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It is true that through yoga you can cure many, many diseases, except some infectious, bacterial diseases. If you have an infection, you cannot remove it through the breath or through movement. For that, you need a suitable climate and good nourishment—a different nourishment which can help to overcome, reduce, or get rid of these bacteria. But why are bacteria attacking our body? This is a very good question. Generally, bacteria are everywhere. The whole air is filled with bacteria. If you look with a very strong magnified glass, you will see this room like a fog. These are all different bacteria, along with dust and pollution. We inhale and exhale lots of bacteria every day. But as medical science says, it is the immunity in the body which doesn't let bacteria multiply or exist. Any kind of foreign particle enters the body, and our immune system will destroy it. The immune system is like soldiers on the border, a military force that doesn't let foreign elements come in. It is true that while practicing āsanas and prāṇāyāma, our immune system can become very strong and well-developed. That is one plus point for how we can get rid of many diseases. Now, the time is coming when you will have what you call allergies, allergic reactions to flower dust. Many people are very unhappy that spring and summer are coming, while many others are happy. This is also a question of immunity; in your body there is no strong immunity. The best way to develop immunity is, first, purification. This purification means the ṣaṭ kriyās, Haṭha Yoga's six cleansing techniques. Doing neti every day will protect you from allergic problems. Do neti every day with salt water, and apply a little oil in the nostrils—very little, not too much, otherwise it goes into the lungs, which is also not good. Also, practice Kunjal Kriyā, Śaṅkha Prakṣālana Kriyā, Naulī Kriyā or Agnisāra Kriyā, and Trāṭaka. A healthy person should normally do Śaṅkha Prakṣālana four times a year. If someone has physical problems, that is again individual; then you can do either more or less, as your yoga teacher advises. So first: clean, clean, clean, clean, clean, clean, clean. Now, our nourishment is another point for gaining good immunity. Unfortunately, nowadays, all the artificial fertilizers used in the fields to grow vegetables, grains, and fruits involve a lot of chemicals, and that is opposite to our immunity—they kill our immunity too. Also, dairy products unfortunately contain a lot of chemicals, manipulated in immense quantities. They give injections to cows so they give more milk; they put it in the food. Then it comes to the dairy, and the processing of the milk is also different, treated with chemicals, as are the cheeses. So we have, unfortunately, a lot of chemicals in our lives. In the home also, we use many chemical things, and that unfortunately influences our immune system. We catch illnesses very easily because there is no one fighting for our health within the body. I tell you again that a vegetarian diet is one of the best protections. A vegetarian diet does not mean only boiling vegetables and eating them; a vegetarian would not survive on that. Even an Indian who is a vegetarian would not eat like that. In food, the important thing is the spices. Spices are for different glands in the body, and glands are responsible for producing hormones. So spices are not only for your taste, for your tongue, but for the whole body. Haldi, the yellow powder, turmeric, is one of the best things you can have as an immunity controller and producer in the body. It is like an antiseptic; it fights against bacteria. Every day, one full teaspoon of haldi should go into your body. It doesn't matter in which form. Mostly it is used in spices for vegetables; you eat three times and utilize the haldi three times. Or you can put it in milk. Also, chilies. Many people say, "Oh, chili, don't eat it," and many yogīs say, "No chili," but I don't accept this thought. Chili is another best medicine for vegetarians. It is one of the best things which keeps your stomach healthy, clean, and free from many other harmful elements, like stomach worms and parasites. But there are two kinds of chilies. One is small, only one or two centimeters long, and very thin inside—only skin and seed. When you eat that, it's like a scorpion. That kind of chili is very harmful to your stomach and can cause cancer or ulcers. Do not eat that kind of hot chili. Another hot chili has a thick fruit inside. The Germans call it flesh, but flesh is a negative word for us vegetarians; we don't say flesh. Inside the fruit, there is skin and then seed, like a pepperoni, paprika, or capsicum. This kind of chili has a thick fruit inside and seeds, and it is good for the body. Of course, you should not eat half a kilo every day, but you should include it, and after some time you will be used to it and like it. Also, very, very good is black pepper. Black pepper is much better than paprika or pepperoni or chili, but you can't eat it in that much quantity. Paprika, black pepper, white pepper, and yellow pepper are three different kinds of peppers. In different cases, you use different things. Also, what we call ginger is very, very good for you. You should use ginger; it's good for immunity, for the glands, for cleaning the body, for your kidneys, and many other things. But there is what they call ginger drink, which is a form of beer, and that is too much. Fresh ginger or ginger powder in your vegetables is something very good. Cardamom is another heavenly spice. It is very little but has a great effect on your brain and your body's cooling system. It is very nice, controlling the indriyas, cooling. So to improve immunity in the body, we need different kinds of nourishment. Meat, eggs, and alcohol cannot improve your immunity; they will only kill it. When you eat meat, it is so boiled or fried that nothing is left; everything is killed. Humans become slaves to their tongues. Once, a man came to Mahāprabhujī, and there was a discussion. Mahāprabhujī asked, "Are you vegetarian?" He said, "No, I am not vegetarian. Vegetarians may be very weak; I want to be strong. You know, the tiger eats meat, the lion, the tiger." So Mahāprabhujī said, "Yes, you are right. Lions and tigers eat meat. If you put rice and chapati in front of a tiger, will he eat it? And if you give a dog chapatis, rice, milk, cooked vegetables, and meat, will he eat it?" He said, "Yes, a dog will eat everything. A lion or tiger will not even eat cooked meat." So Mahāprabhujī said, "A lion eats only meat, and a dog eats everything. Do you eat only meat, or do you eat chapatis too?" He said, "Yes, Mahāprabhujī, don't be so straightforward." "So compare yourself, what are you now, a tiger or a dog?" "Now, Mahāprabhujī, I think I have to become vegetarian because whenever I eat meat and chapatis, I will think of the dog." The way humans manipulate their diet according to taste is not good. Especially what we call fast food—just white bread, only the inner flour with no substance. They put some flavoring inside, and you think it is very good, but your stomach is not happy. So utilize these spices. In the European climate, there are many spices growing, beautiful and flavorful. This must not be hot like fire, silly. You have many, many spices, these herbs. Now is the best time to go walking in the forest where people don't use pesticides and get from there some herbs for cooking—nettles and some plants. They call it "Löwenzahn" in German; I don't know the English name. Many good kinds of grass are edible. Shape it nicely and prepare it. It depends on your kitchen whether you are healthy or unhealthy. Many cancer diseases occur day by day because people do not have a proper kitchen. They did not eat proper spices, and there is some stuck energy, bacteria growing and growing, and it becomes like spoiled or rotten inside. This is what we call cancer, developed in such a way. Our immunity is not strong enough to kill everything. Medical science is trying very hard, but there are two meanings. When you get chemotherapy, they say whatever healthy immunity remained in your body, you killed it also with the chemotherapy. Doctors say it is a cruel treatment that will kill the cancer, but some metastases in the body may be left. They made research, so I can't tell anything; I am not a doctor. But a yogī or an Āyurvedic doctor says an operation is okay. Afterwards, you should eat food which will support your body to develop more immunity—not at all eggs and meat. Some say it's good to take two tablespoons of red wine every day after your meal. I don't know if it is good or not, but people say this. For your immunity, you have to take spices, especially after a cancer operation. Also, eat more raw things and juices of fresh vegetables grown naturally in organic fields. The juice of pumpkin is very, very good. There is a special kind of pumpkin, long and cream-colored. In India, they call it "loki." When you cook it, it doesn't dissolve; it remains as a fruit. In Europe, many pumpkins dissolve when cooked; it's just water. If you can get that other kind of pumpkin, you should drink half a liter of pumpkin juice every day, whether healthy or unhealthy; that is very advisable. In this pumpkin juice, you can put a little bit of carrots, half a little chili or black pepper, a piece of fresh ginger the size of your thumb, one apple, spinach, red beets (a little, not much). Put this all together with what we call in Europe Himalayan salt, or rock salt. This kind of drink will help your gland system regenerate and will support the immune system very much. Your yoga postures and exercises will activate the organs and muscles. Muscles get tense very quickly, but to relax again takes time. The difference between sport and yoga is this: in sport, it is too quick, and constantly your muscles are in tension. But in yoga, the muscles get tension and then relaxation; slowly they relax. So it has a greater effect on our body, muscles, joints, circulation, as well as our gland systems to balance hormones. Whether you are healthy or not, the best thing is to prepare this juice for yourself every day. We have a system called a freezer, so you can store the juice for two days, not longer. That is a big prevention for our health. For those practicing yoga for good health, be sure it helps you. Prāṇāyāma is another thing. It will improve your immunity and decrease bacteria in the body. It purifies the nervous system, the body, the lungs, and your lungs get more volume to take in more oxygen. That means more oxygen in your blood, and when oxygen is more, immunity is strong. In your food, there is more life, more energy, and these energies are in different spices. We know that all kinds of medicines developed in Āyurveda, homeopathy, naturopathy, or allopathy come from certain plants or herbs. They are concentrated, so they artificially develop that kind of energy, and though it is strong, artificial is still artificial. If we have access to natural things, we should not go to artificial things. But in certain cases, of course, we should not deny medicine; we must take it, even if it is antibiotic, in certain cases. When a person comes to yoga with the thinking, "I will be healthy," definitely you will be healthy, but now you have to work on yourself. That's why food is a very important part of our life. Food was not created as tasteful food, but food is given to live a life. Āyurveda is the science of food: what you should eat, what you should not eat, how much you should eat, and so on. But we lost our limitation. When it's tasteful, we forget; we eat and eat till we say, "Oh, I can't anymore." Then comes chocolate, then hot chocolate, then ice cream, then coffee. So we put all this into the body. An Āyurvedic Vaidya said, "Oh God, what are you doing?" The Vaidya said the modern diet is like throwing everything into a garbage bag, a big plastic garbage bag. They said humans have made their stomach a garbage bag. We do not have the nerves to endure hunger. You should have two hours of a very strong feeling of hunger, and then you eat. That food supplies the body all nutrition in the right way. But we can't remain half an hour without taking something in the mouth—if not, then chewing gum. Chewing gum is another horror for your stomach. Always at the intended time, you get information that something will come, something will come. The digestive fire is awakening, but nothing comes. It is said that many people get ulcers from eating too much chewing gum. So endure the hunger for two, three hours. Oh God, then you will see how your body needs and how you will enjoy your food. Eat only when you are hungry. But when we have a little hunger, we take an apple, nuts, an orange, a biscuit—all the time taking and taking. Hardly can the stomach make its program to digest this and that. This computer, the stomach computer, is completely confused. Therefore, for yoga practitioners, lifelong observe the diet and lifelong observe your exercises, this practice, without making differences and without competitions.