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Whilst
it is true that man cannot live without air and water, the thing that
nourishes the body is food. Hence the saying, food is life.
Food
can be divided into three categories : vegetarian, flesh and mixed.
Flesh food include fowl and fish. Milk is an animal product and cannot
be any means be included in a strictly vegetarian diet. It serves the
purpose of meat to a very large extent. In medical language it is
classified as animal food. A layman does not consider milk to be a
animal food. On the other hand eggs are regarded by the layman as a
flesh food. In reality, they are not. Nowadays sterile eggs are also
produced. The hen is not allowed to see the cock and yet it lays eggs.
A
sterile egg never develoves into a chick. Therefore, he who can take
milk should have no objection to take sterile eggs. Medical opinion is
mostly in favor of a mixed diet, although there is a growing school,
which is strongly of the opinion that anatomical and physiological
evidence is in favor of man being a vegetarian. His teeth, his
stomach, intestines etc., seem to improve that nature has men man to
be a vegetarian.
Vegetarian
diet besides grains, pulses, edible roots, tubers and leaves, includes
fruits, both fresh and dry. Dry fruits include nuts like almonds,
pistachio, walnut etc.
I
have always been favor of pure vegetarian diet. But experience has
taught me that in order to be perfect fit, vegetarian diet must
include milk and milk-products such as curd, butter, ghee, etc. This a
significant departure from my original idea. I excluded milk form my
diet for six years. At that time, I felt none the worse for the
denial. But in year 1917, as a result of my ignorance, I was laid down
with severe dysentery. I was reduced to a skeleton, but I stubbornly
refused to take any medicine and with equal stubbornness refused to
take milk or buttermilk. But I could not build up my body and pick up
sufficient strength to leave the bed. I had taken a vow of not taking
milk. A medical friend suggested that at the time of taking a vow, I
could have had mind only the milk of cow and buffalo; why would the
vow prevent me from taking goat's milk? My wife supported him and I
yielded. Really speaking, for one who has given up milk, thought at
the time of taking the vow only the cow and the buffalo were in mind,
milk should be taboo. All animal milks have practically the same
composition, through the proportion of the components varies in each
case. So I may be said to have kept merely the letter, not the spirit,
of the vow. Be that as it may, goat's milk was produced immediately
and I drank it. It seemed to bring me new life. I picked up rapidly
and was soon able to leave the bed. On account of this and several
similar experiences, I have been forced to admit the necessity of
adding milk to the strict vegetarian diet. But I have convinced that
in the vast vegetable kingdom there must be some kind, which, while
supplying those necessary substances which be derive form milk and
meat, is free from their drawbacks, ethical and others.
In
my opinion there a definite drawbacks in taking milk or meat. In order
to get meat we have to kill. And we are certainly not entitled to any
other milk except the mother's milk in our infancy. Over and above the
moral drawback, there are other, purely from the point of view of
health. Both milk and meat bring with them the defects of the animal
from which they are derived. Domesticated cattle are hardly ever
perfectly healthy. Just like man, cattle suffer from innumerable
diseases. Several of these are over-looked even when the cattle are
subjected to periodical medical examinations. Besides, medical
examination of all the cattle in India seem to be an impossible feat,
at any rate for the present. I am conducting a dairy at the Sevagram
Ashram. I can easily get help from medical friends. Yet I cannot say
with certainty that all the cattle in the Sevagram Dairy are healthy.
On a contrary, a cow that had been considered to be healthy by
everybody was found to be suffering from tuberculosis. Before this
diagnosis was made, th milk of that cow had been used regularly in the
Ashram. The Ashram also takes milk from the farmers in the
neighborhood. Their cattle had not been medically examined. It is
difficult to determine whether a particular specimen of milk is safe
for consumption or not. We have to rest content with as much safety as
boiling of the milk can accrue us of. If the Ashram cannot boast of
fool-proof medical examination of its cattle, and be certain of the
safety of its dairy products, the situation elsewhere is not likely to
be much better. What applies to the milch cattle applies to a much
grater extent to the animals slaughtered for meat. As a general rule,
man just depends upon luck to escape from such risks. He does not seem
to worry much about his health. He considers himself to be quite safe
in his medical fortress in the shape of doctors, voids and hakims.
His main worry and concern is how to get wealth and positive in
society. This worry overshadows all the rest. Therefore, so long as
some selfless scientist does not, as a result of patient research
work, discover a vegetable substitute for milk and meat, man will do
on taking meat and milk.
Now
let us consider mixed diet. Man requires food which supply tissue
building substances to provide for the growth and daily wear and tear
of the body. It should also contain something which can supply energy,
fat, certain salts and roughage to help the excretion of waste matter.
Tissue building substances are known as proteins.
They
are obtained from milk, meat, eggs, pulse and nuts. The protein
contained in milk and meat, in other words, the animal protein being
more digestible and assailable, are much valuable than vegetable
proteins. Milk is superior to meat. The medicos tell us that in cases
when meat cannot be digested, milk is digested quite easily. For
vegetarians milk being the only source of animal proteins, is a very
important article of diet. The proteins in raw eggs are considered to
be the most easily digestible of all proteins. But everybody cannot
afford to drink milk. And it is not available in all places. I would
like to mention here a very important fact with regards to milk.
Contrary to the popular belief, skimmed milk is a very valuable
article of diet. There are times when it proves even more useful than
whole milk. The chief function of milk is to supply animal proteins
for tissue building and tissue repair. Skimming while it partially
removes the fats, does not affect the proteins at all. Moreover, the
available skimming instrument cannot remove all the fats from milk.
Neither there is any likelihood of such an instrument being
constructed.
The
body requires other things besides milk, whole or skimmed. I give the
second place to cereals-wheat, rice, jowar, bajra etc. These are used
as a staple diet. Different cereals are used to staple in different
provinces in India. In many places, more than one kind of cereals are
eaten at the same time. This mixture is not necessary for the
nourishment of the body. It makes it difficult to regulate the
quantity of food intake, and puts an extra strain upon digestion. As
all these venialities supply starch mainly, it is better to take one
only, at a time. Wheat may well be described a the king among the
cereals. If we glance at the world map, we find that wheat occupies
the first place. From the point of view of health, if we can get
wheat, rice and other cereals become unnecessary. If wheat is not
available and juwar, etc. cannot be taken on account of dislike or
difficulty in digesting them, rice has to be resorted to.
The
cereals should be properly cleansed, ground on a grinding stone, and
the resulting flour used as it is. Sieving of the flour should be
avoided. It is likely to remove the bhusi or the per carp which
is a rich source of salt and vitamins, both of which are most valuable
form the point of view of nutrition. The per carp also supplies
roughage, which helps the action of the bowels. Rice grain being very
delicate, nature has provided it with an outer covering or epicure.
This is not edible. In order to remove this inedible portion, rice has
to be pounded. Pounding should be just sufficient to remove the
epicure on the outer skin of the rice grain. But machine pounding not
only removes the outer skin, but also polishes the rice by removing
its per carp. The explanation of the popularity of polished rice lies
in the fact that polishing helps preservation. The per carp is very
sweet and unless it is removed, rice is easily attracted by certain
organisms. Polished rice and wheat without its per carp, supply us
with almost pure starch. Important constituents of the cereals are
lost with the removal of their per carp. The per carp of the rice is
sold as rice polishing. This and the per carp of wheat can be cooked
and eaten by themselves. The can be also made into chapattis or
cakes. It is possible that rice chapattis may be more easily
digestible than whole rice and in this form a lesser quantity may
result in full satisfaction.
We
are in the habit of dipping each morsel of chapatti in
vegetable or dal gravy before eating. The result is that most
people swallow their food without proper mastication. Mastication is
an important step in the process of digestion, especially that of
starch. Digestion of starch begins on its coming into contact with
saliva in the mouth. Mastication ensures a thorough mixing of food
with saliva. Therefore, starchy food should be eaten in a relatively
dry form, which results in a greater flow of saliva and also
necessitates their thorough mastication.
After
the starch supplying cereals come the protein supplying pulses-beans,
lentils etc. Almost everybody seems to think that pulses are essential
constituent of diet. Even meat eaters should have pulses. It is easy
to understand that those who have to do hard manual work and who
cannot afford to drink milk, cannot without pulses. But I can say with
out any hesitation whatsoever that those who follow sedentary
occupations as for instance, clerks, business men, doctors and those
who are not to poor to buy milk, do not require pulses. Pulses are
generally considered to be difficult to digest and are eaten in a much
smaller quantity than cereals. Out of variety of pulses, peas, gram
and haricot beans are considered to be the most and mung and masoor
the least difficult to digest.
Vegetables
and fruits should come third on our list. One would expect them to be
cheap and easily available in India. But it is not so. They are
generally considered to be delicacies mint for the city people. In the
villages fresh vegetable are a rarity, and in most places fruits are
also not available. This shortage of greens and fruits is a slur on
the administration of India. The villagers can grow plenty of green
vegetables if they wish to. The question of fruits cannot be solved so
easily. The land legislature is bad from the villager's standpoint.
But I am transgressing.
Among
fresh vegetables, a fare amount of leafy vegetables must be taken
everyday. I do not include potatoes, sweet potatoes, saran etc, which
supply starch mainly, among vegetables. They should be put down in
same category as starch supplying cereals. A fair helping of ordinary
fresh vegetables is advisable. Certain varieties such as cucumber,
tomatoes, mustard and cress and other tender leaves need not be
cooked. They should be washed properly and eaten in raw in small
quantities.
As
for fruits, our daily diet should include available fruits of the
season, e.g. mangoes, grapes etc. should all be used in this season.
The best time for taking fruits is in early morning. A breakfast of
fruits and milk should give full satisfaction. Those who take an early
lunch may have a breakfast of fruits only. Banana is a good fruit. But
as it is very rich in starch, it takes the place of bread. Milk and
banana make a perfect meal.
A
certain amount of fat is also necessary. This can be had in the form
of ghee or oil. If ghee can be had, oil becomes
unnecessary. It is difficult to digest and is not so nourishing as
pure ghee. An ounce and half of ghee per head per day, should
be considered ample to supply the needs of the body. Whole milk is
also a source of ghee. Those who cannot afford it should take enough
oil to supply the need for fat. Among oils, sweet oil, cocoa-nut oil,
and ground nut oil should be given preference. Oil must be fresh. If
available, it is better to use hand-pressed oil. Oil and ghee sold in
the bazaar are generally quiet useless. It is a matter of great sorrow
and shame. But so long as honesty has not become an integral part of
business morals, whether through legislation or through education, the
individual will have to procure the pure article with patience and
diligence. One should never be satisfied to take what one can get,
irrespective of its quality. It is far better to do with ghee oil
altogether than to eat rancid oil and adulterated ghee. As in the case
of fats, a certain amount of sugar is also necessary. Although sweet
fruits supply plenty of sugar, there is no harm in taking one to one
and half ounces of sugar, brown or white in a day. If one cannot get
sweet fruits sugar may become a necessity. But the undue prominence
given to sweet things towards nowadays is wrong. City folk eat to much
of sweet things. Milk puddings, milk sweets and sweets of other kinds
are consumed in large quantities. They are all unnecessary and are
harmful except when taken in very small quantity. It may be said
without any fear of exaggeration that the partake of sweet meals and
other delicacies, in a country where the millions do not get an
ordinary full meal, is equivalent to robbery.
What
applies to sweets, applies with equal force to ghee and oil. There is
no need to eat food fried in ghee or oil. To use up ghee in making puris
and laddus is thoughtless extravagancy. Those who are not used
to such food cannot eat these things at all. Those who do eat them I
have often seen fall ill. Taste is acquired, not born with us. All the
delicacies of the world cannot equal the relish, whereas one who is
not hungry will refuse the best of sweet meals.
Now
let us consider how often and how much should one eat. Food should be
taken as a matter of duty-even as a medicine-to sustain the body,
never for the satisfaction of the palate. Thus, pleasurable feeling
comes from satisfaction of real hunger. Therefore, we can say that
relish is dependent upon hunger and not outside it. Because of our
wrong habits and artificial way of living, very few people know what
their system requires. Our parents who bring us into this world do
not, as a rule, cultivate self-control. Their habits and their way of
living influence the children to a certain extent. The mother's food
during pregnancy is bound to affect the child. After that during
childhood, the mother pampers the child with al sorts of tasty foods.
She gives the child a little bit out of weather she herself may be
eating and the child's digestive system gets a wrong training from its
infancy. Habits once formed are difficult to shed. There are very few
who succeed in getting rid of them. But when the realization comes to
man that he is his own bodyguard, and his body has been dedicated to
service, he desires to learn law of keeping his body in a fit
condition and tries hard to follow them.
We
have now reached a point when we can lay down the amount of various
foods required by a man of sedentary habits, which most men and women
who read this pages, are.
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