In November 2007, i put up a post titled “listening to the body“. In that post, i referred to one Dr. Manthena Satyanarayana Raju (MSR) and his natural life style ideas. Since then, even though i came across his programs on TV once in a while, i did not follow up and look into his ideas deeply. Big mistake !
Only recently, i happened to visit a store that promotes his ideas, and picked up couple of books written by him. He writes exclusively in Telugu, although some English translations are available. ( I picked up the Telugu versions, and it was great to read Telugu after long time ! Ancient wisdom is best read in a native language ! ).
What i now realize (two years late) is that his works are filled with great wisdom and common sense, and well grounded in science. As i read his works, iam stunned at how unnatural and messed up our modern eating practices are. Even normal Indian vegetarian diet (which i take, and which is normally considered “healthy”), does not appear healthy or natural anymore.
The core of MSR’s thesis is that cooked food is unnatural form of food for human body. He makes a fundamental distinction between “suryaharam” (food cooked by Sun), and food cooked on Fire. Suryaharam (Solar food) is grains, vegetables, fruits, nuts etc. This food is already “cooked” by Sun’s energy from elements of the Earth (water, air, minerals etc). MSR’s thesis is that this Solar food, taken directly, is the most natural food for a human body, and cooking this Solar food in fire makes it unnatural for consumption by human body. He says that most diseases have origin in this consumption of unnatural foods, and other unhealthy eating practices.
MSR gives a convincing defense of his thesis in his books, so i won’t reproduce it here. What he says makes great sense to me even from simple common sense point of view. Our bodies have evolved over millions of years, surviving directly on uncooked natural food. Fire is a relatively recent discovery compared to the evolutionary history of our bodies, and having a large percentage of our diet as cooked food is an even more recent phenomenon. So, it makes great sense to me that food cooked by Sun is the most appropriate and natural for our bodies. Also, Human being is the only species that cooks food on fire ! Another clear hint !
In food debates, we often hear about inorganic vs organic food, and GM vs non-GM food etc. We rarely hear about the impact of cooking foods. It now seems to me that this parameter is important too.
To start natural food life style, MSR recommends slowly adding more “solar food” in one’s diet. Solar food is nothing fancy. Just more sprouts, more fruits and more raw vegetables. Ofcourse, not just randomly adding, but there is a specific routine he recommends based on his observation of bodies needs and cycles. The eventual goal is to have say 75% solar food and rest cooked food. If one is totally in, one can shift to 100% solar food. Cooked vs Uncooked, is just one aspect of the debate. MSR’s system includes other aspects like avoiding salt, having more water, avoiding oils, time of eating, role of fasting etc etc. Iam just starting to incorporate each habit into my routine. I’ll blog every two weeks on the specific steps i’ve taken and how it’s going.
I feel that taking care of the environment of the body is an essential component of environmentally sustainable living. Activism starts at home.
