Acid Indigestion: 8 Ways to Deal With It
As part of many chronic disease processes acid indigestion can be manifested as hyperacidity syndrome(HAS) or gastroesophageal reflux disease(GERD) This is because from an energy science point of view the hot quality(Pitta energy pattern) is a major contributor to the imbalance that creates many chronic diseases...the burning on urination, vaginal burning are related to this quality
The Spectrum of Disease
All physiologic disease shows up as an array of symptoms from not so bad to terrible Patients with occasional heartburn can then begin to have it all the time This makes it eligible for the disease label of HAS If it progresses to a sour taste in the mouth or a burning in the chest then it advances to GERD And if GERD progresses then it can become the disease label of Barrett's esophagitis
But notice that in all these advancing disease labels one thing remains constant The hot quality So in the end these disease labels are related to the increasing intensity of this quality But wait there's more from an energy science perspective The Pitta energy pattern displays the hot quality when out of balance in its functional seat, the liver So when Pitta and its qualities show up you can bet that is underlying liver toxicity even though the owner doesn't know it
So again from an energy science point of view the liver imbalances due to Pitta must be addressed if a patient is having problems with GERD
Reducing the heat
There are a number of ways to go beyond Prelief which like all its molecular relatives( such as over the counter Prevacid and various expensive pharmaceuticals) represent pharma bandaids From an energy science treatment perspective the alternatives not only provide relief but done properly with other allied therapies become permanent solutions, not bandaids
Wouldn't you rather have something that is sustainable long term instead of relying on a pharmacological bandaid? Here are some basic energy science treatments that can bring about control of this Pitta energy pattern of transformation
Avipattikar This herb combination is an excellent way to get control of raging hot Pitta in the stomach reducing the hot quality
Aloe vera gel or juice This herb is not only cooling to the small bowel therefore reduces the Pitta energy pattern but because it is effective for Pitta disorders in general it is a good liver protectant This makes it a valuable herb overall in treating Pitta disorders From an energy point of view aloe is special because it falls into a special group of herbs called rasayana This means it is a tissue rejuvenative and restorative of bodily tissues There are no Western pharma that can make that claim Using the gel is preferable but the juice is a good second choice Aloe Farms or George's are good brands because they don't have carrageenan to their products
Ghee In the Ayurvedic classics ghee assumes a significant therapeutic role in the management of high Pitta conditions such as HAS and GERD
Donate a unit of blood It is known that high Pitta conditons store a lot of that hot quality in the blood which is why removing a small amount of blood can be therapeutic
Psyllium husk Using this herb may sound strange as it is used as a laxative but 1t at bedtime mixed with fresh yogurt or with warm water will absorb Pitta in the small intestine and stop the colonic wall irritation
Nutritional format and incompatible food combinations We can take all the herbs in the world but if we continue to take into our bodies the same imbalancing qualities then no gains will be made It's like 2steps forward and 3 steps back If there is HAS or GERD then no doubt the person is a strong Pitta and these conditions would be the ways that they might go out of balance One should follow a Pitta pacifying diet At the very least one should follow the PK or PV formats at foodsheal.com Coconut is an excellent cooling food and using unsweetened flakes is excellent to introduce into cooking
Kefir milk When Pitta is out of control and the hot quality is raging, the microbiome or the gut flora becomes affected Since the gut flora is an important aspect of agni it's important to replenish and support this vital aspect to our health Kefir does this by providing new healthy bacteria to our gut microbiome population You can get it in the stores or make it yourself by finding some Kefir granules from someone willing to share
Shatavari is a wonderful herb to reduce Pitta and like aloe vera it has far reaching physiologic consequences due to its rasayana effect Rasayanas are a special group of herbs that have strengthening physiologic effects over other herbs and are used particularly after cleansing therapies used in panchakarma
Kama dudha moti bhasma and abhrak bhasma are basically calcium salts that act as coenzymes in metabolic processes and can be effective when Pitta is high
Like all energy work it is subtle and the healing shifts occur slowly over months but the good thing is that they are sustainable long lasting effects
Read More
Probiotics and Homemade Yogurt
Yogurt is an amazing food and many ethinic cultures on the planet use fresh yogurt and kefir as health promoting foods in their nutrition And there are very good reasons for doing so but due to the Pitta aggravating nature of yogurt, freshly made is the only way to go in moderation
Helping Restore Imbalanced Agni
The value of yogurt is that it serves when freshly made a rich source of probiotic which is a population of "good bacteria" that reside in the bowel "Bad" bacteria at times overgrow the gut flora leading to poor digestion, absorption, and assimilation so it's important that the good flora flourishes and the bad are kept in check As I've alluded to in the past, bacterial growth is a major part of our digestive strength that needs to be nourished
This is particularly important if you have GERD, IBS, and fibromyalgia associated with IC since the digestive fire is significantly compromised in these dual conditions
Regular use of freshly made yogurt insures that the "good" bacteria are consistently replenished Agni is always compromised in these conditions and since the bacterial flora is part of agni it's important to supplement with probiotic foods such as yogurt SIBO(small intestinal bacterial overgrowth) is commonly thought of as the root cause of many bowel diseases but from an energy science perspective it's just saying that agni is disturbed
You may have heard of yeast overgrowth and this is yet another factor that can lead to poor digestive fire(eliminating yeast laden bread products is a good idea in that it gives us more than we need so flatbreads are best or at least toasting yeasted products) This candidal imbalance in bowel flora much like SIBO is a result of poor agni So building up agni is one of the central therapeutic themes in the management of the IC bladder pain syndrome
Bowel flora is important in the concept of digestive fire and aids in bowel digestive function as well as providing important nutrients for our nutrition
Pasteurized yogurts should be avoided as pasteurization kills off the beneficial probiotic component of yogurt
Making Digestion Easy By Predigestion-Optimizing Digestive Strength
The value of yogurt comes in the predigestion of lactose and casein which we talked about a couple of days ago Hence the bacteria during the incubation phase of creating yogurt use the sugar lactose and break down the protein casein The lactose then doesn't bother the lactose intolerant and the casomorphin derivative from casein digestion can be less, hence affecting us less
Why freshly made? From an energy science view the build up of acidity occurs with aging yogurt even if refrigerated becomes inflammatory and thus Pitta provoking You also get the maximal amount of probiotic in the yogurt(some bacteria die off after 4-5 days)
Even though fresh yogurt is not very acidic(sour taste) it still can be Pitta provoking if used daily Hence home made yogurt has its consumption limitations
So Some Guidelines
1 Based on the foodsheal.com food combining list, don't use fruit with yogurt
2 To really inhibit the negative sour effects of even freshly made yogurt, the use of Sucanat or Turbinado(crystallized cane sugars) can be important because the sweet taste helps balance the aggravating sour taste
3 Always use yogurt in moderation, that is, 2-3x per week
4 Store bought and therefore processed yogurt is too acidic and will provoke IC
5 Diluting the yogurt with water reduces its acidity
6 Keeping in the fridge after it comes from the incubation phase will help get the yogurt firmer
7 For best results use whole milk
How to get started
Buy a yogurt maker(Donvier is a French brand or other various manufacturers can be found on Amazon) Using fresh starter each time ensures that the bacterial count of the yogurt will be rich The small amount of starter is not enough to aggravate Pitta
And yes, it does take some time to make your own yogurt but after doing it, in a short time you can do a batch in about 15 minutes(total time; heating the milk and cooling it can be done while doing other things)
If the yogurt is curdly and clearly not smooth in texture it means that there's probably too much cooking going on and that the incubation times are too long So try 10 hours instead of 12 hours with the Donvier
YouTube has several videos on how to make your own yogurt
It's best not to use dry milk powder as the milk product as it is provoking to Vata Pitta
There are links for directions on making your own for trouble shooting
The greatest value is making your own yogurt is that you participate in your own health and this is a small but significant step in assuming responsibility for our health
Read More
A friend of mine is a well trained matter field physician in the field of endocrinology having received training at several prestigious centers in the US and abroad. Due to the unique nature of the discipline he found himself drawn to explore the energy field of the mindbody.
In one of his sojourns he found himself speaking to a group of prestigious energy field physicians on how certain hormones interact with receptor sites in the body.
It was a series of talks and each time he found a sea of puzzled faces as he carefully took them through the molecular workings of the physiology of the endocrine system.
The third discussion led to the same returning polite group of puzzled faces. He repititiously and earnestly went over the information to explain his molecular material. At the break he saw one of the participants turn to his friends and exclaim, "Oh, I get it! He thinks the molecules do it!"
The story describes two perspectives, both valid. But what if, just what if we could entertain both viewpoints. Why you ask? The most important reason is that there is a system of prevention in the energy field work. And I believe we are all after how to prevent dis-ease.
Read More
Disease and Genetic Destiny: Healing in the 21st Century
It's long been held that genes are fixed and if we have genetic predisposition to specific diseases in our family gene pool that there is a strong likelihood that we'll experience the same Common examples come to mind Alcoholism, diabetes, obesity, high blood pressure, prostate cancer, and even the IC bladder pain syndrome(interstitial cystitis, vulvodynia, chronic prostatitis, IBS, GERD, and fibromyalgia) or components of the syndrome are inheritable
But the matter science model of disease is coming to the realization that all disease is genetic at some level And that's because even our behaviors which lead to diseases are genetically driven So when we are addicted to cigarettes, the genetically driven addiction leads to in some cases lung cancer Or our genetically driven choices regarding the foods we eat lead to the IC bladder pain syndrome
Are We Victimized By Our Genes?
But we need not fee victimized by our genes Only 5% of the time do our genes become the responsible agent for disease The other 95% of the time genes play an influential role in the disease process but don't actually cause the disease In other words biology doesn't spell our destiny
It turns out that genes are highly active to influences around us and, yes, within us The whole mindbody through its genes are always listening to what's going on in the environment which causes our gene expression to change on a moment to moment basis Cold or hot weather affects gene expression, life events such as work stress and parking tickets, the foods that we eat, the entertainment choices that we make all impact our gene expression for the better or worse leading eventually to disease
We are constantly tallking to our genes with every thought, word, and action
Deciding On Our Genetic Input
From the energy science point of view mind is in every cell of the mindbody and resides in our DNA or our genetic pool
So the question becomes "What's favorable genetic input and unfavorable genetic input" There are specific guidelines that the energy science helps us
1 When we settle the mind we settle our genes Meditation produces a calm, peaceful, clear mind that reduces anxiety, fear, loneliness, insecurity, anger, impatience, lethargy, and indecision A peaceful mind creates a stable genetic structure established in groundedness when exposed to chaos As we remember the more activity that is going on in the mindbody the more there is genetic activity The more genetic activity the more room for genetic mistakes This exposes us to the risk of creating genetic disease out of frenzied lifestyle behaviors
2 So we can do disease prevention and treatment by managing our genes(mind) which influences our body and its physical expression But we can influence our mind by doing physical things to our mindbody Since the mind and body are intimately spliced(mind is body and body is mind) there is a to and fro movement between the physical and mind(genes) So foundational work as prescribed by the energy science can produce behavioral changes that impact how we think In other words changing what we eat impacts our mind and its clarity Doing pranayama and yoga asana influences mental clarity and reduces the previously described negative emotions This is due to marma influence which is another topic for another day
3 Consistent persistent disciplined actions add up to important genetic structural changes that are longlasting since they constantly remind the genes to align in a particular way This is the heart of healing disease and doing disease prevention as seen in the 21st century If our genes align in such a way as to predispose us to a disease process, then having them align in a way that causes the genes to influence health or the opposite of disease seems to be the way to genetically manage disease
Genes are in the present moment They don't regret the past, worry about the future, but literally are focused on the present The moment that we have right now is the gift...that's why we call it a present The state of our awareness will achieve happiness mediated through our genes Our entire lifestyle behavior pattern can either create our misery or happiness We get to choose our genetic expression What will you choose?
Read More
