Disease and Inflammation
It has been reported by many knowledgeable sources that inflammation(PItta imbalance) lies at the root of all diseases This is partly true from an energy science point of view but when dealing with inflammation one has to take into consideration the other two energy patterns, Vata and Kapha These energy patterns influence one another's expression in the mindbody
Ways to Reduce Inflammation
Rose petal jam…pacifies Pitta in the heart and prana Vata and cools the system
Rose is renown for its cooling effects and the energy science shows us why that's the case
Sesame crunch
Refined sugar cravings are addictions The body however is energetically looking for more energy substrate called soma Refined sugar provides the soma but at the price of addiction Sesame crunch provides soma without the addictive quality
Avoid onions/garlic…kills friendly bacteria, replace with cabbage and brussel sprouts
80/20 water/homemade yogurt with soma salt and Pitta masala
Green Composite Protein Recipe
This is an alkalinizing diet that reduces acidity in the GI tract which is the source fo inflammation It is a cornerstone to begin removing inflammatory sources for the GI tract
Early bedtime…go to bed 30m b4 anticipate going to bed…go at it slow
All products can be obtained at chandika.com
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Nightshades
One day I was telling a patient about how acidic tomatoes are and he told me of his own experience.
He related that he was driving aloing the interstate when he saw ahead of him a truck lying on its side on the highway. As he got closer he saw a lake of tomato sauce on the road and drove through it with a swish.
He drove on to the next pit stop for some gas and as he was fueling the tank his attention was drawn to the lower parts of the car and found that the paint was peeling off. Now what would that do in our stomachs? Heartburn for those predisposed and imbalance for the rest us who are provoked.
The tomato in concentrated form can be acidic enough that people "burp" their sauces to neutralize the acidity using baking soda.
Nightshades In General
The nightshade family includes tomato, potato, bell peppers, and eggplant. Other relatives are garlic and the onion. Yes, these are common bill of fare in the American diet but that doesn't make them healthy.
Nightshades contain 8 neurotoxins that our body has to detoxify when we consume them.
From an energy view probably none of us should be consuming the nightshades. But they're cheap and quick so there we are. If we are seeking balance in our nutrition energetically, it would be helpful to look to see if tomatoes are in your nutritional format.
Take a look at foodsheal.com Take the test and find the nutritional format best suited for you.
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10 Ways to Improve Agni
In energy science work it's not just one thing that you do to bring about balance but a multiplicity of "things" And most of the time(80%) it's lifestyle behavior patterns not herbs and supplements that are the "things" that will make a difference This particularly plays out in digestive issues where attention to details pays big dividends
This approach to disease brings clarity both emotionally and mentally so that better decision making is done as you move along in the process So let's take a look at some important choices that the energy science recommends to improve digestion
10 Energy Science Remedies for Poor Digestion
1 Biggest meal of the day at noon The digestive system is most ready for the experience between 11a and 2p Conversely at the same time at night between 11p and 2a one should be in bed or there is a great chance that you'll be "raiding the fridge" particularly if Pitta is high and the digestion is too hot
2 No snacking Snacking confuses the GI tract So eating the main meals at predetermined times every 4 hours is very important If you snack you will never know true hunger Due to its simple sugars that can be digested quickly fruit makes a perfect snack food
3 Only eat if real hunger exists The way to tell if there is true hunger is to drink some water and see if you're still hungry If your hunger goes away then it's false hunger However the best way to lock into true hunger is to eat at specific times of the day, eat the biggest meal of the day at noon, and don't snack
4 Ice is not nice Ice cools the GI tract down and agni The enzyme systems work best at 98.6F and so when ice is used during meals it affects your digestion and creates ama which is undigested, unprocessed food Ama is root of all disease so you can see that simply avoiding is a major step to improving your digestion
5 Pay attention to what you're doing and chew food thoroughly There is good experimental evidence to show that when you pay attention to the eating process you digest better There are estimates as to how many "chews" should be used for each mouthful of food and I think that a reasonable number is 20 This guideline is also useful for food prepartation paying attention to the food being prepared
6 Take your time eating Setting down your fork and chewing food, appreciating the taste, textures, and the completeness of chewing the food
7 Make a deal to sit while eating Sitting in your car while driving doesn't count here! Even if it's a grape make a deal with yourself that you'll sit down to eat the grape to create a habit
8 Don't eat when emotional upset Having mental and emotional turbulence prevents you from being able to focus on the process of eating at hand
9 Moderate exercise Make a point to do some form of exercise every day This improves agni and supports quality digestion and prevents ama formation The use of pranayama and in particular kapalabhati(KB) is an excellent way to improve agni and get exercise It may not seem like much but doing 5 minutes of KB is like running a half a mile
10 Use churans with meals At foodsheal.com under nutritional tools there is a listing of churans which are collections of spices that can be used during cooking or sprinkling on food before eating In the energy science each meal should have all 6 tastes Churans can be instrumental in providing these tastes in order to help improve digestion
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Agni and Digestion
Most of us have gone without food for one reason or another and experienced a very strong appetite as a result. Seems pretty straight forward, doesn't it? Don't eat and we get hungry.
But let's examine this process energetically. What happens from an energy perspective.
As we volitionally go without food for a period of time, the enzyme system of the gut collectively known as the digestive fire, ramps up since it is not being used by food. This creates increasing appetite since the energy field's transformative energy is increasing and appetite is an expression of the health of the mindbody's fire in the gut.
But if we continue this process withholding food for several days, something very interesting occurs energetically. Since the fire is not being fed fuel(food), it begins to lessen in its intensity. This is similar to what happens with a campfire, right? If we don't feed the campfire any more wood, what happens? The fire becomes a glowing set of embers. Very hot but not the same kind of fire.
The embers of a campfire is analogous to the detoxification fire that begins the slow burning of undigested stagnant energy in the mindbody. In reality these islands of stagnant energy get heated up so that they can begin moving again and restore the free flow of energy in the physiology once again.
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Herbs and Dis-ease
The use of herbal preparations in the treatment of any disease can be effective if we understand the world of herbology
Herbs have their medicinal effects on multiple systems and go where they are most needed in the physiology unlike their pharma counterparts who are made to have specific molecular physiologic effects However herbs are similar to the effects antibiotics have in that they support the system in correcting the disruption Antibiotics don't eradicate the infection as much as they support the immune response to the invading organisms For example, if someone develops pneumococcal pneumonia, the immune system is not up to the challenge to clear the organism In that case the antibiotics help the immune system in clearing the pneumococcus from the lungs and in actuality do not eradicate the organisms completely
Similarly herbs due to their specific energetics help support the physiology to clear energetic imbalances that are created by unconscious choices Even though herbs are thought of as molecules by nutraceutical companies and are marketed as such, the proper use of herbs will not be done effectively until we use them as healing energetics
Understanding the Origin of the Imbalance Being Treated
Probably the most important aspect in the energetic use of herbs is understanding the imbalance that has been created Any healer whether allopathic or Ayurvedic would admit that you have to know what you're treating before you decide on the direction of therapy In the allopathic discipline the physician through the course of testing comes up a disease label such as cancer, hypertension, autoimmune disease At times not much testing is required and at other times a lot of testing is needed
Similarly in the energy science of Ayurveda a precise understanding of the energetic imbalance is required in order so that a successful herbal protocol is prescribed It requires more than taking a pill conjured up by some nutraceutical company but rather an in depth analysis of what is going on energetically based on what is being reported by the patient
It may be surprising to you to hear this but no two cases of the IC bladder pain syndrome are alike So as we are each uniquely different from one another so we are uniquely different in the way we create our diseases
Absorption of Herbs
An important aspect of the use of herbs is their digestion, absorption, and assimilation Healthy agni is required for this to occur or they are excreted through stool or urine The unfortunate problem for most is that the agni is not healthy What's more is that if the herbs are attempted to be digested they will be turned into ama which is undigested unprocessed food
This is a serious problem even though as a unsophisticated audience we don't understand what deleterious effects we are physiologically creating We merrily go along our way popping nutraceuticals hoping we'll get better when in actuality we are making ourselves sick by our actions
This specific problem can be averted by taking advantage of the agni in our skin through the use of transdermal herbal creams Also through the use of submucosal delivery of herbs we can avoid the digestive system altogether Using both types of delivery systems we can physiologically herbs into the system where they are needed for healing
Real Healing Takes Time
Healing is subtle not gross That is to say, healing using an energetic approach requires observing for subtle changes in the body's reporting of symptoms and noticing how improvement is occurring Otherwise we miss the signs of healing and sooner rather than later we say "this isn't working"So any healing whether allopathic or energy science requires patience and discipline when using a herbal approach otherwise we lose in the end
Another aspect to real healing is to understand that as we get better we reverse our disease process What this means is that we have apparent aggravation of symptoms as the imbalance is corrected We hate to hear this but it's a fact As we gently release the excess energy that we have created by unconscious choices in the past the net result is gentle symptoms of release
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OTC Drugs and Dementia
Many commonly used OTC(over the counter drugs) have been linked with dementia(goo.gl/ihYhgc) according to a recent study from the University of Washington
The most commonly used drug linked to dementia was diphenhydramine, which is used in many popular products such as Benadryl, Nytol Sominex, Theraflu, Triaminic Allergy, plus many others. Also implicated where drugs containing chlorpheniramine (Aller-Chlor); oxybutynin (Ditropan) and tolterodine (Detrol) for overactive bladder; and the tricyclic antidepressants, such as doxepin or amitriptyline These drugs share a common feature with other OTC drugs in that they affect levels of acetylcholine(ACh), a common neurotransmitter in the body The short term changes such as confusion and loss of mental clarity are well known to prescribing physicians but the long term consequences and implications of this class of drugs are not recognized
Alzheimer's disease is a one of early senility or poor brain function and is associated with very low levels of acetylcholine(ACh) There is also evidence now that these changes may be irreversible because they produce permanent neurological changes
The relationship to poor brain function and dementia and drugs that control symptoms through lowering levels of ACh should be disturbing to those who rely on this class of drug to control their symptoms whatever they may be
The Study
To evaluate whether cumulative anticholinergic use is associated with a higher risk for incident dementia, researchers examined medical records from 3,434 participants 65 years or older with no dementia at study entry Initial recruitment occurred from 1994 through 1996 and from 2000 through 2003 and data through September 30, 2012 were also included in these analyses
Exposure to anticholinergic was determined from computerized pharmacy records Cumulative exposure was updated as participants were followed up over a 10-year period. About 20% of the population was found to be using anticholinergic drugs
During the evaluation period, 797 participants (23.2%) developed dementia with 637 of these (80%) developing Alzheimer disease A 10-year cumulative dose-response relationship was observed for dementia and Alzheimer disease. In other words, the higher the cumulative anticholinergic use, the greater the increased risk for dementia The highest risk threshold was taking the minimum daily effective dose of one the anticholinergic agents every day for 3 years
Based upon these results, the authors of the study propose efforts to increase awareness among health care professionals and older adults about the risk of the use of these drugs over time Even at low dosage or recommended levels chronic use of these drugs should be avoided
The Message
It seems self evident that anticholinergic use that is so prevalent in the general population should be kept to a minimum when attempting to reduce symptoms, looking for more alternative ways of managing their symptoms
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The Salty Taste and Seafood
A patient of mine told me about freshwater prawns that are farmed here locally. "What a great idea!", I said. All of us could benefit from this novel animal food since freshwater fish can be used by everyone regardless of their energy pattern. Freshwater fish will pacify everyone's physiology and promote energetic balance.
Then I began thinking of possible problems. They'll probably have a weird taste. "No", my patient explained, "they taste even better than the saltwater prawns." They're probably hard to find, I thought. "And they are locally available just off Lake street." My mindbody began searching for other possible reasons but having no more objections, I thought it wouldn't be a bad idea to try them.
The next day I found myself ambitiously getting ready for my sojourn to the store to try this new found possible taste thrill. "Maybe I won't have enough time," I thought to myself. Nonsense, just go get them and if I don't like them, my daughter will eat them.
So I get the prawns and they're delicious! And now I noticed the same process that my mindbody goes through when confronted with something new. There is hesitancy about what might happen if I do something out of the ordinary. Something that's not in my realm of comfort. I'll have the saltwater prawns, thanks very much.
What gives? Why do I get so resistant to trying something new? I think the simple answer is the fear of the unknown. The uncertainty of predicting what lies ahead prevents us from moving off center and doing something different. For some the acceptance of change may be easy, for others it may be more difficult. And for all of us, there will be guaranteed issues that we balk at and say to ourselves, not today.
Freshwater prawns may be easy but perhaps changing our whole nutritional pattern may be something else. But the key to any change is realizing the fear and stepping through it. Everyone has their pet ways of resisting change. Predominant Vata people run away from fear, Pitta criticizes and becomes judgmental, justifying their resistance by talking themselves out of whatever they're fearing to change. And Kapha simply resists by inertia-just not going to do it. A sense of complacency becomes overwhelming.
Knowing this resistance to the uncertainty and realizing that we will always express our resistance is unique ways allows us to watch ourselves in the midst of our resistance and perhaps walk through it. But if not, it's OK. There will always be another day.
BTW since salt is hot and potentially inflammatory using Soma salt which is cooling is a good idea.
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Ice and Disruption of Digestion
I was in Portland having a microbrew with a friend and the conversation drifted to the taste of beer. Is it better at room temperature or icy cold? For me personally, I can't taste the hops flavor as well if the beer is cold and the nuances of the aftertastes are lessened too
Ice will also alter core temperature transiently and that affects digestion, absorption, and assimilation because the enzyme systems at work in the GIT operate at 98.6 degrees F
And what's interesting, the energy healing disciplines would totally concur and make the statement that everything ingested should be at room temperature. That indeed ice is not nice. The cold quality actually affects our ability to experience taste well, but also to digest what we are consuming. To put that another way, temperature of food or drink affects our ability to digest not only the taste experience but the food itself
In the end ice is not nice!!
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The Gut and Imbalances that Create Dis-ease
The energy science of Ayurveda describes the gastrointestinal tract(GI tract or gut)as the place where health begins and ends.
Think about it. The gut interface is where our food choice becomes us. If we choose broccoli, our gut has to change it into our brain, heart, and lung cells. What happens if the gut isn't up to it? What happens if it's sick and in poor health? The rest of the mindbody suffers.
Then what happens to the broccoli? From an energy view, it becomes stagnant energy layering in the GI tract not going anywhere.
Year after year, decade after decade, the gut gets sicker and sicker until we get so out of balance that we have no retrievable dis-ease.
The take home message. The gut is the center of dis-ease not just a mechanical tube. And the choices made by the mind that puts the food there is another integral part of dis-ease because they produce either harmony or imbalance. If gut is healthy it burns up the mistakes. If it's sick, it's trouble.
So here's to a healthy gut!
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Commitment and Healing
Commitment creates a new space within you in which you can live unencumbered by your past That is tremendously liberating Amrit Desai
Yesterday I saw a diligent patient interested in doing the energetic nutritional work to improve her health. She had found since I last saw her that her abdominal pain had resolved and was feeling well when......she went on vacation. While on vacation her efforts gradually succumbed to her old habits and her pain returned. When she came to see me she was happy to report that she was getting back on track with her energy nutrition and again her pain was gone.
This clinical scenario is not uncommon and it shows how energetic healing time to change our habitual tendencies. And it's totally OK to do this because energetic healing is a learning process. It requires the process of trial and error. It requires us revisiting old habits and seeing the effects of them on our physiology. It is to recognize that we are human after all.
Energy healing is not rapid as it is when we take a pharmaceutical or have that operation that changes the body's anatomy. Energy healing is subtle and slow like a tortoise but it is long lasting and forever if we want it to be because it's up to us.
Yet when we shed those old habits and take on new ones that are more supportive, we need to begin with commitment that we are in this for the long haul not the short term. This is a little onerous at first because it requires an element of faith. Fortunately the process builds trust which gives us some more trust as we move along in our journey
As we grow in this blogging experience together I hope to share other personal and patient stories that will help underscore the real nature of healing.
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