How Ayurveda Works

Ayurveda is a system of holistic medicine from India with roots going back at least 5,000 years, making it one of the oldest healing traditions in the world. Its influence has been noted in the roots of Traditional Chinese Medicine as well as Western medicine. The word 'ayurveda' is a combination of the Sanskrit word "ayura," meaning "life" and "veda" meaning "wisdom." Ancient ayurvedic texts, compiled by master herbalists and healers trace the sources of illness from the physical body through the mental plane, or the 'subtle body' (similar to the energy systems used in tai chi). These systems have been tested over the centuries. One of the great strengths of ayurveda is that, unlike Western medicine, it takes a more individual approach to patients. Also, ayurveda does not reject Western medicine. Traditional Vedic philosophy is to accept everything in its appropriate time and place.

Eating for Balance and Health

Every individual has unique needs for balance in their diet. In ayurveda, foods are classified into six tastes: sweet, sour, salty, pungent, bitter and astringent. Ayurvedic healers recommend that you include all of these six tastes at each main meal you eat. Each taste has a balancing ability, and correct combinations can minimize cravings and balance the appetite and digestion.

Ayurveda recommends spices and herbs to stimulate the digestion before, during, and after a meal. Eating a bit of fresh ginger and lemon about 30 minutes before a main meal helps kick-start the digestive system. Eating dishes cooked with a variety of spices and herbs helps the process of digestion: absorption, assimilation, and elimination. Chewing fennel seeds after a meal also helps digestion and freshens the breath naturally as well.

You Are What You Eat

The most healthful diet consists of whole foods, eaten in as natural a state as possible, the only exception being when removing a peel or cooking, which will help increase digestibility and assimilation for certain types of constitutions. Foods that are frozen, canned, refined (so as to eradicate the nutritive value of the food), processed with artificial colors, flavorings, additives or preservatives, are genetically altered, or grown with chemical pesticides or fertilizers are not recommended by ayurvedic medicine.

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