Jain Spirit 2005 09 No23

Author(s): Jain Spirit UK
Publisher: UK Young Jains

Page 45

enjoy. The most effective place to start though, is also the area on which most individuals are missing out the beautiful world of green-leafy vegetables. The alkalising and energising properties of raw, green-leafy vegetables such as kale collards, romaine lettuce, water cress, spinach and chard can do magnificent wonders for any diet. Whether juiced or eaten in a salad, daily intake of greenleafy vegetables is known to rebalance pH levels, clear the lymphatic system, build hydrochloric acid levels in the stomach (digestive fire and provide an abundance of minerals and nutrients that combat habits of overeating.
processing were simply tools humans minerals, enzymes and vitamins because used to survive challenging situations. it has not been denatured by heat. Much in the same way that a hammer Although cooking is a very useful tool, is a tool, cooking was a tool used to get its heavy incorporation into our modern through droughts, preserve food for long diet has caused a backlash of disease travel, concentrate calories and prevent for our bodies. One hundred years the ingestion of bacteria during rainy ago, however, the average amount of seasons. At present, cooking is primarily calories an individual consumed was used as a tool to enhance taste and significantly lower. This allowed the create convenience. As the percentage body to have ample time to process the of cooked and processed foods has food and detoxify faster even though rapidly increased, the healing power of the majority of individuals were cooking the vegetarian diet has been dramatically their food. There were also fewer affected. No longer are vegetarians hormones, pesticides and processed oils experiencing levels of health they once being used which caused less adverse enjoyed. Heart disease, diabetes,
reactions and allergies. Individuals, who high blood pressure, obesity and other survived primarily on a diet of all cooked ailments are starting to become just as foods, including many monks, were able common among vegetarians as among to retain excellent health because the non-vegetarians, and in some cases, amount of food they were consuming more common.
was so small. By practising caloric
restriction, they effectively kept their By conservative estimates, 70% of body light and clean. disease is diet-related. Adding lifestyle factors such as exposure to pollutants The return to a diet abundant in rawand variations in exercise, estimates plant food not only has health benefits run as high as 95%. Daily ailments that but environmental and spiritual ones as society has learned to accept, such as well. Karma is the supreme law of the backaches, headaches, colds, cough universe and the energy an individual and fatigue are directly correlated to puts out always returns. The waste our diet and the incorporation, or lack, produced by packing, the deforestation
produced by consuming "NO LONGER ARE dairy, the pollution
produced by processing VEGETARIANS
plants, the pesticides EXPERIENCING from high-tech farming
are all slowly returning LEVELS OF HEALTH home. There was once
a time when humanity THEY ONCE
used to throw things ENJOYED."
away' and now away has gone away. Spiritually, over-consumption:
food cravings and of raw-plant food. Even nutritionists, indulgence move us away from simplicity doctors and scientists are starting to (aparigraha) and restraint (saiyam). take note. Every week modern science Foods that radiate low vibrating energy verifies something new about the healing also take their toll on mental states as properties of raw fruits, vegetables, nuts well. They can cause individuals to be and seeds. Arugula for its antioxidant more aggressive, inconsiderate, upset properties, cucumber to cleanse the and depressed kidney, hemp seeds for omega 3, green vegetable juice for ulcers; the list goes When most individuals think about on and on. It is far from coincidence that incorporating raw-plant food into their the most healing food on the planet is diet, even vegetarians, they have a hard raw-plant food.
time seeing how raw-foods could be
sustaining enough for an entire meal. To understand why raw-plant food is They can't imagine eating anything so powerful, one must understand what other than carrots, broccoli and celery happens to food when it is cooked. with dip. So what does one eat? The When food is exposed to temperatures beauty about raw-plant food is that above 115° F, the minerals, enzymes incorporating it into your current diet can and vitamins are slowly denatured, be as simple or as complex as you would proteins begin to coagulate and heated like it to be. You can pick up an apple, fats turn carcinogenic. Raw-plant food, banana or melon or, for heartier dishes compared to processed and cooked there are outstanding books on recipes
counterparts, is richer in absorbable that any person, vegetarian or not, would Jain Education International
Culturally, Jains have had some challenges with incorporating raw-plant food into their diet. Traditionally, Jains have abstained from eating green-leafy vegetables during the monsoon season, because of the proliferation of insect life on plants. During this time one can feel free to increase intake of other raw-plant food to give the body an opportunity to rest through fasting. Another challenge has been the destruction of bacteria. Jains believe that cooking food will allow the bacteria to be destroyed in the cooking process and prevent their atma from conducting additional himsa. While there is nothing wrong with this approach, one may also consider that over-consumption of cooked and processed foods causes acidic environments in the body that attract and encourage bacteria to proliferate. Eating raw-plant food will prevent the attraction of bacteria by creating an oxygen rich environment of nutrients and minerals.
"You are what you eat" may sound a bit cliché; however, the energy we take in can't help but become a part of the energy we represent. We no longer live in the age of wish-giving trees (kalpavrikshas). However, the legacy of abundance that these trees left behind is still very present. Enjoy the abundance with every bite you take.
Dhrumil Purohit is founding principle of Dharmaboost Inc., editor of the raw-food weblog, welke traw.com, and has been eating a diet of 100% raw-organic, fruits murs, vegetables and seeds for four and a half years
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