Excelsior Correspondent
NEW DELHI, Mar 2 : Union Minister Dr Jitendra Singh said here today that Mahatma Gandhi’s health dictums, which Bapu followed in his daily life as well as in lifestyle and diet, were based on sound scientific logic and were possibly an outcome of long years of research and experimentation which Gandhi was in the habit of undertaking before drawing any conclusions in life.
Delivering Keynote address on “Mahatma Gandhi’s Experiments with Food: Key to Health” at a programme to commemorate “150 years of the Mahatma” at Rajghat here, Dr Jitendra Singh said, those who tend to dismiss Mahatma Gandhi’s views regarding healthcare and food as mere fads or whims, actually do a great injustice to themselves because in doing so they only deprive themselves of a sound scientific opinion.
Like in other spheres of life, he said, Gandhi not only experimented in depth but also tested the influence of his experiments on his own self. This he did famously in case of his experiments with “Truth” and so also in case of health and lifestyle.
Citing several instances, Dr Jitendra Singh said, for example, Gandhi walked on foot, on an average, for nearly 18 Kms each day and believed that this was a fitness test for him. He continued to do so till the end.
Dr Jitendra Singh recalled that Gandhi lived in the pre-antibiotic era and the first antibiotic drug namely Penicillin came into use around the time of Gandhi’s death. But, what is amazing is that even though Gandhi was never a student of science, he had conducted experiments with his physique and come to certain conclusions like, for example, that the consumption of two ounce of raw vegetable or raw salad was more useful than nine ounces of cooked vegetable because it provides a higher quantity of vitamins and antioxidants which helped in building up immunity of the body against infection and other diseases, he said.
Giving full credit to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Dr Jitendra Singh said, after 70 years of independence, for the first time, Gandhian principles in life have been given a practical shape by the Modi Government. He said, it is Prime Minister Modi by whose personal initiative, “Swachh Bharat” became a public campaign and a tribute to Gandhi who held cleanliness close to his heart.
Similarly, while Yoga gained worldwide recognition through Prime Minister Narendra Modi, programmes like “Fitness India” reiterated the importance of sound health for nation building, he said.
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