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[Sadhguru] Today in India, not more than twenty percent of the population
is actually eating properly, even the reasonably well-to-do.
For example, in Madras city, a vegetarian family, well-to-do means,
they just eat sambar, rice. They are not eating properly, vegetarian meals.
They are not eating sufficient vegetables, sufficient fruits, sufficient,
you know, sprouts and nuts and all this.
They are just eating sambar, idli, dosa, idli, dosa, idli, dosa, isn’t it?
Many homes they are just eating idli, dosa - morning, night, morning, night, isn’t it?
Whatever they eat, it’s all rice, nothing but rice.
With that kind of diet, yes, they won’t last very long.
But if you eat proper vegetarian meals, then you will see your life gets greatly enhanced.
You do one thing:
You go on a proper balanced vegetarian diet with at least forty to fifty percent of it live food, uncooked condition –
you will see you will be so much brighter, livelier, all your diseases will go away.
Do you know people go to naturopathy clinics and all their disease goes away? Hmm?
Just because they changed the food pattern. That’s a proven fact, isn’t it?
Any number of people have dropped their ailments just by changing their food habits.
Now, you have diabetes, blood pressure, even cardiac ailments.
Many people for whom, you know, bypass surgery dates have been fixed,
they come to the ashram, stay for six weeks, they never go through the surgery.
They clear up their blocks themselves. One part of it is diet.
There are other kriyas and other things which we do, but one important part of it is diet also.
How you eat is important, you know.
Once you are human, you must do everything consciously.
Eating also should happen consciously.
It is not the question of - is this right, is this wrong?
What is most suitable for the system, that’s what you should eat.
Do you know some of the top level athletes have shifted to vegetarian diet these days?
Most of the martial arts people are all hundred percent vegetarians. Are you aware?
Their,… their physical prowess is quite incredible, you know.
And most of the martial arts people are vegetarians. Bruce Lee was a vegetarian.
Do you know that? Yes.
Because the flexibility of the muscle will be lost with too much non-vegetarian food.
Non-vegetarian food is mainly consumed because you need protein.
Vegetarian diet - if it’s cooked vegetarian means, generally the protein level is low.
That’s one big mistake that’s happening in India is –
too much cooked vegetarian food, protein levels are low.
But you need only - three percent of your body is actually protein.
Almost every vegetable, every fruit, if it’s eaten in its raw condition
has the necessary protein that your body wants. But when you cook it, it’s not enough.
With non-vegetarian food, the protein content is too high.
If you consume too much of protein, it causes cancer.
Western countries have far more, larger incidents of cancer than in the eastern countries.
One main reason is excessive protein through non-vegetarian food.
So, somebody is doing better not just because of their non-vegetarian food.
A overall sense of wellbeing has been created in the society, you know.
The general living conditions have enhanced.
How many of our Indian children have even enough space to play? Tell me.
They are living in one room, two room apartments, isn’t it?
So, how can this child grow up well and live for a long time? It won’t happen.
See, for example, if you go… leave the major, major cities in America.
If you go to any medium-sized towns or villages, any simple house,
like let us say a middle class house - I am not even talking about upper middle class –
lower middle class house means minimum two to three acres of land will be there for each house.
Every house has a slide, has a swing, has a basketball court.
So, children are like, you know, they can run, they can climb, they can jump and they can do things
which are not there today. It’s completely taken away, isn’t it here?
And when people,… when children play and be that active, they naturally eat well, grow well,
their whole system is in a better condition.
So, it’s not just the food.
There are many, many conditions which are not there here
and the attitude also.
In India, most parents are not physically active, isn’t it?
It’s a...… In Tamil Nadu, I think it’s quite normal for people to believe
that the human shape is like this... [gestures] you know.
Human shape is not like this. Human shape is like this, [gestures] isn’t it? It’s quite normal.
More than fifty, sixty percent of the people are in different shape than what human being should be, isn’t it.
So, when you are in that kind of condition, your physical activity levels will be very low.
So, naturally the body will not last long enough.
How many men and women in India swim or play or run
or do anything or climb a mountain or cycle?
Nothing, isn’t it? It’s not there. Isn’t it so?
Very few people are playing a game or going swimming or walking or trekking –
very, very few people.