David Frawley

Ayurvedic Healing - A Comprehensive Guide

Reading excerpt
Ayurvedic Healing - A Comprehensive Guide
of David Frawley
Publisher: Motilal Banarsidass Publishers

http://www.narayana-publishers.com/b7106
Copying excerpts is not permitted.

Narayana Verlag GmbH

Blumenplatz 2
D-79400 Kandern, Germany
Tel. +49 7626 9749 700
Fax +49 7626 9749 709
Email info@narayana-publishers.com
http://www.narayana-publishers.com

In our online-bookshop we present

all english homeopathy books.
Iconsume
am food, I am the eater of food, and I eat the eater of food. I
the entire universe. My light is like the Sun.
Taittiriya Upanishad 11.9.6—PRIVATE
1.6 AYURVEDIC
DIET
Personalizing Your Dietary Regimen
Dietary Therapy
Right diet is the main factor in the treatment of the physical
body that is built up by food. Without changing our diet we
cannot expect the body, which is its product, to change
fundamentally whatever else we may attempt.Wrong diet is the
main physical cause of disease. By correcting the diet, we elimi-
nate the fundamental causes of disease. In its constitutional
approach, Ayurveda emphasizes the correct diet for the individual
as the basis for health.
Herbs and foods follow the same energetics and can be looked
at according to the same principles. Both involve taste, energy,
elements and doshas. Herbs provide subtle nutrition while foods
provide more gross or substantial nourishment. Herbal therapy
also requires the support of the proper diet to be effective. Diet
can enhance, or counter, the effect of healing herbs. Generally, an
inharmonious diet will either neutralize or greatly limit the effect
of the right herbs and render them ultimately ineffective.
Diet can be an effective treatment in itself. Though dietary
results are slower to manifest, over a period of time they are as cer-
tain as herbs. Dietary treatment is usually the safest therapy. It
can be used by itself when herbal knowledge may not be adequate
for a proper prescription. Diet is the essence of effective self-care.
Ayurveda is concerned primarily with the energetics of food
as a means of balancing the doshas. It is not as concerned with the
specific nutritional requirements, the actual mineral, vitamin and
chemical content of food. From its view there is no standard diet
for everyone, or any minimum daily requirements. Its concern is
that the food we take in, and the manner in which we take it, is
hi harmony with our nature. Its primary classification of food is
according to the doshas. This affords us a simple yet comprehen-
sive understanding of what is good for us and why.
79

Narayana Verlag, 79400 Kandern, Tel.: 07626/ 974 970 0,

Excerpts of : David Frawley „ Ayurvedic Healing“
 Ayurvedic Healing

DIET AND THE MIND

In Vedantic philosophy the mind is considered to be the
essence of food. The Upanishads state, "The food that is eaten is
divided threefold. The gross part becomes excrement. The middle
part becomes flesh. The subtle part becomes the mind."
(Chandogya Upanishad VI.4.1.) According to the common adage,
"We are what we eat." What we eat affects our emotions and can
create a predisposition for both psychological and physical disor-
ders. Just as wrong emotions can upset our digestion, so wrong
digestion can upset our emotions.
We should consider also the spiritual qualities of the food we
take in. Does it enhance our mental processes and peace of mind?
Or is it disturbing? It is for this reason that meat, however nour-
ishing, is not a good food. It has the energy of death and brings
the forces of violence and decay, and the negative emotions of
fear and hatred along with it
The Upanishads also tell us, "The water that is drunk is divid-
ed threefold. The gross part becomes urine. The middle part
becomes blood. The subtle part becomes the life-force."
(Chandogya Upanishad VI.4.2.) What we drink nourishes our
life-force. Drinking stale water, such as tap water or distilled
water, and drinking alcohol, coffee or other stimulating bever-
ages, will disturb our prana and 'derange our emotions and
thoughts.
AYURVEDIC PRINCIPLES OF DIETETICS
While care should be taken about the nature of food,
other factors of food intake should be considered as well.
These include right preparation of food, right combination of
foods, right amount of food, right frequency of meals and
right times and places for eating. Right emotional or mental
state is necessary; good food taken in a bad mood or ill dosha
can cause disease. Also important is right attitude in the per-
son preparing the food, which should be done with care and
good feelings.

80

Narayana Verlag, 79400 Kandern, Tel.: 07626/ 974 970 0,

Excerpts of : David Frawley „ Ayurvedic Healing“
 1.6 Ayurvedic Diet
SEASONS
The diet should be adjustable for climate and seasonal varia-
tions. An anti-Vata diet should be given emphasis in the fall. An
anti-Pitta diet should be followed more in the summer and late
spring. An anti-Kapha diet should be followed more in the winter
and hi early spring.
Individuals whose constitutions are equal in two of the
doshas, what we call dual types, should vary their diet by season.
Vata-Pitta types should follow an anti-Vata diet more in the fall
and winter and anti-Pitta in the spring and summer. Vata-Kapha
types should follow an anti-Vata diet in the summer and fall and
anti-Kapha in the winter and spring. Pitta-Kapha types should fol-
low an anti-Pitta diet in summer and fall and anti-Kapha hi
winter and spring.

CLIMATE
• An anti-Vata diet is more appropriate to cold, dry, windy cli
mates, like the high desert or high plains regions.
• An anti-Pitta diet is more suitable for hot climates including
the southern United States and the lower desert of the south
west.
• An anti-Kapha diet is more appropriate in damp and cold
regions like the Midwest, most of the east and northeast, and
the Pacific northwest.

• Just like dual constitutions, dual climates also exist. The hot
desert is a Pitta-Vata climate, while the southeast is largely a
Pitta-Kapha climate.

AGE AND SEX

In old age an anti-Vata diet is more appropriate. In middle age
an anti-Pitta diet is better. In childhood an anti-Kapha diet should
be given special consideration. Men should consider a more
anti-Pitta diet because male energy is more Pitta (fiery). Women
should consider a more anti-Kapha diet because female energy is

81

Narayana Verlag, 79400 Kandern, Tel.: 07626/ 974 970 0,

Excerpts of : David Frawley „ Ayurvedic Healing“
 Ayurvedic Healing

more Kapha (water). Such general factors, however, should

enhance, not replace, the basic diet for balancing one's dosha.

QUALITIES OF FOOD
Food is usually neutral, neither too hot nor too cold in ener-
gy. For this reason the heating or cooling effects of foods are mild.
For heating or cooling to manifest, either large quantities or
long-term consumption is necessary. Foods can be made hot by
cooking and by the addition of spices; colder by taking them cold
or raw. Anything very hot, like pepper, or very cold, like bitter
herbs, cannot have much food value.
Foods are primarily heavy or light, though most tend to be
heavy. It can be made lighter through the use of spices or by con-
suming less. Foods also are drying or moistening; most often they
are moistening. They can be made drier by evaporation or dry-
preparing them. They can be made moister by cooking or by the
addition of liquids or oils.

DIETS FOR THE THREE DOSHAS

For the treatment of most diseases the diet prescribed will be
opposite in nature to the dosha causing the disease. It will gener-
ally be the same diet as that for one's constitutional dosha; the
diseases we get are usually caused by it. These diets should be
applied considering the variations mentioned above and accord-
ing to the proper dietetics. It is not only the types of foods we
have to watch, but also our manner of eating.
Nor is it just a simple matter of avoiding the food that is bad
for us. We must also improve our digestion through the use of
spices, herbs and other regimens. Without these aids even the
food that is good for us may not be digestible.
It should be noted that the quality of foods varies according
to freshness, preparation and combination, as well as other fac-
tors already mentioned. The system presented here is only a gen-
eral guideline. Some difference of opinion as to food quality may
exist among different practitioners (even more so than about the
quality of herbs).
82

Narayana Verlag, 79400 Kandern, Tel.: 07626/ 974 970 0,

Excerpts of : David Frawley „ Ayurvedic Healing“
 1.6 Ayurvedic Diet
Classification is also according to food categories. Each food
type has its general degree of increasing or decreasing the dosha.
When both the category and the specific food are high for increas-
ing a dosha, the effect is greater. Foods not listed can generally be
judged by category or by comparing them to related foods.
Foods are classified according to different degrees of increas-
ing or reducing the doshas: * low degree, ** high degree.

Therefore, under the YES column:

* low degree for reducing the dosha
** high degree for reducing the dosha
Under the NO column, a food marked:
* low degree for increasing the dosha
** high degree for increasing the dosha

The best foods for each dosha are marked ** in the yes col-
umn. The worst foods are marked ** in the no column. A food that
is * on the no column, for example, may be taken occasionally, or
easily antidoted. On the other hand, a food marked ** on the no
column should be generally avoided. Our predominant diet is
what matters; we have some latitude within that field, except
when we are very ill. Often the qualities of foods can be balanced
by using the appropriate spices and condiments, particularly
when their dosha aggravating affects are low.

ANTI-VATA DIET
Diet for Decreasing the Biological Air Humor
GENERAL CONSIDERATIONS
Vata types are most likely to suffer from emaciation, mal-
nourishment or wasting away of tissues. Therefore dietary thera-
py, improving food quality and quantity, is one of the most
important treatments for all Vata disorders. Vata types should
generally try to eat more food and eat more frequently. They
require a calming, grounding, nourishing diet. Food should be
warm, heavy, moistening and strengthening.

83

Narayana Verlag, 79400 Kandern, Tel.: 07626/ 974 970 0,

Excerpts of : David Frawley „ Ayurvedic Healing“
 David Frawley
Ayurvedic Healing - A Comprehensive
Guide

458 pages,
publication 1992

Plus de livres homéopathiques sur www.narayana-publishers.com