The Disadvantages of Overeating

Some dying of hunger; others from overeating

If we have people dying of hunger in many states in our country, we also have the people dying of over-eating.

Overeating is not always fatal

Unlike hunger, over-eating is not always fatal if one takes some precautionary measures at the same time. But a long habit of over-eating finally leads one to the grave.

Diseases – diabetes, etc.

Over-eating causes a number of diseases to the person concerned. The most dangerous among them are heart attack, diabetes, paralysis, numbness of limbs, dullness of the brain, etc. It develops the habit of laziness and hence, lessens the vitality and vigour in a person to work. It also causes a person to gain weight and hence makes him less effective at every kind of job.

Heart disease – hardening of arteries

The persons above 30 who take more fats are more likely to fall prey to some kind of heart problem. They might get the problems of high blood pressure, high cholesterol level in the bloodstream, hardening of arteries, renal failure, formation of clots in arteries of the heart and brain, etc.

Calories – importance

Previously, it was believed that a person of any age group could take any amount of proteins. But recent studies have shown that illnesses as diverse as Alzheimer’s disease, Creutzfeldt Jakob disease, and diabetes, etc are caused by proteins which assume a special kind of shape in the body.

Pigs

Romans

It is said that those who eat like pigs themselves become pigs. It is said about the Romans that they ate too much, and they fell sick and had to get medicines to cause vomiting to get rid of flatulence and stomachache. The famous writer, C.E.M. Joad has specifically mentioned the Romans’ habit of overeating and he does not consider them civilized on this count.

Kidney transplant

We live in a strange world where one-half of the population is starving and the other half is dying because of over-eating. If you go to any hospital, you will find people from affluent sections of society admitted there for bypass surgery of heart or ballooning or kidney transplant. There are hardly any patients from poor families.

Non-Veg. diet and Lack of physical work

Many people eat high-calorie food such as red meat, butter, other dairy products, dry fruit, etc. It has now been proved beyond doubt that only those doing hard physical work need a rich diet and, unfortunately, such people can’t afford to have off. Those doing less physical work or sedentary work don’t need rich food.

Now, it is well-known that a vegetarian diet is the best diet. Those who take low-calorie food live longer than others who take high-calorie food. Gandhi ji ate very little. It is often said that he would have probably lived for 125 years or even more had his life not been cut short by a fanatic.

Obesity

Over-eating leads to obesity which is very dangerous to our health. A health specialist points out that “Health risks increase progressively with the increase in the girth (and weight) beyond the ideal figures.”

Eat a little less than you would like to eat

Thus, the best rule is: do not over-eat. As a precautionary measure, eat a little less than what actually satisfies your hunger. Never eat to the extent that you feel satiated. We read in history that the main reason for Akbar’s good health was that he ate sparingly and always less than what his body demanded. Once even Indira Gandhi disclosed that such a way of eating was the main reason why she was so healthy.

The great Indian sages were very wise in prescribing fasts for men and women on certain days. Now, it has also been proved that during the day, a number of small helpings are better than fewer full meals. This way of eating leads to less formation and deposit of LDL (bad cholesterol) in the blood, and thus the person concerned is saved from the detrimental effects of the high levels of this kind of cholesterol.