As you eat so is your mind

Lesson Six

As you eat so is your Mind.

As George Bernard Shaw stated and numerous writers and nutritionists have agreed,

You are what you eat.

It is so true and so important in meditation. We all know that food is the fuel that gives our bodies the energy it needs to perform its daily tasks. But few of us pay attention to the fact that food also affects how our brains work.

There is little point in putting the right fuel into your minds through meditating if you are pouring the wrong type of fuel into your body.

On the one hand you are sitting in meditation or walking the streets saying to yourself I am a Soul and making an effort to revert to your natural state of peace and harmony and on the other hand you start stuffing food into your mouth that is destined to change your mood and energy levels and make you as unhealthy as possible.

There is an old Indian saying:

Jaisa khaow anna, vaisa bane manna

Jaisa anna, taisa manna

the translation is:

As you eat, so is your mind;

As is the food, so is the mind

We are not talking about restricting your eating habits by putting you on a diet. We are talking about eating, an abundance of foods that help your brain to be more effective and therefore increase your power to meditate.

It has been proven time and time again that good food:

increases your power of concentration
enables you to maintain a more balanced mood
reduces your nervous tension
increases your energy
keeps your body healthy
improves your memory

As well as increasing your ability to meditate, good food also makes you look and feel so much better.

To keep your brain healthy and productive you need to:

· have a balanced glucose intake.

Glucose is important because it provides fuel to the brain, is nourishing, soothing and satisfying. But excessive glucose can be dangerous because it upsets the balance and can make it difficult to concentrate, make you feel irritable and lethargic.

· have sufficient essential fatty acids in your system.

Essential fatty acids or EFA, s as some books refer to them, are also known as the ‘good fats’ because they give you more energy and ensure oxygen is transferred around your body and brain.

· have sufficient protein rich foods in your diet

Proteins make neurotransmitters which are vital in the thinking process and therefore extremely important in maintaining meditation. Again the secret is balance because the body converts excess protein into glucose and toxins.

· eat food that is rich in vitamins and minerals

Good vitamins and minerals enable your brain to grow and function.

· drink plenty of water

Your brain needs to be fully hydrated in order to get the best out of it.

As the earth is made up of two thirds water, so is your body. Therefore to get the best out of yourself, doctors recommend that you need to drink at least two litres of water a day.

· eat little and often

To stop the body from depriving the brain of some of its oxygen. The brain uses about 20% of all the oxygen pumping around your body.

There are many sites and books which have information on the importance of food for your brain. We have found:

Dr. Gillian Mckeith's book; You are What you Eat

and www.thethinkingbusiness.co.uk most useful

The Past is Past