AN OCCASIONAL CIGARETTE

Articles In This Section:

· PROPER DIET

· DIMINISHING THE APPETITE

· TAKING VITAMINS AND MINERALS

· NUTRITION FACTS

· SPECIAL MENTION OF CERTAIN FOODS

· AN OCCASIONAL CIGARETTE

· DRINKS THAT ARE BENEFICIAL

· YOGA PRACTICE OF FASTING

You have already been warned against drowning food with drink. Too many people have the habit of drinking water with meals (or soda pop, beer or coffee), thus diluting the digestive juices before these have had a chance to do their work. If the food leaves the stomach only partially digested, it cannot be properly absorbed through the walls of the intestines. Pushing food down with liquid has yet another bad result: it makes us eat more than we need, for after washing one portion down we are ready for a second helping. The same is true of wine taken with a meal. Of course, a small glass taken with dinner on festive occasions does no one harm.

This brings us logically to the question everyone asks sooner or later. What is the Yoga position on alcohol in general? And again the answer, for the Western student, is moderation. There is no prohibition against liquor as such. But it would be inconceivable for a Yogi to get drunk; the advanced Yogis do not touch alcohol, since they become more and more frugal with time, preferring pure water. However, if you enjoy wine, beer and whiskey, by all means continue having them, but in small amounts.

The same may be said of tobacco. An occasional cigarette, cigar or pipe never hurt anyone. Some Hindu Yogis smoke; many Chinese ones do. Unfortunately, it is easier for the average man or woman to regulate the drinking than the smoking habit. Persons who worry about it are generally heavy smokers already and seem powerless to cut down. For them, the only-answer is to cut out smoking altogether, as an alcoholic must cut out liquor, for it becomes an all-or-nothing proposition. Other people do not have the same problem. As for non-smokers, especially young people who have not yet begun using tobacco in earnest, perhaps the best answer would be not to begin at all in order to avoid all danger of becoming enslaved by habit.

Now for the drinking of liquids in general: The best drink of all, the Yogis claim, is pure cool water, of which the body requires six to eight glasses a day. Although not itself a food, water is nevertheless a life-giving substance, and the liquids within our tissues must constantly be replenished. We eliminate water constantly, largely through our sweat glands, and this is true even when we are not conscious of sweating. It is a continuous process, like breathing, necessary for the proper, elimination of poisons. Water is also vital for flushing the kidneys properly, for cleansing the blood, and for proper elimination through the intestines.

The Yogi practice is to have a glass of water immediately upon rising, a final glass before going to bed at night, and several glasses in between meals. This water is never iced, but merely cool—at room temperature or even a bit warmer. Ice water and all iced drinks are one of civilization's more harmful inventions, for they impair digestion, produce stomach cramps and crack the enamel on the teeth.