| Your
food shall be your medicine. -
Hippocrates Diet plays a
vital role in the maintenance of good health and in the
prevention and cure of disease. In the words of Sir Robert
McCarrison, one of the best known nutritionists, ‘The right
kind of food is the most important single factor in the
promotion of health ; and the wrong kind of food is the most
important single factor in the promotion of disease. ”
The human body builds up and maintains healthy cells,
tissues, glands and organs only with the help of various
nutrients. The body cannot perform any of its functions, be
they metabolic, hormonal, mental, physical or chemical,
without specific nutrients. The food which provides these
nutrients is thus one of the most essential factors in
building and maintaining health.
Nutrition, which depends on food, is also of utmost
importance in the cure of disease. The primary cause of
disease is a weakened organism or lowered resistance in the
body, arising from the adoption of a faulty nutritional
pattern. There is an elaborate healing mechanism within the
body but it can perform its function only if it is
abundantly supplied with all the essential nutritional
factors.
It is believed that at least 45 chemical components and
elements are needed by human cells.Each of these 45
substances, called essential nutrients, must be present in
adequate diets. The list of these nutrients, include oxygen
and water. The other 43 essential nutrients are classified
into five main groups, namely carbohydrates, fats, proteins,
minerals and vitamins. All 45 of these nutrients are vitally
important and they work together. Therefore, the absence of
any of them will result in disease and eventually in death.
Research has shown that almost all varieties of disease
can be produced by an under-supply of various nutrients.
These nutritional deficiencies occur on account of various
factors, including the intense processing and refining of
foods, the time lag between the harvesting and consumption
of vegetables and fruits, the chemicals used in bleaching,
flavoring, coloring and preserving foods and the chemical
fertilizers, fungicides insecticides and sprays used for
treating the soil. Therefore, as a first principle of
nutrition, one should insist up on whole meal flour and
whole meal bread and avoid the white stuff.
Research has also shown that diseases produced by
combinations of deficiencies can be corrected when all the
nutrients are supplied, provided irreparable damage has not
been done. A well-balanced and correct diet is thus of
utmost importance for the maintenance of good health and the
healing of diseases. Such a diet, obviously should be made
up of foods, which in combination would supply all the
essential nutrients. It has been found that a diet which
contains liberal quantities of (a) seeds, nuts, and grains ,
(b) vegetables and (c) fruits, would provide adequate
amounts of all the essential nutrients. These foods have,
therefore, been aptly called basic food groups and the diet
contains these food groups as optimum diet for vigor and
vitality. It is described, in brief, below:
(a) Seeds, nuts and grains:
These are the most important and the most potent of all
foods and contain all the important nutrients needed for
human growth. They contain the germ, the reproductive power
which is of vital importance for the lives of human beings
and their health. Millet, wheat, oats, barley, brown rice,
beans and peas are all highly valuable in building health.
Wheat, mung beans, alfalfa seeds and soy beans make
excellent sprouts. Sunflower seeds, pumpkin seeds, almonds,
peanuts and soy beans contain complete proteins of high
biological value.
Seeds, nuts and grains are also excellent natural sources
of essential unsaturated fatty acids necessary for health.
They are also good sources of lecithin and most of the
vitamins B. They are the best natural sources of vitamin C,
which is perhaps the most important vitamin for the
preservation of health and prevention of premature ageing.
Besides, they are rich sources of minerals and supply
necessary bulk in the diet. They also contain auxones, the
natural substance that play an important role in the
rejuvenation of cells and prevention of premature ageing.
(b) Vegetables:
They are extremely rich source of minerals, enzymes and
vitamins. Faulty cooking and prolonged careless storage,
however, destroy these valuable nutrients. Most of the
vegetables are, therefore, best consumed in their natural
raw state in the form of salads.
There are different kinds of vegetables. They may be
edible roots, stems, leaves, fruits and seeds. Each group
contributes to the diet in its own way. Fleshy roots have
energy value and good sources of vitamin B. Seeds are
relatively high in carbohydrates and proteins and yellow
ones are rich in vitamin A. Leaves, stems and fruits are
excellent sources of minerals, vitamins, water and roughage.
To prevent loss of nutrients in vegetables, it would be
advisable to steam or boil vegetables in their juices on a
slow fire and the water or cooking liquid should not be
drained off. No vegetable should be peeled unless it is so
old that the peel is tough and unpalatable. In most root
vegetables, the largest amount of mineral is directly under
the skin and these are lost if vegetables are peeled.
Soaking of vegetables should also be avoided if taste and
nutritive value are tube preserved.
(c) Fruits :
Like vegetables, fruits are an excellent source of
minerals, vitamins and enzymes. They are easily digested and
exercise a cleansing effect on the blood and digestive
tract. They contain high alkaline properties, a high
percentage of water and a low percentage of proteins and
fats.
Their organic acid and high sugar content have immediate
refreshing effects. Apart from seasonable fresh fruits, dry
fruits, such as raisins, prunes and figs are also
beneficial.
Fruits are at their best when eaten in the raw and ripe
states. In cooking, the loose portions of the nutrient salts
and carbohydrates. They are most beneficial when taken as a
separate meal by themselves, preferably for breakfast in the
morning. If it becomes necessary to take fruits with regular
food, they should form a larger proportion of the meals.
Fruits, however, make better combination with milk than with
meals. It is also desirable to take one kind of fruit at a
time. For the maintenance of good health, at least one pound
of uncooked fruits should form part of the daily diet. In
case of sickness, it will be advisable to take fruits in the
form of juices.
The three basic health-building foods mentioned above
should be supplemented with certain special foods such as
milk, vegetable oils and honey. Milk is an excellent food.
It is considered as ” Nature’s most nearly perfect food.”
The best way to take milk is in its soured form - that is,
yogurt and cottage cheese. Soured milk is superior to sweet
milk as it is in a predigested form and more easily
assimilated. Milk helps maintain a healthy intestinal flora
and prevents intestinal
putrefaction and constipation.
High quality unrefined oils should be added to the diet.
They are rich in unsaturated fatty acids, vitamin C and F
and lecithin. The average daily amount should not exceed two
tablespoons. Honey too is an ideal food. It helps increase
calcium retention in the system, prevents nutritional
anaemia besides being beneficial in kidney and liver
disorders, colds, poor circulation and complexion problems.
It is one of the nature’s finest energy-giving food.
A diet of the three basic food groups, supplemented with
the special foods, mentioned above, will ensure a complete
and adequate supply of all the vital nutrients needed for
health, vitality and prevention of diseases. It is not
necessary to include animal protein like egg, fish or meat
in this basic diet, as animal protein, especially meat,
always has a detrimental effect on the healing process. A
high animal protein is harmful to health and may cause many
of our common ailments.
Daily Menu
Based on what has been stated above, the daily menu of a
health-building and vitalizing diet should be on the
following lines :
Upon arising :- A glass of lukewarm water mixed
with the juice of a half a lemon and a teaspoon of honey, or
a glass of freshly squeezed juice of any available
seasonable fruit such as apple, pineapple, orange, sweet
lime and grapes.
Breakfast :- Fresh fruits such as apple, orange,
banana, grapes, or any available seasonal fruits, a cup of
butter-milk or unpasteurised milk and a handful of raw nuts
or a couple of tablespoons of sunflower and pumpkin seeds.
Mid-morning snack: One apple or a banana or any
other fruit.
Lunch: A bowl of freshly prepared steamed
vegetables using salt, vegetable oil and butter for
seasoning, one or two slices of whole grain bread or
chapattis and a glass of butter-milk.
Mid-afternoon: A glass of fresh fruit or
vegetable juice or any available fruit.
Dinner : A large bowl of fresh salad made up of
green vegetables, such as tomatoes, carrot, cabbage,
cucumber, red beet and onion with lime juice dressing, any
available sprouts such as alfalfa seeds, and mung beans , a
warm vegetable course, if desired, one tablespoon of fresh
butter, cottage cheese or a glass of butter-milk.
The above menu is a general outline around which an
individual diet can be built. It can be modified and changed
to adapt to specific requirements and conditions. The menu
for lunch and dinner is interchangeable.
Do not drink liquids with meals. The water should be
taken half an hour before meals or an hour after meals.
Milk, buttermilk, and vegetable soups are foods and can be
taken with meals. |
