The Effect of Nutrition on Spiritual Health; From Cultivation and Animal Breeding to Processing and Intake

Introduction

The World Health Organization (WHO) translates the health as having complete physical, mental, social and spiritual comfort and not just the absence of disease and organ defects. So, one of the most important aspects of health is spirituality [1]. Generally, the definition of spirituality is complex because researchers have little agreement about it. This lack of agreement is related to the degree of combining spirituality with religion [2,3]. The word “Spiritual” is derived from the Latin word “spiritus” which means “soul” and “Spiritual” means “spiritual” and “spiritual” or “immaterial”. Sometimes, spirituality is considered a process to create inner satisfaction that has the components of peace, happiness and hope; However, in Quranic thought, spiritual health is viewed based on cognitive, emotional, behavioral and consequent indicators. In this idea, man should have sufficient knowledge about God and his relationship with God [4]. In this regard, in traditional Iranian medicine, it is important to believe in the existence of resourceful power or nature, which regulates internal processes and actions and makes a person healthy [5]. Nutrition can affect factors such as belief in monotheism, resurrection and components such as trust in God, forgiveness, good morals, and hope [6]. This study Investigates the mutual effect of nutrition and spiritual health.

Methods

In this study, it examines the impact of nutrition on spiritual health from the farm to the table using a descriptive and analytical method. In this regard, using the keywords of spiritual health, spirituality, lifestyle, nutrition, cooking, sleep, air, and farm to table, all related sites were searched. Also, databases and narrative books and Iranian Islamic medicine sources were examined. In this regard, 130 titles of articles and books were obtained, of which 55 were discarded after studying their summaries. Among the remaining number, 15 sources were used to fully studying the articles and books. The narratives obtained were analyzed in 5axes, which can form a perfect human being by influencing nutrition.

Results

In the review of various studies and Islamic narratives, 5axes were obtained, which include farm indicators, transportation, product processing, cooking, while eating. In each axis, factors affecting it were extracted from Islamic studies and traditions. According to Figure 1 below, we discuss the things that must be observed at each stage from the farm to the table.

Effective Factors in the Health of Food in Farms

A Muslim farmer, with ablution and cleanliness and divine remembrance and mention of the name of God, the Most Merciful, the Most Merciful, the halal seed, healthy and cultivated body, the right time for farming, the right water, clean and good and in the right amount, the land is clean and good and suitable for The growth conditions of each plant and each climate, no damage due to improper use of pesticides and fertilizers, timely harvesting of plants, proper storage and maintenance [6-8].

Shipping

Proper storage, not using inappropriate preservatives, not using methods that harm the spirit of the plant, the purity of the person who carries it, not fainting in the plant and food and mixing it with other substances, not usury and unusual profits can control a potentially life-threatening their side effects on the health of food and on spirit [8,9].

Processing

Proper processing of the plant according to the type of plant, not mixing with inappropriate preservatives, not separating its beneficial substances such as bran from wheat, the purity of the people involved in processing, mention of proper remembrance during processing, no usury and unusual profit can control the dangerous side effects on food and spirit [4].

Cooking

The cleanliness of the cook and the Muslimness of the cook and the remembrance of God and the mention of Bismillah, proper cooking of food, use of proper ingredients, cooking food with methods that do not harm the spirit of the plant, proper presentation of food at the right time [10,11].

Table

The food used should be halal, and it has been obtained with clean money, purity, performing ablution, in the name of Allah for every meal, carefully looking at the food and the relationship with the food, eating on time, eating as much as and less than what is needed, with a righteous person. Eating, eating with confidence, gratitude [12] (Figure 1).

Figure 1: Factors affecting spiritual health from the viewpoint of nutrition; From farm to the table.

Discussion

By studying the sources of Islamic Iranian medicine and Islamic narrative books and databases with the keywords of spiritual health, spirituality, nutrition, farm to the table, 5 factors affecting human food in order to reach a perfect human being and spiritual health were collected. These 5 factors by affecting the cell can determine the function of the body cells in such a way that a person can reach the nearness of God or the perigee of humiliation.

From the perspective of Islam and in many books, there are many metamaterial factors that affect cells and genes [10,13]. In this section, indicators of farm, transportation, product processing, cooking, while eating were counted. The effective factors in food health are as follows:

a) The farm can have an effective role on spiritual health. If natural considerations are observed in the farm, the obtained food can cause the spiritual growth of man. These factors include the religiousness of the farmer, his ablution and purity, and the remembrance of Allah and the mention of the name of Allah, the Merciful, the Merciful, the use of halal and non-transgenic seeds, the right time for farming, healthy water without additives, the land obtained from halal and proportionate property [4,7,14,15]. With the growth conditions of each plant and each climate, there is no damage due to inappropriate use of pesticides and fertilizers, timely harvesting of the plant, proper storage and maintenance. Although the acquisition of halal wealth is considered a transcendental matter, the teachings of Islam and experience indicate that the wealth that is acquired through haram means not only does not lead to the spiritual growth of a person, but also sometimes causes a decrease in farm products and the quality and amount of inappropriate farm pests [10].

b) Another factor affecting spiritual health from the point of view of nutrition is transportation and storage. Although this axis is apparently unrelated to food and materials, important points are mentioned in Islamic teachings. proper storage, not using inappropriate preservatives, not using methods that harm the spirit of the plant, purity of the person who carries it, any dishonesty in the transaction such as mixing with other substances, hoarding, fraud, short selling, usury and unconventional profits can affect the nature of food and cause spiritual growth in humans [6,14,16,17].

c) The third axis counted in this study is product processing. Proper processing of the plant according to the type of plant, not mixing it with inappropriate preservatives, maintaining the intrinsic nature of the food and not separating its useful substances such as bran from wheat, the purity of the people involved in processing, recite Islamic doa during processing can have significant effects on food and consequently spiritual health. Food manipulation in the last century has caused protests by experts in the field of food [18,19]. Many experts believe that genetic manipulation causes the loss of the properties of food and may harm it, while scientists agree that genetic manipulation of food is sometimes needed to provide food for the world community.

d) The fourth part is about the effect of food on the spiritual health of cooking and how to cook food. The cleanliness of materials, the remembrance of God and the mention of Bismillah, adequate and appropriate cooking of food, use of appropriate ingredients, cooking with methods that do not harm the spirit of the plant, and the appropriate presentation of food at the appropriate time are factors that have many impacts [12,14,16,17]. The nature of food affects spiritual health. The taste of food and the pleasure derived from it depends on the degree of harmony between the nature of the food and the cooking factors. For example, the food that is cooked in natural dishes (stone, copper and clay dishes) and the material cooks it at dawn is much more pleasant and delicious.

e) The last indicator in the dimension of the impact of food on spiritual health is the table. Generally, this axis can be given more attention due to its availability to everyone and families and has a higher effectiveness. Due to the separation of food production mechanisms from farm to table, the dimensions of the previous 4axes are generally not under the control of families, and due to the industrialization of food and packaging and the entry of factories, the considerations of the previous 4 paragraphs are less controllable. In this section, the important criteria include that the food used is halal, and that it is obtained with clean money, purity, being in ablution, calling God for every food, looking carefully at food and communicating with food, eating on time, until one is not hungry. Do not eat food and stop eating before you are full, use the benefits of food, eat safely, chew at least 32 times, eat while sitting on the floor, eat as a family and avoid being alone while eating [6,10,12,20-25].

In the teachings of Islam, it is mentioned that all objects and solids have souls and therefore are influenced by speech, behavior and even intentions. It is said in the Qur’an: Glory be to God in the heavens and the earth. Everything in the heavens and the earth refers to this type, and objects and solids are related to it, and they say God’s praise, but we do not hear their glorification [10-12,17,19,26-29].

Imoto”, has documented the molecular changes of water by means of electronic microscope photography techniques and its observation. Since the crystalline form of water is visible when the water is frozen, for this purpose, he turned water droplets into ice and then placed them in a dark microscopic test space that had photographic capabilities. His research has clearly shown the change in the structure of the water molecule and shows the effect of the environment on the structure of water. Snow has been falling on the earth for more than several million years, and as we know, each snowflake has a special and unique shape and structure [30-32]. By turning water into ice and photographing its structure, you get incredible information about water.

Imoto” has achieved interesting differences in the crystalline structure of water, which is prepared from different sources and different conditions on the planet. The water that flows from its original location on the mountain and the springs that flow present very beautiful geometric designs from their crystallized patterns. Polluted and toxic water obtained from densely populated and industrial areas and stagnant water from reservoirs and storage dams clearly show the changed crystal structures of water that are formed by chance, which is in the form of destroyed and irregular crystals.

Imoto believes that prayer has an immediate effect on water molecules. He has come to the conclusion that prayer makes everything beautiful and one of these is water. In order to test the effect of prayer on the water, he asked some people to stand next to the Fujiwara dam and pray and tested the water before and after praying [31].

In Emoto’s study, the effect of the environment (thoughts, speech, behavior, words) on water was shown [32]. Therefore, this effect can be on any food item and any distance from the nature of the food item can cause distance from the spiritual health and the true position of man. Therefore, food should have its natural course from the farm to the table, and any damage to the soul of the food may be removed from the proper functioning of the food, and as a result, we will see that the right food does not reach the organ and the production of waste material accumulated in the organ. The more the organ goes out of its normal function.

We believe that if the right food reaches an organ like the eye and no waste material accumulates in the eye, its natural function is different from just seeing the material nature. The natural function means that the supernatural is expected to be seen and, in other words, to create a purgatory eye. At the same time, it is true for the natural ear that if the ear functions normally, it can hear the sound of the glorification of animals and plants.

Conclusion

If the food does not undergo unnatural changes (unnatural and inherent) during the preparation from the farm to the table, it can affect the spiritual health. Natural changes include changes that change the nature of a substance contrary to its nature. The human nature and every food item are based on the will of God and are aligned with each other, if this alignment is observed, it can lead a human being to high positions, which is also part of the essence of God’s creation. The instructions related to these 5axes, which are placed in the Islamic religion for feeding from the farm to the table, can help a person to reach his spiritual position at a higher speed. Any change outside the nature of food causes the natural direction of man and food to collide and prevents man from reaching God. Unnatural food causes unnatural thoughts and behavior in humans and leads away from spirituality. Since health is the focus of everything, even the ascension of man, and every human being wants to grow even in the field of spirituality, he must be a healthy person, so it is necessary to observe the natural considerations in the 5 mentioned axes for spiritual health. According to the above, it seems that one of the main ways of reforming society and creating a spiritual trend and reviving human nature is the health of the food process from the farm to the table.

Availability of Data and Material

All of them are available.

Ethics Approval and Consent to Participate

Informed consent forms were obtained from all subjects participated in the study.

Funding

This study was not supported by any institute.

Acknowledgement

We appreciate all the people who helped us in conducting this study.

Conflict of Interest

None.

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