Ayurvedic Water and Fluid Guidelines
Since Vata the energy of movement is light it needs the most volume per day usually 70oz. Kapha the energy of stability needs the least, around 40oz per day. Pitta, the energy of transformation or change, needs in between, about 50-60oz per day. Of course heavy exercise changes these volume guidelines but for basic lifestyle needs these are excellent
So can you drink too much volume during the day? Ayurveda would say yes to that The problem here is diluting agni If too much volume is consumed around meal time the digestive enzymes are diluted and lessens agni This is particularly true for those using ice water to cool themselves off The guideline is "Ice is not nice!"
Another question is when is the best time to consume volume Some sip on water all day which is a nice habit to do but there are some who for many different reasons cannot or will not carry a water bottle around with them
There are two good times to drink water during the day The first is when you walk up This starts up the GI tract and hopefully stimulates a bowel movement The other time is to ingest your largest fluid volume of the day in the afternoon between 2 and 6 pm This keeps the volume out of the meal time particularly the largest meal of the day and will not interfere with sleep if drinking large volumes at night
A simple way to adjust the amount of volume consumed is to assess the color of your urine. If it's dark yellow you need more ingested volume; if it's clear you probably have enough on board.
An interesting "shedding effect" occurs when your tank is too filled up. When one slows down the fluid intake to the above parameters, excess urination continues until the volume is correct for your own mindbody constitutional makeup. This is particularly true for PK.
A nice side benefit for PK is that weight loss is very fast due to getting rid of all the excess volume being consumed that PK does not need.
The mindbody has infinite wisdom to take care of itself. We just have to participate.
Until next week DB
