Men today are behaving in a manner worse than that of wild animals in the forest. They have become cruel, pitiless and hard-hearted. There is no sympathy or understanding between man and man. The main reason for this condition is the kind of food that is consumed. Students! Be careful about the food you eat. See that it is conducive to your health and happiness. The ancient sages used to eat only once a day. They declared that the man who eats only once is a Yogi (God-centred person), the one who eats twice a day is a Bhogi (enjoyer) and the one that eats thrice a day is a Rogi (a sick man). Today people go on consuming food at all times, not to mention drinks and snacks in between. With the result that indigestion sets in. Young people should be satisfied with 2000 calories of food per day. This is enough to sustain them. Anything in excess will cause indigestion and sleeplessness. Loss of sleep gives rise to many ailments. Don’t worry about sleep. If you go to bed without any worry, you will get sound sleep. (SSS Vol.23, pp. 40-41)
It is only man that is endowed with the capacity to discover his Divinity. In this context food habits play an important role. Out of 84,00,000 species of living beings on earth, 83,99,999 species of creatures like insects, birds, animals and beasts etc live on what is provided by God in Nature and hence they do not generally suffer from any disease. Man is the sole exception in this regard. By becoming a slave to his palate, he relishes only cooked and spicy food of various kinds, without realising to what extent such foods are curtailing his own longevity.
Man needs food, which supplies him energy equivalent to about one calorie for minute. Young people should be satisfied with 2000 calories of food per day; for healthy life, man needs only 1500 calories per day. But now-a-days the food intake has increased upto 5000 calories. As a result, people suffer from indigestion and sleeplessness. Loss of sleep gives rise to many ailments. Don’t worry about sleep. If you go to bed without worry, you will get sound sleep automatically. We suffer from ill-health due to psychological reasons also. (ICS , pp. 34-35)
It is best to preserve one’s health by good thoughts and good deeds. It is best to be vigilant about food habits. Coconut kernel, coconut water, sprouting pulses, uncooked or half-cooked vegetables, and greens are good for health. (LA, p. 169)