Wellness diet

Body, mind, soul —  these are three terms we hear often. We are told, “Life is about body, mind and soul — to master them is to master life.” In today’s day and age, how many of us actually even care for the first one?

In the current scenario, the meaning of body is limited to six pack abs or a size zero figure. Truly, a healthy body is not about that; it is about the right kind of regime and food. In yesteryear, “Maa ke haath ka khana” was the most sought after meal and today, most of us don’t even remember what hand-made food is.

Lot of spiritual leaders put all emphasis on the mind and soul, completely ignoring the body. They say, “It is just an illusion.” But I beg to differ. If it was just an illusion, why do we sit in different postures to meditate? How is yoga a divine gift? Why does each and every muscle of our body play a role in igniting different layers of energy within the body? For me, this body is a temple, a temple we all need to worship, but what are we doing? We are feeding it with food types and standards we don’t even know about.

Generally, I go for my grocery shopping, and I love to pick the food myself and what I notice there is quite disappointing. Some people who spend thousands on alcohol every weekend, murmur seeing the price of an avocado, “It is so expensive.” Next moment, I see them buying imported cheese.

The food we eat is what we are — it develops our body, organs, brain and thought process. Would you put alcohol in the fuel tank of your newly bought sedan? No, you won’t. You know it will cause the engine to fail, thus you will not fill it with alcohol. So do we ever care about the kind of failure we are causing to the human body?

A few suggestions for rightful eating:

• Minimise white sugar, it feeds diseases like cancer.
• Eat small amounts and eat often.
• Try not to eat carbohydrate late evening.
• Fast every fortnight. Our ancestors were smart, that is why they started with Ekadashi Vrat. It was not for religious reasons, but had a scientific thought behind it. During full moon, our water level goes high and it becomes difficult for body to digest. Thus, on Ekadashi people used to fast and eat small amounts of food till full moon. It helped the body to be at rest.
• Include anti-oxidant like blueberry, green tea, etc in your diet.
• Coconut water is a must during the day.
• Chew your food well.

These are some of the basic suggestions. We really don’t know what they put in the food in the best of the restaurants. Our country doesn’t have the best regulatory system when it comes to food, thus, we need to be very careful about what we feed our cells. And before eating, always say a prayer, it is a way to show respect to Maa Annapurna. We are the lucky 30% of our country who can afford 3 square meals a day. Show gratitude to the chain of people, from the farmer to your cook, who made it possible for that food to be on your plate.

Eating right is the most spiritual thing you can do with your temple — your body!

The writer is a Karmyogi and a spiritual seeker