Give up junk food and embrace Ayurveda

Recently the University Grants Commission has taken a resolution to ban junk food in the university campus. The food carts selling Chinese and other junk food on the university campus will be thrown out. This decision taken by the administration in view of health of students is indeed praiseworthy. However, this will not eliminate junk food from the life of students. Hence the administration should ensure that this is implemented stringently and that junk food carts are not set up anywhere in the country.

Junk food is harmful to health. As proven by different research it weakens the intellect, accumulates unnecessary gas and fat in the body and causes lethargy. Today not just the youth but even school children are falling prey to it. The habit of eating sattvik and nutritive food is dwindling slowly and that of junk food is growing. If junk food has to be stopped then much will not be achieved by banning this at the university as students can consume these foods at other venues. Hence, they need to be banned all over the country.

The new generation is enticed by junk food which decreases mental capacity along with physical strength. Despite this knowledge as the ‘philosophy of snacking’ has influenced so deeply till serious diseases occur in the body snacking is ignored. The perspective is that life is meant for enjoyment. Today the concept that food is Brahman (God Principle) is unknown. Ayurveda says that food is necessary to nurture the body food. The Hindu Dharma teaches the mind that eating food is like a yajna karma. It also teaches that we have to take care of the physical body to be able to perform spiritual practice. But today this lofty teaching seems to have been forgotten. It would not be wrong to say that junk food was created by man to fulfil his desire for food. Despite affluence the desire to eat unhealthy food is nothing but an indicator of unhealthy mind.

The best solution to this is to avoid junk food and accept Ayurveda. Ayurveda insists on eating sattvik food not only for a supple body but for good nurture of the mind and intellect. It is said that behaviour is in accordance with what we eat. If you want a healthy mind, intellect and body then you must eat good food. So for that food to be nutritious the soil should be fertile. The use of chemical fertilisers and insecticides should be discouraged  to get out of this trap of junk food. For that today’s politicians should express desire to do it. Only then will a healthy and truly mature generation be created.

– Mrs. Prajakta Pujar, Pune

Reference : Dainik Sanatan Prabhat