As an example; the carbohydrates stimulate the production of insulin;

insulin increases the level of serotonin in the brain and this makes the person sleepy and lethargic. There are nutrients which stimulate the mental activities when they are taken in small amounts , such as coffee, tea, chocolates, the hot and spicy foods…

Alcoholic drinks, drugs, cigarettes and similar pleasure giving substances paralyse the mental activities… These pleasure giving things cause an obstruction in the connections (synapses) between the brain cells and stop the flow of bio electricity to the fifteen billions of neurons, thus causing a complete apathy in the brain cell.

In the researches conducted by the American Scientists, it has been determined that when a pregnant woman smoked cigarettes, there would be diseases of the heart, as well as the diseases of the arteries and the veins and the nicotine would be passed over to the baby from the mother’s milk, thus causing the baby to have a cigarette smoking addiction in the later ages. The body does not have any power to resist these substances and they do harm the biological and the mental structure.

Some foods with a high cholesterol content stop the functions of the arteries and cause the malfunctioning of all the organs as well as their nourishment and production. During the slaughter of the animals the secreted stress hormones of the animal such as adrenalin are mixed with the blood.

Therefore, the people who are eating the meats from the animals which have been cut without letting the blood flow out, are developing a parasitic formation and a rather nervous behaviour.

In the people who are eating high amounts of meat, the bacteria in their intestines have a chemical reaction with the digestive enzymes and cause cancer.

Also, when using raw or rare cooked pig’s meat, the larvae of taenia solium and trichine worm (trichinella spiralis) are contaminated.

We can define the larvae as the fetus forms that are carrying the genetic qualities of these parasites. In the human body they first get located in the heart, the muscle and the brain tissue, more rarely they get located in the tissue of the eyes, the tissue under the skin and the lungs. The tissues of all these organs become the carriers of the parasites and in this way the parasites are being transferred.

The architect of the evolution theory Charles Darwin and other scientists of nature agree that the first men in the world had a nutrition made up of fruits and vegetables and the health of the majority was good.

In 1977, The Nutrition Committee of the American Senate has published the declaration ‘’American Dietary Objectives’’, in which it was stated that the consumption of meat should be decreased, whereas the fruits, vegetables, and the seeds of wheat should be used more. In my opinion these recommendations indicate clearly the risks of eating meat.

Meanwhile, Calcium, B1, B6, Phosphorus, and Lecithin are among the substances that have positive influences over the brain. They have important duties in the working mechanism of the brain and the protection of the functions of the cells. Among these Lecithin, which is one of the basic components of the brain and the nerve cells, has a function of breaking down the oils and preventing the cholesterol from accumulating inside the cells.

B1 and B6 are compulsory for the life of the cells, for their healthy fuctioning, for the development of the teeth and the bones. At the same time they act as catalysts in the biological reactions. When there is a lack of vitamin C, the tissue around the teeth bleeds, there are aches in the back, in the joints and the shoulders, also, the nervousness increases. However, when taken in high doses like 4 grams, its diarrhoea causing effect can be seen. It was found out that a dose of one miligram is not harmful for a healthy person. The latest studies have shown that it is reasonable to use vitamin C against the infections. As a matter of fact, in cases of flu it is known that it gives strength to the body against getting ill, but not during the time of the illness.

The neurologists (neuro-physiologists) are debating about the malfunctioning of the brain which results due to reasons such as old age, stress, and small losses in the memory. While doing this, they should take into consideration the factor of a healthy nutrition.

When we leave aside the causes which are transferred by genetics, it can be said that the people who have made a habit of having a healthy diet, do not come across physical illnesses easily.

All the information given for healthy nutrition are the important points for arranging the metabolism of the individual, and for the physical development. In addition to these, they are important for emotional, moral and sociological development, for maximizing the ability of thinking, understanding, in short for increasing the intellectual activities to the highest point.

In the mystical area these conditions are being referred to with the principle of eating less. While solving these activities, the psychologists have taken into consideration all the psychological and the physical values in all groups of people starting from the newborns to the grown ups. Of course, sufficient nutrition has the first place among these.

Socrates, who has established the Greek moral philosophy; Plato, who says ‘’spirit is the main thing in the existing beings’’; Buddha, who has been trying to match the Greek philosophy, and especially the philosophy of Plato with the Kabbalah of the Torah, who wanted to save the spirit which is a transformed form of Plato and Brahman, from all kinds of physical and mental desires (pleasure giving things);

Mawlana, Yunus Emre who are considered among the most important names of Sufism, all of them have directed their studies and increased their capacities by eating less.

The Mystical understanding has carried these conditions which have been proposed by the positive sciences further and gave a start for compulsory fasting for one month under the title of ‘’dominating the nafs (soul/ ego)’’

The gains from the days spent by fasting are :- to protect the brain from the negative position formed by the excessive food intake; and to make a positive reflection on the spirit by practices such as dhikr, salat and the similar.

In this case, the brain does not have to deal with the raw material intake, therefore it can make a purification in its data base and this enables the brain to make mystical evaluations at the highest possible point. In this way, the brain can load energy to the spirit with a capacity which is much more above the normal.

Fasting is not the objective, but the means. The activities of the brain can reach their peak only through fasting. Also, the individual can save himself from the material plane, gain some power and sail towards the dimension of the meanings only by a healthy diet especially by fasting.

We can think of the wish for fasting as not repeating the words, but as the individual being ready to fast in the dimension of thoughts.

It is not rational for someone with a desire like this to make a repetitive verbal wish for fasting. The following hadith wants to tell about this point: ‘’ If someone does not wish to fast before dawn, then there is no fast for him’’. Waking up for the special night meal of Ramadan is in a way a wish for fasting.

The principle of fasting which starts before the sunrise and lasts until the sunset is completely a practice parallel to the working style of the system.

In another hadith, the Rasul of Allah (s.a.w) says ‘’When Ramadan Comes, the doors of Heaven (in another saying) the doors of Mercy are opened and the devils get chained’’.

With respect to this hadith, fasting should be evaluated as not staying in hunger, but as a relation between the body and the conscious.

Ahmet F. Yuksel