Are we becoming what we eat?
A man is what he eats," said German philosopher Ludwig Andreas Feuerbach. Feuerbach believed that what man produced was basically the result of food ingested by him. What does that tell about us? Contaminated food is contaminating us.
Where is the link? Of course, nobody will dispute that adulterated food is injurious to health. Formalin-laced fish, or chemical-sprayed fruits and vegetables are leading us to slow death. Crushed bricks are blended with chili powder. Then we have children's food coloured with industrial dye.
If it affects the body, then it also affects the mind. Could it be that we don't stick to our commitments because of chemical-induced disorientation? Could it be that cheating, frauds, bribery, shams and pretensions are outcomes of psychosomatic disruptions? Is that why we are quick-tempered, aggressive and intolerant?
On January 8, 1909, Rudolf Steiner gave a lecture in Munich on the problems of nutrition. He talked about the ascent from the purely physical realm to the spiritual realm and divided it into four different layers -- the physical body, the etheric body, the astral body and the ego. While the etheric body is concerned with the preservation of the physical body, the astral body nurses the ego, which is responsible for constant build up and destruction of food consumed.
Rudolf claimed that man owed everything that liberates him internally to the substances derived from plants. What about the faculties that enable him to be actively engaged in earthly life? These qualities are largely derived from meat diet.
The proof, he said, was that the people from militant nations generally ate meat. On the other hand, a preference for a vegetarian diet prevailed among people who developed an introverted and contemplative existence. Another example he cited was coffee versus tea. Everything in the activity of our nerves that has to do with logical consistency and drawing of conclusions is strengthened by coffee. Tea, which tears thoughts asunder, is the opposite. This is why tea is not a popular drink amongst diplomats.
The bottom line is that food has connections with the soul by the way of the body. Somewhere in the digestion process, the contaminants are separated from other ingredients, and then absorbed into the blood and lymphatic systems. Somewhere these contaminants ride with digested fats when the lymphatic system carries fatty acid and glycerol onto blood vessels going into heart.
If not, they travel in the bloodstream and reach our livers. Perhaps here they hide amongst the excess glucose, which is stored as glycogen for emergency use. Maybe, some of these harmful particles end up in the cells, which take glucose from the blood for respiration.
It's not rocket science that adulterated food is nutrient deficient. On top of that, contamination has its ruinous effect. Failing health gradually catches up with mind. It diminishes the power of the brain. It destroys memory, weakens resolve and interferes with mood and temper.
Here is an example of how the mind can get diluted by disastrous diet. A former vice-president, who became the law minister of this country, spent 20 months in jail for possession of 14 bottles of liquor. But people who put poison in our food pay a few thousand taka in fine. If we are lucky, some of them might get three to six months in jail. Clear sign of inconsistency as a result of impaired judgment. No! Nah!
The problem of food adulteration is nothing new under the sun. It has been there since ancient times, the most common form being mixing of water in alcoholic drinks. In 15th and 16th century Germany the adulteration of various foods and beverages was rampant, despite severe punishments. Literature of the 16th century mentions brick dust in ginger, and unhealthy stuff in pepper; dishonest weights and counts, artificial colouring, and storage of dried spices in damp cellars to increase weight.
The difference between now and then is the level of punishment. In ancient Babylonia, people who watered down the beer got death sentence. In 1444, any merchant caught selling adulterated saffron in Bavaria was burned alive. In 1456, at Nuremberg, two men guilty of adulterating wine were buried alive.
There is now a growing clamour for going back to the past. A Chinese court recently gave death sentence to six people for adulteration of milk products. There has been public outcry demanding strict punishment in the US for a peanut plant, which shipped salmonella contaminated products. In India, a former chief minister of UP has demanded that the food adulterers should be shot to death.
Why is there no such outrage in this country? Because, lacking in substance and corrupt in mind, Feuerbach's hypothesis has been tested in us. What flourishes a man depends on what nourishes him. In a nutshell, what we eat is eating us up.
Mohammad Badrul Ahsan is a columnist for The Daily Star.
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