The Innumerable Values of Yogurt
One particular thread that I have seen come up is the question about IC and yogurt How should it be used and whether it is safe in IC, that is, whether it is Vata and Pitta provoking, causing bladder pain
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
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
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Antiinflammatory Cocktail
The inflammation that occurs with pain as we've talked about in the past is from the hot and mobile qualities from an energy science viewpoint
As you know this pain can be excruciating and unrelenting causing undue stress on relationships and plans
And there are things that we have discussed that can help with temporary relief of symptoms
The Hot Quality
As we've mentioned before the human energy anatomy Ayurveda says that there are three energy patterns that give us function The Vata, Pitta, and Kapha physiologic energies gives the body movement, transformation, and stability respectively
Pitta the energy of transformation is the only one of the three energy patterns that has the hot vibrational frequency This energy of transformation is responsible for your flares Makes sense doesn't it? Hot transforms right? But too much of this energy produces chronic disease Burning wood, burning thoughts, burning stomach burning bladder, burning pelvis, burning vagina Holy smoke! Burned up relationships!
This is the energy that slso makes us competitive but if more hot enters into the equation it leads to aggressive behaviors that turn people off
Choosing Hot
So when it's hot in the environment the same hot is aggravated in our own mindbody energy field And when you eat trigger foods the same thing happens whether we can appreciate it or not That's why the food guidelines are so important because sometimes you can't appreciate what's happening
The hot from the sun is never as long term provoking as the hot that we ingest As I've discussed in other blogs consumption of the hot quality has a much longer staying power of influence This is a very important point since the physiology is affected literally for 35 days after a trigger food is chosen to be ingested
What happens when too much hot is in the energy physiology? You guessed it! INFLAMMATION
What To Do What To Do
Sooo…. here's a recipe for a delicious cooling herbal cocktail that you may find valuable particularly during flare seasons
2T of aloe vera gel(NOT the juice)
2oz of pomegranite juice
2oz of water
Chug a lug! Hmmmm delissios
Here's to cooling off
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5 Ways to Deal With Chronic Pain
In the energy science of Ayurveda imbalance of qualities such as hot, cold, heavy, light affect the metabolic fire called agni When this happens the end result is a toxic morbid substance called ama This is essence is how disease occurs in the energy model discipline
In chronic diseases the qualities lead to early symptoms of the disease complex but as progression occurs more qualities become involved and deeper tissues become affected due to the mounting amount of ama
Clogging of Energy Channels
When energy channels become obstructed with ama then there is no free flow of energy in the mindbody This leads to a buildup of the Vata energy pattern which is freely circulating in the channels(common channels we know from a Western perspective are the GI tract, large vessels like the aorta or vena cava, neural pathways, and the respiratory system)
Vata, when obstructed in the channels, causes pain In Ayurveda there is no pain without Vata So in the chronic disease pain is related to clogged channels from ama accumulation and the blockage of the free flow of Vata Often this is neurologic like pain and follows what I have written about in earlier blogs about the origin of any syndrome associated with pain
As you can see, keeping the channels open is essential for keeping vatagenic pain in check It is also important for immunity, and overall health To keep the channels open, it is important to eat fresh food with spices that help digestion so that ama is not formed When ama (partially digested food) is formed, its sticky nature blocks the channels and aggravates vata Also spices in your food, give a general warming effect to the whole body which helps to keep the channels open, and vata flowing
5 Ways to Prevent and Clear Pain
Staying warm The Vata energy pattern has the qualities of cold, light mobile, dry, rough, subtle, and clear so when we don't stay warm this can increase the Vata guna of cold and increase our pain Think about it....if you get cold the mindbody contracts Don't let your feet get cold Don't eat cold food and drink You might think ice cream is vata-pacifying because it's dairy but it's not It is actually vata-aggravating Anything cold you put in your system closes the channels and blocks the flow of vata That's why you get a headache if you eat cold things quickly
Transdermal creams can be used for pain control with reasonably good effect One has to be consistent, persistent, and disciplined in their use but if applied properly they can be very effective
Nutrition that causes pain Large beans, bananas, winter squashes and extra heavy foods are all known in Ayurveda as visthambi, (clogging to the srotas or channels) Avoid these items in your diet and you will find your channels are more open, and your vatagenic pain is less Also, avoid the nightshades (potatoes, tomatoes, bell peppers, eggplant) because these toxic plants block the vibrational channels (nadis), which can subsequently cause the physical channels (srotas or channels) to shrink
Avoiding leftover foods or pre-packaged foods is important too These foods are not easily digested by the body and result in ama right away This promotes clogging of the channels and lessen the free flow of Vata
Daily schedules Regular routine is Vata pacifying so daily schedules are irregular and hectic(Vata provoking) there will be a tendency to increase the Vata energy pattern
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“I Think I’ll Order the Inflammation Today”
As I muse through the menu at my favorite restaurant, I can hear myself in the process of selection
"Hmmm, this looks particularly good-lots of congestion and inflammation there"
"Or maybe some cooling? Oh no no, that's not tasty enough"
"Well maybe just this time"
From an energy science view, the effects of the foods that we consume begin before we even put them in our mouths Does that sound surprising?
Our unconscious behavioral eating patterns begin in the mind so it makes sense that the health of our mindbodies bedome directed by our unconscious choices
This concept is so far removed from our current matter science or molecular approach which is devoid of being able to factor the mind in the equation of foods and their selection
Let's pause and consider that whatever we are putting in our mouths at any point in time has the ability to make us sick or bring about balance
We currently don't have the concept from our matter science model of healing that disease begins with the ingestion of taste(energy) If I'm a PK and snarfing down a banana I'm inflamming my physiology and asking for congestion
And is it wrong to have a banana? No, not from an energy science view The key as we have discussed in the past is to be aware of how the foods impact us from a sensory point of view
We intellectualize about foods from a matter science view but from an energy science view the ingestion of any food has the capability of teaching us more about ourselves
Have you had the experience of food making you feel bad? Did this become a recurring theme? Did it take a number of days before the ingestion of a particular food made you feel bad?
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The Energy Science and Transdermal Creams for Management of Chronic Disease
In the energy science disciplines of Ayurveda and traditional Oriental medicine(TOM) the use of topographical points on the skin are used for treatment of various disease states In TOM these points are called acupuncture or acupressure points In the energy science of Ayurveda these points are called marma points There is some variability in terms of location and what they represent but the utility of use is undoubtedly valuable The whole body has lots of marma points and the ones depicted in the diagram are three around the ankle
In conventional medicine today the use of transdermal therapies has had a wide application utilized mostly as a delievery system These pharma systems are designed to get molecules into the body that would otherwise be digested in the gastrointestinal tract(GIT) and rendered useless A good example is that of the testosterone molecule that is digested in the GIT Because of this no functional hormone support can be acheived by taking it orally But with the use of the transdermal delivery system testosterone can be effectively absorbed across the skin to provide its physiologic benefits
In chronic diseases such as chronic prostatitis, IBS, GERD, and fibromyalgia we can make use of marma points to deliver herbs into the mindbody for healing
Marma and Transdermal Creams
There are specific marma associated with organs such as the liver, lungs and nerve plexi associated with disease in these organs From an Ayurvedic point of view all diseases can be affected and treated because neurological involvement of the nerve plexi is the rule This nervous tissue is invaded by imbalancing qualities that move to various parts of the mindbody and energetically affect the functioning of these plexi
Transdermal creams can be made so that they can take the herbs across the skin and deliver their effects to target tissues of the mindbody The carriers are energetic vehicles move the finest of vibrational frequencies of the herbs to the respective locations in this case the pelvic plexus The carries move through the nadis and hair follicles of the skin and attach to the synapses of nerve endings leading to distant effects
The point is that the nerves essentially carry the vibrational frequencies
Uses of Transdermal Creams
1 Pain control There is no pain without the mobile energy pattern of Vata which is most expressed in the the nervous system So when we use transdermal creams and affect the nervous system directly we have the chance to change pain
2 Therapy for conditions Conditions for chronic diseases will best respond to the the use of transdermal creams because they address the chronic imbalances that occur in tissues
3 Bringing overall balance By affecting the tissues and eliminating imbalances we have the chance to reverse disease
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