You are what you eat

 We often hear this saying, but tend to forget the significance of these words in our waking life.

Food is a vital component of our life, and an essential component for our survival. In our scriptures the importance of food and its vitality is clearly described along with the function it performs. 

What we eat has a direct impact on our physical, mental and spiritual well-being. Whether we know this or not but every particle of food we consume affects us in a variety of ways. 

So, the understanding of food is equally important as its consumption. 

Today, our dietary practices are more associated with taste, appetite, and symbol of wealth. Surely, the food is meant for eating, but not mere eating.

Many of us entitle ourselves with the name “foodie” or “food freaks”, but as Sadhguru pointed in his book Food Body, these are the result of ignorance. Sadhguru emphasized on being conscious of what you eat and how you eat. 

We are often told to avoid junk food. As the name suggests, “junk” with no or low nutritional value. However, we eat such kinds of food only for its taste, or just to upload fancy pictures on social media. Moreover, we know nothing about what we actually are eating.

Our unconscious eating is also a deciding factor for several health problems. Eating too much oily and junk food, physical inactivity, etc. causes obesity and several health issues. 

But how does food affect us?

Every component of this universe carries within itself a certain property that fulfils a certain purpose. All living things, such as plants, animals, insects, human beings, etc. contain innate qualities.

The food that we eat, most of the components of it are plant-based. Plants are living organisms and they provide life to us in numerous ways. Plant-based food is considered living food and has “good” and “positive” properties. 

On the other hand, animal-based or animal-derived food is considered dead food. It is lifeless food. Meat is derived from the dead body or the corpse of a deceased living being. 

As per Hindu scriptures, satvik food is the best food one can consume. Satvik food includes plant-based food excluding onion and garlic due to their certain intrinsic properties. Satvik food could also be termed as vegetarian food or diet.

Why did the ancient text emphasise a vegetarian diet?

Like said before, everything you eat affects your physical, mental and spiritual well-being. The food we eat becomes part of our body and emits energy and health for better functioning. If we eat clean, nutritious food with good and positive qualities, these properties will reflect from our being. 

To understand this, let’s take up a simple example:

There are two glasses full of water. One is clean and transparent, and the other one is a bit translucent and contains mud particles. Obviously, one will be tempted to drink water which is clean and transparent because we know that clean water is what we need, whereas unclean, muddy water will affect our body adversely.

Everything that is around us carries positive or negative vibrations. When it comes to food, the aspect of vibration becomes more crucial. Knowing the food you eat is essential for our body to function properly. 

Therefore, being aware of your food and its vibration is necessary to lead a healthy and good life.