Balancing life
Balancing life with balancing diet need lot of skill. We established the fact that Life is a continuous wind of energy. Actually speaking life is a transformation of food into energy and thence to actions. It is a phenomenon that follows and is caused by some previous phenomenon. Every cells of our body has life force energy in them. Every cell of our body is capable of producing, absorbing, radiating, emitting energy. A balanced diet is such-that serves this life force needed for the life processes to survive, grow and work than spent on digesting them. Use up of energy faster than it is renewed causes enervation lack of vitality, fells you weak sick and death. We should take care of that valuable life force in our body is not being wasted in futile attempts of digesting and eliminating the indigestible. In the modern civilized world people are slave to their tongue and over indulge. Living a life of indulgence throw you off balance drain life force and make sick. Control over luscious food is a real art comes from balancing diet.
The first thing to be aware while balancing diet is the purpose of our taking food. It is not merely to nourish physical body but also improve mental and spiritual health. According to natural nutritional principle there are three types qualities of food that we take 1, Satvic food that is good for the health of body mind and soul. Foods which can be eaten raw naturally without cooking Fruits, Vegetables, Leafs, nuts, sprouts, are coming under this category 2, Rajasic food strengthens the body but is not good for the spiritual growth. Foods which usually cannot be eaten without cooking Grains, beans, lentils, tubers, chilies and spices are coming under this category 3, Tamasic food is good for health and the physical body but has a bad effect on the mind and spirit. Foods which tends to be acidic Meats, eggs, fish, refined foods stimulants which cannot be eaten without cooking with spices are coming under this category. Balancing life with balancing diet is the real balancing of above foods.
When we aim at balancing diet, the common thing pops up to our mind is about the caloric value of food. A calorie is a unit of measurement a unit of energy producing potential in the food. It's a way of describing how much energy our body could get from eating or drinking it. Our body needs calories for energy. But eating too many calories and not burning enough of them off through activity can lead to weight gain or restlessness. It is like if the life energy doesn’t give any direction to flow it gets stuck rots and muddles. Most foods and drinks contain calories. Some foods contain few calories while some contain a lot of calories. 1g carbohydrate contains 3.75 calories. 1g protein contains 4 calories. 1g fat contains 9 calories. That means if we know how many grams of each one are in a food, we can calculate the total calories. We would multiply the number of grams by the number of calories in a gram of that food component. Balanced diet supplies the right number of calories not too many, not too few. But how do we know how many calories we need? This depends on our gender, weight, age, height, activity levels and whether we are trying to lose, maintain or gain weight. We need to balance the calories that we take each day in the diet with the calories that we expend each day. To have improved disposition and good enthusiasm we should ensure that the food we eaten should be capable of managing successfully the caloric value and at the same time completely nutritional which serves all the elements as required.
Scientific perception about balanced diet is that which fulfils all the nutritional requirements of the body. According to science at least 45 chemical components and elements are needed by human cells. The main elements comprising the body are Oxygen, Carbon, Hydrogen and nitrogen. Minerals and trace-elements that occur at very small quantities in the body but are nonetheless important for many biological processes are also essential to health. Calcium, Magnesium, Phosphorous, potassium and sodium are five basic minerals in the body. Important trace elements are Chromium, Copper, Iodine, Iron, Manganese and Zinc. Other trace elements found in the body are Manganese, Silicon, Fluorine, Copper, Aluminum, Nickel, Arsenic, Bromile, Lithium & Cobalt. The relation between these elements with respect to their comparative quantity, magnitude, or degree are Oxygen-62%, Carbon-21%, Hydrogen-9%, Nitrogen-3%, Calcium 2%, Phosphorous-1%, Pottassium-0.35%, Sulphur-0.25%, Chlorine-0.22%, Sodium-0.15%, Magnesium-0.05%, Iron-0.004%, and Chromium, Iodine, Manganese, Silicon, Fluorine, Copper, Zinc, Aluminum, Nickel, Arsenic, Bromile, Lithium & Cobalt etc in very minute quantity as salts and compounds.
Oxygen and water with all these essential nutrients are vitally important must be present in adequate diets and they work together to maintain health. Oxygen is contained in all the foods the more of it is present in fruits and vegetables. The same foods consist of more hydrogen also because these foods contain lot of liquid in it. Pulses, serials, tubers serves carbon and nuts and beans serves nitrogen and raw vegetables and fruits serve calcium, Phosphorous and other trace elements. It is clear from the above scientific analysis that each day food should be of 50+% of fruits vegetables, and 40+% of pulses, serials tubers. The other way of classifying a day-meal is 1/3 of fruits, 1/3 of vegetables and 1/3 of pulses serials and tubers.
The above essential nutrients except oxygen and water are classified into five main groups, namely proteins, carbohydrates, fats, minerals and vitamins. Protein is essential for growth, maintenance and regeneration of the body. Carbohydrate provides heat and energy to the body. Fat also provide heat energy and provides insulation, lubrication beauty and they are the building blocks of hormones. Vitamins are essential for proper digestion absorption of protein, carbohydrate and fats like spark in the fuel. Mineral salts are the purifiers of food. According to age, profession, season and geographical region there would be slight variation in the proportion of these different items in the food to balance diet. At an average a well balanced primary diet serves sufficient natural protein, carbohydrate, fats 15%, 60%, 25% respectively consists of vitamins, minerals and roughage when combined well in proportion.
The acid-alkaline balance plays a vital role in this balanced body constitution. All foods, after digestion and absorption leave either an acid or alkaline ash in the body depending on their mineral composition. The normal body chemistry is approximately 20 per cent acid and 80 per cent alkaline. This acid-alkaline balance 20: 80 ratio has to be maintained taking one portion of our diet acid producing and four times of that portion alkaline producing. Meat, fish, eggs, refined, devitaminized, demineralized food, spices, condiments and stimulants and intoxicants are acid producing thus not a balanced food. All the toxic substances in the body are acids in character and to counteract the accumulation of acids the body naturally exerts its utmost hence taking more alkali-food can minimize over exertion of body.
Proper harmonious or agreeable combination of different foods also plays a vital role in balancing the diet for smooth digestion and after meal comfort. If we do not know that the nature of substances may be opposed to each other, and consumes them altogether indiscriminately cause all sorts of digestive discomfort. Therefore, however balanced our diet is it is very much important to carefully observe the combination of compatible foods to get maximum nutrients and digestive comfort.
Effectuation of vegetarianism there by terminating auto intoxication is also a way balancing life with balancing diet. The flesh of animals increases the burden of the organs of elimination and overloads the system with animal waste matter and poisons. Vegetarianism is a system based on scientific principles proved adequate for the best nutrition free from the poisons and bacteria of animal carcass. All vegetarian foods are lively foods the direct manifestation five great elements which forms the very basic constituents of the body. You will get all the elements needed for your body in the right proportion when you eat fresh natural foods. Nature has an inbuilt mechanism to equilibrate natural food when even consumed in excess.
Hence a well balanced natural diet is digested quite easily not exciting but strengthen the body, check weakening of body, maintain the normal temperature of the body and enhance elimination of bodily wastes thereby improves intellect memory belongingness beauty and life span. A balanced diet can be well designed only after detailed study of natural nutritional principles, different food groups and also the digestive processes.
The following natural nutritional principles apply and should be adhered strictly to receive the maximum advantage out of a balanced diet:
Do not to stuff the belly with food in full, fill half with food, 1/4th can be digestive juices and liquids and 1/4th to keep empty. The rhythmic contractions and expansions of the stomach are responsible for efficient mixing of digestive juices and enzymes with the food. The stomach should have necessary space to sort different types of food ingested and digest them properly. If there is not sufficient space stomach would be forced to push the undigested things to small intestine which cannot be absorbed and assimilated properly.
Have food only when feels hunger. The burning hitching uncomfortable sensation inside the stomach is not hunger. Hunger is a sign of health, a highly comfortable state of emptiness of the stomach. This is the sign of body’s demand for food. When one feels hungry the stomach would be like an emptied balloon. That is a super disposition sign of enthusiasm.
Do not eat or drink anything that is too hot or cold. The enzymes in the mouth and stomach act best in body temperature.
Do not have food while in tension. When restless or tensed the digestive juices will not secrete properly. Ensure that we should be able to rest after food. It is compulsory to rest for a while after meals. Don’t do hard work after food. Digestion and work both needs energy. If we do both food will remain half digested.
We should not go to sleep at night just after meals. Digestion slows down during sleep. Body loses its precious rest as intestine is working on digesting the food. Digestion is not just a physical or chemical process but a psychological one. Hence digestion during sleep will always incomplete.
Do not have cold water along with food. Avoid drinking water while having food. Water absorbed in ten minutes from the stomach and in the process it will dilute the digestive juices and decrease the digestive heat; it also increases the pressure inside stomach and pushes the food to small intestine before finishing digestion.
Stop drinking water half an hour before and have water only after two to three hours of food. Add more raw vegetable salads along with food which can reduce the need for water and also supply necessary vitamins and minerals. Chewing the food properly also helps to reduce the requirement for water.
Digestion starts from the mouth. The moment we see or think about food salivary gland starts producing saliva. Chew more and more enjoying the taste of it will allow the food to properly mix with the saliva breaking starch in to sugars thus prepare it ready for digestive processes inside the stomach. A well chewed food is easily digested.
If we follow the natural laws prescribed above, there is no need to be overzealous about controlling our diet, no need to count calories, no need to worry about vitamins and no need to worry about cholesterol and no need to worry about worries.