I know a number of you could be looking at yourself in the mirror and you'll tell yourself, "I look healthy but I don't think I need to be in a diet program". The truth is, although 15minutes4me health is usually seen from the outside, most of what's happening is in the inside of our body.
A lot of people in North America see digestive issues being a nuisance. Ayurveda see these issues as the being of all health conditions in your life. You run to the drug store for antacids, pills to relieve constipation and diarrhea. Pain relief is as near as the new Advil! The body tells you your story! Something is wrong and you should listen but we don't listen until we are sick.
Here are signs that your body is letting you know that something is wrong.
You're starting to be overweight. Food loaded with the tastes of sweet and salty are earth promoting food and can add additional weight to your body. Sweet is also the taste of contentment, in Ayurveda, sweet food can be included in the diet to help with contentment.
You have a coating on your tongue. When you get up in the morning, have a look at your tongue. If there is a white, yellow or brown coating on your tongue, food is not being digested properly and this is the first symptom of things to come.
Constipation, gas and bloating as a common occurrence in your life. This is often witnessed as a vata imbalance with agni manda. Many people use laxatives and gas relieving pills to help the problem. Ayurveda says digestion and vata must be balanced. Many vata type people love lots of green smoothies and salads: two of the worst things a vata person can do to their digestion. They need to eat more cooked food and less salad. Salad is cold and has too much air for the vata constitution.
Frequent diarrhea. This can be a condition that many people live with and do not understand that the fire element is out of balance. Diarrhea can be the body's way of getting rid of something harmful. It is a good idea to let the diarrhea continue for a few days and heal itself but if diarrhea can be something that is happening on a regular basis, you need to look at your diet for food that are irritating to the digestive system or balance the fire element in the body. Many times diarrhea can deplete the body of the water element, creating dehydration and there is not efficient assimilation of the food and people are undernourished. Stress is one of the silent killer in the world. Stress will result to a lot of diseases and one of these is heart disease. It is a disorder of the blood vessels of the heart that can lead to heart attack. Other cardiovascular diseases include stroke, high blood pressure, angina (chest pain), and rheumatic heart disease.
You are frequently feeling depressed or anxious. Ayurveda states that food has an effect on our thoughts, emotions and consciousness. Anxiety and depression can be the result of ama( food that has not been properly digested)
Joint pain-signs of ama
Chronic inflammation
Heaviness and fatigue after eating
So what are some things you can do?
1. No more drinking cold water
2. Only 1/2 cup of warm water with your food
3. No more smoothies in the morning- for many people this promotes weight gain and ama
4. No coffee first thing in the morning on an empty stomach
5. Eat fruit alone
6. Sit down to eat your meals
7. Eat your largest meal at noon
Ayurveda is an ancient healing system that focuses on creating and maintaining health and happiness, through balance in mind, body and spirit. Ayurveda promotes a change of lifestyle, when you begin to feel unwell with your everyday life, or you end up sick, and unproductive.
Ayurveda assessments and treatments provide the tools to monitor your health, know what diseases you are predisposed to and acknowledge how you can prevent them. Ayurveda helps you have an experience, learn about the effects, and build a good relationship with food, your lifestyle choices and your emotion self.
