Acid

We human beings are strange creatures. We never know when, where, or under what excuse of a passing thought we will keep eating or drinking something. Whether we are hungry or not, the heart seems to insist that we taste a little something and change the flavour in our mouths. But have we ever paused to think about what we are eating? What does our daily diet contain? Which foods are a blessing for our bodies, and which are slowly hollowing us out from within?

Do we consume every day the amounts of carbohydrates, protein, fat, vitamins, salts, and minerals that our bodies actually require? Or do we forget our health while chasing taste alone?

When a person reflects on food, it becomes clear that these small choices determine the major direction of life. Good food gives strength to the body, while careless eating gradually takes the brightness out of life.

Without doubt, food is the fundamental element that provides strength and energy for a person’s physical and mental development and well-being. To keep the body healthy, a balanced intake of different foods is essential.

Unfortunately, the ordinary person is unaware that the food we consume every day contains different kinds of acids—and that, without realising it, we continue to consume excessive amounts of such acidic foods. This neglect gradually leaves effects on our health that later become difficult to manage.

The human body needs fat, vitamins, and small quantities of certain salts. A deficiency of even one of these elements can have negative and destructive effects on the body’s cells. Yet when a person continually follows an unbalanced diet, he prepares the way for illness with his own hands.

For example, we consume far too much meat, and because meat naturally contains acids, excessive consumption makes the internal environment of the body acidic. Because of a lack of knowledge, we do not even take the trouble, before eating, to consider whether our food contains an ingredient that may harm the body.

We are often unaware of how much acidity a particular food contains or how high its fat content may be. This is why, during illness, doctors frequently instruct us to avoid oil and ghee strictly—so that the body may be protected, at least to some extent, from the burden that we ourselves have increased through our carelessness.

To remain healthy, suitable and balanced food alone is not enough. It is even more important to know whether the food we are eating is genuinely beneficial to our health and well-being. To assume that health is maintained simply by eating and drinking is sheer foolishness. True wisdom lies in understanding how beneficial or harmful the ingredients in our food are for the body—not merely filling the stomach and then having to consult a doctor because of indigestion, stomach pain, or heaviness.

Many people take digestive tablets on such occasions, but very few know that these tablets also contain a certain amount of acid. They may provide temporary relief from discomfort, yet in the long term their effects can prove harmful to the body. In this way, a person buys momentary comfort while personally inviting future suffering.

Most of us eat only to fill our stomachs. We rarely care whether our food contains the essential elements that play a fundamental role in keeping the body healthy, strong, and energetic. If we truly manage to keep our diet balanced, it can have highly positive effects on our digestive system, heart, brain, kidneys, liver, lungs, and blood circulation.

Sadly, it must be said that in recent years a revolution in food habits has changed everything. Today, the purpose of eating has become less about health and more about taste, and this changed attitude is gradually affecting our physical well-being.

We have become so inclined towards the Western way of life that fast food is now part of our daily routine. This style of eating has afflicted us with countless unfamiliar and complicated diseases. Moreover, there may hardly be another nation in the world as fond of sweet foods as we are.

Because of this lack of moderation and this ever-growing desire, we are increasingly becoming victims of diabetes, high blood pressure, heart disease, obesity, and various forms of cancer. Thus, our preferences, our convenience, and our carelessness become a silent enemy that weakens our bodies from within.

The unrestricted consumption of acidic foods reaches its peak at weddings and festivals. At such gatherings, meat is eaten in excessive quantities, and a sweet dish after the meal is regarded as almost compulsory.

Rich, spicy foods filled with fat and acidity—followed by sweet dishes such as zarda, vermicelli, rice pudding, and various sweets—may appear to offer pleasure, but in reality they are harmful to health.

Foods fried in oil and fat lay the foundation for heart disease, while excessive sweets prepare the way for diabetes. In this way, the pleasures served in the name of celebration often turn into lifelong illnesses.

After lengthy research into health and nutrition, experts have identified certain ingredients about which particular caution is advised. They say that excessive use of some items in the daily diet can not only cause different illnesses but, in some cases, may also become dangerous to human life.

Thus, even an apparently ordinary food eaten carelessly can create serious problems for a person when its harmful effects are not understood.

For example, excessive consumption of milk may cause allergies or severe diarrhoea. Similarly, alcohol damages not only the liver but also the digestive tract, pancreas, muscles, memory, and cardiovascular system.

Alcohol is especially dangerous for pregnant women—it can be fatal not only for the mother but also for the child. In some cases, it causes the death of the unborn child before birth. At other times, it leaves deep and irreparable effects on the child’s physical formation, mental development, and the health of its organs. These dangers cannot be ignored under any circumstances.

Bitter almonds contain a dangerous poisonous substance such as cyanide, so careless consumption can cause severe harm. The oil of bitter almonds is considered particularly deadly and may have fatal effects even in a small quantity.

Likewise, eating raw eggs increases the risk of salmonella infection, whose prominent symptoms include abdominal pain, diarrhoea, and high fever. This illness can be especially dangerous for children, people with weak immunity, and the elderly, because their bodies cannot immediately withstand the attack.

Fish and other sea creatures often contain the effects of marine pollution in large quantities. Excessive consumption can sometimes prove dangerous even for people with strong nerves.

After eating contaminated seafood, severe signs such as nausea, dizziness, muscle weakness, difficulty breathing, and loss of physical balance may appear. In some extremely serious cases, the poisonous effect may act so rapidly that death can occur within only fifteen minutes.

Raw meat of any kind is strictly forbidden for pregnant women. Its consumption may expose them to a dangerous listeria infection, and these deadly germs may directly cause serious harm to the child. Raw meat can also cause itching, skin sensitivity, and inflammation of the intestines.

Similarly, French fries, fried foods, cookies, and cakes contain extremely high amounts of fat. These foods raise cholesterol in the blood, which is counted among the fundamental causes of heart disease. Thus, these delicious foods, which appear harmless, can in reality be highly damaging to the human heart and blood circulation.

Excessive coffee consumption can cause trembling hands, anxiety, burning sensations, irregular heartbeat, and various stomach problems. Too much caffeine directly affects the nerves and disturbs the body’s balance.

Likewise, excessive use of mustard oil in cooking is harmful. It can cause nausea, vomiting, and burning in the stomach, and in some cases it may also affect the kidneys. Things that we use as an ordinary part of everyday life may therefore leave long-lasting consequences for the body.

Honey is strictly forbidden for infants because germs are not completely eliminated during its preparation. These germs and the poisonous substance they produce can enter the child’s blood and weaken, or even paralyse, the intestines and muscles. A newborn child’s stomach does not possess the strength to resist such germs, which is why even a small amount of honey can become a serious danger.

Dried fruits also contain many substances that can trigger allergies. Such sensitivity may sometimes lead to a serious problem such as asthma even after a very small amount is consumed. Peanuts in particular are regarded as one of the strongest allergy triggers and can cause severe reactions not only in adults but also in children.

Fruit and vegetables are often contaminated by the effects of pesticides and harmful sprays. They should therefore always be washed thoroughly and, wherever possible, peeled before use. Even slight carelessness in cleaning can lead to serious consequences for health.

Black tea contains a considerable amount of salicylic acid. People who suffer from allergies or sensitivity should therefore exercise even greater care when drinking tea.

It is worth asking: if so many things that we eat and drink can prove harmful and painful for human beings, should a person remain hungry? The answer is very simple and reasonable: people throughout the world eat, but at the same time they make exercise, sport, gymnastics, walking, and jogging an essential part of daily life so that their bodies remain active, balanced, and healthy.

In contrast, it is unfortunately common among us that people look for a comfortable place immediately after eating, lie down at once, or fall into a deep sleep. This carelessness prepares the way for body fat, laziness, indigestion, and dozens of diseases. When a person abandons physical movement, health also abandons him.

Anyone in the world who combines a good, balanced diet with regular exercise can, on average, live a healthy life for ten to twenty years longer. Western countries provide a clear example, where even people in their seventies and eighties can be seen riding bicycles, going on outings, walking long distances, and keeping their bodies active.

In Pakistan, by contrast, the situation is entirely different. By the age of forty or forty-five, people begin to regard themselves as old, as though the pace of life should now come to a halt. The basic reason is very simple: spending one’s whole life merely eating and drinking and then stretching out for a long sleep immediately after a meal—while physical work, walking, and remaining active almost disappear altogether.

When the body stops moving, life too loses its freshness and brightness.

To live, a person should rely on less but balanced food rather than believing that he lives only to eat and drink. The purpose of life is not merely to fill the stomach, but to give body and mind enough ability for a person to continue the journey with health, strength, and dignity. Moderation is the path that brings together both the enjoyment of life and the protection of health.

Shahid Shakil

2026-07-16