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Digestive Health with Ayurveda Siva Mohan, MD MPH - - PowerPoint PPT Presentation
Digestive Health with Ayurveda Siva Mohan, MD MPH - - PowerPoint PPT Presentation
Digestive Health with Ayurveda Siva Mohan, MD MPH www.svasthahealth.com Session 2: Digestive capacity agenda Quick Session 1 review What is agni? Assessing your agni How your digestive system is communicating with you (tongue
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Ayurvedic review
- Everything in the universe is energy
- This energy can be categorized, or witnessed in
patterned ways
- Ayurveda presents the universe and its patterns in the
form of 3 primal energies (doshas): vata, pitta, kapha
- Doshas are flowing through everything in the universe
including ourselves and our food
- We are unique manifestations of the doshas
- How we interface with the universe is in part
determined by our energetic make-up, and in part by
- ur current state of affairs
- There are patterned ways we experience this
interaction with the universe, and we can see this in
- ur digestive systems & health
- FREE INTRO VIDEO
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Session 1 review
- Food is energy
- We can assess what the state of our digestive
system is based on our stool and symptoms
- We can then choose foods that are appropriate
energetically to help balance us (the doshas)
- Foods themselves can be modified; what is
important is the energetics of the end product or prepared dish
- Tastes can give us insight into the energetics
(doshas) of food
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Learning Objectives
To begin to be aware of your digestive capacity To understand that ayurveda is applied dynamically, not a rigid system of rules To begin to understand how your digestive system is communicating with you via your agni (appetite and tongue)
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Q:What is agni?
A: Agni is loosely translated as “fire”
- Fire is a transformative force
- We actually have an agni in each
tissue system
- Appetite, metabolism, digestive
enzymes and anything else that affects digestive capacity
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Assessing your agni
Am I really hungry? How ready is my body to receive food? How have I been feeling after eating?
Agni is not static It can be in balance, or not When imbalanced, can be due to excess vata, pitta, or kapha The best way to gauge agni is via your appetite and your tongue
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Assessing your agni
When in balance, we experience:
- 1. A distinct hunger or appetite before eating
- 2. A feeling of being satiated but not too full after eating
- 3. Reappearance of hunger 2-3hours after a meal
- 4. Regular bowel movements
- 5. No digestive symptoms
When out of balance, we experience appetite or digestive disturbances and toxic buildup (ama), which we can see on our tongues.
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Agni out of balance
Dosha VATA PITTA KAPHA
Appetite Variable-low Very strong Very low Eating patterns On the move, or forget to eat, then get starving or light-headed; get full quick; prefer to snack all day Wake up hungry; prefer meals so they can get full; eat several meals a day and snack No morning appetite; may get hungry by afternoon
- r evening; ok to eat
- ne meal a day; late
night sweet snackers Tongue Ama coating, especially in back; gray, or brownish coating color; tongue with discoloration and indentations No ama; If any coating, yellow
- r greenish color;
Hyper-red tongue tip Thick ama coating
- n whole tongue;
white color; pale tongue, or swollen looking
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How your digestive system is communicating with you
Excess Vata Pitta Kapha
Appetite
Low; variable;full quickly Strong; excessive; hungry soon after eating Low in am; most active late night
Symptoms Gas; bloating; cramping;
pain Heartburn; heat; pungent gas; inflammation Sluggish digestion; food coma; heaviness; bloating long term; weight gain
Stool
Constipation; hard; dry; nuggets; lots of gas at night; darker color; least smelly Loose to diarrhea; yellow- red-green; feels hot coming out; ribbony; pungent odor; urgency Easy movement; mucous; postprandial; smell of decay
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