than mother because she feeds us at the cost of her own babies.

How have we treated this mother?

Go to any modern dairy and see how the cow is treated. Over fattened with drugs, this gentle herbivore is fed chicken bones in its feed. She is not gently milked by a loving cowherd - instead her udder is hooked to a machine. She stands long hours parting with milk in this crude way all the year round. Her milk is produced at the behest of hormones.

In India, this great land of ahimsa, the conditions are even more shocking! "Oxytocin" is a hormone which is meant to be used by obstetricians during childbirth in women where the contractions of the uterus are insufficient. Oxytocin produces contractions in the uterus.

Indian milkmen inject the cows and buffalos with oxytocin TWICE a day - causing "labour pains" in the animal TWICE A DAY. They do this because this causes the milk to flow faster. Oxytocin is a "banned" drug worldwide for animals, but is available at a throw-away cost in India and almost every milkman uses it. Besides the fact that this hormone causes several disorders in humans when they drink this milk, it causes acute torture to the animal.

As if this is not enough, Indian milkmen push an iron rod into the uterus of the cow and crudely shake it about to cause pain, which they believe will make the milk flow faster. Dear sisters, can you imagine what this must feel like? What kind of milk do you think a cow that goes through this kind of torture, will "gift" us? Nutritious? Imagine you are that cow. What kind of sentiments would you have towards man? Would you bless man that he thrives on the milk or would you "CURSE" him that he suffers? As we sow so shall we reap. Perhaps we are suffering from the collective curse of the cows of the world!

Please read Maneka Gandhi's "Heads and Tails". It chronicles horror stories about the cattle pounds (where stray cattle are kept), about what happens to male calfs when they are born (they are starved to death) about thousands of healthy buffalos and cows being killed every year in Bombay ALONE due to mistaken economic reasons. You will then understand why milk is causing so many diseases!

WHY WE MUST REMOVE ALL REFINED FOODS INCLUDING REFINED OIL, REFINED SALT, REFINED FLOUR (maida) , POLISHED WHITE RICE:


When the word "refined" is used, it usually means that the natural state of the product as provided by Nature, has been tampered with by removing the nutrients and adding several chemicals which will ensure longer shelf life for the product.

The product "looks" better, it probably even "tastes" better BUT is it "good" for our health?

(a) refined oil - do you know that a law exists in America against the advertising of refined oil as "better for health". Why? Because studies have shown beyond doubt that the chemicals added to the oil during refining are producing cancer and that refined oil is NOT in any way better than butter and ghee in preventing heart disease.In India our media blares out advertisements declaring refined oil to be better. The conditioning has become so strong that even the medical profession has been taken for a ride and you now find doctors passing on the information provided in the advertisements, to their hapless patients. Unrefined oil is a much better bet - different geographic regions have their own typical oils - mustard oil, coconut oil, sesame (til) oil, olive oil etc.

(b) refined salt - sea salt and rock salt were provided by nature and that is the way they must be had. India fought and won the battle of independence over "salt"- do we have to fight another battle over it - a battle of disease? Under the pretext of adding "iodine" to salt, which God has provided in its most natural and subtle way in the sea salt, commerce has snatched the right from the common man of having salt as God intended him to. Is it not a shame that we now find it almost impossible to find natural sea salt?"Scientists" (who are funded by commerce!) have convinced our government that thyroid problems are a result of a lack of iodine. But, did we ever see so many thyroid cases as we do now? Ask all these thyroid patients which salt they have been using and the answer will almost always be "refined salt". Iodine is a deadly chemical. How on earth can it be added across the board to allsalt? Some people eat less salt, while others consume a larger quantity. Indian pickles, for example, are loaded with it. Surely, if it is an essential "chemical", it must be provided in a controlled way!

No, brothers and sisters, because that would not suit commercial interests - what would they then package, advertise and sell at an exorbitant price? In European countries people have the right to choose - natural sea weed, sea salt or refined salt. In India, the Government has assumed the right to choose for all of us!

Refined salt is ACID. The body which has an intelligence of its own, retains water to neutralise this acid. The water retention causes your tissues to become clogged (not unlike slushy slums in the rains) which in turn causes capillaries and arteries and veins to get choked causing pressure to build up in these channels - leading to high blood pressure. Add to this the residue left behind by the undigested casein from milk, cholestrol from meat, eggs and cheese (which is carried by the blood and deposited at random in the arteries) and you have a perfect case for by-pass surgery or stroke.

High blood pressure patients are given di-uretics - drugs that encourage the water to leave the body. Unfortunately, the acid is left behind! That is the reason that those high B.P. patients who are on di-uretics, invariably get severe skin irritation. This is the acid trying to excrete itself through the skin. Many high BP patients also end up damaging the Kidneys with this acid.

(c) refined flour (maida) - Wheat is a wonderful food, very nutritious and wholesome.

When it is "refined" all the goodness is removed - the "germ", and the "fibre" have been stripped from it so that it can last longer on the supermarket shelf. Buying flour with "vitamins" and "amino acids" added is no use because these are not natural and cannot be absorbed by our body. Stay with the whole-wheat. In India there are flour mills (using stone crushing method), where unpolished whole wheat is available and the mills grind it into flour in your presence.

Do not fall into the trap of buying "brown" bread - it is usually only colour added.

What you want to buy is "whole-wheat" bread. Request your local bakery to make your bread with whole wheat flour, without preservatives, eggs, colour, milk. The bakery usually requires an order of about 10 loaves which 2 or 3 families can order together and share (until the entire neighbourhood switches to the healthy bread!)

Note : there are many people who are allergic to wheat and others who convert every grain of wheat they eat into mucous which causes several disorders like chronic sinusitis, pus in the ears (leading to Meniere's disease and Tinnitus), bronchitis etc.

(d) white polished rice (all varieties of it) - As in the case of flour, in white rice too the goodness has been removed. What we should eat is par-boiled rice (known as Sela rice in North India). This rice has been boiled while still in its husk so that all the goodness has seeped into the grain. After this process the rice is dehusked.

Brown, unpolished rice is nutritionally very sound but the vast majority of people find it very difficult to digest it. Use it only if you can digest it.

WHY WE MUST REMOVE COOKED TOMATOES FROM OUR DIET:

Tomatoes, when cooked, turn very acidic. Since it is our endeavour to remove "acid-causing" foods from our diet (a number of diseases have their root in acid or are made worse by acidic foods) it makes sense to use tomatoes, if we have to, only in their uncooked, but ripe, form.

Besides, they have entered into our diet very recently (a couple of hundred years ago in India) and replaced tamarind. Tamarind has a very unique quality of binding Flouride and removing it from our body thus preventing flourosis in populations which receive drinking water which is high in flouride content.

A number of villages in Andhra Pradesh have very high rates of flourosis. The reason is these villages have en masse switched over to tomatoes and discontinued the usage of tamarind.

WHY WE MUST REMOVE CIGARETTES, ALCOHOL, DRUGS, TOBACCO PRODUCTS:

The awareness level of the ill effects of these substances is very high - what non-smokers have to be aware of is that they are subject constantly to passive smoking. Please do not hesitate to speak up when you feel that your child or you are being deprived of your fundamental right to smoke-free air. If someone in your home is a compulsive smoker or drinker, we suggest you try the Addictions Sanjeevini on them (see Addictions combination under "Selected Sanjeevini Combinations). This Sanjeevini, given with compassion and understanding has helped many people to give up their addictions including smoking and drinking.

Smoking damages your lungs, arteries and bones; alcohol damages your liver; together they destroy your life. Drugs destroy our mind and intelligence and through these, our body and soul.

What we have to resist is the "first time" for tobacco, for alcohol, for cigarettes, for drugs. Peer pressure is responsible, but let us remember - we live our lives for ourselves and not for our peers. If we pay undue importance to what others think of us we are no better than puppets on a string - living our lives as others want us to live.

WHAT TO ADD TO THE DIET

ADD
* Water, fresh seasonal fruits, fresh seasonal vegetables, gur(jaggery), butter, pure ghee, home-made curds (yoghurt), butter milk.
* Whole grains (according to season) eg.wheat, jawar, bajra, barley, parboiled and/or unpolished rice.
* Lentils, dals, beans, grams. (add tamarind always) Nuts & seeds - sesame (til), sunflower, almonds, walnuts, pistas and coconut.
* Dry fruits (in winter)
* Fresh lemon water (without sugar)
* Tamarind - to our lentils (to prevent flourosis and acidity).
* Sprouted or living foods.
* Wheatgrass and Rejuvelac (see separate chapter)

* Note : If you have to have fried food, use only UNREFINED OIL. If you are on the wrong side of 30 - minimise fried food.

ADD -For growing children - milk made from sesame seeds (til), sweet melon seeds. soya beans, wheat, coconut, almonds, peanuts combining with dates and honey, flavouring with cardommom (ilaichi), saffron (natural kesar - not artificial flavour), kewra, natural vanilla etc. These can be given to new born children also (diluted) where mother's milk is not available for some reason. Recipes are given in the chapter called "Recipes".

SOME COMMON DOUBTS

Where do we get our protein, calcium, Vitamin A, Vitamin B12, Iron?

* Protein comes from amino acids - you can never ever be short of these - everything that grows from the earth has amino acids. Where does the elephant, the cow, the horse, the bull get its amino acids from? From grains and grasses!

All grains, lentils (daals), ALL vegetables are rich in proteins.
* Calcium - nature abounds with it and in readily assimilable form with phosphorus and magnesium in the correct ratios - in all green leafy vegetables and nuts especially sesame (til) seeds and almonds. Even tiny babies can be given milk made from sesame seeds, coconut, wheat, almonds, soya bean, if for some reason mother's milk is not available.
* Vitamin A - green leafy vegetables and naturally yellow fruits - mangoes, papayas, carrots, peaches - are rich in Vitamin A. The drumstick plant - its leaves, flowers and fruit, coriander leaves, fresh mint - all these are the richest sources of Vitamin A on this planet.
* Vitamin B12 - we are told this comes from animal sources only - true - from animal's residing in our intestinal tract - the friendly bacteria, provided you have killed them off with antibiotics. If you have - please take homemade yoghurt freely (never after sunset) and Rejuvelac. Normally, if you are into natural healing and antibiotics are not part of your regimen directly or indirectly - you don't have to worry. Your body knows how to balance itself.
* Iron - All green leafy vegetables are full of iron as are dry fruits and most fruits (especially the ones that turn brown if left exposed after cutting or pealing). That milk or meat or eggs are essential to fulfill our iron requirement is a story fed to us by vested commercial interests. One humble bowl of spinach (palak) contains as much iron as 60 gallons of milk. In eggs, iron is almost non-existent.

HOW SHOULD WE EAT OUR FOOD?

We must eat with awareness. Not only awareness of what we eat but with acute awareness of how grateful we have to be for our food.

* Try and eat in silence, starting by saying a small "thank you" prayer to God - just visualise how many hundreds, if not thousands, of pieces of a jig-saw puzzle have come together to bring this plate of food to you.
* Chew your food properly - there is a saying that we must "eat" our liquids and "drink" our solids. Which is to say, juices, buttermilk etc. must be had very slowly and moved around in our mouth so that they combine well with the saliva and then swallowed. Solids, on the other hand, must first be liquified by chewing well, and then drunk. A great deal of digestion, especially of starches, takes place in our mouth.
* Eat only half a stomachful. Leave the remaining space for the "cooking" of food with digestive juices.
* When you are ill or down - either abstain totally from eating or eat only fruits (fruits are better than juices because we chew them) and drink only lemon and water with honey added. Food uses up energy for digestion - valuable energy which we need for recovering and recouping.

Please note : What has been given in this chapter is A VIEW POINT. Please accept it only if it appeals to your common sense - otherwise reject it. It is not a treatise on Natural Healing - it is only a beginning in your quest for being in tune with Nature. Your health is in your hands. How far you go from here depends entirely on you. We also encourage you to understand your Personal Constitution (Prakruti) - please refer to "Recommended Reading". An understanding of the Tridoshas will result in perfect "tuning in" to your OWN dietary requirements.


"Sathwic (pure, health promoting) diet does not mean simply the food we take through our mouth but also means the pure air we breathe through our nose, the pure vision we see through our eyes, the pure sounds we hear through our ears and the pure objects we touch through our feet and hands. All that we take in through the doors of our five sense organs may be described as diet. Listening to bad sounds, looking at bad sights, touching bad things do not constitute sathwic diet."
- BHAGAWAN SRI SATHYA SAI BABA

"Motherhood is the most precious gift of God. Mothers are the makers of a nation's fortune or misfortune, for they shape the sinews of its soul. Those sinews are toughened by two lessons they should teach: fear of sin, and fondness for virtue. Both these are based on faith in God being the inner motivator of all. If you want to know how advanced a nation is, study the mothers: are they free from fear and anxiety, are they full of Love towards all, are they trained in fortitude and virtue? If you like to imbibe the glory of a culture, watch the mothers, rocking the cradles, feeding, fostering, teaching, and fondling the babies. As the mother, so the progress of the nation; as the mother, so the sweetness of the culture."
- BHAGAWAN SRI SATHYA SAI BABA

PATHWAY TO HARMONY - II - LIFESTYLE
We are aware that many of you who will read this may already be following most of what is given here. However, as healers it helps to have on hand "printed" guidelines which, if you lack time, can be photocopied and passed on.

WHAT IS LIFESTYLE?

The sum total of what we do (or fail to do), from the moment we wake up to the time we go to sleep, day after day, is lifestyle.

If day after day we watch television and read books and magazines that feed our sensuous desires; if we listen to music that only conjures up base emotions; if we use our hands to engage in activity that is anti-peace and anti-God (read that as anti-anyone), if we smell of perfumes created to stir the senses, we can be sure of perpetuating negative samskaras for future lives as well, besides causing several dreadful diseases in the present life-time.

If we fail to do what it is our duty to do according to our station in our life (as wife, mother, husband, father, daughter, son, employee, employer etc.) we are indulging in adharma or "sinful acts".

We begin by listing what needs to be removed from our lifestyle and why, followed by what we must add to our life in order to bring about a qualitative change in our purpose, our perspective, and consequently our wellbeing.


WHAT MUST WE AIM TO REMOVE FROM OUR LIFESTYLE?

Remove mind polluting books and magazines, T.V., junkie/sensuous music, gossip, criticism, judgement, perfumes, unrighteous or adharmic activities.

Our body and mind is fed not only by what we eat with our mouth but also everything that enters through all our sense organs.

WHY WE MUST REMOVE T.V. AND MIND-POLLUTING BOOKS, MAGAZINES AND PICTURES FROM OUR LIVES:

Let us begin with what we "eat" with our eyes! A lot of what we see can be described as "involuntary" i.e. we have no control over it. What we CAN control is the subject of discussion here. It is by choice that we read what we do; it is by choice that we switch on the television; it is by choice that we stop and look at defiling cinema posters.

Baba has renamed television "televisham". "Visham" means poison. Do we really understand what Baba is saying? He is saying TELEVISION IS POISON.

Most people attribute Baba's condemnatioin of the television to the negative impact of the programmes on the mind. This is the truth but only half the truth. What most people are not aware of is that TELEVISION EMITS REAL RADIATION. There is growing evidence that radiation from T.V. can be a cause of epileptic type of convulsions in children, anaemias of various types (leukaemia?), skin problems, behavioural problems in children and what is most alarming - birth defects in children born to mothers having prolonged exposure to radiation from T.V. and computer screens (VDU's).

Television's impact on the mind cannot be overemphasised. ALL generations are victims to this invasion from the skies - but the SWITCH IS IN OUR OWN HANDS. The junk, and we cannot call it anything but that, pollutes our minds, erodes our cultural values and makes us impervious to violence and moral degradation. Violence and immorality have now become accepted norms.

Till about 15 years ago television played a very insignificant part in our lives - if at all it played a part. Interpersonal relationships within families have taken a plunge because no one talks any more - the idiot box is a priority. Our food is eaten in front of the television and conversations revolve around the previous day's serial!

Try removing the poison from your life - unplug it - put it away (or atleast reduce it to news only) - and see the difference.

Now let us talk about books. They can provide the best Satsang (company of the good and holy) and also the worst kind of "bad company" - it all depends on our choice of books and magazines. Those of you who have stopped reading yellow literature, love stories and gossip magazines - please do not keep these storehouses of sensuousness on your bookshelves. Don't give them or sell them to others either - BURN THEM. You will then never be tempted to read a book like that again.

WHY WE MUST REMOVE JUNKIE AND SENSUOUS MUSIC, GOSSIP AND CRITICISM

Our senses of hearing, smell, touch and taste, can likewise become gateways for garbage to enter our bodies. Gossip, criticism and sensuous music would obviously not fall into the category of "good food" for the mind and body. Music, it is said, is food for the soul but to achieve this lofty goal, it must be uplifting - raising us to higher levels of consciousness.


WHY WE MUST REMOVE SENSE-AROUSING PERFUMES, AFTER-SHAVE LOTIONS ETC.

Not many people realise just how powerful our sense of smell is. The memory imprint of smells is like a computerised recall and often a passing fragrance will bring a complete flashback of a scene which we never imagined was alive in our memory. It is not possible to control smells and fragrances brought to us by the wind or by other people, but we CAN control the kind of fragrance we ourselves carry around with us. Most perfumes today are made with the sole purpose of arousing the senses. BESIDES - perfumes are known to cause epileptic/epilepsy type seizures in children, asthma attacks, allergic sneezing bouts, headaches, nausea and a host of other symptoms. Would you like to cause these
problems in innocent children you meet everyday?

WHY WE MUST REMOVE UNRIGHTEOUS BEHAVIOUR, ADHARMIC ACTIVITIES.

Touch includes all activities that our hands engage in . Any anti-God activity (read that as anti-ANYONE activity) will take us further from the ideal state of "ease" or health and harmony.


WHAT MUST WE ADD TO OUR LIFESTYLE?


ADD Good uplifting books, and magazines.
Devotiional, classical, enobling music - vocal or instrumental.
Satsang of sages who teach the eternal values of truth, righteousness, peace, love, non-violence, compassion, tolerance, harmony - leading to fostering of brotherhood of man.
Selfless service - Maanava seva is Madhava Seva - resulting in self purification.
Moderate exercise - just one round of Surya Namaskara is a good starting point.
Deep breathing taking care to breathe out deeply as well as breathe in deeply.


THE LAST WORD

Right at the beginning of this note in the section entitled "Introduction", we talked about the poor suffering from the diseases of deprivation and the rich suffering from the diseases of plenty or excess. True harmony will reign in this beautiful world of ours when the "haves" begin to look at the "have nots" as their brothers and sisters. If even ten percent of the rich decided to alter their lifestyles and eating patterns in a way that they did not fall sick, we feel sure that enough resources could be generated to completely eradicate diseases of deprivation in the whole world.

Something to think about!

Each of us can start in our own way - taking care of one or two persons from the underprivileged classes in our very own homes. There need be no hunger, no deprivation, no disease.

We just need to shift our awareness from our own narrow lives and see ourselves as a very small part of the beautiful "whole".

" Practice silence. For the voice of God can be heard in the region of the heart only when the tongue is still....Silence is the speech of the spiritual seeker. Soft sweet speech is the expression of genuine love. Hate screeches, fear squeals, conceit trumpets - but love sings lullabies; it soothes, it applies balm."
- BHAGAWAN SRI SATHYA SAI BABA

"Without giving ear to patent lies born out of malice and greed, I would advise you to form "satsang" where you will meet and exchange truths and virtuous talk; where you will study holy books and discourse on the glory of God. Why waste precious time in scandals about others and criticism of others' behaviour? Cultivating envy, malice, hatred and anger against others is an evil past-time that recoils on oneself. In everyone there is resident the self-same Divine spark; so cavilling at the neighbour is tantamount to cavilling at Divinity."
- BHAGAWAN SRI SATHYA SAI BABA
FRUITS - THE WONDER FOOD
And - how we harm ourselves by eating them wrongly


There are many arguments about whether man is herbivore (vegetarian), carnivore (meat-eater) or omnivore (one who can eat and digest both). In actual fact, there is mounting evidence to suggest that man was a fruitivore! It is possible to live only on a combination of fruits and nuts and never suffer any malnutrition - in fact we would probably live in the "pink" of health.

However, fruits as they are eaten at present by most of the world, can be positively harmful.

Most people eat fruits :

(a) after food,

(b) combined with milk for dessert,

(c) cooked or stewed or baked.

This is not right.

Fruit must be eaten on an empty stomach.

Fruit must never be combined with milk or grains.

Fruit must be had uncooked.

Why? This becomes clear when we understand how fruit is digested in the body.

After being chewed well in the mouth, fruit enters the stomach for a short period (15 to 20 minutes for most fruits, 1/2 hour for bananas,) and then proceeds to the intestines where it digests itself with its own enzymes. If it is eaten after a meal it sits on top of the food and ferments because it does not get a clear passage to go down to the intestines. Not only is the fruit rendered completely useless -it can become a cause of acidity, indigestion, gas, colic, constipation and other diseases.

For this same reason it must not be combined with any other foods. The other foods need to sit in the stomach for several hours for digestion.

Cooking the fruit destroys its self-digesting enzymes and it becomes a burden for the body.

In fact acidity, colic, indigestion, constipation can all be helped substantially by eating fruits atleast 1/2 hour before food. Chronic sufferers of these problems should abstain from having any cereal, bread, roti or paratha for breakfast - they must have only fresh fruits.

When "dying" of hunger, fruits are your best bet. They provide energy very quickly and efficiently without using up valuable energy reserves of the body (other foods use massive amounts of energy in the process of digestion).


"You sit in Meditation for ten minutes after the evening Bhajan session; so far so good. But, let me ask, when you rise after the ten minutes and move about, do you see everyone in a clearer light as endowed with Divinity? If not, Meditation is a waste of time. Do you love more, do you talk less, do you serve others more earnestly? These are the signs of success in Meditation. Your progress must be authenticated by your character and behaviour. Meditation must transmute your attitude towards beings and things, else it is a hoax. Even a boulder will, through the action of sun and rain, heat and cold, disintigrate into mud and become food for a tree. Even the hardest heart can be softened so that the Divine can sprout therein."
- BHAGAWAN SRI SATHYA SAI BABA
"Worship is not a uniform to be put on and off at stated hours of the day. Render every thought into a flower, worthy to be held in His Fingers; Render every deed into a fruit, full of the sweet juice of Love, fit to be placed in His Hand; render every tear holy and pure, fit to wash His Feet."
- BHAGAWAN SRI SATHYA SAI BABA
RECIPES

SAI PROTEIN FOOD

This is highly nutritious food at a very low cost. It contains a good amount of protein, calcium, iron and other nutrients. Can be used where famine strikes and whenever there is a problem of anaemia or under-nourishment- whether at home or in the slums.

Ingredients :

Whole wheat 400 gms
Mung lentils. 300 gms
Ground nuts (peanuts) 100 gms
White til (sesame seeds) 100 gms
Gur (jaggery) 200 gms
Cardamom (elaichi) few pods
Dried ginger
Optional - Pure ghee (clarified butter) for roasting wheat

Preparation :

Dry roast whole wheat (or add ghee which increases the nutritive value considerably) adding cardamon. Roast mung, ground nuts (peanuts), til (sesame) and dried ginger - separately.

Dry grind all roasted ingredients when cool. Add jaggery. Makes 12 to 15 servings of very nutritious food. This can be eaten dry or made into a porridge by adding to boiling water.

Alternatives for home use - do not add cardamom and gur (jaggery) to the mixture. Make the ground mixture into a soup adding a seasonal vegetable, sea salt and pepper to taste. Gur to be eaten after the soup as dessert!


FLU RASAM

This is a soup which tastes so good you don't have to wait to get flu to have it. During flu however it makes the patient feel really refreshed. It is easy to digest and removes kapha (mucous) from the body.

a. Ingredients for the Rasam powder :
Equal quantities (say 1 tablespoon) of each of the following :

Whole black pepper balls,
Whole coriander seeds,
Cummin seeds
Toor daal (arhar)

Preparation of the rasam powder:

Dry roast separately the above ingredients. Dry grind to a slightly rough textured powder. Store in a jar. Will keep for weeks.

b. Ingredients for the rasam (soup)
(To serve 4)

Ball of tamarind the size of a big lemon
1 tablespoon rasam powder (see recipe above)
1/2 tsp. turmeric
Salt to taste
2 pinches of asafoetida
1 tsp. mustasrd seeds
1 tsp. cummin seeds
Small bunch coriander leaves
Few curry leaves
1" piece ginger finely chopped
6 cups of water
1 1/2 tablespoon ghee (clarified butter)

Preparation of the rasam (soup)

Soak tamarind in 1 cup of water. Extract the juice. Add this juice to the remaining water and keep to heat.
Meanwhile add to this, rasam powder, a pinch of asafoetida, turmeric, ginger, salt and half the curry leaves. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat and allow to cook for 20 - 30 minutes (until the raw smell of the rasam powder disappears).
In a small vessel heat the ghee. Add mustard seeds. When they stop spluttering add cummin, 1 pinch asafoetida and remaining curry leaves. Turn off the heat, give the spices 10 seconds to cook in the ghee; then add to the soup. Garnish liberally with fresh green coriander leaves. (Coriander leaves are a good way to pacify Pitta dosha -in this case fever).
May be had as an appetizer or soup or eaten with softly cooked rice. Top the soup/rice mixture with 1/2 tsp ghee (good to remove the heat from the body if there is fever).

Variation when eating for taste :

Add green chillies and 1/2 cup boiled tur (arhar) dal to the the ready soup just before adding the ghee/mustard seed garnishing.


COOKING WITHOUT TOMATOES

The generation that grew up in the 50's and 60's cannot imagine cooking without tomatoes. Why must we cook without tomatoes? Tomatoes, when cooked, are very acidic. Besides, including tomatoes in the cooked food has done away with the abundantly sensible practice of using tamarind and lemon in our foods.

A lot of the water supply all over India (new regions are being discovered every few months) has too much flouride. Apart from causing the local population to have "blackened" teeth it causes the disease called flourosis which means their bodies and limbs are all twisted out of shape.

Tamarind has the unique quality of binding the excess flouride and removing it from the body. With large-scale conversion of villages from tamarind to tomatoes, flourosis has become a great menace. Tomatoes are not Indian - they were brought to India only 400 years ago by the Portuguese in Goa and other visitors from the North west.

In North Indian cooking, tamarind juice can replace tomatoes in almost all lentils and vegetables. Just add the juice during the cooking process. The juice can be thick and concentrated when cooking vegetables (to prevent over-cooking), so that 1 or 2 tablespoons are adequate to add a touch of sourness. In lentils and beans (including rajma (red kidney beans) and lobiya (black eyed beans/cow peas) the usage can be liberal and diluted. You will know with experience just how much is "tasty" for your family and how much is "too much".
Vegetables can be varied by adding lemon juice after the cooking is over.

Note : Tamarind and Lemon juice are ANTACIDS. Tomatoes are Acidic.



NON-DAIRY MILKS

A variety of milks and milk shakes can be made from nuts, seeds and wheat which are nutritious, rich in calcium and protein and - delicious.

Coconut milk - Grate a coconut; add 5 cups of water (this can vary depending on the size of the coconut). Leave for 30 minutes. Blend in a blender. Strain. Add some more water to the pulp; blend again; strain. Add honey to sweeten or a seasonal fruit like mangoes, papaya, chikoos, or even pitted dates (add the fruit after straining, blend again but don't strain). If you are using dried dates, please soak over night and remove the seed before blending.

This milk can be varied by adding sprouted almonds (12 hours soaking time and 24 hours sprouting time), sprouted sesame (til) seeds (same as almonds), sweet melon seeds (with shells on), sprouted or unsprouted sunflower seeds.
You can use any of these seeds together in any combination - not necessarily with coconut milk.

Wheat milk - Wash and soak 1 cup whole wheat for 12 hours. Drain off water - allow to sprout in a closed container for 24 to 36 hours. Add 4 cups water; blend thoroughly. Strain. Sweeten with honey or dates. Vary as for coconut milk but DO NOT ADD FRUITS. (Fruits and grains do not combine well together for digestion - see separate note on "Fruits - the wonder food").

If the person for whom it is intended, has a Vata disorder, please heat the milk lightly adding cardommon and/or saffron.

Note : do not discard the strained out pulp. You can use it as a base to make a very nutritious soup adding vegetables which have been sauteed in a ghee, cummin and ginger base. If you tire of this, use the pulp as a natural fertilizer - add it back to the soil. (Even if you do not have a garden of your own, enrich the Municipality soil - Mother Earth will be most grateful!)


Soya milk - Soak 1 cup soya beans overnight. (If you allow the beans to sprout for another 10 hours, the nutritive value is greatly enhanced. But this is optional). When the beans are ready, put 6 cups of water in a large stainless steel pot to boil and another 2 1/2 cups in a smaller steel vessel to boil. Blend the soaked/sprouted soya beans with 3 cups of cold water. You may have to do this in two rounds if your blender is small.
Add this liquefied mass to the large pot of boiling water. When it comes to the boil again and begins to rise, turn off the heat. Strain through a clean cloth. Add this pulp to the smaller vessel of boiling water and repeat the process of straining. Put both the strained "milks" into one pot and bring to the boil again. Turn the heat to "low" and allow it to boil for 5 - 7 minutes.
It is essential to follow this procedure for soya beans other wise the milk is very difficult to digest.

Note : do not throw away the pulp. Use it as a filling for parathas (add onions and suitable spices to taste).
or
Add to the pulp 1/2 cup Rejuvelac (see recipe in Wheatgrass section) and/or lemon, sea salt, pepper, (if you do not have Rejuvelac ready add 1/2 cup water with lemon juice added). Blend again. Cover and keep to ferment for 24 hours. You have a reasonable cheese spread to which you can add cucumber pieces or green coriander -mint chutney and sprouts to make delicious sandwiches with whole wheat bread Iced smoothies
Use seasonal fruits like melons, mangoes, chikoos, bananas, apples, pears, oranges/ orange juice, pineapple/pineapple juice, fresh figs, papaya, peaches, grapes in any combination.

Blend together and chill for smoothies and freeze for iced lollies - healthful iced lollies! Add honey if the fruit is not sweet enough (before chilling or freezing).

Kulfi (Indian Ice-cream)

Yes it's possible to make kulfi the healthful way!

Make 2 - 3 cups milk from seeds (of melon, sunflower etc.), almonds, wheat. See method given above. Strain. To the strained milk, you can add roasted peanuts, pistachio nuts, cashew nuts (whichever flavour you fancy!). In a small vessel boil 1 cup of water adding to it crushed cardammom (elaichi) and saffron (kesar). Allow the water to boil down to 1/2 cup. Let cool. Add to above mixture. To this add one cup bread crumbs made from fresh brown bread. Add honey to taste. (If it is a once in a blue-moon indulgence you can use sugar). Blend this whole mixture. Taste it to see that sweet and elaichi flavour are adequate.
Freeze in kulfi cups. (You can use an ice tray too). Once frozen, remove from the container and cut into slices. Splash on rose water or kewra water. Garnish with crushed almonds or pistachios. Delicious!

Note : If you are using seed or nut milk (not wheat milk) - you can combine seasonal fruits to make flavoured ice-cream. In that case, leave out the cardammon, saffron and bread crumbs.


"Let the petty wishes for which you now approach God be realised or not, let the plans for promotion and progress which you place before God, be fulfilled or not; they are not so important after all. The primary aim should be to become Masters of yourselves, to hold intimate and constant communion with the Divine that is in you as well as in the Universe of which you are a part. Welcome disappointments, for they toughen you and test your fortitude."
- BHAGAWAN SRI SATHYA SAI BABA


WHEAT GRASS & REJUVELAC

"In this fast-paced world it is too frequently the case that people accept what society, family members and the authorities, whom no body ever seems to question, believe regarding how to live their lives. And yet, the happiest people I know have been those who have accepted the primary responsibility for their own spiritual and physical well-being - those who have inner strength, courage, determination, common sense, and faith in the process of creating more balanced and satisfying lives for themselves."
- Ann Wigmore

WHEAT GRASS

"Be Your own Doctor" by Ann Wigmore is a comprehensive book on the health-giving properties and value of Wheat Grass and we recommend it to all those who are interested in "healing themselves". (See Recommended Reading).

Wheat grass and / or its juice is a specific food which can assist in fighting a whole range of chronic ailments - from simple anaemia to leukamia; from a simple skin rash to skin cancer, from worms to ulcers. It can be chewed slowly or drunk as a juice.

How to grow wheat-grass

1. Soak adequate quantity of unpolished wheat-grain overnight in water in any container (after cleaning and washing it thoroughly).
2. Keep a few pots (preferably 7 to 9 pots- one to be sown each day of the week) ready with ordinary soil. Do not add any chemicals or fertilizers. Cow-dung or goat-dung may be added as manure if needed.
3. Spread the soaked wheat on the surface of the soil so that the grains are touching one another.
4. Sprinkle a thin layer of soil on the wheat grains .
5. Cover the pot with a newspaper to provide darkness which helps the sprouting and also to prevent the birds from eating the wheat.
6. Keep the pot in a balcony or a windowsill or a covered verandah.
7. Next day uncover the pot and spray on some water and again cover it with the newspaper.
8. Repeat step 7 everyday until you see green leaves sprouting through the soil. Stop covering the pot as soon as the green leaves appear.
9. Everyday water the pot lightly but adequately depending upon the season and also depending upon the pots used - whether they have holes or not. Beautiful green blades of grass keep growing in height everyday.
10. As soon as the grass is about 8 inches tall ( which usually happens around the 7th to the 9th day from the date of sowing) harvest the grass by cutting with a clean pair of scissors about 1/2" above the surface of the soil.
11. The harvested wheat grass is now ready to be chewed or juiced or stored.
12. A second round of wheat grass will again grow in about 6 to 7 days with daily watering as before.
13. After the second harvest from the same pot, remove all the soil in the pot onto a newspaper- breakup all the roots and mix them with the soil. Add a bit of cowdung to this to rejuvenate the soil.
14. The soil is now ready for reuse for a fresh sowing of wheat.

Choice of pots

Clay pots with or without holes can be used. However we find plastic basins of about 6 to 8 inches diameter and about 3 inches deep ideal. These can be filled upto 2 1/2 inches with soil. Also trays made from wood or plastic or steel may be used.

How much wheat to sow everday?

For a family of 4 healthy persons, about 100 grams can be sown every day in a new pot or basin so that a continous supply is available. 7 to 9 pots would ensure a fresh harvest every day of the week.

For a person who is sick the amount of wheat required to be sown everyday is about 50 to 100 grams. Again 7 to 9 pots growing at any given time would ensure one pot maturing for cutting everyday (since it takes about 7 to 9 days to get the harvest).

How to store wheat grass

The wheat grass can be stored in the refrigerator in a plastic container or a good quality cellophane bag for about 3 days. but the juice must be drunk as soon as juiced orwithin1/2 hour of juicing.

How to juice wheat grass

Please do not use electric blenders for juicing as the rapid blade movement causes oxidation of the chlorophyll and renders it useless.

A manual mince maker maybe used or you can use any stone crushing method available in the home for making chutneys.

Add a little water while grinding or pounding- strain the juice through a clean cloth into a cup or a glass. Grind again adding water - repeat this process until the remaining grass is almost white. Do not throw the leftover grass. Put it in your plants as manure.

How to use wheat grass

1. For a healthy person - a good mouthful (fairly well stuffed) and more if you wish, should be taken early morning and chewed until the remaining cud in the mouth is almost white. This can be eaten or thrown out. (Constipated people are advised to eat the cud as it provides roughage for a better bowel movement).

If being taken in juice form, a healthy person can take 1/4 to 1/3 of a glass everyday. but remember that the juice must be drunk immediately on juicing.
2. For a sick person - 1/4 to 1/2 glass of wheat grass juice is required to start with. If possible this should be spread over 2 to 3 times during the day - the important thing of course being to drink the juice soon after juicing.

The quantity should be gradually increased to about 8 ounces a day (approx one glass full).
3. Wheat can be crushed thoroughly and applied externally on Cancers and Ulcers as a poultice.
4. Wheat grass juice can be used as a rectal implant for cleansing and rejuvenating. Use an enema syringe to implant the juice in the rectum. Try and retain it for 20 minutes.
5. Wheat grass juice is also effective as an eye-bath (using an eye-cup).

How does wheat grass help our system:

Wheat Grass is almost like a blood transfusion. It is a wonderful cleanser and rejuvenator which means it helps your body to throw out toxins that have built up over the years and helps it replace old dead cells with new cells. These are the two essential factors that cause disease in our bodies and which wheat grass sets right.

In chronic ailments including cancer, there may be an attempt by the body to throw out accumulated toxins which could result in diarrhoea or vomiting. Both these conditions are to be WELCOMED. If this does happen, cut down on the quantity of wheat grass juice being consumed to half and use it diluted. Gradually begin to increase the quantity as the body begins to handle the removal of toxins in a more gentle way.

Wheat grass seva can become an important part of all our lives. Let us grow wheat grass in abundance and make it available to chronically sick patients especially those suffering from cancer, AIDS., asthma and kidney failure.

REJUVELAC
What is Rejuvelac?

Rejuvelac is a tonic drink made from wheat. It is rich in enzymes and many nutrients.

Who can have Rejuvelac?

The healthy and the sick, children and adults can have it. Diabetics can have small quantities in diluted form.

How do we make Rejuvelac?

Rejuvelac is made at home from unpolished wheat.

1. Wash one cup of wheat thoroughly.
2. Soak in 5 cups of water.
3. Leave for 48 hours.
4. After 48 hours drain off the liquid into another container.
5. To this liquid add 2-3 teaspoons of honey.
6. Store in the refrigerator.
7. When serving add a dash of lemon juice.
8. Add 5 cups of water to the wheat remaining in the first container.
9. Leave only for 24 hours this time.
10. Repeat steps 4 to 7.
11. Add 5 cups of water to the wheat remaining in the first container.
12. Leave for 24 hours.
13. Drain the liquid into another container as before, adding honey. Store and serve as before.
14. The wheat remaining now must be discarded - it can provide very good manure for your soil.

Note : At first you might feel that there is a "bad" smell, but when you add lemon juice it goes away and you also get used to some of it. The nutrition it provides is worth the initial hesitation you might have in drinking it.

Rejuvelac is an excellent tonic for the entire system. It particularly benefits the intestines and the colon. It is rich in natural enzymes and goes a long way in replacing the flora and fauna of the intestines which have been lost due to the consumption of antibiotics. Antibiotics do not have an "intelligence" that discriminates between the "unfriendly bacteria" and the "friendly bacteria" which are necessary for our very survival.

A word of caution : If you are suffering from a severe Vata imbalance (Vayu Vikara), this drink may not suit you. Please try it for a few days and use your judgement about its suitability for you.

Wishing you joy in your seva and spiritual rejuvenation.

Important

Please note : What has been given in the section Guidelines on Diet & Lifestyle is A VIEW POINT. Please accept it only if it appeals to your common sense - otherwise reject it. It is not a treatise on Natural Healing - it is only a beginning in your quest for being in tune with Nature. Your health is in your hands. How far you go from here depends entirely on you. We also encourage you to understand your Personal Constitution (Prakruti) - please refer to "Recommended Reading". An understanding of the Tridoshas will result in perfect "tuning in" to your OWN dietary requirements.


"We require no one else to make us happy for we are happiness itself. The first sign that you are becoming religious is that you are becoming cheerful. When a man is gloomy that may be dyspepsia (indigestion) but it is not religion."
- BHAGAWAN SRI SATHYA SAI BABA
"However high a bird may soar, it has sooner or later to perch on a tree top, to enjoy quiet. So too a day will come when even the most haughty, the most willful, the most unbelieving, even those who assert that there is no joy or peace in the contemplation of the Highest Self, will have to pray: "God grant me peace, grant me consolation, strength and joy."
- BHAGAWAN SRI SATHYA SAI BABA