Ayurveda Article - Prostate Health - A Powerful Approach

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Maintaining Prostate Health the Ayurvedic Way:

 

Prostate Health - A Powerful Approach

 

Prostate health can become a serious issue for men in their middle

age. According to recent statistics, prostate enlargement is found in

50 percent of American men in their sixties, and up to 90 percent of

men in their seventies and eighties. Worse, prostate cancer is the

second leading cause of death by cancer in men, with about 80 percent

of all cases of prostate cancer occurring in men over sixty-five.

Even though the prostate seems to be an older man's health problem,

these imbalances begin much earlier in life. The good news is that

following an appropriate diet and routine and taking appropriate

herbal supplements can all help keep the prostate healthy and

functioning well.

 

The Ayurvedic Perspective

 

There are many reasons why prostate problems develop. One is overuse

of Shukra Dhatu, or overuse of the sexual organs. Another is lack of

adequate fluids in the body, due to not drinking enough water during

the day. Habitually suppressing the natural urge to urinate also can,

over time, cause the urine to become more concentrated and, in turn,

irritates the prostate.

Drinking too much alcohol or caffeinated beverages can also cause an

imbalance. Alcohol, for instance, creates an abnormal increase in

urine production, which aggravates Pitta and Vata doshas.

 

Even your job can be a source of imbalance. If you have to sit for

long periods of time without taking a break or stretching, this can

create an imbalance in the reproductive area of the body. Not getting

daily exercise, or eating a diet that creates impurities (ama) in the

body, are other causes of prostate problems. If your diet does not

contain spices that purify the urine daily (such as turmeric, cumin

and fennel), that can also cause toxins to build up that lead to

imbalances or infection.

Finally, if you don't have a healthy daily routine, for instance, if

you watch TV late at night or for other reasons don't sleep enough,

or if you don't eat meals on time or your routine is very irregular,

that can also cause ama to build up and disturb the immune system.

 

One main factor tying all the above together is ama. Ama refers to

the sticky impurities that are created when digestion is weak and

food is not digested completely. Now, aging itself can create some

weakening of the digestion, but most ama is created by poor dietary

and lifestyle habits already mentioned-eating foods that are old and

heavy or eating meals at irregular times of the day.

Vata dosha increases as we age. The later part of life is actually

known as the Vata Kala (or Vata time of life) in Maharishi Ayurveda.

Because Vata dosha is irregular, dry, and moving by nature, it can

cause the digestion to become more irregular. This contributes to

more ama being produced and spreading to the tissues.

If the person also has an imbalance in Shleshaka Kapha (the subdosha

of Kapha that governs lubrication of the joints, body fluids, and

moisture balance in the skin), and ama is accumulating in the body

fluids due to dietary mistakes, then Shleshaka Kapha and ama gets

mixed with urine, creating a more irritated situation and further

weakening the immune system.

 

The Ayurvedic Solution

 

Maharishi Ayurveda tries to support health on all fronts: by

balancing Apana Vata, the subdosha of Vata related to the downward

flow of energy such as occurs with urination, stopping ama from being

produced, strengthening the immune system, and cleansing the urine

and nutrient fluid, and cleansing the blood, muscle and fat tissues

of ama, and cleansing Shleshaka Kapha of shleshma.

Here are ten tips from Vaidya Mishra, Director of Research and

Development at Maharishi Ayurveda Products International, Inc., for a

balanced prostate:

Drink lots of water throughout the day, in between meals. This will

keep the urine from becoming too concentrated. If you add some herbs

to the water, it will flush out toxins, dissolve ama in the blood

tissue and help purify the urine. Here's a recipe: Boil two quarts of

water and put the water in a thermos flask. Add three leaves of holy

basil, 1/3 t. fennel seed, 1/4 t. coriander seed, and six white

pumpkin seeds or six fresh cucumber seeds. Keep drinking this water

throughout the day, but stop drinking it after 7:00 p.m... Stay away

from fluids at night if you have a prostate problem, as a full

bladder at night can cause pressure on the prostate and disturb your

sleep with the need to get up frequently to urinate.

Each time you urinate, take the necessary time to empty your bladder

completely. Because the urethra (the passageway through which the

urine drains from the body) is already narrow, when there is some

enlargement of the prostate, the urinary channel becomes even

narrower. If you are in too much of a hurry, all of the urine might

not be drained from the bladder. This is not a good thing, because

the urine becomes more concentrated if it is not drained from the

bladder each time you urinate. So take the time to empty the bladder

completely.

Avoid drinking alcohol, because it creates imbalances in the blood

tissue, as does caffeine. Both of these create abnormal urine

production and irritate the bladder as well.

If you have to sit all day at your job, take short breaks frequently

and try to stretch or take a short walk. This will restore the normal

flow of energy, blood, and nutrient fluid to the prostate area.

When the weather is cold, take care to keep your head, neck, and body

warm. If your body temperature drops, it leads to urine retention,

which aggravates the prostate. So keep your body temperature in a

moderate range.

Make sure that your bowel movements are regular. Constipation creates

an obstruction in Apana Vata, in turn creating pressure on the

prostate, increasing ama in the blood tissues, and creating excessive

dryness in the whole area. To help with regular elimination, try

having a stewed apple in the morning for breakfast with stewed figs,

raisins, or prunes. You can also add more fiber and cooked vegetables

to your diet, and have 2-4 teaspoons of psyllium seed husk with warm

milk or water at night before going to bed. If these measures don't

work, take 2-4 Herbal Cleanse tablets before bed with water.

Daily abhyanga or oil massage pacifies Apana Vata, and that is always

good. Massage the hands and feet, in particular, as an effective

preventative.

If you are having trouble sleeping at night, be sure to correct the

underlying imbalance. If you are not able to fall asleep, take

Blissful Sleep I for Vata imbalance that causes this problem. If you

wake up between 2:00 and 4:00 a.m. with lots of energy, this is a

Pitta imbalance, and Blissful Sleep II can help.

Eat foods that are tri-doshic, which means that they pacify all three

doshas. These include soaked walnuts and soaked almonds. Avoid foods

that aggravate any one of the doshas: food that is too dry, too oily,

too greasy, too cold or too hot, too spicy or not spicy enough. Avoid

extremes.

Include lots of sweet, juicy fruits in your diet, as these help

nourish the Rasa Dhatu (the nutrient fluid), purify the urine and

help maintain a healthy flow of urine. They also create ojas,

improving immunity and enhancing cellular intelligence. If stewed or

cooked until they are soft, they are not only pacifying to Apana

Vata, but also to Pitta dosha. They make an ideal breakfast when

combined with prunes, figs, and raisins. If you have a Kapha

imbalance, you can eat sweet, juicy fruits raw, but even then you

should avoid eating raw fruit after sunset, as the digestion is not

as strong after the sun goes down.

 

 

 

Note : This ayurvedic information is educational and is not intended

to replace standard medical care or advice.

Copyright MAPI, 2002.

 

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