Of the main causes that lead to obesity in those living in poverty, a poor diet is the most instrumental. In Loretta Shwartz-Nobel’s article “America’s Wandering Families”, Schwartz Nobel interviews two homeless mothers about their current impoverished situation and their eating habits. One homeless mother of one is quoted saying, “I bought a lot of rice and beans and Bisquick mix…bags of cereal…and powdered milk because it is cheaper and it lasts longer” (Schwartz-Nobel 257) while the other single parent describes how her meals consist of “potatoes and some macaroni and cheese, the cheep things to go with dinner” (260). These desperate mothers only eat such unhealthy and unbalanced meals because, due to their impoverished state, it is all they can afford. Diets such as these, which include high calories and fat, are the main causes of childhood obesity that, in most cases, is carried into adulthood.

Nobel is not alone in her discovery of poor quality in diet among those living in poverty. In Kristen Wiig Dammann and Chery Smith’s article on the research of obesity in low-income women, “Factors Affecting Low-Income Women’s Food Choices and the Perceived Impact of Dietary Intake and Socioeconomic Status on their Health and Weight”, Dammann and Smith state, “Research has suggested that because diets high in refined grains, added sugars, and added fats generally cost less than healthful diets composed of lean meats and fresh fruits,… the poorer segment of the population has greater exposure to an unhealthful diet” (Dammann and Smith 242). The authors believe that due to the poorer population’s lack of income, they are exposed to more unhealthy foods because much healthier foods, such as fruit and lean meats, are more expensive and unappealing to a consumer with a small budget. This is not to say that the impoverished have a blurred view of healthy and non-healthy foods. Dammann and Smith quote a subject of their research who says, “I can’t set myself aside and get all the right, proper, $3 tomatoes and broccoli and cauliflower…I don’t have the money for it, and yes I do know what I’m supposed to eat” (248). These struggling parents have a great understanding of the healthy foods that they and their families need, but a problem that one family after another runs into is that they cannot afford the healthy foods required for a balanced diet. This leads to the parents as well as the children to become overweight or even obese.

One could easily assume that these low-income or homeless overweight families are not trying hard enough to handle their problems, that it is not the food that is the problem but the lifestyle of which these Americans live. In the article “The Wages of Sin” by Francine Prose, Prose describes how studies of the overweight often misconstrue their lifestyles, causing false information to be spread. Prose goes on to say, “Such prejudice has been found to derive from the widely accepted notion that fat people are at fault, responsible for their weight and appearance, that they are…lacking in the equalities of self-denial and impulse control that our society values” (Prose 198). The majority of people believe that the overweight are at fault for their own unhealthy lifestyle and that all the blame should be placed on them. People that accuse with these beliefs are ignorant to the many different factors and issues that the poor and overweight must cope with on a daily basis.

Physical activity can be considered the best way to lose weight and stay healthy. When applied to the overweight living in poverty, living a physical active lifestyle is hard to accomplish. In their article, “Diet, nutrition and the prevention of excess weight gain and obesity”, authors Swinburn, Caterson, Seidell, and James believe, “Poorer neighborhoods tend to have fewer recreation amenities, be less safe, and have a higher concentration of fast food outlets” (Swinburn, Caterson, Seidell, and James 133). Those living in such poverty-stricken neighborhoods not only have nowhere to be physically active, but are also surrounded by nutrition lacking restaurants that only increase their obesity. In Russel Lopez and Patricia Hynes’s article “Obesity, Physical Activity, and the Urban Environment: Public Health Research Needs”, Lopez and Hynes believe the root of this problem is due to lack of awareness. When describing a research hypothesis on physical activity in suburban and urban settings, the authors explain, “the resultant findings were largely suburban in focus, [and]…research on overweight, physical activity and the urban built environment…of inner cities has yet to be done” (Lopez and Hynes 170). What is happening is that a lack of attention is being paid towards low income neighborhoods who are suffering due to their inability to be physically active. With the focus being centered on populations with a lacking obesity problem, the overweight living in low income, urban areas are suffering. In her article “Deprivation Amplification Revisited”, Sally Macintyre provides a different reason for a lack of recreational amenities. Macintyre states, “Differences between areas are solely due to differences in the personal characteristics of the residents” (Macintyre 33). Macintyre is implying that suburban residents and urban residents live their lifestyles because of who they are. She believes suburban residents are hard workers rewarded with a wealthy community while urban residents are lazy and ignorant, thus their economic status is just another symptom of their personality. What is not taken into consideration is to the countless families that are born into their current situation of wealth or poverty and how many have no choice but to live unhealthy lifestyles. This leads to the unfortunate impoverished to have no access to nice fitness facilities or grocery stores stocked with the healthiest foods. Instead they are left with fast food restaurants and corner stores that only sell chips and soda.

From my childhood, I had many questions. Who am I? What is the goal of my life? What is the nature of this world? Who created this universe? I used to ask many people, but I did not get any satisfactory answer.

I was born and raised in India. I noticed that some people were suffering from poverty and others from family problems.

My primary goal was to take care of my own family members. I received a scholarship and got admitted into a very good high school. I studied hard and passed my high school exams. I wanted to study biology to become a doctor, but my parents wanted me to study math so that I could earn more money by becoming an engineer. Finally I listened to my parents and studied for two-years in an intermediate college.

I learned meditation from a spiritual teacher and monk when I was 8-years-old from the Ananda Marga ( “Path of Bliss” ) organization, and I started practicing. I was a very emotional person before I learned meditation. I got angry if my mother was not serving me food or water quickly. After practicing meditation regularly, my mind got expanded. I started to feel how my actions caused my mother pain. So I started doing my own chores. I did not allow my mother to wash my clothes or to serve me food.

Instead of expecting and receiving help, I started helping others. I felt many people suffer from so many problems without anyone to help them. I thought if I became an engineer I could earn good money and take care of my own family.

I was very much concerned with many problems in society. I saw that many people were not satisfied even when they had a lot of money. Matter is limited, but the mind is not. It is subtle. I was not running after money or material gain. I wanted to attain peace and happiness in my life.

I read several books about great personalities and felt that people remember them because they did good works for the society. Many people come into this world but very few are remembered. I thought I should live a glorious life.

I started following moral and ethical principles strictly. My meditation got better and better. I felt very happy, and wanted to give happiness to others by teaching meditation. I decided to become a monk and yoga teacher of Ananda Marga.

When I was leaving for the training center, my parents objected and did not allow me to go. I was not yet 18. I left home and went to Kolkata, India, but parents brought me back home twice. So the third time I left home without telling anyone. I completed my training, passed the exams and became a monk and spiritual teacher.

It was very painful for me to leave my parents for the first time ever. My goal was to attain self-realization and to do service to humanity. My goals were high and noble, so I decided to dedicate my whole time to help others by becoming a monk.

My first posting after graduating as a monk was as principal of a primary school in India run by Ananda Marga. After working three months there, I received a higher responsibility and I started to travel. I worked nine months with very little funds. I taught yoga asanas and meditation and gave workshops on those topics for about 10 years to thousands of people in India before I came to the U.S.

I had some health problems which I cured by practicing yoga asanas regularly and eating healthier food prescribed by my guru Shrii Shrii Anandamurti. I learned that particular asanas and alkaline food can cure constipation, acidity and leucoderma. I also had emotional problems like anger, fear, vanity and jealousy. Meditation helped me to control these negative tendencies.

My mind was also very restless, and daily practice of meditation calmed me. I could reach deep inside and access at will a vast reservoir of positive energy, creativity and peace.

By becoming a monk I volunteered my time and served others. I taught yoga free of charge. I felt happy to see that people got benefited by changing their bad behavior. I cured many people’s diseases by teaching yoga.

When I came to the U.S. in 1998, I continued my practice. I traveled the entire country and tried to help people. I visited Canada and Mexico and gave seminars, workshops and personal counseling. I helped with the relief efforts by serving food with the Salvation Army during the Hurricane Katrina. I also served food and helped with cleaning efforts with the Red Cross during the Hurricanes Katrina, Ike and Gustav at the Dallas Convention Center.

As a monk and yoga teacher I still teach meditation and asanas. I visit different places to give seminars and workshops on meditation and spiritual philosophies. I volunteer my time and money with the social service organizations for doing relief work. I will continue my service in future. I receive donations from people to serve others.

I am happy by being a monk. I left my small family, but now I have a bigger family. I have a bigger responsibility now to take care of my universal family. As a monk I don’t have to think about myself. The concept of a monk in my mission is very different from the usual concept of a religious monk. I am dedicated to everyone. I don’t call myself Hindu, Buddhist, Christian, Jewish or Muslim. I am a human being and my duty is to serve all without any discrimination.

Health care is something we believe must be available to everyone at a cost that they can afford.  However, the recently passed healthcare bills are a classic example of democracy gone wild.  The miracle of the bills is not that they passed at all, but that there is something in them for everyone to hate.  It’s government by equal opportunity dissatisfaction.

Those who wanted the “public option” of a government run health insurance didn’t like the bill because the public option wasn’t included.  Those who wanted to keep their existing plans didn’t like the bill because they fear the mandates for business coverage will cause their employers to cut back on coverage or increase their contributions.

Those who wanted the removal of pre-existing condition exclusions or denials were disappointed also.  While the bill prohibits insurers from denying claims due to pre-existing conditions, it does not prohibit them from refusing to sell new coverage due to pre-existing conditions or charging more to cover them.

Seniors who participate in Medicare Advantage, a private insurance program under Medicare, don’t like the bill because of a cut in funding to the Advantage program.

Those who have been angry at private insurers controlling their medical decisions are angry with the bill because the bill doesn’t change this.  Rather, it provides a windfall to the private insurance industry by mandating that millions of Americans without health insurance buy new health insurance from private insurers.

Those who wanted to see the costs of health insurance curbed were disappointed that the bills do nothing to regulate the cost of the plans that insurers provide so that there is every reason to believe that health insurance costs will continue to rise.  Contributing to this is the anti-trust exemption that the health care insurers have which was not removed in the new bills.

While the included reforms to student financial aid was a positive step in controlling the high costs of student financial aid which private banks have been unnecessarily profiting from, these financial aid reforms had no place in a health care bill and unnecessarily complicated an already complicated legislation.

A somewhat overlooked provision of the health care bills allows states to set up their own government run health insurance programs should they care to do so after 2014.  But there is no guarantee that states that don’t already have these programs will do this.

Still many questions remain unanswered with the current healthcare reform bill, which passed on March 22.

The public option, government-run health insurance, was not included in the final bill and most of the items in the bill don’t take effect until 2014.

In 2014 the bill allows health insurance “exchanges” to be set up, which will allow for private insurance companies to compete under close government regulation. Currently, there are no standards in health insurance so when shopping for health insurance plans it is impossible to compare them. The exchanges, when they go into effect, will require plans to conform to government guidelines while still allowing insurance companies to offer less regulated plans in the private market.

There will be a phased in penalty for those individuals who don’t buy the insurance. Small businesses will get a temporary rebate to help pay for the coverage they will be required to provide. However, part-time employees will still not be covered.

Health care also requires people to purchase health insurance from private insurers but doesn’t provide any control on prices. In the past, private health insurance companies have had an exemption from anti-trust laws that has allowed them to share information and fix prices, but the new law does not remove the exemption.

People who have no money to buy insurance will see this new bill as a tax, though the bill provides subsidies for low income people and small businesses to help pay for their insurance.

The bill raises many objections regarding cutting costs to Americans for health insurance. The bill’s supporters acknowledge that the main purpose of the bill is to make health insurance available to many more people.  But the controversial measures needed to curb costs to consumers were not included in the bill.  In fact, after the deregulation frenzy of the Reagan administration, it has been a rare occasion that congress has placed restraints on the operations of major corporations.

The one major step forward in the health care debate is that it has been finally acknowledged that the goal is to provide affordable health care to all.  We aren’t there yet, but maybe this is just a small step in that direction.

“Learn how to be happy here in the present and even happier when you get out,” he saysover the loud speaker.

Louis Allen, a Durham man who is in prison for the third time, walks in. “At first I was real hesitant
because I thought it was a girl thing. And I didn’t want that family, being away from your friends, the
anxiety of reentering society, the current situation right now in the world with the economy, the joblessness,
all that plays a part in an individual who has a strike against him. So the anxiety tends to build,” said
Wesley Moliere, an inmate who has attended the classes for about three months. “You get a sense of calm and
relaxation through it. And in a situation like this, calm and relaxation doesn’t come easy,” he added.

Dr. Landau says yoga accomplishes something that other prison programs don’t. “The data shows, from other
studies, that simply giving them the skills of reading, writing, arithmetic, air conditioning, GED, does not
improve their recidivism rate. It does not improve the rate at which they come back. But shifting the
personality does,” he said. Landau did a study that shows that inmates who took his yoga class more than four
times had an eight percent chance of returning to prison within two years. The inmates who attended less than
four times had a 25 percent chance of going back to prison. Louis Allen says the class has taught him to think
before he acts. “Once you learn to deal with your mental thoughts and control them better, it’s a lot easier
in life. And as far as going out, I don’t think I’ll have no problem staying out this time,” he said. That is
Dr. Landau’s hope. “To give people the opportunity of changing the mind so that they can exit back into society
as a free person and actually be a free person,” he said.

The purpose of the entire creation is to get and give happiness. Ideally, there is no scope for any disease,
pain and suffering, unless we disobey the laws of nature or ignore the body’s signs of distress. The
fundamental law on which this physical and mental health depends, is a loving friendship between our self,
our habits and our body.

Today’s society is based on exploitation and abuse. There is no harmony amongst people, nor within the
individual, or with the environment. Rather than deeply blissful, human life is often hardship, which we
endure. What we call ‘healthy’ in no way reflects the potential of vitality, joy and gratitude that nature
offers us.

The fundamental task in recovering this sublime health and restoring the natural balance within is to build
a relation of compassion with each and everything, especially with those factors that rekindle the life
forces and which we should consider our real friends.

First among these is our Supreme Friend, the universal Cosmic Entity, on whom the existence of the entire
universe and everything within it depends. In our quest for health we can list seven factors as our
foremost friends.

1. The Power of the Cosmic Entity:
The movement of the entire universe is based upon one single force. The power which makes the planets,
stars and galaxies move in their respective orbits is the same power that exists within a small cell and
directs its varied functions. This is the Cosmic Entity, our Supreme Friend, and harmony with this force
is the principal source of sentient health and infinite happiness.

2. The Power of Positive Mind:
The mind’s abilities and speed are unparalleled. Even the latest computers cannot match the agility, power
and creativity of the mind. But this incredible mental force can work in two directions—positive and
negative. The moment we have a positive state of mind, all the cells and their biochemical processes in the
body also function more positively. The treatment methods we use for our health and happiness may work in
absence of a positive mind, but the result will be limited. In the absence of a positive mind, life will
be full of misery and pain. On the other hand, a positive mind can bring about health and well-being
beyond human imagination.

3. Fresh Air:
Friend of every second, air has to be with us always. If for a few minutes we would be cut off from fresh
air, nothing can save our existence. Just as we learn how to eat by studying nutrition, we must come to
understand the proper use of fresh air to clean our body, make our mind peaceful, and revitalize our whole
system.

4. Sunlight:
The rhythm of the sun is the discipline of our whole existence. If its temperature will start to drop,
existence on this earth will be deeply affected. Our body’s temperature is regulated every day by the
sun’s energy. The sun is the source of all our energy and can cure any imbalance of the body system.
For thousands of years, the sun’s temperature was the only hope for humans to survive the tremendous cold.
The sun is the source for the life giving rains, the greening of the earth, the growing of our food, the
strength of our health.

5. Water:
Water is the friend of every hour, whom we need in many different ways in our body to enrich our own health
and environment.

6. Relaxation:
This is the only time when our body and mind get time to restore themselves. Though we have the physical
strength, we can not work continuously because the body requires periodic rest to cleanse itself.
When we relax our body, it starts to recharge and the mind recovers its strength. Rest lets nature supply
us with energy and work through us. Thus relaxation is very important in maintaining our natural strength.

7. Positive food habits:
Most diseases are caused by eating the wrong foods in the wrong amount and at the wrong time. Controlling
the quality, amount and timing of the food we use, it becomes friendly to our all round health and the
source of our mental peace. At the time of sickness or discomfort, positive food habits can cure and
restore our strength. To deeply understand and live with these basic factors of healthful living is the
fundamental duty of human beings.

No medicine matches the body’s own capacity to revitalize itself. The body’s complexity cannot be imitated
by either science or machine. No medicine has the capacity to understand and fake the body’s own ability
to recharge itself. The fundamental principle of sentient health lies in increasing the body’s own ability
to heal itself. For this, nature has provided a sufficient amount of elements and if we utilize them we will
not only remain free from illness, but also learn to appreciate at depth our divinely inspired life.

Nature cure and Yogic care
Wrong habits cause disease. Most people know that to eat too many sweets is not good, but out of greediness,
in pursuit of a little pleasure, we eat and eat and eat, as long as there are dishes in front of us. By
breaking the natural laws of self-control, we gradually weaken our nervous system, organs and general vitality.

Yogis have long understood that to remedy the excesses of the mind, physical and mental exercises are of vital
importance. These will balance the different inborn psychic tendencies and fundamentally restore and protect
one’s health. Nature cure is not complete without this psycho-physical practice.

Ac. Jyotirishananda Avt. is the author of the book Sentient Health: A Happy and Holy Life Through Water, from
which the article above is an excerpt. Ac Jyotirishananda is an internationally known teacher of yoga and
meditation and has conducted numerous clinics and training courses on various aspects and practices of natural
health. To order this book send an e-mail to : hongkong-sector@amps.org or write to:

Ananda Marga Publications
7, Alley 14, Lane-85\Ding-Jou Road Sec-4
Taipei, Taiwan.

“Good” and “bad” proteins

Another great misconception is that vegetable protein is inferior to meat protein. In the 1950s scientists classified meat protein as “first class” and vegetable protein as “second class”. However, this ideas has since been completely disproved, because vegetable proteins have been found to be equally as effective and nutritious as meat proteins; now this distinction has been discarded. In fact, some vegetarian foods, such as the incredibly protein-rich soybean, have twice the amount of protein found in meat! (Soybeans are 40% protein, whereas even the leanest cut of beefsteak has only 20% usable protein.)
Many nuts, seeds and beans contain 30% protein:
FOOD (100 gms.)——Grams of protein
Soymilk (powdered)–41 gms protein 41.8
Soybeanes (dry)—–31.4
Milk (powdered)——26.4
Peanuts————-26
Beans—————24.7
Beef—————-20.2
Chicken————-18.6
Lamb—————16.8

” Essential” amino acids and ”complete proteins”

Proteins are constituted from smaller molecules called amino acids. When protein is ingested, it is broken down into its constituent amino acids, which are then utilized individually or reassembled into the various types of protein the body needs. There are about 22 amino acid, of which all but eight so-called “essential amino acids” can normally be synthesized in the body. If any one of these eight amino acids is missing, the others cannot be utilized; thus all of the eight essential amino acids have to be present at the same meal. These eight essential amino acids must also be present in certain proportions; if the proper proportion of even one is lacking, the remaining amino acids are correspondingly reduced, and consequently the body receives less available protein for its use. Foods or food combinations providing all the essential amino acids in the requisite proportions are said to contain a complete protein. Meat is not the only complete protein, and in fact many meats lack one or more of the essential amino acids. Soybeans and milk are also complete proteins; and combining several foods makes a high quality food that far surpasses the protein value of either food alone. The following food combinations have been found by nutrition experts to produce complete proteins:
MILK with rice, wheat, sesame, beans, or potatoes.
BEANS with rice, wheat, corn, nuts, or sesame seeds
PEANUTS with rice, wheat, buts or oats
SOYBEANS with wheat, corn, or sesame
VEGETABLES with rice or any other grain, or sesame. Rural people everywhere in the world seem to “complement” their proteins instinctively, for instance by mixing rice and tofu (as in China) or corn and beans (as in Central and South America). In 1972 Dr Frederick Stare of Harvard University (USA) conducted a comprehensive study of vegetarians (including adult men and women, pregnant women, and adolescent girls and boys). He found that all groups were consuming over twice their minimum daily protein requirement. In 1954 scientists conducted a detailed study at Harvard and found that when a variety of vegetable, grain and dairy products were eaten in ANY combination, there was always more than enough protein; they were unable to find a protein deficiency no matter what combinations were used. The scientists concluded that it is very difficult to eat a varied vegetarian diet, which will not easily meet all protein requirements for the human body. (The scientists stated that: “A reasonably chosen plant diet, supplemented with a fair amount of diary products, is adequate for every nutritional requirements of all age groups.”) In newspapers we sometimes read about malnourished people in poor countries who are starving and dying from “protein deficiency”, and we often blame this on their vegetarian diet. But scientists have found that these people are undernourished not because they are not eating meat, but because they are not eating enough food. A diet of rice only (and very little of that) or sweet potatoes only, naturally leads to malnutrition and early death. By contrast, anywhere in this world that one can find people on a vegetarian diet with an adequate caloric intake and an adequate variety of vegetables, grains and legumes, there, one will find strong, healthy, and thriving people. From Food for thought, the vegetarian philosophy, Ananda Marga Publications 1987
You may purchase this book in the ProutWorld bookshop Copyright Ananda Marga Publications 1999
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