Myth or Truth? (Your Health is in Your Hands

Among the precious sons bestowed by Nature, he is the most blessed. A Rajarshi (A king elevated to the stature of a sage) who offers a daily oblation to the philosophy of Nature itself. Like a sage walking beside us, he is the fragrant jewel that spreads the perfume of human evolution, blossoming under Nature’s grace. He is the gardener who tends to the way of natural living, sowing its seeds and nurturing it with care.

Under his guidance, the “Natural Way of Life” is growing as Nature’s beloved child on the banks of the Krishna River. He is the chief architect of the Ashram, envisioned so that all people may follow Nature’s laws and live in good health under the watchful gaze of Goddess Kanaka Durga of Vijayawada.

With affection and reverence, I dedicate this garland of books, Your Health is in Your Hands, to the virtuous couple — our spiritual companions, pure-hearted and gracious — Sri Gokaraju Gangaraju and Smt. Laila Gangaraju.

What You Will Learn in This Book

Doubt Is the Greatest Obstacle

People come to practice natural principles in different ways — by reading the books I have written, by listening to my talks, or simply by hearing about them from someone else. Many begin practicing these principles while staying at home and trying to apply them in daily life. However, during this process, numerous doubts arise in the mind. These doubts become obstacles and prevent a person from moving forward in practice.

In the meantime, friends, relatives, and acquaintances express their opinions whenever they meet. Some of them even speak in a frightening manner — saying things like “You should not drink this,” “You should not eat that,” or “If you do this, something bad will happen.” Caught between fear and uncertainty, people struggle — unable to move forward with confidence and unable to completely stop either.

Those who have read my complete ten-volume book series thoroughly will find that such doubts are fully resolved. Still, keeping in mind that readers of this book may have certain important doubts, I have chosen to address 25 common misconceptions in this book, with the intention of clearing them. If you read them carefully, you will be able to move forward without obstacles in your practice.

In society, a major problem today is that many people mistake truth for falsehood and move away from good practices. At the same time, they accept false ideas as truth and continue following them. Ultimately, it is people themselves who suffer because of this confusion.

For example, many believe that coconut causes cholesterol problems. Because of this misconception, people avoid a highly nutritious food and end up becoming weak. Not knowing the real truth behind it, they treat falsehood as fact and lose a great deal. Only when a practice is followed in depth does one truly understand its nuances.

For those who only read about a subject, it may appear one way. But the reality discovered through practice is what is truly correct. Over many years of personal practice, and by guiding thousands of people to practice these principles, many truths have come to light. Based on these lived experiences, I have explained several important points — why certain things are true, and why earlier beliefs were false — by comparing both side by side.

I hope you will understand these with an open mind and move forward in practice. Many people around us are trapped in doubts and, because of them, move away from what is good. Let us help them understand these matters clearly, remove their doubts, and move forward together toward better health.

People who do not drink enough water often try to scare those who do by saying things like, “Drinking so much water makes the kidneys work harder and causes them to fail sooner.” This is a common fear. If someone were to drink 5 liters of water all at once, it would indeed cause discomfort to the body. But when water is consumed gradually throughout the day, from morning to evening, there is no harm at all.

When we drink one liter of water at a time, that water is slowly absorbed through the intestines and enters the bloodstream. From the intestines, the blood goes to the liver and then reaches the heart. From the heart, the blood is continuously circulated to all organs of the body. This process happens every minute without interruption.

The blood that reaches the kidneys from the heart is continuously filtered. Through this filtration, unnecessary salts and other waste materials mix with water and are eliminated as urine. Every minute, about 140–150 milliliters of blood pass through the kidneys and get filtered. This means that the water we drink mixes into the blood and reaches the kidneys gradually in small amounts. The entire load of water never falls on the kidneys at once.

Every day, the kidneys filter approximately 170–180 liters of blood, yet only about 1 to 1.5 liters are expelled as urine. From this, we can clearly understand that water itself does not damage the kidneys.

To understand this better, consider a household water filter. It usually has two filter candles. These candles are nothing but filtering pores. Similarly, humans have two kidneys, and each kidney contains about one million filters. When clean water passes through a water filter, there is no strain or damage. The real problem comes from impurities. If dirty water with a lot of sediment is filtered, the candles clog within a month or two. But if clean water with very little impurity is filtered daily, the same candles can work for six to seven months.

Water filters get damaged due to impurities, not because of water. The same principle applies to kidneys. No matter how much water the kidneys filter, they are not strained by the water itself. The strain comes from filtering waste materials — the body’s internal “impurities.”

When a person has more waste accumulated in the body, the kidneys deteriorate faster. To protect itself, the body dissolves this waste in water, filters it through the kidneys, and eliminates it as urine. When enough water is consumed, these wastes dissolve properly and are flushed out daily.

Those who drink less water often feel that frequent urination is troublesome. Because of insufficient water, the kidneys are unable to flush out waste properly. As a result, the waste gets reabsorbed back into the body and returns to the kidneys again after some time. This repeated filtering of the same waste causes the kidneys to wear out faster. It is like removing unwanted husk and stones from rice, only to put them back into the same rice again.

Even drinking more than one and a half liters of water at a time does not cause harm. It does not make the blood excessively thin, it does not wash out essential minerals unnecessarily, and it does not put any burden on the kidneys. A detailed scientific explanation of this has been published directly in English in my book “Water – You”, especially because even some doctors still carry this misconception.

Therefore, understand clearly that drinking around 5 liters of water a day helps cleanse the body internally and supports overall health.

When we eat food, the intestines break it down thoroughly during digestion. From this digested mass, the small intestine absorbs the essence — nutrients and energy — into the bloodstream, much like dry land absorbing water. Everything that gives energy and strength to the body is absorbed in this way and put to use.

After this absorption, what remains in the small intestine are undigested particles, poorly chewed food, fibrous matter, and dead microorganisms. The small intestine does not want to carry this waste and pushes it into the large intestine. The large intestine (colon) is essentially the body’s waste bin, meant to store this unwanted material. This waste that moves from the small intestine to the large intestine is what we call stool.

The body naturally wants to eliminate this waste regularly. Some people pass stool once every two or three days. Some fortunate people clear this waste two or three times a day. Those who go only once every few days often look at people who go multiple times daily and say, “If you go that many times, all the food will come out, you will become weak — it’s wrong.” Hearing this, people who naturally feel the urge several times a day try to suppress it. As a result, both groups suffer — one by not going when the body wants to, and the other by forcibly holding it back.

Think of how we prepare coffee. We boil the decoction, filter it, drink the extract, and throw the used coffee powder into the trash. We never store that useless residue in the house. If we don’t keep spent coffee powder at home, why should we store waste that has no nutritional value inside our intestines?

No matter how many times waste is eliminated, the body only feels relief. Suppressing the urge to pass stool is harmful to health. Letting the body expel waste whenever it wants is natural, healthy, and necessary.

Some parents believe that as long as they are earning well, eating comfortably, and living happily, there is no need for any special food discipline or natural health practices. When they hear about these dietary and lifestyle principles, they say, “We are doing fine anyway — why do we need all this?”

If their children show interest in good habits or try to follow natural health practices, such parents often discourage them. Unable to recognize that what the child is doing is beneficial, they say things like, “At this age, what illness do you have to follow all this?” or “If you live like this, who will even marry you?” In this way, they demotivate their children.

Children usually live with and listen to their parents only for about 20–25 years. After that, an age comes when they feel, “We know what is right,” no matter what is said to them. Because parents have given birth to their children, it is their responsibility to teach them good habits that will allow them to live happily and healthily for 100 years — and only then send them into married life.

If parents teach these natural health principles to their children from a young age, the children will grow up without illness and, in the future, remember their parents with gratitude, saying, “We are living so happily because our mother and father taught us good habits.”

But today, many children remember their parents differently — saying, “My mother has blood pressure, my father has diabetes, and that is why I got both of these at a young age.” This becomes the way they remember their parents.

Parents should raise their children in such a way that they are remembered with respect and gratitude every day — not with the feeling that “I suffered because of my parents.” Natural health principles not only bring physical health but also make the mind calm, pure, and balanced. When children grow up with such a balanced nature, they bring honor to their parents and become useful to society.

If you want your children to grow into such individuals, teach them natural health principles from a young age and show them the golden path of life.

Many people follow natural health principles mainly to reduce excess body weight, and when they become lean, it is clearly visible to everyone. Seeing this, a common misconception arises that this approach is only about reducing food intake and that everyone following it is made to eat less.

In natural living, the focus is not on eating less food — it is on eating the right food. Dietary principles are meant to suit the body’s weight and its actual needs. The food requirements of someone who does not do physical labor are different from those of someone who works hard physically. Just as the wind blows according to the nature of a tree, appetite and food needs vary according to the level of physical effort.

Therefore, the essence of natural health principles lies in understanding how those who do little physical work should regulate their diet, and what kind of food those who work hard should eat in order to remain strong and energetic.

To work hard, one must first have good health. Do people who do physical labor not need water for their health? Should their bowel movements not be smooth? Should they not eat early in the day? These are, in fact, natural principles themselves.

For those who earn their livelihood through physical effort — those for whom “no work means no food” — health is extremely important. If illness strikes, many days of work are lost. Natural health principles teach ways to protect health, prevent illness, and build greater strength so that one can continue to work efficiently and consistently. That is why it is especially important for people who work hard to understand and follow these principles.

Salt, spices, oil, and masalas have no connection whatsoever with married or sexual life. Which animals consume salt or oil and yet reproduce and raise offspring? For a healthy marital life, health itself is the most important factor.

When the body is healthy, the blood vessels and nerves that supply the reproductive organs function efficiently. Along with physical health, mental calmness is equally essential for a person to experience marital happiness.

For example, when someone has a fever or a severe headache, do sexual desires arise in anyone? When there is physical illness, the mind (life energy) becomes more focused on dealing with that illness. Similarly, when there is anger or mental tension, such desires do not arise. In these situations, even if the body is otherwise healthy, why do such feelings disappear? The underlying reason is imbalance — physical or mental.

Salt and oil do not give energy to the body; instead, they reduce the body’s energy. The body spends a large amount of energy trying to eliminate these substances. All the glands in the body function based on the quality of nutrition we provide. Without proper nourishment, and with excessive intake of salt and oil, how can the body remain healthy?

By consuming foods that truly nourish the body — such as sprouted seeds, coconut milk, unpolished rice, and plenty of vegetables — one can even regain lost marital vitality.

Excess salt consumption can lead to marital or sexual problems at a young age itself. If the belief were true that salt and spices improve sexual capacity, then in today’s society — where salt and spices are used excessively — such problems should not exist at all. Yet they are clearly visible everywhere.

The idea that avoiding salt reduces sexual ability is completely a myth. Many people who have followed this path have directly experienced and shared that they were able to regain lost marital happiness through these practices.

When there is food in the stomach, the acids secreted there are used to digest that food. When the stomach is empty and there is no food present, those same acids begin to damage the walls of the stomach and intestines. This is how burning sensations in the stomach and intestinal ulcers develop.

To prevent this, some people believe that if some food is always present in the stomach, acidity will reduce and problems will not arise. Acting on this belief, they eat something or the other every two hours, even when they are not hungry. This habit actually damages the stomach and the digestive process.

The stomach has a natural intelligence. When food is present, it secretes digestive juices and acids to digest it. When there is no food, it has the ability to stop producing those juices. However, people who eat small quantities frequently, even when the stomach is empty, train the system to keep secreting acids continuously. When acids are produced without rest, burning sensations inevitably occur.

Once you eat, the food should be fully digested, the stomach should become completely empty, and only when real hunger arises should you eat again. This method is healthy for the stomach.

Consider this common situation: you eat breakfast at 9 a.m., go out, and then eat another snack at 10 or 11 a.m. with friends. The earlier food may be only half-digested when you add new food into the stomach. Now what should the stomach digest first — the half-digested food or the newly added food?

It is like adding another batch of rice to a pot when the first batch is only half-cooked. The same confusion happens inside the stomach.

Every day, we eat a little for ourselves, before it digests we eat again for social reasons, then we eat lunch because it is “time,” later we eat again out of boredom, and finally eat once more because “it will go to waste.” In this way, we turn the stomach into a garbage bin.

Therefore, the digestive system should not be kept working continuously without rest. One should eat in an orderly manner — morning, afternoon, and evening — allowing proper digestion and rest in between.

Both coconut and peanuts are oil-yielding seeds. Because they contain fat and cholesterol-related substances, many doctors say that consuming them leads to heart disease. It is true that coconut and peanuts contain fats and cholesterol-forming components. However, nature has arranged things wisely.

In any seed that contains potentially harmful substances like fat and cholesterol, nature has also placed the antidotes to those substances within the same seed. In coconut and peanuts, there are three such protective components that counteract fat and cholesterol: Dietary fiber, Lecithin, and Arginine.

All three are present in good amounts in both coconut and peanuts. When these seeds are eaten directly in their natural form, these protective substances enter the body along with the fats and prevent any harm.

The problem begins when we stop eating the seeds as seeds and start extracting oil from them. During oil extraction, the oil and the solid residue (oil cake) separate. The fat and cholesterol-forming substances go into the oil, while the three protective components remain in the oil cake.

Humans drink the extracted oil and develop diseases, while cattle eat the oil cake and remain healthy. When seeds are eaten in their whole form, they do not cause harm. When oil is extracted from them and consumed separately, disease becomes inevitable.

This is one of the reasons why Kerala, where coconut is consumed extensively, has one of the lowest rates of heart disease among Indian states.

Moreover, the coconut that is recommended for consumption is tender or fresh coconut (where about three-quarters of the nut is water), and peanuts that are soaked in water. When eaten in their fresh or soaked form, these foods do not contain harmful fat or cholesterol. Fat and cholesterol-forming substances develop only after seeds mature fully and are dried thoroughly.

The dried varieties are the ones that should be avoided. Fresh coconut and soaked peanuts can be consumed freely. In cooking, instead of using oil, roasted peanut powder can be sprinkled into dishes to enhance flavor without causing harm.

Many people who are already thin hesitate to adopt natural health principles because they fear they will lose even more weight. In reality, this fear is unfounded.

When natural principles are followed, damaged cells and weakened organs in the body are thoroughly cleansed and restored. Once the cells become clean and healthy, they develop a strong appetite and begin to demand more food. During the first one or two months, most people may eat less than required and experience some weight loss. However, once the body adapts and taste adjusts, eating becomes easy and satisfying, without any struggle.

When the body is cleansed, it absorbs whatever is eaten very efficiently. The nutrients from food are fully assimilated. Just as dry, loosened soil absorbs water deeply, a cleansed body absorbs nourishment completely when these dietary principles are followed.

For thin individuals, muscle development and strength improve when they consume sprouted seeds along with soaked peanuts and generous amounts of fresh coconut. Eating about 15–20 dates daily helps reduce fatigue and weakness. Consuming adequate quantities of unpolished (raw) rice also contributes to healthy weight gain.

Such individuals end up eating more than before, their strength increases, and their body weight also improves. There are clear and tangible benefits. The belief that these principles do not suit thin people is nothing but a misconception.

It is true that the body needs fats. However, fats do not have to come from oils. In fact, the harm caused by consuming oils is far greater than any benefit they provide.

When oil is consumed, the fat and cholesterol it contains enter the body directly, and in large quantities at one time. This places an unnecessary burden on the system. If, instead, the body’s fat requirements are met through oil-producing seeds, the fats obtained in that natural form do not harm the body. This is an indirect and gentler way of supplying fats, and it is a safe method.

Providing fats through seeds is both simple and beneficial. For example, instead of sesame oil, consume sesame seeds; instead of coconut oil, eat coconut; instead of groundnut oil, eat peanuts; along with almonds and other nuts and seeds. When fats are taken in this natural form, there is no harm to health, and the body’s nutritional needs are adequately met.

In reality, sour fruits help relieve colds. It is precisely during the seasons when colds are most common—winter and the rainy season—that sour fruits such as oranges, sweet limes, and citrus varieties become naturally available. The reason nature offers these fruits at that time is simple: they are meant to help us clear colds and excess mucus.

Sour fruits help cut through and expel the mucus accumulated inside the body, pushing it out cleanly. They are rich in vitamin C, which strengthens immunity. Through these juices, the body builds more strength and gains greater capacity to eliminate harmful accumulations.

When you drink sour juices, the impurities already present in the body begin to move out. Understanding this, one should allow the mucus to be expelled instead of suppressing it. The real cause of colds is not sour fruit itself, but the added sugar, ice, and artificial flavoring powders often mixed into these juices. We fail to recognize that these additions are what actually trigger problems.

If sour juices are consumed without such additives, using honey instead, they cause no harm at all and are, in fact, beneficial.

Many people assume that following natural health practices is expensive, believing that buying fruits, vegetables, and honey costs more than purchasing medicines. Because of this misconception, they hesitate to adopt this way of living. In reality, when you look closely, these dietary practices reduce monthly expenses by nearly half compared to earlier habits.

Consider how much money is saved by avoiding expenses on meat, spices, coffee and tea, cooking oil, sugar, junk foods, soft drinks, the fuel used to boil water repeatedly, and the cost of preparing three or four different dishes every day. When you add all this up, the savings are substantial. Even if you spend just half of that saved money on vegetables, fruits, honey, dates, and similar foods, it is more than sufficient. On top of that, monthly medical expenses are significantly reduced.

For people with limited financial means, this approach actually offers a way to live well at a much lower cost. Unpolished rice is cheaper than polished white rice. Expensive vegetables can be completely avoided, and only the locally available, inexpensive vegetables can be eaten daily. Leafy greens are usually affordable and can be cooked every day without any harm. Drinking vegetable juices is not mandatory. There is no need to buy costly fruits—eating two or three guavas a day, which are inexpensive and widely available, provides all the necessary benefits.

When sprouting seeds, inexpensive grains such as sorghum, pearl millet, horse gram, and finger millet are sufficient. Instead of buying whole coconuts, one can obtain coconut pieces for a very small amount at temples. Dates can be purchased in cheaper varieties at low cost per kilogram. Even after including all these foods, the monthly expense still turns out to be much lower than before.

Therefore, natural health principles are not only possible for those with limited means—they are, in fact, especially beneficial for them.

To live a healthy life and to work with strength, the human body does need salt. If the body does not receive salt at all, a person feels extreme weakness. The hands and legs begin to feel drained, and muscle cramps—especially in the calves—can occur. Every living being requires salt. The real question is: which salt, and from where does it come?

Look at animals. Elephants and camels pull enormous weights. Bullocks can haul carts loaded with forty sacks and continue pulling for 30–40 kilometers without stopping. Which salt do they consume for such strength? No animal adds external salt to its food. Yet they are powerful and tireless. From where does their body get salt?

The salt required by the body is naturally present in all food substances. Whatever food a living being eats in nature already contains the amount of natural salt needed for that body’s work. Through food alone, the requirement is fulfilled. The same is true for the human body as well—our salt requirement is met naturally through food.

Then where did the belief come from that without eating salt one becomes weak? In earlier times, people who did very hard physical labor often did not have access to a variety of foods. Many survived mainly on rice gruel, buttermilk rice, or porridge made from ragi or jowar. They ate this simple food three times a day, mixed only with water or buttermilk. Such limited diets did not naturally provide enough salt for their heavy labor. Because of intense physical work, they felt exhausted. To correct this deficiency, salt was gradually added to food. From then on, the idea that one cannot work without eating salt became a common belief.

Today, however, who eats only gruel or plain buttermilk rice? People now eat vegetables, fruits, milk, curd, and many varieties of food. All these foods already contain natural salt in sufficient quantities to provide the body with energy. Therefore, there is no need to add salt separately to curries or to buttermilk rice.

Moreover, the kind of physically exhausting labor that existed in earlier times is rare today. Even so, the old belief has continued out of habit. When someone stops consuming added salt, they may feel low energy for the first 8–10 days. As the body adjusts, this passes. After that adjustment period, energy levels actually become higher than before.

These days, whether you listen to doctors or to the general public, everyone says the same thing: pollution has increased, and that is why all these diseases are occurring. Air pollution, water pollution, pollution in food items—people say that because of these, diseases are not getting cured completely, and that new diseases are emerging continuously.

Reducing or completely eliminating this kind of pollution overnight is not something within our control. Even if we try, it cannot happen immediately. If a person truly cares about health and life, instead of worrying only about external pollution, they should focus on preventing the damage it causes to the body. By making the body strong and healthy, and by increasing immunity, the harm caused by pollution can be effectively countered. This is something that is fully within everyone’s reach and is achievable.

One reality that I have clearly understood is this: if pollution is responsible for about 10 percent of human diseases and loss of health, the remaining 90 percent is due to the pollution that people themselves create within their own bodies. Smoking cigarettes deliberately, eating junk foods that produce excess mucus, suppressing bowel and urinary urges, not drinking enough water, avoiding natural foods, consuming meat that has a tendency to decay inside the body, and on top of that consuming alcohol—all of these are self-created habits.

If we stop creating this kind of internal pollution, then external pollution will not pose such a serious threat to our life or health. In fact, it is the human being who first becomes unhealthy and then turns the environment unhealthy and polluted. As the saying goes, one must bear the consequences of what one creates. Whatever we do to ourselves, we inevitably have to experience the results.

Blood pressure does have a connection with salt, but the idea that not eating salt will cause low blood pressure is not true. The so-called “normal” BP value of 120/80 was defined keeping in mind people who consume salt, because almost everyone in the world eats salt.

For people who eat natural foods and live healthily without consuming salt, a BP reading of 100/70 or even 90/70 can still be considered normal for them. If someone who has been eating salt for many years suddenly switches to a salt-free diet for four or five days, their BP may come down from 120/80 to around 100/70. There is no need to panic and assume that this means low BP.

When BP reduces slightly, one may temporarily feel a bit weak or experience mild dizziness. However, once the body adapts to a salt-free diet, the same person will feel more energetic and active with a BP of 100/70 than they ever did earlier with a BP of 120/80 while consuming salt.

Low blood pressure is commonly seen in people who do not eat properly or who do not drink enough water. Salt may be required temporarily to raise BP during an acute episode of low BP, but the belief that avoiding salt itself causes low BP is completely a myth.

Children inherit either health or ill health from their parents through genes. Diseases that are passed on in this way are called hereditary diseases. Among these, diabetes and asthma are the most commonly cited examples. Even if medicines are taken for a lifetime, these conditions are believed not to be completely cured—only managed or controlled. Because everyone is familiar only with medicines, the belief has firmly settled in people’s minds that such diseases can never fully go away.

What most people do not know is what happens when food itself is used as medicine. Doctors conduct research mainly on drugs, not on food. Because of this, neither doctors nor the general public are fully aware of the healing potential of proper nutrition. When natural, wholesome food is followed, both diabetes and asthma have been seen to subside completely within a month. Even if cooked food is eaten, as long as it is taken without salt and oil, these diseases do not manifest. They reduce fully without the need for medicines.

However, if these food disciplines are discontinued, the diseases tend to return within four or five days. Dietary discipline cannot destroy the disease-causing genes, but it does not nourish them either. As a result, the symptoms fail to sprout.

For example, during summer, due to heat and lack of water, grass dries up completely. Even though the grass dries, its roots remain safely intact in the soil. Until favorable conditions return and water is supplied, the roots remain dormant. When both water and suitable conditions are provided again, the grass sprouts once more. In the same way, diabetes and asthma dry up when proper food is followed, but when food is eaten merely for taste, these diseases sprout again.

We have observed this repeatedly across many thousands of cases. With determination and correct living, hereditary diseases can be controlled and kept at bay, allowing one to live freely despite their genetic presence.

These days, many people say it is better to eat everything and die early than to restrain oneself and live for 100 years. If one could eat everything and still live happily, that would indeed be good fortune. But because eating everything leads to illness, and because people are unable to bear that suffering and end up constantly running to doctors, restraint is advised—to reduce that suffering.

The intention of natural living is not to go on strike against taste or to forbid enjoyment. For years, we have eaten purely for taste and, as a result, invited disease. Now, for the sake of health, if we eat well every day, live free from illness, and occasionally enjoy those tastes, there is no harm. When one is healthy, one can eat anything, anytime, at any age. But once health is gone, what enjoyment of food remains? In the end, it is the eater who disappears.

We are not born merely to eat. If that were the purpose, animals also eat, move around, sleep, and reproduce—we do the same. If that is all we do, then what is the difference between them and us? Human birth is unique and distinct from all other life forms. To realize that uniqueness and purpose, even 100 years are not excessive. During those 100 years of human striving, food should not become an obstacle.

We should not dig our own pit with our own hands. If we believe we are born only to eat, then we are, in effect, digging our own grave with our own mouth.

Every minute, the nose cleans the air we breathe and sends it into the lungs. The air we inhale contains many kinds of bacteria. These bacteria get trapped in the thin mucus secreted by the inner lining of the nose. The nose continuously clears these trapped bacteria and impurities—much like sweeping a house with a broom—and moves them into the throat. From the throat, they are slowly carried into the stomach along with the mucus, where they are destroyed by gastric acids.

The nose produces up to one liter of mucus every day. When the surrounding temperature becomes very cold, the nose temporarily loses some of its ability to perform this cleaning function efficiently. As a result, the mucus does not pass smoothly into the throat and instead starts flowing out through the nose. This is what we call a runny nose.

When a person’s immunity is strong, the nose performs its duty properly and bacteria are destroyed continuously. In people with weak immunity, these bacteria remain in the nose and throat. In such cases, even sudden exposure to cold air, or someone who regularly bathes with hot water switching to a cold-water head bath once, can trigger the discharge in the form of a runny nose.

It is not cold water that causes a runny nose. Rather, it is the lack of immunity. If pouring cold water on the head is practiced regularly, the body adapts, immunity improves, and the problem disappears.

Many people strongly believe that illnesses cannot be cured unless medicines are taken. If one first understands why diseases arise—what mistakes lead to illness—then it becomes clear how diseases can subside even without medicines. The cause of illness has no direct connection with medicines. If that is so, how can recovery from illness depend solely on medicines?

Diseases arise because of the mistakes we make. When those mistakes are stopped, diseases naturally recede. Here, correcting one’s mistakes itself becomes the medicine. There is no medicine greater than that.

Mosquitoes breed in stagnant, muddy water. If we keep allowing the mud to accumulate and keep killing mosquitoes with chemicals, will the problem ever truly end? The right solution is to remove the mud, dry the area, and prevent stagnation from forming again. That is the correct remedy—one without side effects, without cost, and with lasting results. That alone is natural medicine.

Without realizing this truth, is it ever possible to continue eating indiscriminately and try to suppress diseases only with medicines? That is why, despite the presence of countless doctors and the discovery of numerous new drugs, diseases continue to increase rather than decrease. Medicines do not eliminate the root cause of disease.

Therefore, use the remedies that are already in your own hands—your habits and choices—as the true medicine for your illnesses.

When one newly begins this daily routine based on dietary discipline, it may initially feel as though the entire day is spent paying attention to these activities. Drinking water early in the morning, going for bowel movement, drinking water again, going again, then urinating after some time, drinking juice, going again, eating again, and again going to the toilet—when observed closely, it can feel as if the whole day is taken up with drinking, eating, and visiting the restroom. Many feel that all their available time is being spent only on these activities.

People often think that to follow what Satyanarayana Raju suggests, one must give up work or business entirely and dedicate all their time only to health.

Think of someone learning to drive a car for the first time. Engaging the gear feels new, releasing the clutch feels unfamiliar, watching oncoming traffic requires full attention, and changing gears according to speed feels stressful. During this phase, one cannot talk to others, listen to music, admire roadside scenes, or relax. One has to sit upright, fully alert, and focused just to drive properly. Does driving remain this stressful for an entire lifetime?

In the same way, this daily health routine feels demanding only during the initial 15 to 20 days. Once it becomes a habit, everything falls into place naturally. After that, while following all the rules, one can easily work for 18 hours a day without difficulty.

Do you think we all follow these practices and still spend the whole day sitting at home doing nothing? Not at all. So, let go of such misconceptions and begin practicing calmly and confidently.

Many people have reduced or stopped using spinach and tomatoes out of fear that consuming them frequently leads to kidney stones. Some even believe that cooking and eating these two together causes stones. Doctors often advise people who already have kidney stones to avoid these vegetables. This is because both spinach and tomatoes contain higher amounts of calcium and oxalates.

In people who already have excess calcium and oxalates accumulated in the body and have formed stones, consuming spinach and tomatoes may worsen the condition. That is why doctors advise such patients not to eat them. However, this restriction applies only to those who already have kidney stones. For people who do not have stones, these vegetables do not cause any harm. That rule does not apply to everyone.

The real reason kidney stones form is primarily inadequate water intake. When people drink too little water, excess salts in the body are not flushed out daily through urine and instead remain inside the body. Over time, these retained salts gradually accumulate and harden into stones, causing obstruction.

That is exactly why, after stones are diagnosed, doctors advise patients to drink large amounts of water every day. If the same amount of water were consumed regularly from the beginning, stones would not form in the first place. Without correcting this root cause, avoiding spinach and tomatoes or avoiding eating them together is not the right solution.

It is true that drinking milk provides some strength. Milk is mainly needed by the body during childhood. In adulthood, milk is not essential. Are there not better sources of strength than milk? Milk also contains elements that can be harmful to the body.

The ability to digest milk is strong during childhood. As age increases, the intestines gradually lose the capacity to digest milk properly. As a result, problems such as bloating, gas formation, and discomfort in the intestines begin to appear. Milk also has a mucus-forming (phlegm-producing) property. In addition, milk contains harmful fats and cholesterol. Irrespective of age, cholesterol levels rise and heart diseases develop, and milk can contribute to this.

Therefore, as a preventive measure, avoiding milk in adulthood does not harm the body. Many people drink milk for calcium, but the calcium the body needs is available in abundance from various seeds, fruits, and plant foods. Hence, milk is not necessary for calcium.

To build strength, foods such as sprouted seeds, coconut, sesame seeds, and similar items can be used. These provide not only strength but also supply all essential nutrients in a rich and easily digestible form, without harming the body.

Hence, adults can avoid drinking milk and instead use it in cooking, if needed, or consume it in the form of curd (yogurt), which is not harmful. Since we already consume many foods that are stronger and more nourishing than milk, those are sufficient for maintaining strength.

For the thyroid gland, located in the throat region, to function properly, a mineral called iodine is required. Iodine is naturally present in almost all foods that grow under normal natural conditions. It is mainly deficient only in crops grown in mountainous regions. The reason is simple: iodine is naturally absent in mountain soil. When the soil itself lacks iodine, it cannot appear in the food grown there.

In addition, when natural foods are excessively cooked, strained, ground, fried, immersed in oils, stored for long periods, and otherwise processed or damaged, the iodine present in them is lost, leading to iodine deficiency in the body.

As a preventive measure to address this deficiency, the government introduced iodine into salt, a substance commonly used by everyone, so that iodine would reach people effortlessly. This is how iodized salt came into use. For the past 15–20 years, almost everyone has been consuming iodized salt. Yet, despite this, thyroid problems are increasing rapidly day by day.

For the thyroid gland to function properly, iodine alone is not sufficient. It also requires adequate nutrition. Only when sufficient nutrients are available can the thyroid function efficiently. Therefore, instead of consuming salt merely for iodine, eating nutritious food ensures that the body receives iodine along with everything else the thyroid needs.

By consuming fruits, leafy vegetables, and seeds, the body naturally receives the iodine it requires, along with essential nutrients, without depending on salt.

If a healthy, well-grown plant is uprooted from one place and transplanted into another location, it appears wilted and dried for about five or six days. Is this unnatural? No—it is completely natural. In the same way, when we completely change our food habits, the body too may look weak, dry, or sunken for one or two months. Due to changes in diet, weight may reduce, and the body and face may appear drawn or tired during this initial phase.

After a few days, once the plant adapts to the new soil and environment and its roots spread properly, it starts absorbing nutrients from the soil and grows back lush, strong, and healthy. Similarly, when the body adapts to the new diet, it begins absorbing nutrients efficiently and gradually becomes healthy and strong. When inner health improves, it naturally reflects outward. Within a short time, the body and face begin to look healthier, brighter, and more radiant than before.

When the body receives all required nutrients properly, such positive changes are inevitable. However, some people do not eat properly—either because the food does not taste familiar, the method is new, they dislike it, or they fail to follow it correctly. As a result, even after two or three months, their face may appear aged, sunken, or unhealthy. Observing such people, others assume that this way of eating causes everyone to look like that, leading to this misconception.

In reality, the fault does not lie with the food or the method but with improper practice. Good food, when eaten adequately, always improves health—it never causes harm. This misconception arises mainly among those who neither eat enough good food nor completely avoid unhealthy food, ending up in between.

At the time of marriage, the bride and groom are made to join hands and walk around the sacred fire, taking vows that—whether in hardship or happiness—they will stand together, share life as equals, and live like milk and water blended into one. Unfortunately, today these vows often remain only as spoken words, rarely reflected in real life.

Couples may come together easily to follow unhealthy habits, but it is very rare for both partners to jointly begin a good practice and continue it consistently throughout life. If even husband and wife are like this, what can we expect from the children born into such families? This is the reality of many households today.

In such families, if even one person begins to follow healthy food practices as suggested here, within one or two months they start facing resistance and difficulties. Others may mock them, calling these practices unnecessary obsessions. Even when the person following the discipline sees good results, lack of support at home often pushes them to give up and revert to old habits.

Many people abandon these healthy practices altogether, feeling that swimming against the current—both at home and in society—is too difficult. But when this happens, it is the family itself that ultimately suffers the loss.

If even one person in the household understands health principles and good habits, over time it benefits the entire family. Not everyone may listen at first. But if the person who starts does not step back, they can gradually influence others. One lamp can light another lamp.

If one person changes for the sake of their family and becomes a living example for others, that itself is a blessing. There is no need to feel discouraged or think, “This is just my fate.” In my view, at least one person must change. Even if others do not follow, the least they can do is not discourage the one who is trying.

Some people, as a precaution, regularly get their blood pressure checked and undergo blood tests, X-rays, scans, and similar investigations. When all the reports come back “normal,” they assume they are in perfect health. Then, five months later, another blood test reveals diabetes. If it was not seen five months ago but appears now, does that mean diabetes developed only during these five months? No—that is just how it appears to us.

In reality, for a condition like diabetes to surface, it takes many years of internal changes before it finally manifests as a detectable disease. Five months ago, it did not show up because it had not yet fully matured into a diagnosable condition. Now, all the underlying changes have completed their course, and the disease has emerged clearly. That is why it is now visible in the test.

This is similar to constructing a large building. A very deep foundation is laid first, and only then does the structure rise above the ground. When the building is complete, what we see is the structure above ground—not the foundation beneath it. Just because we cannot see the foundation, does that mean it does not exist? Of course it exists; it is simply invisible to our eyes.

In the same way, diseases that exist as “foundations” inside the body are not visible in blood tests, X-rays, or scans. Only when they grow stronger—like walls rising above the ground—do they become detectable through tests. When blood tests are normal, they only indicate that nothing is clearly manifest at this moment. They do not guarantee that nothing will develop in the future, nor can they predict what is silently progressing inside.

Health should not be defined merely as the absence of disease at present. True health means not only having no disease now, but also being in a state where disease is unlikely to arise in the future. Can such a state be detected through medical tests? No.

If you examine your inner awareness—your inner sense—it will tell you clearly what is coming and what is not. It knows fully. If you learn to trust it, you will truly recover and remain well. When you listen to that inner voice, real health becomes a lived experience, not just a lab report.

Light the Lamp of Health

Today, every individual is struggling in the darkness of ill health. In an attempt to escape this suffering, people search for health the way one looks for water in a mirage. In the end, no matter where they turn or how much money they spend, their pain only increases — the burden never truly lessens.

I too wandered in this same way for a long time. Unable to endure the suffering any longer, I finally began to change my habits. Through direct experience, I realized that our health truly lies in our own hands, and that we can regain it right within our own homes. From that moment onward, I have been keeping the lamp of health burning — never allowing it to go out.

With the noble intention that these truths should reach every household in society — so that everyone, like me, may restore their health without expense, using only what is available at home, and while remaining at home — I began this great Health Yajna (a sacred collective effort for well-being). To ensure that even the common person could access this knowledge at a very affordable cost, ten books were brought together and presented as a single ten-volume series.

I urge you to read these books with an open and receptive mind, to practice their principles sincerely, and to light the lamp of health in your own life. If you truly believe that the ideas presented in this ten-book series can help others, just as they have helped you, then take it upon yourself to kindle a few more lamps of health.

Lighting lamps is part of our tradition. One lamp can light another. Therefore, as a fellow human being, share this noble path of illuminating health with others as well. We often give many kinds of gifts — but lighting a lamp that has gone out is the greatest gift of all.

Let us strive to ensure that this ten-book series reaches every home. Let us bestow the blessing of health upon all. Let us build a truly healthy country.

Myth or Truth?

Your Health is in Your Hands - 8

Dr. Manthena Satyanarayana Raju

https://www.manthena.org

Rajarshi....!

What You Will Learn in This Book

Doubt Is the Greatest Obstacle

Light the Lamp of Health