03. Diet for Brahmacharya

Control of the palate is the first essential in the observance of the vow. I saw that complete control of the palate made the observance very easy and so I now pursued my dietetic experiments not merely from the vegetarian's but also from the brahmachari's point of view. I saw as the result of these experiments that the brahmachari's food should be limited, simple, spiceless, and, if possible, uncooked.

Six years of experiment have showed me that the brahmachari's ideal food is fresh fruits and nuts. The immunity from passion that I enjoyed when I lived on this food was unknown to me after I changed that diet. Brahmacharya needed no effort on my part when I lived on fruits and nuts alone. It has been a matter of very great effort ever since I began to take milk. How I had to go back to milk from a fruit diet will be considered in its proper place. It is enough to observe here that I have not the least doubt that milk diet makes the brahmacharya vow difficult to observe. Let no one deduce from this that all brahmacharis must give up milk. The effect on brahmacharya of different kinds of food can be determined only after numerous experiments. I have yet to find a fruit substitute for milk which is an equally good muscle-builder and easily digestible. The doctors, vaids and hakims have alike failed to enlighten me. Therefore though I know milk to be partly a stimulant, I cannot, for time being, advise anyone to give it up.

Young India, 27-1-1927