EFFECT OF FOOD ON OUR MIND AND BODY

The food we eat plays a major role in the way we are, i.e. our physical health, our emotional health and hence our behavior. What does food contain apart from nutrients? Are all foods healthy and safe? How should food be prepared? Are the foods prepared at home, hotels and temples different or the same? What is the difference? Does it influence us in anyway? Live to eat or eat to live? 
Let us discuss about it…                                       

 What type of foods do you like?

          I like spicy foods. Chicken fries and meat are the most delicious ones. I like sweets and chat items too.

How often do you eat outside?

          I love foods at various hotels/ restaurants. I select each hotel a week and enjoy my weekends with mouth licking items. My mother cooks very well but the taste one gets in hotels is awesome.

How is your life in general, your official and personal life?

          I work in a private firm and I have family too. At office, I am stressed out.  In today’s highly competent world, everyone wants to save their job. So people try to put others down, try to earn more but work less. Lots of competition, greed for acknowledgment and appreciation, unprofessional behavior has totally made people inhuman. This stress puts off my personal life too. Lots of misunderstandings with spouse and unable to spend quality time with family makes life miserable.

No problem. I’ll tell you an easy way to ease the situation, will you accept it?

          Sure, anything for a peaceful and happy life.

Can you please have only vegetarian foods cooked at home?

          What😰!!! This is going worsen my state. Food is the only one I can have as per my taste, no compromise on it. Non- veg foods are extremely healthy and tasty, why should I avoid it?

Do you have pets at home? Do they have feelings like us? Do they feel happy, sad, hungry, etc?

          Yes, they do have feelings, but am not eating cats and dogs. Certain animals are meant for eating.

All living beings have feelings, be it a person/ pet animals/ fishes/ goat/ hen/ cow, etc. Just imagine yourself, with hands and legs being tied tightly and ready to be slaughtered. How would you feel?

          I would be in extreme pain, hurt, filled with huge fear and hatred towards the person who would kill me.

Every non veg food is an animal filled with all such extreme negative emotions. When we consume such foods, besides eating their flesh, we also consume a very high level of anger, hurt, pain and hatred.

          No, I don’t agree. Meat contains a lot of proteins, fats and vitamins💪. It is extremely good for the body and helps in the growth of strong muscles. No emotions are present in any dead body. They have feelings only when alive, after death all that remains is only its body. Can you prove that a dead body has such feelings in it?

OK. All that the mind (of any living being) undergoes like happiness, love, peace, pain, jealousy, hatred, stress, etc gets deeply absorbed in the body. When we are stressed continuously due to work/ personal problems/ financial problems/ etc, we are prone to many diseases ranging from mild headaches to heart/ brain blockages. Agreed??

When we are filled with extreme fear, anger and pain, our body releases highly toxic chemicals like adrenaline, noradrinaline, cortisol, etc. These chemicals are dangerous to the body. This shows that the body is strongly influenced by the state of mind. The same applies to animals too. They are many times subjected to threat and slaughter. Just imagine the level of fear, pain, hurt and hatred they would undergo. The bodies of fishes, hens, chicks, goats, cows, pigs, etc also are subjected to all such negative feelings and secrete toxic substances. Once the body has absorbed the effects of feelings, it remains in the body. If the body is alive, the emotions are expressed (it can be seen), otherwise it remains unseen. Hence any person consuming a dead body (non-veg) of an animal consumes all such high negative feelings and chemicals too. Is this good for our physical and emotional health? Today is the time where we look for "organic foods", pure foods which are free of chemicals. Can we afford to have such toxic chemicals in the name of non-veg foods?
Let us not consume high levels of anger, pain, hurt and anxiety in the form of non veg foods and also expect to live a happy and peaceful life. It is impossible. 
"We do not eat food which contains a small hair, then why do we eat an egg which has a mother's care???"

If a family member dies in our house, what do we do? Do we cook food on that day in the house?

          No, until the body is in the house, kitchen will remain closed. Once all the final rites are over, we take bath, wash the entire house and then start cooking.

Why do we do so? The reason is, besides being in pain and sadness due to the loss, the body contains huge effects of all its emotions and karma during its life time. The final rites are performed to satisfy the soul and for various karmic reasons. We wash ourselves and the house as a sign to wash away all these negative effects. When we do so much for a family member, how can we eat a dead body of an animal that is prone to extreme fear, pain, anger and hatred?

But non-veg foods are healthy, in fact doctors prescribe it. Why so?

          Yes, they contain huge fats, proteins and vitamins. But as stated before, they also contain huge negative vibrations and chemicals. In fact, they contain very high level of fats and saturated cholesterol, so high, that our body rejects to digest them fully in the right proportion. It is due to this reason that many non vegetarians are obese. There are many fruits, sprouts, vegetables, pulses, cereals, etc that also contain high proteins, vitamins and fats. These are more sattvic (divine) in nature. They contain good levels of fats, protein, vitamins and fibre which keep our body balanced.

😔I understand now.

On auspicious days like Navrathri, Krishna jayanthi, etc is any non veg food cooked in the house? Is it offered to God?

NO. Why? We need to think….

"If we want a happy and peaceful life, if we want to be loving, compassionate to all, irrespective of life situations, we need to consume only vegetarian foods."

Does it mean that all vegetarians are always happy, loving and compassionate and all non vegetarians are full of hatred, stress and anger??

          No, not at all. The food we eat, plays a major role in maintaining our state of mind but it is not the only factor. There are many other factors like the way we our brought up, hereditary factors, the effect of our society/ friends on us, our own will power and the most important and hidden factor, our karma (our past deeds).

Are all vegan foods good for our physical and emotional health?

Onions and garlic are tamasic foods, i.e. foods that activate lust, anger, greed and jealousy in us and lead us to darkness.
When such tamasic foods (onion, garlic, all non veg) are consumed, we consume anger, greed and other feelings daily. Hence we work/ live with anger and create stress in life. A person who works with love and passion, who thinks the best for others than for himself, earns more (money and good wishes of others) than a person who works just for money. So, if we want to earn more, let us avoid these two too.
 

Why should I have food prepared only at home and not outside?

          Food also has vibrations received from the people who cook it.

·        A mother/ wife - always cooks food with love and compassion. Even if we are hungry and ask for food late night, it is only the family members, who are always ready to serve food with affection. 

·        A cook (person hired for cooking)- cooks food for an earning. If we ask for more food, a little late, will she prepare it with love? Well, she might even remain deaf to our request.

·        Food prepared in temples will be filled with divinity, since it is not just food but a Prasad/ Prasadham.(filled with God’s blessings🙏)

In hotels/ restaurants, people cook for the money they earn. It is their job. Hence the food contains vibrations of greed for money. The more we consume outside foods, we will also consume the vibrations of greed.

**We can now understand why many of us feel more insecure (need for more money/ wealth/ materialistic possessions) these days.

We also need to take care about the way the food is being prepared. Always cook with calmness and happiness. Never get into fights or brood about the past, never cook in tension/ stress. If we do, all these vibrations will be absorbed in the food we cook. Food prepared with anger will be filled with anger. The more we consume such foods, our tendency to get angry and stressed increases.(😄 Hence, all husbands need to keep their wives happy while cooking.)

If we listen to divine songs/ bhajans while cooking, the food will be filled with divine vibrations. If such a food is offered to God, it becomes a Prasad. When such foods (prasadam/ prasad) are consumed daily, we will be filled with divine love, happiness, peace and power. The mind of such a person will be stable and with continuous awareness of the self, one can live a happy and peaceful life.

Can such foods be available in hotels/ restaurants???😔

There were no hotels/ restaurants about 50- 60 years back. People used to cook and eat food at home. Joint family was the way of living before, earnings and status of living were less, yet people managed to cook and eat with what they had. Relationships were good, the word “divorce” was not known. 
Nowadays, though we earn a lot, we find it difficult to live in joint family, we are unable to accept and adjust with our own family members. Relationships break easily with a small misunderstanding. Ego has taken an upper hand.

  The major cause for all these lies in the food we eat outside. Hotels/ restaurant foods are cooked with an intention to earn. The more we eat it, we also run behind money more and spoil our personal life. We treat relationships as business, like, "I adjusted thrice with you, now its your turn to adjust. I took care of you last time, now its your turn", etc. We all do need money but at what cost? In what way?  

We need to think… Is it really worth eating outside foods???

Here are 2 plates: A                                                                           B

                  

Which one would you choose now???

We all inherently have some good and bad qualities.

*If we want to activate our inner strengths and live with our true basic values of truth, honesty, love and compassion, we can choose the first plate A.

*If we are contented with the present stressful life and wish to continue the same way of life filled with tension, anger, greed, stress and lust, we may choose the second plate B.

Everything is a choice!!!!

😄I agree now. Animal foods/ sea foods are extremely bad for our emotional health. Though it might have proteins, vitamins, fats, etc, in the long run, it harms us. If I want a stable and calm mind, if I want to live a happy and peaceful life with honesty, love, compassion and purity, I should consume only pure food filled with God's blessings. 
What I am and how I am is the best gift I can give to my creator. Hence I choose to be a vegan.

A humble request to all doctors:

          A doctor is considered to be equal to God Himself as they play a major role in any person’s life. We all know that the root cause of all diseases lies in one’s lifestyle, i.e. the way we eat, the way we think and the way we carry ourselves. Any disease can be fully cured only if the patient is emotionally stable and calm. Henceforth, kindly advice patients to have a diet that is good for their physical and emotional health. Please advice the kitchen department/ food service center in hospitals to provide a diet which is filled with all nutrients as well as divine energies, so that, a patient gets completely cured and never returns with the same problem again.😃

Always remember: As is our food, so is our mind, so is our body.

                             जैसा अन्न, वैसा मन, वैसा तन

Exercise:

          Let me try, just try and experiment with this. Just for 1 month, let me be cautious with my food. I will eat only vegetarian foods (no onion and garlic), which are prepared at home by my family member or me. Before eating, I will offer it to God. This way, I will be filled with divine qualities, which is the best way to lead an effective, happy and peaceful life.

After 1 month, just do a self check. We know our weaknesses and strengths. Has any one weakness reduced a little? Have my strengths increased a little??

I promise, the results will surprise you!!!

THANK YOU SO MUCH!!!

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References:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EYzN2frcJI0

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iUZZqAWREQk&t=1510s