Books on Happiness / the happiness revolution - 2 students

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Oils in our diet give us that soothing, smooth creamy taste that we love. Unspoiled, healthy oils that are rich in nutrients replace the trans-fats of yesterday. Trans-fats -- found in margarines, snack foods and commercial frying oils -- increase the risk for cancer and heart disease. Ghee, olive oil and coconut oils provide optimal nutrition as cooking oils. Flaxseed oil, borage oil or evening primrose oil are consumed as dietary supplements and provide the essential fatty acids to enhance immune functions and lower the risk of chronic inflammatory diseases. All oils must be consumed in moderation, though, as even the finest oil can become problematic to your health with over-consumption.

The best time to drink your beverages is after your meal is partially digested (approximately 30 minutes after your last bite of food). Clean water, fresh juices (both fruit and vegetable) and clear teas are favorites in the Happiness Diet. Good quality milk and yogurt beverages are also important.

GLOBAL MENU PLANNING

Protein is a major fuel source for your body. It can be provided from animal sources that are expensive and, sadly, environmentally damaging. Or it can be obtained in the form of plant-based proteins that are completely friendly to the environment. In the past, scientists in America were concerned about whether vegetarians could get enough protein without eating meat. This notion has been dismissed. According to the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA), “protein needs can easily be met by eating a variety of plant-based foods.”6 It is also not necessary to combine di erent protein sources in the same meal. As long as your diet includes tofu, beans, tempeh, nuts or nut butters, plant-based protein can easily meet your protein requirements. The health of your body and mind favor plant-based proteins.

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There are also global economic and environmental benefits to a plant-based diet. Sustaining the resources of the planet is an investment in your life and in mine. Your dietary choices can help feed others and preserve the health of the planet. Americans account for only 4 percent of the world population, but consume 23 percent of the world’s beef.7 This trend comes at a price. Using meat as a major source of food is neither an e cient nor a sustainable way to support our ever-growing global population. Processing meat uses large amounts of water, oil and gas, land and grains. These resources are conserved when diets are plant-based instead of animal-based.

Today, global warming is a reality. The burning of large amounts of oil in the production of meat contributes to this problem. The impact of the cattle industry on our tropical rainforests is even more significant. At a time when we need our rainforests to help reverse

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global warming, ranchers are cutting the rainforests down for the production of beef. More than half of the deforestation in the Amazon rainforest from 2000 to 2005 was for the purpose of livestock grazing.8 Driving a typical American car for one day releases about 3 kilograms of gases that cause global warming. Compare this amount of gases with the 75 kilograms of gases released by deforesting and burning the Costa Rican rainforest to produce the beef needed for a single hamburger.9 Adopting a vegetarian lifestyle is a powerful way to help end world hunger and preserve precious lands and water resources. By consuming a fresh and nutritious plant-based diet, you can help to secure a healthier, sustainable environment for this and future generations.

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SUMMARY

As you study foods in this chapter, keep in mind these three key points:

A.Foods have a powerful impact on your moods and emotions. If you keep eating the same way, you will keep feeling the same way.

B.Foods determine your health status, longevity and the appearance of your body. Most diseases and some deaths can be attributed directly or indirectly to the patient’s diet. Likewise, longevity and happiness can be attributed to the diet.

C.Foods can feed you or feed many. Today we live in a global community and our harvest belongs to everyone. Your diet can support the feeding of millions or the feeding of the fortunate few. You can learn to eat simply so that others can simply eat.

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THE GODDESS CALLED HAPPINESS

The following story will give you a glimpse of possibilities that food can o er you and your loved ones. As in many great stories, it begins with a quest to find a beautiful goddess – a goddess of such purity and power that the legends have kept her secretly hidden where few would look. This goddess is called Happiness and she resides in the heart of every person. It is both a mystical secret and a profound truth — only her favorite foods and beverages will lure her out from her hiding place. Those who know this secret become established in unwavering joy.

This fully-illuminated woman is said to be the most pure and beautiful creature in all creation. She is the source of nourishment, protection and love that embraces and uplifts every seeker. Altering your diet to the foods that she enjoys will allow you to easily and consistently feel her kind, compassionate presence. If there would ever be a reason for anyone to change his or her diet, it would be in the quest of this goddess -- Happiness.

FOODS FIT FOR A GODDESS

This goddess called Happiness is a thirsty creature who loves fresh, clean water. You must quench her thirst at least five times a day, providing an o ering of at least 8-10 ounces of water each time. In your transition to the Happiness Diet, begin by increasing your intake of fresh, clean water and fresh fruit juices. Herbal teas, juice without added sugar and water replace co ee, soda, and alcohol.

Joy and beauty are many times considered to be one and the same, and our goddess loves beautiful foods. Every day she desires foods containing the colors of the rainbow. Such meals may include green veggies, red veggies, yellow and orange fruits, golden ghee, earthencolored beans, fresh roasted grains, milk, and honey.

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Joy and enthusiasm are also commonly commingled. Therefore, your goddess enjoys foods that are full of freshness — the botanical equivalent of enthusiasm. In yoga, these are called high-prana (highenergy) foods. There is a saying about nutrition, “Only eat foods that will spoil or rot, and eat them before they do.” If you are going to get Happiness to come out of hiding, you must o er her the freshest foods.

By no means am I suggesting a raw-foods diet; cooking your food is a useful and encouraged form of pre-digestion. An overabundance of raw foods in your diet can create a tremendous drain on your vitality in both your mind and body. Ayurvedic texts point out the importance of maintaining the fire of enthusiasm at both the metabolic and psychological levels. Mental brilliance radiates from the vital warmth of the brain. Consuming cold food or beverages can adversely shift the balance of heat from the brain to the digestive tract. When cold foods become an excessive habit in the diet, mental concentration and alertness may eventually be diminished. In the pursuit of Happiness, it is best to limit your consumption of cold foods.

In Ayurveda, foods that are easy to digest are commonly referred to as highly flammable. The radiant goddess appears in the form of the sparkle in the eyes of young lovers, the spontaneous giggles of young children, and the brilliant insights of great humanitarians. Brilliance, radiance and intensity are all metaphors for fire. To keep the glow of Happiness alive in your heart, there is no use for foods that are known to be di cult to digest. The easiest foods to digest are also the foods most recognized for promoting health and happiness. They include cooked complex carbohydrates (vegetables and whole grains), yogurt, bananas, sweet fruit (mango, papaya, peaches, deep-colored berries), cooked greens and sprouts (lentil, alfalfa, bean, radish sprouts). The most di cult foods to digest include red meat, oily fried foods, old foods (leftovers), aged cheeses (the oldest cheeses

Only eat foods that will spoil or rot, and eat them before they do.

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being the least favorable) and highly processed foods with chemical preservatives. Keep your diet simple and fresh.

This goddess Happiness does not want to be overfed. Therefore, eat in reasonable quantities. End your meal feeling content rather than overly full and bloated. Start with meal portions that can be held in the palms of your hands. Weeks later these portions may shrink down.

Chew your food so thoroughly that swallowing is almost unnecessary. This will drastically decrease the amount of stress on your digestive system and greatly improve the

absorption of nutrients from your meal. Thoroughly-chewed food will slide down to your stomach without a tremendous e ort on your part.

When it comes to healthy eating, timing is everything. The goddess Happiness wants to be fed at regular

intervals. Whether your lifestyle supports four meals a day or one meal a day, do your best to eat those meals at the same time every day. Grown adults working daylight hours can fast for 12 hours every day, preferably between 7 p.m. and 7 a.m. After the evening meal, consume only clear liquids (water, juice and herbal tea) until morning. Those who wake frequently throughout the night can have boiled milk with sugar at bedtime in order to ensure a sound and restful sleep.

I have a secret for you — the goddess Happiness loves truly homemade foods. While her joy is unbounded and her love is unconditional, she is delighted by foods that you prepare yourself. Foods prepared by strangers and by machines lack the warmth and caring that only you can provide. Fresh foods easily transmit your love and compassion into the food.

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The most intimate experience you can have with nature is to take a small part of it, consume it and pass it through the central core of your body. This creates a very personal bond between yourself and nature. By preparing your own food or having a loved one prepare it, you will gain more benefit from the food. Homemade food may be the biggest change of all for you. To attain and maintain happiness, have someone who loves you very much — either you or someone near and dear to you – cook and prepare your food. Gradually increase your attendance at your own dinner table. Dining in the comfort of your home will benefit you and your loved ones in countless ways. To satisfy this goddess that lies in your heart, eat simply, safely and practically. Remember, delicious, ambrosial, delectable, luscious, scrumptious food is good for everyone and pleasing to the goddess within you -- Happiness.

A recent study in the Journal of the American Dietetics Association reports that children eat nearly twice as many calories at restaurants as they do during a meal at home.10

There is no faster way to change your mood than changing what you eat and drink.

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FOODS AND MOODS

A “happy meal” really does exist – but it is not what you think. There is no faster way to change your mood than by changing what you eat and drink. If you really want to be happy, then you cannot continue to consume foods and beverages that do not promote the very happiness you are seeking. The Happiness Diet is easy, delicious, fresh and nourishing. You will experience a noticeable di erence the moment you begin to eat with happiness as the goal. This wonderful transformation to healthy meals and snacks may be the missing component in your quest for happiness.

In my medical practice, these “happiness foods” have created such a dramatic improvement in the lives of my patients that we have given it a medical term. We call it

bio-foodback. My patients love this term because it reminds them that their mood throughout the day is simply a biofeedback indicator resulting from the food that they consume.

In every class I teach on self-trans-

formation, I write on the chalkboard, “Becoming happy and healthy is not di cult, it is just di erent.” If you want to be really happy, things are going to be a little di erent in every aspect. You are going to learn how to eat di erently, sleep di erently, breathe di erently and think di erently about yourself and your life. We start with food because everybody loves good food and it has a huge impact on your well-being. Later in the book, I will share with you a wide variety of methods for sleeping, breathing, meditating and contemplating – all as a means to immediately improving your life. But first, let’s eat.

Food can be the cause or the cure of many illnesses. When food selection is restricted to convenience and flavor, our meals can easily

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become the sustainers of agitation and illness. This relationship between our food and our moods is now a well-established fact.

You can shape your mental states. All it takes is a little observation to notice that what you eat impacts your attitudes and emotions. Take the time to observe how your diet can potentially agitate you, make you tired and groggy, or make you calm, satisfied and mentally clear. For example, after a large serving of steak and potatoes you may feel drowsy, whereas after consuming a spicy pepper you may feel alert to the point of restlessness and irritation. If your children cannot stay calm and focused, take notice of what they are eating.

Be thoughtful and practical when selecting foods conducive to enhancing your brilliance and clarity. Treat your diet as a grand experiment and your body as the laboratory. Every time you eat something, observe the state of your body, breath and mind. The impact of food is first observed in the breathing. Foods that make your breathing long and smooth will make your mind calm and clear. Foods that make your breathing short and jerky will agitate you. Foods that make your breathing heavy and shallow produce dullness and fatigue. Soon you will feel the impact of your food on your state of mind and eventually on the state of your body.

Once you have observed all of this, ask yourself what you have learned about each particular food or meal. Was it helpful or unhelpful? If you su er indigestion by eating a whole pizza and a quart of ice cream, don’t take a digestive aid and pretend that nothing ever happened. If you disturb the laboratory of your body by consuming particular foods, remember the experience and learn from it. The next time you want a food that you know will cause problems for you, don’t tell yourself that you shouldn’t eat it because it is bad. Instead, ask yourself whether you want to re-live the uncomfortable consequences that you previously experienced. This way you are not placing painful rules and restrictions on your diet; rather you are making

Becoming happy and healthy is not diffi cult, it is just different.

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well-informed voluntary choices. The di erence is dramatic. If you take the latter approach, you will find that your mind does not argue with your decision because it does not feel forced or “guilt-tripped” into the decision.

The e ect of foods on your breathing, while subtle, is nearly immediate and therefore easy to observe and trace back. The e ect of foods on your mind also occurs relatively quickly after eating and should still be traceable to its source. In contrast, your body is a ected by the foods that you eat in ways that may take hours, several months or years to manifest. For this reason, it is useful to have some external guidance when trying to observe the e ects of food on your body.

I am going to show you which foods are best for you and your family. You will see how the three main Ayurvedic constitutions require slight modifications in their meal

and beverage selection in order to maintain good physical and mental health. You will not only learn what to do, but also when to do it and why. When your food and your lifestyle are aligned with the

constitution of your mind and body, life will become dramatically brighter.

MEALTIMES AND MENU PLANNING FOR

HAPPINESS

Sunrise is time to break your overnight fast with breakfast. As soon as you wake, have some clean water to re-hydrate your body. Try to take time to make yourself a couple of cups of hot lemon water to help your body prepare for breakfast and your morning routine. This lemon drink consists of boiled water poured into a cup, followed by