Hygiene Quotient

What we consume as food affects our mental hygiene. Are we paying attention to it?

- Shobs

One day you don't take bath. There's a layer of dirt.

Two days you don't take bath. There's a sense of discomfort.

The third day you don't take bath. People observe that something is not right.

On the fourth day, there is a sense of discomfort - both physically and emotionally. With no personal hygiene, we feel less confident socially and we will long to get home to take a shower. Imagine if you don't wash yourself for a few weeks; you will probably be thrown out of theatres and malls. Imagine if you don't wash yourself for years together - what will happen? Chances are very high that you might be admitted into a hospital for some disease and your immune system would go for a toss. Psychologically you might feel depressed. Emotionally you will feel down and of course, your spirits would be very low. It's true that physical hygiene is extremely important. And physical hygiene leads to mental hygiene. Imagine if you don't brush your teeth for one day, and then the next day and then the third day. You not only feel weird but awful about yourself. You will start smelling bad and people will slowly distance themselves from you. Lack of physical hygiene creates annoyance. You wouldn't expect your car to run for long without regular maintenance, and our body is even more fragile. We are here for a long haul and would like our body to keep working… and that too in good condition.

While we understand the importance of physical hygiene, what about mental hygiene? Does food have an impact on mental hygiene? Why are we not similarly offended by the effects of eating in an unhygienic manner?

If lack of personal hygiene even for one day can make us unhealthy and socially unacceptable, we need to ask ourselves, what is the level of hygiene of my eating? Food habits have a significant effect on mental hygiene. In Vedic scriptures it is said, “Food is mind…”