Tao of Healthy Eating
Whenever the children were sick our forefathers used to ask “what have they eaten?” for it is rightly said, the stomach is the cause of all our problems. Of course in reality, the stomach is actually the first victim. The real cause is the myriad of temptations that are out there urging us to consume vast amounts of good tasting but highly unhealthy food and, our lack of self control. We see something, we want it. We smell something that might taste good, we want it. Healthy and hunger are not part of the equation.
For thousands of years, the doctors in Asia especially countries of India, China and Indonesia, used to treat diseases only by altering the food habits of their patients. Medicines were resorted to only if the patient could not take care of themselves.
To understand the Tao (Principles) of modern healthy eating, we should ask first ask a question:
How does what we eat dictate what we are?
What we breathe, eat and drink is absorbed by our body. In other words, Tao or principles of healthy eating states that our body is an alternate state of all the food we have consumed along with the air and water. Just as the right combination of gas, air and maintenance is converted into motion by your car, so also, food air, water and physical activity is converted into blood, tissues and bones by our body. The quality of each ingredient or absence thereof, changes the quality of the final product. As such, the Tao of modern healthy eating is no different from the Tao of healthy eating as existed thousands of years ago which states that ‘we are what we eat’.
The wisdom of ancient Tao of healthy eating further states that food; activity and rest are three sides of the health pyramid. All are required in equal quantities. Excess of one over the other causes an imbalance leading to low quality product i.e. imbalanced body. Similarly, absence of even one of the ingredients can and will ultimately lead to fatal consequences. We all know the effect of lack of sleep even for one night – unless artificially propped up by caffeine and pills we can barely function the next day.
Ancient science of Tao of healthy eating explains that our body is a like a trust fund or a gift received from heaven via our parents. If we take good care of this trust or gift, we should be able to use it to achieve many things for at least 100 years. How well we took care of our body during our younger days will determine how well we live as we get old. If we took good care of our bodies by practicing a healthy lifestyle, we can live on the ‘interest’ (good health) as we get old. If we abused our bodies through junk food and negligence, we end up eating the capital (burning up the body) and go bankrupt quickly (die quickly in pain).
Summary:
The original Tao of healthy eating written thousands of years ago by the Chinese is if anything, even more relevant in modern day society. It is high time we applied the wisdom of ancients to save our body from degradation and influences of modern lifestyle.