To get the digestive fire burning again:
Detoxification with Ayurveda
The digestive system is a central issue in Ayurveda and in Ayurvedic detox treatments. But the focus is not on enzymes or individual organs such as the stomach or bowel, but instead on the specific interplay between the tridosha and Agni, the digestive fire, and the formation of healthy tissues.
Everything we eat and drink has to be processed by our body. This process takes place at all levels: in the gastrointestinal tract, in our brain, in our sensory organs and in every cell. As soon as we eat or drink, the body reacts because it is facing a huge task: every second it has to produce 50 million new somatic cells to replace other cells.
This physical response initially takes place in three places in the digestive tract:
1. In the stomach: Kapha ensures that the chewed food pulp is mixed and liquefied. A task that takes roughly three hours. For good reason: softened food components are subsequently easier to process. This first phase of digestion produces Ahara Rasa and Kapha. Both are transported to the heart, from where they are fed to the rest of the body: this is the elixir of life for tissues with a high proportion of Kapha. These include muscles, fat and the brain.
2. In the small intestine: with the help of enzymes, Pitta splits the contents of the stomach into its smallest components so that it can be absorbed by the body. Most of the food we consume is broken down for dispersal in the small intestine. The end products are Ahara Rasa and Pitta. Both are needed by the body to nourish organs with a high proportion of Pitta – for example, our eyes.
3. In the large intestine: this is where Vata takes responsibility for the work. The bioenergy Vata transports any remaining food and ensures that components such as minerals, water and fat are absorbed by the body.
As a consequence, the remaining food pulp becomes increasingly dry. Now myriads of intestinal bacteria set about their work, utilising the final remaining elements of food. What is left is the indigestible stool. Finally, Ahara Rasa and Vata are reabsorbed to nourish the nerves and bones – body tissues with a high proportion of Vata.
Agni plays an important role in digestion. The digestive fire is located in various sections of the digestive tract and helps break down the food consumed. At the same time, Agni destroys microorganisms, foreign bacteria and toxins in the stomach and intestine. Vasant Lad, Master of Ayurvedic Science and Director of the Ayurvedic Institute in Albuquerque in the US state of New Mexico, is convinced that Agni promises a long life and takes care of our intelligence, understanding, cognition and ability to learn.
Provided Agni can fulfil its natural function, the body's digestive processes will operate smoothly. The individual will feel healthy. Unfortunately, this does not always happen, particularly as we grow older.
Pathological Agni conditions are reflected as follows:
1. Weak digestive fire: Kapha prevails. Food is not broken down and is not digested. The result is constipation, nausea and vomiting. Excessive quantities of food or eating too frequently can also weaken Agni. If food has not yet been digested but the stomach and intestine are full again, Agni is effectively stifled.
2. Fluctuating, variable digestive fire: Vata prevails. The digestive system alternates between constipation and diarrhoea. The result is pain and flatulence.
3. Excessively powerful, hot digestive fire: Pitta prevails. Food is burned too quickly and liquefied as a consequence. Due to the resulting diarrhoea, the body cannot utilise the nutrients in the food. The result is a burning sensation and possibly a temperature.
When the body malfunctions in this way, the result is that nutrients are no longer processed properly and they are lost. This loss has a detrimental effect on the development of vital tissues.
There are other drastic physical impacts too: the body's defences are weakened, the immune system ceases to function, allergies are common, as are rheumatic conditions and the dreaded metabolic syndrome. When the digestive fire malfunctions, undigested or industrially processed foods can accumulate in the large intestine. The result is Ama. Ama is like a kind of waste sludge: damp, cold, heavy and sticky. And that's exactly how the affected individual will feel. Symptoms can include colds involving heavy congestion and rheumatic joint problems.
Food that has gone off or is old, preserved foods, food that is difficult to digest (= too much Kapha), cold, raw and dry goods, weak Agni thanks to too much or too little food, suppressed basic needs such as hunger and thirst, and also negative emotions can all contribute to increasing Ama and weakening the body. Ama, says Vasant Lad, is at the root of all ill health. Ayurveda helps support the effect of our digestive fire by treating the relevant doshas and regulating Agni.
Recognise your emotions and let them show
An unhealthy diet, alcohol, nicotine and pollutants will weaken the body, robbing it of its strength. But the same is also potentially true of negative emotions. According to Ayurvedic expert Vasant Lad, repressed anger and rage can completely alter the flora of your gall bladder, bile ducts and the small intestine, and can also increase Pitta. This in turn can trigger inflammation in areas of the stomach lining and intestinal mucosa. Anxiety and fear cause changes to the colonic flora. The result is a distended stomach and painful bloating affecting the large intestine.
Repressed emotions upset the Vata equilibrium, which affects Agni. The moment Agni has been weakened, abnormal immune responses can occur. Allergies, for example.
People who repress Kapha emotions, such as greed and attachment, often exhibit an allergic response to Kapha foods such as dairy products.
And if an individual's basic constitution includes Pitta, they will have a natural aversion to pungent and hot foot as this increases Pitta. Pitta emotions, such as rage and hatred, can produce a hypersensitivity to foods that increase Pitta. To deal with unhealthy emotions, Vasant Lad recommends acknowledging your feelings and then letting them out so they can dissipate. This enables body and mind to be reconciled.
Detox and its wonderful impact
Constantly exhausted and lacking in drive? Recognising the signs indicating an Ayurvedic detox treatment
Recommended treatments: NASYAM, KSHEERADHOOMAM, SNEHAPANAM, VASTHI
Lifestyle beats genes With this statement, epigenetics researchers are increasingly confirming Ayurvedic teachings: if you provide healthy nourishment for body and soul, if you live life to the full and love wholeheartedly, you can reduce your genetic risk factor for cancer. However, everyday reality is currently far from this scenario. Most people feel fatigued and exhausted, they pile on the pounds quickly and are no longer able to combat infections. The reason is quite simply: excess. Too much fast food and sugar, too much alcohol and nicotine, too much anxiety and stress. Our body reacts to all this with pallid skin, spots, dull hair, headaches, heartburn and fungal infections.
Many of those afflicted treat these kinds of conditions in the same way: by taking medication and combatting the symptoms. An Ayurvedic detox treatment, by contrast, seeks to understand the causes. Usually this is excess Ama, which causes typical symptoms: we become lethargic and lacking in enterprise, we feel weak, heavy, sluggish or exhausted; we lack any appetite, things taste bad and constipation can be an issue. Each of these symptoms on its own can be a quite normal, occasional occurrence and is not necessarily a cause for alarm. However, if several of these symptoms begin to pile up, an Ayurvedic detox may be beneficial to restore the patient to health.
When is the best time for a detox treatment? For many people, spring is the ideal time. After all, this is the period when nature is also undergoing a renewal process. Although this makes sense, in reality any time is fine for an internal detox. Just two things are essential for this therapy: time. And rest. A period of internal cleansing and strengthening is certainly not something to be tackled incidentally.