Diet and health

[Guest guest]

Hello folks,

 

One thing I want to mention is that traditional Ayurvedic physicians

simply didn't throw a variety of remedies at different health

conditions, but seek to understand the underlying mechanism of the

illness, which is usually related to poor digestion caused by dietary

and lifestyle causes. This is not to say that Ayurvedic clinicians

don't have favorite remedies that do work well, irrespective of any

other changes vis. diet and lifestyle, but usually note that either the

results won't be as effective or require that the medication be taken

on an ongoing basis. To only treat the symptoms in disease is a

prajnaparadha, or crime against wisdom.

 

If you study the ancient texts of Ayurvedic medicine it becomes clear

that diet and lifestyle plays a very important role in health, although

if you look for specific instructions about what constitutes a healthy

diet you may come up short, unless you already have an understanding of

the function of the body (i.e. tridosha) and the activities of specific

medicines and foods (i.e. dravyguna). Most of the foods mentioned in

ancient texts like the Charaka or Sushruta samhitas are unobtainable in

the West however, and even in India are uncommon, most Indians now

opting to eat the commercially viable "English" vegetables for example,

like carrot, cauliflower and potato.

 

Perhaps why comparatively little mention is made of the basis of a

healthy diet in these ancient texts is because people more or less used

to eat the same thing, and did so for thousands of years. Thus dietary

therapy was based upon the traditional diet combined with a knowledge

of how specific foods such as milk, meat, vegetables, grains etc.

affect the body. Modern Ayurveda has people classify foods according

to lists that reduce or aggravate the various doshas, which not only

has no basis in tradition, but is usually ineffective and involves a

lot of unnecessary effort to memorize. This is apart from the fact

that most of these foods are not mentioned in the ancient nighantus,

and thus you have to trust and hope that the author really does know

how non-traditional foods interact with the doshas. Usually these

kinds of properties are designated by experience over generations,

although occasionally there are people who have special skills and

abilities to perceive the energetic nature of things.

 

The important thing to glean from all of this is to understand that

what comprises a healthy diet is based on individual needs, and

secondarily, racial, climactic and seasonal factors. While taking a

case history I often ask my patients what their ancestry is, and based

on this I begin to get an understanding of what they dietary

requirements might be, based on the idea that their bodies evolved

eating certain foods, and that these foods are native to the person and

should be preferred to others. On the other hand, this approach also

needs to reflect the local ecology and season. Its no good trying to

get by on raw carrot sticks and celery in northern Canada in the middle

of winter - the local First Nations people probably would tell you that

you need to eat more meat, and especially fatty meat. This may come to

a shock to some people on the list, but vegetarianism has absolutely

nothing to do with Ayurveda, and is NOT a prerequisite to living one's

life according to Ayurveda.

 

Thus the treatment of many of the chronic diseases we see in the West

have little or nothing to do with finding the perfect remedy, but

correcting diet and lifestyle issues. In the West, we have now been

engaged in a dietary experiment of vast proportions, where traditional

foods have been discarded in favor of highly refined, processed and

prepackaged foods that are comprised of a handful of base foods such as

wheat, dairy, hydrogenated oils and peanuts. Thus the first correction

in any treatment regimen is to eliminate these foods from the diet, and

instead embody one which respects your physiology and the place in

which you live. I'm sorry, but if you are Scottish please don't try to

get by on rice and dahl as your staple - instead, incorporate more

animal products in your diet, such as mutton, goat and cold water fish.

Similarly, if you are from India and living in northern Canada, you

need to eat foods that will sustain you through the cold winters, and

likewise, if you are of northern European descent its no good eating

lots of animal protein when visiting tropical climes. Designating the

effect of corn flakes, bread and soy milk on the doshas is a highly

speculative process, although I can tell you that since none of these

foods are traditional, and in my experience weaken the body and

aggravate the doshas they should be eliminated from the diet.

 

So please examine your ancestry - what have your people(s) eaten for

the last few thousand years, and what modern foods could be thought of

similar? Next, examine the place in which you live - what is the

weather like, and what season is it. Look into what the aboriginal

people in this area would have eaten, and then use this to balance your

ancestral needs. Then look at you specific needs as an individual, and

what specific foods might be helpful to counter negative tendencies in

your health.

 

Only once diet is corrected should you direct your attention to a

remedy. In many cases however the condition will improve without

treatment.

 

peace...

 

Caldecott, Cl.H., AHG

Clinical Herbalist

Wild Rose Clinic

******************************************* of Clinical Herbal Studies

Wild Rose College of Natural Healing

*******************************************

400 - 1228 Kensington Rd. NW

Calgary, AB T2N 5P6 CANADA

tel: (403) 270-0891 ext 315

fax: (403) 283-0799

email: phyto

http://www.wrc.net/phyto

*******************************************

[Guest guest]

Hi

 

You brought up some good points in your article. I am curious if you

have read the chapter titled Yogic and Ayurvedic Diets: Similarities and

Differences in the book Yoga and Ayurveda by David Frawley? If so, do

you have any comments? Your article made no mention of Sattvic food or

Ahimsa.

 

By the way, there is an excellent book titled Live In The Balance by

Linda Prout which explains diet and lifestyle from the perspective of

Chinese medicine. For those studying Ayurvedic dietary and lifestyle

principles, it provides a complimentary perspective.

 

OneLove

[Guest guest]

Hi Todd

 

Thank you for your thoughts. After all is said and done regarding

information in ancient texts, the essential question is can one remain

healthy long term according to eastern pulse diagnosis without having to

rely on consuming animal flesh?

 

Based on my twenty four years of experience with a vegetarian diet and

the experience of others, I feel the answer is a resounding yes! The

requirement for this is to simply to supplement a vegetarian diet with

warming spices like Ginger, Turmeric, Cardmon, etc. and energy herbs

like Ashwagandha or Siberian Ginseng. Plus eating according to body

type, season, and weather. Do you have any comments on this Todd?

 

Most kindly

 

OneLove

[Guest guest]

Hi OneLove,

 

I don't mean to suggest that a vegetarian diet can't be healthy, but in

many cases it might not be optimal and very frequently it is

contraindicated. I have to say that in my clinical experience I

haven't met any vegetarians that experience a high degree of health,

but of course this wouldn't be a fair sample of the population, given

that they are patients. I'm not down on vegetable-based foods - far

from it - for every gram of animal protein for example I would also

recommend at least 1.5-2 of vegetables (vegetables in my book being the

fourth "macronutrient," including CHO, proteins and fats). I think a

vegetarian diet is obviously better in Kapha conditions, and is more

appropriate during hot weather and in very warm climates. I live in

Calgary, Alberta, and although its hot now, its usually quite cool and

very dry, and a vegetarian is not suitable to the climate. I guess my

point of issue is that some folks in the Ayurvedic community promulgate

vegetarianism as being the preference in Ayurvedic medicine. This

isn't true, in either practice or in the extant literature, and its a

belief/philosophy that in my opinion seriously comprises the integrity

and usefulness of Ayurveda. I had a vegetarian Brahmin Ayurvedic

physician in India tell me in no uncertain terms that Ayurveda does not

prohibit the eating of meat, and that even as a Hindu, the only meat

that is not eaten is the (female) cow. If however you are a devotee of

Krishna however, you may choose not to eat any meat, but this has

nothing to do with Ayurveda.

 

In regard to using spices and herbs etc. to enhance the nutrient value

and assimilation of vegetarian foods this certainly a helpful, but in

many folks (esp. up here in Canada), is insufficient.

 

best... Caldecott

phyto

http://www.wrc.net/phyto