Vegetarianism- The Mind and its Health
O.P. Kapoor
. Diet is always connected with health. But then, health is a combination of physical and mental health. It is a fact that without having a healthy soul or mind, there is no sense in having a healthy physical body (Mens sana corpora sana).
It is our experience in clinical practice, that mental illnesses in our country are on the increase, as in all other parts of the world. In fact even people having a physical illness like an enlarged heart or cirrhosis of the liver or arthritis are being harassed more by associated complaints related to their abnormal mental health. Also straight forward psychiatric illnesses are increasing day by day.
The public is being educated on the role of different diets and foods for maintaining health. Little does the public realise that this education and knowledge holds true only for physical health. The people should know that the recent knowledge about our body requirements of proteins, vitamins etc. has enlightened us to the fact that these requirements are much less than we ever thought of.
It is so common to see people who are consuming a very rich diet supplemented by heavy doses of vitamins (which are all excreted in the urine or stools), are still very unhealthy and ill (because of poor mental health). As against this, even footpath dwellers enjoy good physical health (with the so-called poor food which they can obtain). They can walk and run faster than the affluent class. Surprisingly vitamin deficiencies are very rare in these people(because in adults the vitamin requirements are very little). Not only that, they are mentally very healthy. Thus their total health is better than the rich people. Also, they do not suffer from many chronic diseases which are related to an unhealthy mind brought about by the stresses of life.
There are so many diseases related to stress. To quote a few, stomach ulcers, coronary heart disease, high blood pressure, irritable colon...