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Health & Spa Magazine Interview
1. Why can your diet be a component of harmonious day-to-day living?
Your diet is everything when it comes to how you are feeling! Foods have a profound impact on your body, mind and emotions.
If one keeps a food diary for some reason, clear patterns are revealed about foods impact on energy, mental clarity and moods.
Ayurveda has a concept called the three gunas, they are sattva meaning in total gentle balance and loving harmony; rajas meaning agitated; and tamas meaning darkened or deadened.
Things like coffee, garlic, tv, rock music and fast travel are rajistic; canned, packaged, microwaved foods, as well as bad behavior are tamasic. Meditation, eating fresh, good food, pleasant music, laughter, and nature helps us stay sattvic.
Ayurveda says that the liquid from the food we eat gets processed into the various bodily tissues, starting with rasa, or our plasma and lymphatic fluid. This is the foundation for the rest of your body, as it goes on to process the other tissues in order - blood, muscle, fat, bone, bone marrow and nerve tissues and finally male and female reproductive tissue which also includes our all over 'life juice'. This process takes 35 days. If the raw material is not good (our food), we cannot create healthy tissues. Our body is continually replacing and rebuilding itself. So if you continue in a diseased or imbalanced state, you have faulty material or a fault in the process, which can be reversed. In addition to the 7 dhatus, or tissues, Soma, the cooling, nurturing part of Prana, helps form ojas, which is both our immunity and the glue that keeps our immortal soul in this body, a very precious substance indeed.
2. Why can an Ayurvedic approach to health and nutrition be beneficial?
Modern lifestyle, increased unknown chemicals and pollutants and the standard American diet are causing our health to deteriorate.
We are seeing on the news more and more that substances and chemicals we thought were good, are not. We are reading many facts about increased pollutants and toxins in out drinking water, ground and air. We are hearing unfortunate examples of people being hurt by drugs or treatments thought to be safe. We are at a saturation point with pharmaceuticals in the drinking water, rocket fuel in mothers milk and PCB's in the livers of artic polar bears.
Most people have very compromised digestion and absorption, and clogged systems. These are our 2 defenses against toxins - burning them up with agni and also being able to flush them out. Ayurveda has the most complete and gentle detox programs. The most advanced one is called Panchakarma, an extended process.
We have very complete knowledge of toxins, all in the texts which are 5,000 years old!
There are four kinds of toxins in Ayurveda. There is simple ama, or residue of faulty digestion, eating wrong foods. Then, if this toxic residue sits in the body too long, because of clogged 'drains' (colon, liver, kidneys, digestive tract) it ferments. It becomes hot and burning and damages the tissues it touches. This is what causes all the conditions called 'inflammatory' that are so prevalent today. Removing these toxins must be done carefully. They must be neutralized first or the channels they move out from will get damaged and cause more problems.
The other forms of toxins are outside toxins called 'slow poison' , the pesticides, chemicals and heavy metals; and chaotic electro-magnetic energy that disturbs our energy field and depletes our Prana, or life force. Ayurveda can deal with these toxins also quite well.
3. How should one cultivate Ayurveda into their eating habits? (ie. Know when you are hungry, eating environment, drinks without ice) Here, I am looking for clear ideas of how people can do this at home.
The most important idea to keep in mind about eating is most simple…to be very conscious and gently focused on your food. This means no tv, no reading and most certainly not eating while standing up or driving!
Seems small, but scientifically, the digestive process begins the minute we look at and smell food. If we smell or even see a picture of sweet food, the pancreas sends out more insulin for instance. If you are eating like many people…on the computer, watching tv and on the phone all at the same time, your body will literally not 'know' that you are eating! Your body will not be prepared and active in the process of digesting and absorbing the nutrients from your food. Your food should transform you to heaven as you close your eyes and savor every bite! If your food does not, something is wrong with what you're eating! Freshly cooked, nutritious and properly spiced food is Bliss. Eating on the run will cause weight gain, digestive problems and toxins to form.
My advanced Ayurvedic teacher, Vaidya (meaning an Ayurvedic master) R.K. Mishra, talks about making sure we also take care of our 'wild horses', or our senses. "If you do not feed your horses, they will get cranky and dump you in a ditch"! This is so important as it talks about why 'diets' fail, why processed, junk and restaurant food is so overwhelmingly appealing, because they are engineered to seduce our 'horses' not our health!
Foods can be divided in 3 categories - Living, Dumb and Dead, and eating them will result in the same for you. Prepackaged, leftovers, canned, fast foods, processed, microwaved foods are all dumb or dead and will create instant toxins in the body.
We say fresh, organic, freshly cooked food is living. Taking time to put some effort into food preparation will keep your senses happy and satisfied, so you will not fall into the trap of bad food choices or feel deprived.
Another important Ayurvedic concept is that our biggest meal should be midday, when digestion is strongest. This is how people have eaten for thousands of years, 'til lately. So many people eat very little all day, then come home for a huge dinner at 8 or 9pm, which actually is another big stressor on the body and brain.
Ayurveda says: eat breakfast like a prince/ess, lunch like a king or queen, and dinner like a pauper.
4. How can nourishing foods keep one balanced? What does this have to do with one's Ayurvedic constitution (cata, pitta, kappa)?
Vata, Pitta, Kapha
Ayurveda sets up individual eating guidelines based on several factors.
Everyone wants to know their Prakruti, or metabolic body type which was set at their birth. Your body type (dominance of Vata, Pitta Kapha) talks about your inherent strengths, weaknesses and imbalance tendencies.
Other factors are even more important for diet and treatment choices. A practitioner will look at your Vikruti, or current imbalance first. Perhaps your Vata is unbalanced now, even though its not part of your basic body type. It may be high due to being under too much stress, eating wrong, or taking a lot of plane travel.
The year has its own cycle and everyone can benefit from eating with nature. We all need to eat more warming, moist and oily foods to keep us warm and protected in fall and winter (Vata time of year); clear our systems out come late winter and spring (Kapha time) and we need to eat more cooling foods, raw fruits and carbs in the summer (Pitta time of year).
5. How can Ayurvedic eating habits benefit your digestive fire?
Agni, or the digestive fire is an important concept in Ayurveda.
Keeping agni balanced keeps us from gaining weight and forming toxins.
We have certain guidelines to keep the digestive fire balanced but sharp:
Eating freshly cooked, properly spiced foods
Eating apart from distractions - no tv, phone, reading, driving or standing
Not to drink a large amount of liquid with meals or right before (dilutes enzymes)
No cold or iced foods or drinks
Eat fresh fruits by themselves (fruits ferments other foods in stomach.
6. Anything else you think needs to be said about a harmonious health through Ayurveda nutrition.
Ayurveda is truly a holistic medicine. We say there are 108 ways to heal, and we look at all aspects of your life. The body is speaking to us, through the symptoms of the imbalance. It does no good to cover up or stop these symptoms, that would be like unscrewing the little light bulb in your car panel when your 'check engine' light comes on! Ayurveda goes to the root of any problem, and often several if not all seemingly unrelated problems are relieved by doing so. We look at your daily life, as little habits can be working against us and the medicines won't work until the disease causes are stopped.
The great news is that most conditions can be reversed. The body wants to heal, just as a child wants to and is made for learning. You have to do a lot to stop a child from learning to walk or talk. The body is constantly rebuilding itself, and with some wisdom, we can allow it to renew to optimal health.
© 2008 Nancy J. Phillips, M.Ayur.
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