Bile and Motor Oil: Conservative Management of Small Gallbladder Stones
The gallbladder is a storage container for bile that is produced by the liver The formed bile fluid reaches the gallbladder through a series of liver ducts or channels and then stored until needed for digestion,specifically of fats in the duodenum If substances in the bile fluid reach saturation levels in the bile fluid, then these substances can fall out of the bile solution and collect as debris in the gallbladder If this debris becomes large enough in volume it can coalesce into small stones usually <5mm At times the debris and small stones can become much larger stones Ultrasound is the way you typically find out if gallstones are present
One of the suggested ways to manage small gallbladder stone collection is with a liver flush As the name implies the liver's biliary system is "flushed" of the old bile in the system and, oh by the way, the sediment and small stones that happen to be in biliary fluid
The Biliary Flush
In the early am take 8oz(1 cup) of olive oil mixed with 4oz of lime juice, 1 clove chopped garlic, and pinch of cayenne pepper
This combination of these ingredients when entering into the duodenum sets off a mass contraction of the liver's biliary tree as well as the gallbladder itself leading to the forceful evacuation of the gallbladder fluid(bile) along with debris and small stones as well
Replacing Old Motor Oil
Another conservative management of small stones and gallbladder debris is the use of soluble fiber The fiber helps bind the bile in the small bowel and aids in the elimination of it from the body If the bile is not eliminated it is recycled and arrives back in liver portal circulation This constant recycling doesn't allow for new fresh bile to circulate through the liver's biliary system(the old bile will have higher levels of concentrated materials that would predispose to greater chances of debris falling out of the bile solution)
So to clear your old bile or motor oil and get some fresh oil circulating the use of soluble fiber is helpful If you want to see how soluble fiber works in the GI tract add some water to psyllium and watch is swell into a gel This is what traps the old bile in the gut
Sources of soluble fiber include oatmeal, oat cereal, lentils, apples, oranges, pears, oat bran, strawberries, nuts, flaxseeds, beans, dried peas, blueberries, psyllium, cucumbers, celery, and carrots Here's a good link for learning more about dietary fiber
To Health as a Skill DB
The above discussed treatments should be discussed with your doctor to see if these treatments are right for you For example if your stones are large then a liver flush might send a large stone down the common bile duct that could get lodged and become obstructing producing pain and possible surgical intervention Or if your gallbladder has signs of chronic disease with scar then this kind of treatment again may not be a good choice
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15 Methods to Enhance Digestive Fire
Digestive fire is a collective term for all the enzyme and bacterial systems in the gut from the stomach to the rectum When we have a good digestive fire we can burn through past mistakes and current ones that we make when we eat foods that aren't balancing for us or poor food combinations
Over the years of doing these mistakes without rectifying for them, the accumulated imbalance in the GI tract begins to make us sick Hence preserving or making the digestive fire healthy is of prime importance Here are some tips as to how you can make your fire robust and best for optimal health
1 Biggest Meal at midday
2 Only eat when appetite is ready for the experience of food
3 No snacks between meals
4 All beverages at room temperature Ice is not nice
5 Tongue scraping stimulates digestive fire
6 Do at least one meal every 2 to 3 days in silence
7 Try to not eat when emotionally upset or bored
8 Try not to eat large meals late at night
9 Drink milk separate from meals
10 Use a rice bowl or similar measuring device for measuring 2 handfuls (how much should eat at any one meal)
11 Juice fast according to VPK protocol
12 Try to always sit to eat
13 Exercise regularly
14 Use churans to improve the digestion of a meal
15 Don't chew gum This may sound strange but if saliva is continually sent to the stomach with mastication movements of the mouth, the body thinks that eating is occurring This false signal makes the body feel that it's eating all the time and essentially causes deterioration of agni(digestive fire)
Do these tips on a regular basis and see for yourself how you feel after meals
To Health as a Skill Love DB
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Is Disease Prevention Possible?
Disease prevention is what we look for but sadly enough the current system of healing as practiced cannot offer it The reason for it seems quite simple actually It is because the molecular or matter science model of healing of today cannot trace the origins of the diseases that it studies
The Origin of Disease
If we are to begin helping people prevent disease, it will have to come from an energy field discipline since it is at the energy field level where all disease begins. As we have written earlier, Hippocrates, said to be one of the four fathers of Western medicine, stated that, "All disease begins in the gut."
In other words we must reassess our understanding of the origins of disease Presently the matter field medical discipline of which I am a practitioner, looks for molecular reasons why disease occurs But the matter field is actually developed from the underlying energy field and diseases that are created in the energy field percolate up into the matter field as expressions of the underlying energy field imbalance
Energy Model of Disease
In reality the body's energy and matter fields coexist but the disease first begins its expression in the energy field but is not detectable in the matter field until an obvious disruption in the matter field can be detected by our gross studies
Currently our present matter field medical discipline provides a system of early disease detection and treatment We attempt to detect prostate cancer in its earliest stages using PSA and the prostate exam Using mammography we try to detect breast cancer in its earliest stages and cervical cancer by PAP smear By the use of sophisticated imaging we uncover unsuspected cancers in their earliest stages. For example, renal cancers are being found as small unsuspected lesions
But now we can see that all these mentioned cancers had their earliest origins in the energy field and gradually the imbalances in the energy field became disruptive enough to show as an early cancer
Early Detection Versus Prevention
The question is, "Is early detection the same as prevention of disease?" The answer is obviously no And the present matter field medical discipline will not be able to deliver disease prevention because it's detection devices operate at the level of the matter field which cannot detect the origins of disease
What we desperately need is a medical delivery model which is a marriage of the matter and energy field disciplines Then we would have a prevention system and one which could deal with diseases that had gotten out of control and needed matter field expertise
So if you want to prevent disease in your life or minimize the consequences of disease that does occur, it would be best to practice an Ayurvedic lifestyle and encourage balance in your life
To Health as a Skill DB
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The Inertia of the Human Spirit: 3 Ways to Manage It
These days there is a lot of money spent by companies or individuals hoping to get the "edge" using a motivational approach using such professionals as Tony Robbins or Jack Canfield The promise is that if I amp up my performance then I "win"
This may be all well and good in 20th century but I would offer a different perspective as to why "we need motivation"
The Kapha Energy Pattern
A complete model of the mindbody is that it's both a matter or molecular and an energy field simultaneously coexisting with one another This is the biological model of the 21st century that respects the molecular investigations of the body but also sees the energy science contributions as well
To my point about motivation that I began with I believe that there can always be present in the biological energy field a problem with inertia or lack of compelling passion to get the job done
From an energy science point of view Pitta becomes the driving force behind the passion to get things done but there can be at times and restricting force on this passion that comes about when the energy pattern of stability comes into play Kapha has the qualities of heavy, slow/dull, cool, slimy/smooth, oily, liquid, dense, soft, static, and cloudy Just reading these qualities can make you tired!
3 Ways to Manage Physiologic Inertia
Foods Not Correct for Our Mindbody Energy Constitutions
I watched a couple of ballgames this weekend and was surprised at the food ads in between innings, all vying for my tastebuds It's not surprising that two-thirds of us are overweight or obese All these foods are programming us for these Kapha qualities I listed above If we keep eating the "good old American diet" we will continue to get the same results
Not only do these qualities produce our weight problem on the planet but they also put the brakes on our drive and creativity It's been shown that an individual who is fit and of normal weight outperforms in the workplace his obese counterpart No or little inertia versus lots of inertia Is this discriminatory or is it a fact?
Incompatible food combinations
There are several ways that foods when not partnered properly can lead to lowered metabolism and Kapha inertia For more see foodsheal.com
Breathing techniques
An excellent way to reduce the Kapha inertia is through breathing techniques called pranayama The sequence requires instruction but is a surefire way to jack up the system that is sluggish and needs help Called pranayama in yoga circles it is a bonafide way to reduce the debilitating Kapha energy pattern in the physiology As a matter of fact no weight reduction program is complete unless it has these breathing exercises as part of the program
To Health as a Skill DB
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“I Eat Healthy” or Do I?
One common refrain I often hear from my patients is that "I eat healthy." And we all want to believe that we are doing the very best for our bodies. But have we ever stopped to assess what this statement means?
If healthy means eating lots of fruits and vegetables, that might be healthy But some would contend that eating raw vegetables would be even more nutritious Perhaps eating less meat would be considered healthy. Eating fast food might not be considered healthy Or avoiding refined sugar would be healthy Or I only eat organic But all of these statements miss a very important point
Does "I Eat Healthy" Have Any Real Meaning?
Whether corn is organic, the vegetable is raw, the meat is buffalo or the fast food is nutritious, the food to be healthy must resonate with our physiology So corn, even if organic, if it doesn't resonate with my physiology(and for me it doesn't) then I shouldn't be eating it
Currently there is no nutritional system that has guidelines grounded in a science that globally addresses the nutritional needs of the human physiology And we will not find it in our present nutritional system followed by the medical matter field healing system
The reason for this is actually quite simple Our matter field nutritional information is not a system, but rather a collection of data about the foods we ingest The guidelines come from a level where a quantitative assessment of foods consumed is paramount
Matter Science Nutrition Misses What's Good For YOU
Allow me to explain We know a lot about broccoli, the number of calories per gram, the number of carbohydrates per gram, the vitamin and mineral content but this quantitative analysis cannot tell me if broccoli resonates with MY physiology I just know a lot about broccoli
From an energetic perspective I understand foods from a qualitative viewpoint So what is healthy for me may not be so healthy for you from an energetic perspective I could use banana once or twice a week but for another individual, banana should never be consumed because it would produce imbalance I shouldn't eat tomatoes or corn but some other friend, she could use them in moderation So you see it is the qualitative character of the food that makes it relatively good or not so good for us This is the value of the energy approach to nutrition And it's a great gift that the energy sciences have given us because it gives us direction for our nutrition and removes all the confusion about nutrition
Whether it's the Paleo diet, the blood diet, or whatever, there's no system of nutrition that gives you how to be healthy from a GIT standpoint other than the energy science approach to nutrition
When we begin eating foods that resonate with our physiologies then we will be able to say, "I eat healthy." The energy tradition of Ayurveda can give us these much needed guidelines
The explanation of this rich energy science is explored in my new book Foods Heal.
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Planetary Health: What Does It Mean for Your Own Health
Does it seem strange that we can impact the ills of our Mother Earth by improving our own health? From an energy perspective this totally makes sense
Mother Earth is our extended mindbody from an energy perspective because it is not just "my energy field". You and I are part of a greater energy field, Mother Earth and this larger energy field is part of an even greater energy field, the Milky Way and that is part of the larger galactal systems of the visible universe
But here locally on planet earth we do indeed have unarguable challenges Global warming, climacteric convulsions such as tsunamis and overpopulation and starvation would come to mind but you get the drift Our planet is getting sick and we are intimately responsible
Witness the finding of an island of plastic located in the South Pacific, the finding of DDT in artic waters or high levels of mercury in artic animals Our pollution on the planet by our dominating population of our species is creating significant dis-ease or imbalance for our Mother Earth
OK, we say, we'll start recycling! We will eat organic and stop the pesticides And I'll even get a fuel efficient vehicle
What else can we do that would be impactful? Well, we could balance our own physiologies From an energetic standpoint, it makes little sense to recycle if we are not willing to take care of our own health The health of the planet is dependent on the health of the individuals who inhabit it. It is an undeniable conclusion from a mindbody point of view
So as JFK said, "Ask not what your country can do for you. Ask what you can do for your country" We can paraphrase and say, "Ask not what I can get from Mother Earth Ask what I can do to heal my dearest loving Mother who has given me so much"
And one of the greatest gifts we can give our loving Mother is to be energetically healthy and in balance That is true love my friends. DrBill
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Fibromyalgia
As part of the IC bladder pain syndrome fibromyalgia(FM) is a common(along with vulvodynia, chronic prostatitis, IBS, GERD) It's estimated that 25% of people with IC have complicating FM but that percentage is probably much higher than the estimate because many with IC have some symptoms of FM but don't meet the strict criteria for diagnosis Nonetheless the associated symptoms of FM make the IC syndrome difficult to manage
Fibromyalgia as a Disease Label
More women than men are affected and the symptoms may be unilateral(on just one side)....usually more on the right side due to the competitive nature of the person affected The symptoms are muscular in origin and don't come from the joint itself but from muscles around the joint called the periarticular muscles It was called muscular rheumatism because of the confusion with the joint disease label of rheumatoid arthritis which is a true joint autoimmune disorder
The sed rate as a measure of inflammation is normal Symptoms are triggered by cold damp weather; worse in the evening and at sunrise and sunset mimicing rheumatoid arthritis
When there is poor posture people are prone to sprains in ligaments and tendons There is generally poor muscle tone due to lack of exercise due to pain It's associated with the overweight condition and sciatica is common although it's not a condition dependent on diagnosis
Frozen shoulder or tennis elbow are common presenting symptom complexes as well as costochondritis from pendular breast tissue One has to think of the diagnosis even with isolated carpal tunnel syndrome
To make a diagnosis according to the American Rheumatology Association(ARA) there must be 16 of 18 trigger points involved This may not be the case often times and hence the above skewing of the percentage involvement Interestingly all the trigger points used by the ARA are marma points and associated with the colon, respiratory or water channels of the energy body There are other points described that are not necessarily trigger points but are called tender points such as the deltoid, biceps/triceps, and subscapularis
The Energy Science Understanding
Not surprisingly FM arises like IC from the colon and the disseminated qualities of hot and mobile find defective energetic spaces in the muscle tissue layer of the body Due to the mobile quality there is a tendency for one trigger point to become affected, only for another area to become affected later This migratory symptom complex of FM makes it very characteristic among myalgias
Since the colon is the seat of emotions in the energy body mind is often involved and mental toxicity is the result This must be taken into consideration in management of individual patients There is often erratic digestion in FM cases consistent with the colonic origin and an IBS like picture may be the result
5 Ways to Deal with FM Symptoms
#1 Ginger Baking Soda bath....1/3cup of dry ginger and 1/3cup of baking soda in a warm tub of water Soak for 20minutes
#2 Marma or accupressure can be very effective but the touch should be light...using mahanaryan or nutmeg oil to points when doing therapy can be helpful
#3 Herbal formulas according to the individual can be supportive to healing
#4 Nutrition according to energy constitutional makeup(see foodsheal.com)
#5 Guided yoga asana practice to involve the marma points is generally good Exercise and pranayama are good to add to this asana regiment(deep breathing releases endorphins)
Autoimmune FM
In probably 20% of cases of FM there is an autoimmune component These cases are harder to treat but the treatment protocol is basically the same but the herbal protocol will vary
All the best in your healing journey Dr Bill
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3 Ways to Cool Off During the Summer Months
From this famous equation we are told that energy and matter simultaneously coexist What is matter is energy, what is energy is matter Biologically that means that your body is both and an energy and matter fields This fundamental law of Nature is important because it shifts the way we think about healing the body
Currently using the allopathic model we have a disease detection and treatment program....it's not built for a system of prevention It's like trying to drive a Model T in a Formula One race classic like the Indianapolis 500 But this is the 21st century and consumers of health care are finding that their visits to the doc aren't cutting it any more They're looking for a Formula One race car and getting a Model T
Wave or Particle View of the Human Body
Everything that we observe whether it's our body or the world around us can be viewed as either a wave or a particle When it's a particle we see the world as reassuringly solid and palpable From this world view we see things around as molecules; but when the world is seen as a wave our view changes The world is seen as vibrating pulsating energy
These vibrational frequencies are identified as money, struggles, obstructions to what we want, the passion of life itself Biologically vibrational frequencies are what make us up as an identifiable body in space
In the allopathic medical tradition measurement of molecules or their molecular arrangement is how disease is both detected and serves as a monitor for the effectiveness in treatment In contrast in the energy science medical disciplines imbalances that lead to disease is based on a disturbance of vibrational frequencies in the body called qualities
As I've written in the past the qualities prominent in the IC bladder pain syndrome are hot and mobile(of the total of 20 contrasting qualities, eg hot and cold, mobile and static, heavy and light etc) So in all diseases these qualities play important roles in the disease process
The Hot Quality of Summer
So from the above it would not be surprising that hot weather is problematic for IC You see, the quality that affects the physiology from a energy science perspective doesn't have to be ingested If you are exposed to hot weather the energy body absorbs that quality as if you ingested it
The difference between ingesting the hot quality and being environmentally exposed to hot is that when ingested that hot qualitya remains with you to be processed over a 35 day period whereas if you're simply exposed to the quality and its effect goes away after exposure
But what happens if you work in a hot kitchen for your occupation Then day in and day out, week after week, month after month the hot quality exposure is consistent and persistent Then over time it will be like you're ingesting the hot quality every day and indeed it will have a physiologic impact
Compounding Influence of Qualities
So you feel pretty good after that cup of coffee so no big deal....didn't have any influence on you, right? Well, the energy science would say that anything that is taken in has an effect and that there is a compounding effect that takes place when coffee is taken, hot weather is thrown into the equation, perhaps a cheeseburger with ketchup,etc etc This compounding effect produces the flares
You see, it's not just one choice that brings about the flare but a multitude of choices that go back 35 days That's why it's actually quite fallacious to say that the choice made yesterday caused the flare today The flare is actually the cumulative body response of many different choices that have been made over at least the last month
And this doesn't take into consideration the level of the say the hot quality in the body before the ingestion Say the level of the hot quality is a 5 and it takes a 10 to get a flare Well then, you have a cushion You could do a number of different things to provoke and not get a flare until you reach 9 then the hot day is the straw that breaks the proverbial camel's back
Lastly for some the flares for the above reasons don't occur during the hot time of year They occur after the summer mounting up time and in the fall one is more predisposed to the flare It's much like the spring cold which is just a physiologic release of all the buildup of the heavy qualities that developed during the winter months
Staying Cool
1 The obvious is not to expose yourself to heat unnecessarily, whether it be at the beach, work, or at home Look for ways to cool off your local environment
2 Pay close attention to what foods y0u are taking in during the summer months(icdiet.com) and particularly use cooling foods such as fresh cilantro or coconut
3 Use cooling herbs such as mint, cumin, coriander, fennel, turmeric, wintergreen in cooking foods
Just being aware of the hot quality can go a long ways to prevent buildup of the hot quality and the flares it produces
To Health as a Skill DB
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The Medicinal Properties of Ghee
Last week I wrote about various cooking oils that when used according to your energy constitutional makeup will bring you closer to balance and harmony But there is one cooking oil that can be used by everyone anytime (except in moderation for PK people) This cooking oil comes from unsalted butter, has a very high burning point(technically it's called smoke point), and best of all is highly medicinal As a matter of fact it is a cornerstone in energy science therapies to heal all diseases
Ghee: A Healthy Home Is Incomplete Without
Remember when we were young and there was the rare treat of having lobster? Growing up in the Midwest it was an unusual happening but ....
What about that golden liquid butter that they served with the lobster for dipping? The menu said it was clarified butter but all I remember was that it was gooood with the lobster Now the journey with clarified butter has come full circle and I understand it with a different perspective
From an energy science nutritional view clarified butter is named ghee and it's not just melted butter The clarification process frees the butter of the harmful fatty acids which are cooked out of the unsalted butter that you begin with Literally the fatty acids are cooked out and you find them at the bottom of the cooking vessel as a slimy, oily, heavy, static, soft, slow/dull, liquid goo Why would anyone want to put that into their mindbodies?
But what's left is actually medicine A food that is the oily essence of milk and with the fatty acids removed the ama producing qualities of butter go with it That is, the slimy, heavy, static, soft, slow/dull, and liquid qualities are removed
The medicinal properties of ghee are extraordinary It stimulates digestive fire, oleates the GI tract hence improving function, penetrates all the tissue layers of the mindbody within twenty four hours, and can serve as an excellent vehicle in proper circumstances to deliver herbs to all tissue layers of the body
The matter science nutritional literature is devoid of understanding the power of this type of food preparation because of its molecular approach to foods and diet The mindbody is a richer reality than a sophisticated collection of molecules
The Preparation of Ghee
Here's a link: http://goo.gl/lJl4oy ...... that beautifully takes you through a pictorial step by step process in ghee's preparation Pay attention to the last couple of steps so you don't burn the ghee
But it's a very simple process to do at home and much less expensive than buying it prepared
The wonderful thing about making your own ghee is that it gets you involved If you've been a member of this energy science community for long you know that I'm all about having you take responsibility for your own healing Healing doesn't live in a pill or a magic procedure
No, healing lies in your participation This is pivotal if you want to heal any disease from an energy science point of view
Detoxification and Ghee
As I have written earlier one of the aspects of healing is detoxification That is, removing ama from the GIT as well as the peripheral deep tissues and channels The urinary tract is a channel and as I have alluded to earlier is responsive to detoxification quite easily Since ghee has similar properties to ama(undigested unprocessed food) which is a result of poor digestive strength(the energy science term for this is agni) when it penetrates tissues energetically it loosens the ama in the tissue and brings it back to the GIT for elimination
So ghee as an internal oleation food is central to the detoxification process if you are so inclined to take on such work But I would have to say that detoxification is a primary energy science procedure
To health as a skill Love DrBill
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Cooking Oils: Which Ones Are Toxic For You
In the energy science approach there are specific cooking oils that carry the hot quality and these in the end will aggravate the small bowel, the seat of Pitta energy which as you recall is the energy of transformation in the body These oils if used improperly can produce imbalances over the long term leading to disease
Why would the small bowel be the focal point of transformative energy? It's in the small bowel that foods are literally transformed from a vegetable, say broccoli.... and that piece of broccoli is transformed into molecules that can be used by your body for repair or energy to do things So when oils heat the small bowel they increase the energy pattern of Pitta which is responsible for all forms of inflammatory diseases such as cancer, heart disease, and str oke
Which Oils are Best?
It depends on who you are energetically If you do the questionnaire at foodsheal.com you can determine whether you are PK, PV, or VK Then to the specific nutritional format will show you the oils that will bring about balance for your specific energy pattern....that is, your unique energetic constitutional makeup that is genetically determined
Oils That Heat the Small Bowel
Some degree of heat is valuable for health but sometimes that heat can become so provoked for many different reasons that disease occurs Oils that can be used in moderation for any energy constitutional makeup are almond, apricot, flaxseed, safflower, sesame, soy and sunflower
Almonds are actually seeds and in the skin of the almond are numerous enzymes that produce transformation so the almond can reproduce itself into another tree If the skin of the almond is left in place during the production of the oil then the oil will be heating The same is true for almond butter
For PV makeup all oils can be used in moderation without causing an imbalance except for coconut and avocado which should be used externally only This latter external use is based on the fact that these two oils are extremely cooling and affect the digestive fire or agni Hence routine use of coconut oil internally, even though the rage from a matter science view currently, is not a good idea as it will disrupt agni which is extremely important for health
For PK makeup there are problematic oils that can produce imbalance Seldom used apricot oil and safflower, and sesame oil internally should not be used at all Sesame can be used externally in moderation Internally taken oils for PK that can be used in moderation are corn, olive, soy, flaxseed, primrose, walnut, and almond Those oils that can be taken internally all the time for PK are sunflower, canola, and ghee The same caveat holds true for coconut and avocado regarding the internal use as above
For VK makeup all oils can be used in moderation except for flaxseed which should not be used Those that can be used all the time are ghee and corn Again the same caveat holds true for coconut and avocado regarding the internal use as above
Cooking Oils and Eating Out
So armed with this information you can begin to make better energetic choices around the choice of cooking oils in the kitchen and at restaurants But when it's all said and done you should think twice about fried foods in restaurants since you have no control over what kinds of oils are used unless it's used at the table from a bottle for salads Otherwise fried cooking oils in the restaurant kitchen are more than likely the cheapest oils that can be found and are used over and over again
Having said this if eating out is infrequent then consuming oils that are imbalancing every once in a while particularly if your agni is strong probably will not make a big difference
A Word About Ghee
From an energetic perspective, no matter what your energy constitutional makeup, ghee can be used by everyone The universal cooking oil!!
Ghee or clarified butter is an excellent cooking oil(high burn point) because not only does it cool the small bowel but its qualities are those of our digestive fire Hence using ghee on a regular basis improves overall health Said another way, many who have IC have poor agni, ie poor digestive strength
In our next post together we'll discuss how to make this amazing cooking oil
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