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home ::ethnic groups:hindus: dietary guidelines
hindus: dietary guidelines
Hindus have strict religious instructions to do no harm to any living thing (the concept of ahinsa prohibits harming living creatures), and so most of them will be strict vegetarians. Some Hindus may not even eat eggs or fish, although most will probably accept dairy products. It is important to discuss diet with your Hindu patients to make sure their dietary needs are provided for while they are in hospital and recovering from ill health.
Hindus – even those who normally eat other meats – will not eat anything that contains beef or beef products, because the cow is considered to be a sacred representation of the bounty of the gods. For this reason, it is also important to make sure that all medication is free from beef products such as gelatin.
Offering a fully vegetarian menu to any Hindu patient will be acceptable. It is important to make sure that there is no cross-contamination between meat and vegetarian food or containers, and not to use the same utensils to serve meat and vegetarian food. It is also important to consider the ingredients of food; for example, some cheese is still made with rennet (a by-product of slaughtering cattle) and ice cream may contain animal fats.
Hindus may find hospital food bland in comparison with their normal home cooking, so keep an eye out to make sure patients are eating enough. If possible, it is worth considering allowing the patient's friends or family to bring in food for them (providing hospital policy and medical diets allow for this).
For Hindu staff, the staff canteen should always have an adequate vegetarian menu on offer, as well as the usual range of light meals and snacks.
special diets
If changes to a patient's normal diet are required for medical reasons (such as the onset of diabetes), these should be discussed at length with the patient and their family. This is particularly important if the family has been bringing in food for the patient. Many Hindu patients may be reluctant to alter what they consider to be a correct diet if it means they cannot eat traditional foods, and discussion about compromises will probably result in a patient following the new regimen with more success.
However, because of the prevalence of the traditional systems of medicine among Hindu and Asian communities (the system of ayurveda) that prescribe the eating of certain foods as natural medicines for some conditions, many Hindus will understand the concept of 'eating towards health' and be receptive to the ideas of dieticians.
fasting
Although Hinduism has no great tradition of ritualised fasting, some Hindus may choose to fast when they are ill in an attempt to restore health and balance to the body (the concept of balancing the bodily humours to achieve health is called upavasa). If a Hindu patient is fasting in hospital, it is likely that they will still take at least hot milk, fruit, tea, salad and yogurt. Some Hindus may fast as a religious exercise, to give thanks for a successful recovery. At the end of a period of fasting, a Hindu patient's family may bring them some sweets that have been blessed (prashad).
Older and especially devout Hindus may also choose to fast during the full moon as a cultural tradition, but most will agree to eat when their health requires them to. Hindu staff may choose to fast on holy days and holidays, and this may have implications for their performance at work.
traditional foods and medicine
Many Hindus have a strong belief that traditional foods and ayurvedic medicine have the power to harm or heal. Hindus tend to continue taking traditional foods and medicines when in hospital. They may eat certain foods at special times and refuse those foods that they consider to be harmful during illness (e.g. milk when they have a chest infection).
Patients often eat tulsi, the sacred basil plant, to calm the mind. Prashad is another traditional food given to those in bad health, and is a mixture of the five holy foods, namely ghee, milk, honey, sugar and yogurt. Before serving and eating, the food is offered to the household gods on the shrine at home to bless it. The coconut is a sacred food that is considered especially beneficial to sick people and is found in many ayurvedic medicines.
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