Regulation of diet, too, is treated as one of the important methods or disciplines of Nature-cure treatment. We can treat many an ailment simply by change of our daily diet and regulating it in a proper way.
It is a sorry affair that we confine our concern in the matter of our food, to the amount of calories of energy that it provides from its major elements, carbohydrates, proteins and fats.
Merely in the provision of energy to the body, we begin to presume that we have provided health to the body, which is not so. No doubt, the proteins build up our tissues and the carbohydrates and fats, give us their share of heat to the body.
We do not care to realise the value of minerals (also vitamins) in our food. The (organic) mineral salts, found in natural foods, have a cleansing and purifying effect and also ward us off against diseases.
We compare different foods for their potential from the amount of calories that their constituents provide and adding them up calculate the sum-total of energy they can provide us.
We must not be content merely with the calorific value of food, but assess its value on the degree of health it provides. For that purpose we need organic salts, which we get from green vegetables, etc.
These mineral salts, like sodium, calcium, iron and magnesium, etc. are found in natural foods, like raw vegetables and fruits.
It should be noted, that for a balanced diet, it should be alkaline rich, that is it should be about 80 per cent alkaline and about 20 per cent acidic, that is, the alkaline content in the food should dominate over its acidic content.
In cereals, starch and fats, the acid-ratio predominates. Hence to balance the alkaline ratio in our daily diet, we should proportionately increase the use of vegetables and fruits in our diet, mostly leafy vegetables, like spinach (paalak), methi, etc.
They also provide us fibre, though in smaller quantities it can be had from raw cereals and pulses also. Fibre plays an important role in the passage of food through the intestines, by not allowing the food to stick and also helps in the extraction of wastes from the intestines to the rectum.
Some foods are more acidic or acid-forming than others and it is for us to select a proper group of foods to keep up the alkaline versus the acidic ratio in our diet. In Nature-cure, emphasis is laid on vegetarian diet, though some take egg as a vegetarian item, in the same way as milk, being animal fat.
The non-vegetarian food, meat, etc. are highly toxic and acid-forming. Other foods, as sugar, sugar preparations, milk preparations, white bread, jams, sauces are also acid-forming, as all other refined foods, like skinned wheat-flour, polished rice, peeled potatoes, etc.
By peeling vegetables, their fibre, that is, the roughage content in the food is lost, which, as explained already, though not digestable, is an essential element in the digestion of food and elimination of waste products.
But these foods are less acid-forming in character, if left in the raw state, as jaggery (gur, or brown sugar), wholesome bread (chapati), natural brown rice (un-polished) and unskinned potatoes. They then retain their natural valuable food minerals.
Vegetables should be cooked in steam, not even boiled, so that they retain their health-giving properties in the form of minerals and vitamins. Roasting or cooking in ghee is still worse in this respect, as they lose such properties. Use of white sugar is discouraged.
The deficiency of glucose, then, can be made up by taking gur, honey, or dried fruits, like raisins, figs, etc.
Dairy products, such as, milk, cheese, butter, cream and naturally extracted oils, as mustard, cocoa, or groundnut are favoured as natural diets. Ghee is barred. Use of biscuits, cakes, pastries, ice-creams and puddings is discouraged.
Tea and coffee are stimulants, though of much lesser degree than beverages, like alcohol, beer, etc. All these increase acid formation in the digestive system of the food. Tea, if at all taken, should not be boiled, but used after a dipping in boiled water.
As a rule, nothing should be taken with tea. Drinking water with meals should be avoided, as it dilutes and weakens the digestive juices. One can generally avoid thirst during meals, if meals are not spicy and are well-chewed, and allowed to be passed on to the elementary canal in the liquid form.
Water, if taken, half an hour earlier, promotes hunger, and then avoids an urge for water during the meals. Water should be taken after one or more hours after the meals. A longer gap is advised.