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CHAPTER ELEVEN
I am not going to try to convert any of my meat-eating readers to
vegetarianism (as the practice of Yoga will do this for me in time), but
I would say this. That although the meat eater may look strong and
healthy, he has not the endurance, the staying power, and the resistance
to disease of the vegetarian. That a natural diet of fruits, greens,
milk and dairy products, citrus fruits, and whole grains is man’s ideal
and vitamin-packed healthy diet.
So to eat vegetables is to eat distilled sunshine. To eat flesh is to
take vegetable food secondhand from another animal, and here it is
interesting to note that man eats mainly the flesh of vegetarian animals
such as cows, pigs, sheep, and poultry, deer, and rabbits. He does not
eat the flesh of carnivorous animals. Why kill helpless and friendly animals? Why subject them to the pain and
terror of the slaughterhouse when there is so much goodness to eat from
the clean earth? Why take a life away, when we can eat fruit off the
trees and all the bounty of the harvest? Why all this violence in the
name of good eating? Why not have mercy? The pure in mind do not kill,
and the pure in body do not need to kill. Think, do think, about it
first the next time you cut a piece of steak and carry it on your fork
to your mouth; think of the animal who died in pain to provide you with
this supper of yours. Are you sure it is worth it? And are fruit and
vegetables and nuts not more pleasant to handle than wet and bleeding
pieces of a dead animal? It is interesting to note that once a person becomes a vegetarian and
knows the health and purity which results from eating good and pure
food, he seldom if ever reverts back to the lower type of food. As he
grows spiritually, man ceases to desire flesh foods. Thus man’s choice
of foods is directly influenced by his degree of mental purity.
And so the Yoga diet is simply to keep as closely as possible to
natural
foods. This means plenty of nuts, whole cereals, and fresh fruits and
juices. From these man can get all the vitamins, proteins, carbohydrates
and minerals he needs. From these also he has the means whereby to
nourish the cells of the body without overburdening the system with
unnatural and alien foods and drinks. It should be noted that even the
most perfect system cannot work to the maximum of its efficiency when it
is fed with unnatural foods. What then are these unnatural foods to be avoided? These are the
refined, processed, tinned and packaged foods, the worst offenders being
white sugar, white flour, white rice and any other food from which the
vitality has been refined out. Pickles, preserves, sweets and
over-salted foods should be avoided, as should anything containing
artificial ingredients. This, I know, is not easy if one tends to eat
out a great deal. Well-meaning relations and friends hand us heavily
iced sweet cakes and sandwiches made with that unwholesome substance,
white bread. What can one do to avoid complete social ostracism? That is
a problem which you can work out for yourselves, according to your
individual circumstances but to all of you I would say this, avoid these
foods wherever possible but do not, in the process, offend anyone.
Rather eat a piece of cake than hurt someone’s feelings. You can leave
most of it in crumbs on your plate without arousing suspicion.
The three main rules of the Yoga diet are (1) non-violence, (2)
moderation, and (3) attitude of mind. Non-violence I have already
discussed. What then of moderation? You must train yourself to eat only
what you need and no more. As you proceed with your studies of Yoga, you
will find yourself taking less interest in food and more interest in
spiritual matters. Food no longer becomes a break from the round of
work. It becomes a time of refueling the body so that it may continue
to flourish. Remember to chew each mouthful slowly which simple practice
will gradually accustom you to taking only as much food as you need, not
as much as you think you want. By all means enjoy your food but take it
in moderation. Also have a well balanced healthy diet plan. And what of attitude of mind? It is not necessary for you to become
cranks and food faddists who measure every mouthful you eat. It is not
necessary for you to set up a hue and cry about the needless slaughter
of animals for food. Quietly pursue your own course, eat only what is
pure and natural and your influence will be far greater on those around
you than by any more noisy methods. I am by no means deaf to the many arguments against vegetarianism that
are hurled at me from time to time. They go as follows. If everyone
became a vegetarian, we should be completely overrun by animals. That
without eating flesh, our diet becomes dull and uninteresting. That the
vegetarian diet is not filling and the amount of food one has to consume
to satisfy one’s hunger tends to make one gain weight. That one becomes
socially ‘difficult’ and eating out becomes something of a problem. That
the fancy health food shops are much more expensive than the other food
shops. These are the main objections although there are many more. Let
us demolish each one in turn.
Firstly, the danger of us being overrun by animals if everyone became a
vegetarian. Not true, for the simple reason that animals raised for
commercial slaughter are artificially bred to multiply at a greater rate
than is natural. If it became unprofitable to breed animals, the number
of them would be drastically decreased by introducing alternate breeding
methods. From the economic standpoint, if everyone became a vegetarian, the area
of land used to graze animals for food could be used to raise anything
from four to forty times as much vegetable food. Meat is actually no
more than very expensive, secondhand, vegetable food. It is a known fact
that vegetable foods can be produced much more economically than flesh
foods. Let us then consider the second argument against vegetarianism, that the
vegetarian diet is dull and uninteresting. To a cook who is imaginative
and adventurous, this need not be so. To one who is not, a flesh diet is
equally as unpalatable, for a good cook can show her talent with any kind
of food. And what can be more colorful and exotic than a plate full of
mixed and brightly colored vegetables topped with grated cheese. What a
conglomeration of colors, textures, and flavors. What a wealth of
vitamins, and what easily digestible nourishment. Food without killing,
surely that is the ideal diet for a thinking man.
The third argument, that the vegetarian becomes socially a difficult
customer, is one which the strong minded will choose to ignore. If your
ideals and beliefs are against the killing of innocent animals and the
eating of their flesh, then you will not mind being misunderstood by
well-meaning friends and relatives. Those closest to you will be only
too ready to respect your wishes. As far as eating at restaurants is
concerned, there are many fine and economical vegetarian restaurants up
and down the country and, if your own particular district has none, you
could always take your own packed lunch to work. You can always get
round the difficulties if you really want to.
And the fourth argument that the vegetarian diet is not filling enough
and that the extra intake of food tends to make one gain weight? What of
this? This is where the eating habits of the Yogis will help you. They
chew their food slowly and at the same time very gradually decrease
their intake of food until they are eating only enough to keep alive and
superbly healthy. More food than this amount is superfluous and tends to
put on weight, but you will notice that no devotee of Yoga has even an
ounce of superfluous fat on him or her. And what of the last argument I mentioned, that health food shops are
expensive markets and eat up the household budget? True in a sense
maybe, if you do not bother to learn vegetarian cookery. If you are a
housewife and your cooking is good and tasty, then perhaps your husband
and your children will become vegetarians too. If you live alone, you
have no one to consider but yourself and, if you are a bachelor, your
mother, your sister or even an understanding landlady will come to the
rescue. What I am impressing on would-be vegetarians is that it can be
done if you really want to. And I am not asking you at this stage to
become a vegetarian but merely making various practical suggestions as
to how it can be done in the event of your gradually turning against the
eating of flesh foods for the reasons I have already outlined.
This is a book about Hatha Yoga and I am writing it mainly from the
point of view of your health. However, the body and the mind being
inseparable, in showing you how to discipline the one, I cannot but
mention from time to time the effect upon the other. As Yoga gives your
body a new lightness and suppleness, you will find that you have
gradually become a more spiritual person and food will be of less
importance to you than before. You will become more sensitive to the
feelings of others and therefore stop to consider the feelings of
helpless animals in slaughterhouses up and down the country. Where to begin?
First of all, remember that our bodies are only nourished by food which
they can break down and assimilate and that, ideally, all food should be
laxative. This is far from the case, however, and far too much
devitalized and unnatural food is being consumed in this modern world
with the result that an appallingly high percentage of the population
suffers from constipation and other disorders of the digestive tract. As
I said at the beginning of chapter eight, the Yogis name constipation as
‘the Mother of all diseases’, and here we might aptly name devitalized
food as ‘the mother of all constipation and digestive disorders’.
What is devitalized food and why are the Yogis so against it? Dead and
devitalized foods include everything that has been preserved, bottled,
bleached, refined, canned, pickled, or polished. When I say avoid eating
white flour products, white sugar products and polished rice, you will
ask why. What is wrong with these substances? Simply that in their
refined state they are unsuitable as foods and are actually harmful to
the human body. What is wrong with eating raw sugar, whole wheat flour
products and unpolished rice? They may prove somewhat dearer but, who in
his right mind, would try to economize on good food? And in the case of
raw sugar, be careful that you are not buying refined sugar that has
simply been colored brown. And try, for a change, to sweeten your food
with honey. More easily assimilated than any other food, it is
especially beneficial to older people and those of you who are suffering
from digestive troubles of any kind. Being a lifelong honey eater, I cannot impress on you too strongly how
wholesome and nutritious a food this is. The purest and most natural of
foods, it is cheap and plentiful and yet so few people recognize its
enormous value. And do not, please, think that honey is always clear golden or biscuit
colored. Honeys are as multi-colored as a rainbow. The French honey
that is gathered from the blooms of gooseberry and sycamore trees is an
exquisite sea green. The flavor, need I say, is beyond words. From
Brazil comes a black honey, from Africa a clear pale green, and from
Texas comes one of the most unique honeys in the world, the remarkable guajillo honey which is crystal white with a pearly reflection like new
milk. Not always available in American “health-food” stores, but to be
looked for at any rate, is the exotic lotus honey of India. It is as
exciting as mysterious and as health giving as Yoga itself. I could go
on for a whole book writing ecstatically of the wonder and the glories
of honey, but let it suffice to say that, if you think you dislike honey,
then try all the different ones you can find. If you fail to find one
you like, you are indeed unique. If you feel I was becoming lyrical over honey, I am going to be just the
opposite about its greatest rival—sugar. Why, I wonder, did we abandon
honey, nature’s most nutritious sweet food, in favor of dry, sterile,
refined sugars? I am afraid that there can be only one answer—sheer
ignorance of the basic needs and capabilities of the human organism.
Because up to about the year 1700 sugar was the exclusive amenity of the
aristocracy, it came to be greatly prized by the masses as a delicacy.
It had a certain social significance as, say caviar has
today. So when a new process was discovered of refining sugar cheaply
and in large quantities, honey began to lose its popularity as a
sweetening agent and became increasingly less available as sugar became
more so. Then physicians in America and Europe began to realize that a tragic
dietary mistake was being made and that the over indulgence in
artificial sugars was causing increasing ill health. New digestive and
nervous disorders began to make their appearance and the instance of
diabetes shot up alarmingly. The sweets that 1 have mentioned are manufactured by a process which
destroys all their nutritive elements. In the case of granulated sugar,
the sugar crystals that are formed, after the cane juice is treated with
the fumes of burning sulphur or heated with bisulphide of lime, are
sterile and devitalized. It is just this fact which makes sugar a
commodity that will keep almost indefinitely which is a distinct
advantage from a commercial point of view but hardly from a health one.
Sugar granules, in their final highly concentrated form, are powerful
stimulants. When they reach the human stomach, they oxidize violently
upon their contact with oxygen, which produces an explosive effect upon
the digestive system and causes an increased activity in the internal
organs. White sugar can be compared with a highly combustible fuel that
violently ignites, burns with a fierce intensity, and as quickly dies
down. Can you imagine the shock treatment all this activity has on the
digestive and nervous systems? And because of this fast dying down, the
body is aware of a hunger for more and more sugar. It is this fact that
makes people often eat as much as a pound of sweets or chocolates at one
sitting. The desire for ‘just one more’ becomes a compulsion, and the
more poorly nourished a person is, the more susceptible he will be to
sugar addiction. For that is what it is, an addiction, no less. That
sugar, in the last analysis, can cause serious malnutrition is proved by
the fact that although like alcohol, it is a quick source of energy the
effects do not last and as the body becomes more and more dependent on
these ‘quick lifts’, it becomes less inclined to eat nourishing food.
To sum up the case for honey and the case against sugar, I would say
this. That artificial sugars must be broken down by the digestive tract
into simple sugars before they can be utilized by the body, and thus
they put an undue strain upon the system. The use of honey presents no
such problems as it consists entirely of natural sugars that do not have
to be oxidized by the digestive tract. Honey is absorbed at once without
excessive stimulation or shock to the system and it does not result in a
craving for more. Sugar is no substitute for honey as, chemically, it is
of an entirely different nature. So why be dictated to by the heavy hand
of commerce? In order to guide you in your choice of foods for your Yoga diet, I will
here outline the principle vitamins and their easily available food
sources. Vitamins, in controlling the body’s use of minerals, promotes a
balance in the body necessary for the proper functioning of the
endocrine glands and the formation of hormones.
Vitamin B2
Vitamin C
Vitamin D
Vitamin E
Minerals
Calcium (alkaline).
Daily requirements, adults 10 grains, children 15 grains. This mineral
builds strong bones and teeth, aids heart action and the clotting of the
blood, and helps to establish the correct balance of vitamin D in the
body.
Chlorine.
This is a general cleanser of the body and helps to expel waste matter
and purify the blood. It also aids in the formation of gastric and other
digestive juices. The main sources of this mineral are fruits and
vegetables. Copper
(acid forming). The
main sources of this mineral, which is necessary for the absorption of
iron in the body, are leafy vegetables, fresh and dried fruits.
Iodine (acid forming).
As this mineral is essential to the proper functioning of the thyroid
gland, deficiency in it results in goiter and
general glandular disturbances. The main sources of it are green leafy
vegetables, carrots, cucumber, prunes, radishes, pineapples, and
tomatoes. Iron
(alkaline). This is
the mineral that figures prominently in the building of red corpuscles
and which also absorbs and carries oxygen in the bloodstream to all
parts of the body. There must be adequate supplies of chlorophyll and
copper in the diet to effect the proper assimilation of iron, and some
experts consider that a woman needs three to four times as much as a
man. The main sources of iron are whole wheat, oatmeal, dried beans,
dried peas and dried fruits, green leafy vegetables, cheese, tomatoes,
bananas, and fresh string beans. Lack of iron results in anemia and general fatigue.
Magnesium (alkaline).
This is the mineral that keeps teeth and bones strong and hard. It also
helps to build cells, particularly of the lungs and nerves, and also
helps to form albumin in the blood. Lack of this mineral results in poor
circulation, constipation, and acidity. The main sources of this mineral
are nuts, whole wheat, unpolished rice, oatmeal, dried fruits, and leafy
vegetables.
Phosphorus (acid forming).
This is another mineral essential to the building of sound bones and
teeth and it also maintains the alkalinity of the bloodstream by the
phosphates it forms. The most important sources of this mineral are
nuts, particularly almonds, cereals, grapes, citrus fruits, blackberries
and cranberries, cucumbers, whole wheat, wheat germ, soya beans, tomatoes, and watermelons.
Potassium (alkaline).
This is the mineral basis of all muscular tissue and is vital to the
correct functioning of the liver. The main sources of this mineral are
leafy green vegetables, fruits and nuts.
Sodium (alkaline).
Though this mineral is important to the body in forming the digestive
juices, the saliva, bile, and pancreatic juices, and for the elimination
of carbon dioxide, table salt is not the most beneficial source. It is
far better to obtain it from its natural sources such as whole wheat,
rye bread, buttermilk, celery, bananas, leafy vegetables, and beetroot.
Sulphur (acid forming). This mineral has an antiseptic effect on the
alimentary canal, is a constituent of the hemoglobin, keeps the
blood purified, and prevents toxic impurities from accumulating in the
body. All fruits and vegetables are good sources of sulphur but these
should be well balanced with foods of a high phosphorus content such as
milk, cheese and eggs, cereals and nuts. Foods high in phosphorus but
low in sulphur can lead to improper balance of these minerals in the
body. The above will serve as a useful guide to your future eating habits and,
with a little experimenting, you will find a diet that keeps you healthy
and provides all the essential elements you need. Though diet is very
much a matter of individual taste and circumstances, here is a list of
‘musts’ that I learned from my own Yoga teacher.
If you do not want anything, then do not eat it even if you
think it is good for you. By all means eat meat if you like it but
do not eat it merely because you think you cannot live without
it. Apart from cheese, eggs, and nuts, the soya bean products,
weight for weight, contain more protein than the best steak. Eat a little less of everything but do effect this very gradually.
Do not starve yourself or suffer hunger pains between meals but
do try to cut down on your intake of food.
Avoid the ‘dead’ and devitalized foods, i.e. everything When eating fruit, do not throw away the peel. Eat it with
the fruit or, in the case of oranges, lemons, or tangerines, the
peel can be grated to add a delicious and tangy flavor to
other foods.
Always cook potatoes in their jackets, either
baked or boiled. Much of the protein in potatoes is usually
thrown away with the peel. And remember the tops of celery,
carrots, turnips and beetroots are too nutritious to be thrown Instead of serving just one vegetable at a meal, cut up
several kinds and steam them very slowly in very little water.
Do not overcook. In fact, many vegetarians prefer chopped or
diced vegetables to be slightly underdone. This preserves the
natural texture and flavor. Always cook vegetables slowly
in a pan with a tight fitting lid and avoid copper cooking pans
if possible. Do not drink too much tea or coffee, as tannic acid and
caffeine are not beneficial to the body. By all means enjoy a
cup of tea or coffee, but make a mental note that you will gradually
cut down your intake. At the same time try to drink more milk,
either hot or cold, but please never iced.
Do not throw away water in which vegetables have been
cooked. Why dump vitamins down the sink when they make an
excellent basis for soups? With a little seasoning added, they are
very palatable to drink just as they are.
Avoid fried foods, especially if you are over forty. When
you do eat fatty foods, choose what are known as unsaturated
fats—corn oil, sunflower seed oil, and soya bean oil. Avoid
animal fats such as butter, lard, and dripping, and also avoid
olive oil and margarine.
Experiment with cheeses. They are all a wonderful source
of protein and, America alone, has many fine cheeses with which
to vary your diet to say nothing of the delicious cheeses from
other countries.
Be adventurous, try new things, and above all
eat only what is pure and natural. Do not over-indulge and,
whenever you are tempted to reach for that chocolate box, go to
the fruit bowl or the honey pot instead. Try dates instead of
sweets. To conclude, I will list the five basic Yoga rules for the maintenance of
health and the prevention of disease.
1.
Natural wholesome food, enough and no more for the
body’s needs. 2.
Proper breathing and breath control exercises, for the
increased
4.
Regular exercise to stimulate the circulation and to keep
the spine supple
5.
The practice of concentration and meditation, and the
correct method of |
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