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Why Eating Cereals Is Prohibited In Any Vrata or Spiritual Fast?
Heart Care Foundation of India
Terms like bypass surgery and angioplasty are of recent origin. In Ayurveda literature, we had not heard all these terms.
The mention of heart attack in Vedic era comes in Ramayana where Raja Dashrath died suddenly of cardiac arrest as he could not bear the stress of isolation from Rama.
Today, it has been proved that being an Indian is a risk factor for heart attacks and Indians are prone to get heart blockages. Obviously, this proneness would not have developed now. It would have been there even in the Vedic era. Then, what was preventing heart diseases at that time. Medically, the only finding which can explain this is the tradition of weekly fast observed with discipline in those times.
The traditional weekly fast entails eating once, eating less with no cereals on the day of fast. About 75 such fast days were recommended in Vedic era in a year.
The current disease linked to formation of heart blockages is metabolic syndrome. It is characterized by high levels of insulin in the blood. High insulin blood levels are also associated with an insulin resistant state in which the patient experiences high blood sugar levels in spite of high insulin levels in the blood. This state develops when we over eat refined carbohydrates over a period of time. Clinically, it manifests with a potbelly obesity, high blood pressure, high blood sugar, high triglycerides and low good HDL cholesterol levels.
Today, one of the approaches to treat metabolic syndrome is to restrict carbohydrates in the diet, especially, the refined carbohydrates which includes white rice, white maida and white sugar.
In my own practice, I have seen reversal of metabolic state in metabolic syndrome by restricting refined carbohydrates intake to the once daily or omitting it altogether twice in 10 days.
In our Vedic Shastra, it was mentioned to observe cereal fast (omitting cereals from a diet ) at least once in a week; one extra fats in a month (Ekadashi, Ashtami or Poornima)and two additional cycles of Navratras fasts (9 days each). This approximately, turns out to be 75 days in a year when one needs to omit carbohydrates from the diet.
Singhara and Kuttu flours are not considered cereals as they originate from fruits.
About the author: Dr K K Aggarwal is Padmashri and Dr B C Roy National Awardee, President Heart Care Foundation of India, Dean Board of Medical Education Moolchand Medcity, Sr. Physician & Cardiologist, Chairman Ethics Committee Delhi Medical Council, Visiting professor Clinical Research DIPSAR, Past President Delhi Medical Association and Past Academic and Research Wing Heads IMA.
Article submitted Sunday, September 04, 2011 & read 118 times.
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