#modernayurvedic

[modernayurvedic]

“Colours of Vata" by Modern Ayurvedic

Vata dosha is strongly connected to the human skeleton, or bony issue. That is ashti, in Sanskrit. In balance this is the dosha of creativity and vibrancy. Like the colour, innocence, freedom and song of a child.

“Music is the space between the notes”

- Claude Debussy

The simplest and most complex rhythms have the same substance; the recurrent alteration in a variable beat is marked by the gaps. We move with the oscillation of sound, and absorb in the nothingness.

In the world of Vata there is an abundance of air and ether elements. Air is the burst of activity that sets up the ripple, ether is the space in between. Together they dance like the wind. That's why the wind is your typical Vata analogy.

But the air element is more than just matter in gaseous state. No, no, no. Ayurveda is more conceptual. A main quality of the wind is its propulsive nature. That's "cala", in Sanskrit. What is "cala" in terms of human biology?

The air element is (of course) gases that are transferred through respiration or produced by digestion. But 'air' is also ions - the charged or unbound elements - that establish polarity. Polarity is the magnetism between opposing forces. It drives the conversion of potential to kinetic energy, giving the body movement at every level. Ions are called electrolytes when dissolved. They literally conduct electricity.

Key electrolytes for muscle performance are calcium and magnesium. Calcium is the powerhouse of muscle contraction. Magnesium binds to the same sites as calcium. To turn off. To quieten.

Ever wonder why you reach for that magnesium supplement when you pull up sore? Now you know. But a little extra magnesium (fuel) doesn't help a malfunctioning system. That's what herbs are for.

Potassium (K+) and sodium (Na+) are another important duo. They underpin your nerve impulse transmission. In terms of mass, electrolytes aren't so big. We are talking around 3.5% body weight. In the absence of water these ions fuse to form crystals.

Did you get that?

The incorporation of high frequency air element into solid form by the human body produces crystals. Caaaaaaute!

Crystallisation of calcium, phosphate and ions (Vata factors) gives bone mineral. That is why bone (ashti, in Sanksrit) is the only solid tissue of the human body connected with Vata dosha.

Ashti (bony tissue) is more than structural integrity. It is what gives you the courage to stand up. When ashti is weak, so too is your ability to weather adversity. Ether, the other Vata element, has negligible mass and very little form. It is the highest layer of the physical, and lowest layer of the energetic body.

So, there you have it, Vata is your rhythm. It is inherently changeable over the very smallest window of time, but ultimately cycles to give a regulated succession of opposing elements.

Out of balance, Vata is like following Mozart on rewind in full speed.

In balance, the chaos of oscillating biological fields layer to form that classical masterpiece; the most colourful skeleton you have ever seen.

MA // Modern Ayurvedic TM

[modernayurvedic]

Image by Thu' Anh

In nature, wind is the sound of calm, the song of trees and the carrier of wings; it is literally a breeze. But it is also the unseen force that slowly corrodes, the knot at the eye of the storm, and the raging spiral of the hurricane’s eye-wall. There is no more versatile combination of natural elements, and no force more powerful. 

Historians will tell you that the first device to harness the abundance of wind power was the windmill. The creator and the timeline of this invention are up for debate. Was it Heron Alexandria in 200 BCE? Or the Persians in 500 AD? Or the Chinese in 1200 AD? Daniel Halliday is often credited as manufacturing the first industrial windmills in 1850, and Charles F. Bush the first electricity-generating windmill in 1888. Your Mother Ayurveda teaches quite a different story. The human body has been harnessing wind power since the beginning of human form. Long before any man-made machine. 1 point if you’ve heard of the word Chakra. 10 points if you knew the word Chakra means wheel. 20 points if you can guess where we’re going.

Eastern traditions have educated us on the location of the Chakra, but anatomically speaking they are harder to peg down. These energy generators are no less real. The word Chakra is loosely translated to wheel or circle but, as with most Sanskrit translations, the significance is lost in the simple interpretation. To understand, we must piece the words together in their traditional context.

Vata is air and ether, air and ether together form wind. Like earth, water and fire, the air element is physical. It is built from your micros - that’s vitamins and minerals (aka electrolytes in their dissolved state). You can get the full low down on Vata here. Ether, on the other hand, is in a class of its own. It cannot be seen, it is experienced.The wind turbines of a windmill spin to capture air, providing the mechanical power to generate electrical (wind) energy.

Your Chakras are the hubs Vata (ether + air). You could even say they are your Chakra-mills; the wind turbines of the physical body. These turbines spin, providing the mechanical power to transmute the ethereal imprint it an energetic current in your body. The Chakras are literally capture the ionic (energetic) potential of the ether element and using it to generate electrical (wind) power. Vata dosha (air + ether) is closely connected to the nervous system. The electrical power produced in your Chakras is stored in cell membrane potentials. Membrane potentials are the difference in ionic gradients that is maintained between conducting cells. If your transmitting cells (like neurons) receive an impulse, they fire. In the world of physiology, firing is called generating an Action Potential. The stimulating impulse takes the form of an influx of positively charged ions into the cell, rendering the cell less negative. Could cellular biology be any cheekier?

More positivity = less negativity = more action. The occult has a serious sense of humour.

The Chakras have a memory of their own - imprinted with a series of impressions that come from your external and internal world. They are your energetic lynch pin, and whether or not they in balance determines which side of the divided line you live in.

Ayurveda teaches us that everything we see around us is also in us. That means your experience of the wind element is just like we see in nature. When you’re Chakras are aligned, the air and ether elements become integrated in a balanced way. The mind is still, clear, calm and open. Vata delivers inspiration, clarity, and, if you stop to listen, a level of insight that can blow your mind. Action is fueled from inspiration.When you become disconnected from your energetic being, the air and ether also fall out of sync. It is in this state that we get dismantled from the entire centre of our cosmic being.

Just like that hidden, corrosive wind, sometimes we get stuck in a state of incongruence that silently eats us away. Other times we can feel that knot at the eye of the storm swirl. Meet Vata’s other face. She is one destructive bitch. If you don’t heed her warning she will blow your mind to bits. Vata in cyclonic form can leave you feeling frantic, fractured and broken.Unlike the other elements, which depend on the physical matter you consume, ether is not remodeled from food. Ether is abundant. Ether is eternal. Ether is what keeps us alive.

Your connection to ether comes (unsurprisingly) from time spent in union. 

Yoga is union, not a series of poses.

In fact, the poses (asana) are only 1/8th of it (there are 8 limbs of yoga).Ayurveda and Yoga speak the same language. Ayrveda's daily routines and rituals are also a point of connection to the authentic self. Yoga and Ayurveda work together in Chakra balancing. So, there you have it, now every time you visit that place you can think of your Chakra-mills turning, feeding your body with the potential to do.This is the (wind) power of Vata.MA // Modern Ayurvedic TM

[modernayurvedic]

"Uterine Layers" by Kaitlin Walsh (republished with permission)

According to Ayurveda, the uterus (yoni) harbours the seedling for new life and energetic power for rebirth. The Sanskrit word for uterus, yoni, translates to: source, descent, abode, place of rest, home, water, repository and fountain. It is the ultimate symbol of Kapha metaphysics. You can get the full low down on Kapha here. “The song is ended, but the melody lingers on” // Irving Berlin The concept of your dosha, or Ayurvedic constitution, is often spoken of in terms of your body type. This is an over-simplification. Your Ayurvedic constitution is more like your sense of reality. It is your instrument, the thoughts and feelings connected to playing your instrument, and the quality of music that comes out. You are not just a Kapha, a Pitta or a Vata. You are all three! In terms of mass, we are actually ALL predominantly Kapha. Confused? Don’t be. In the world of Kapha, there is an abundance of the heaviest elements: Earth and Water. Kapha is your plasma (the liquid your red blood cells travel in), muscle, fat, marrow, your brain and connective tissue. These are rasa, mamsa, medas and majja in Sanskrit.

Much more poetic, naturally. Kapha is also the steroid (fat based) hormones and neuropeptides that regulate your masculine and feminine qualities, strength and immunity (called shukra).

All up that's around 93% of your mass, higher (but not by much) in you Kaphas. Less in you Vatas. Like the archetypal Mother, Kapha is charged by the softer, stiller and silkier energy fields. Kapha is the least demanding dosha. It is the solidity of the instrument, the stability of a boulder.

You Kaphas are capable of producing the kind of melody that reaches the core and lingers on. You can see why! Kapha tissues are your base, your strength and your reserves.Good quality Kapha is the foundation of your song. MA // Modern Ayurvedic TM

[modernayurvedic]

Image by Carolina Heza

Mother Nature knows no difference between the past, present and the future. It simply knows the rhythms of the Pancha Mahabhutas; the five great elements of air, ether, fire, water, earth. We follow them via their seasonal expressions. How they interplay in our external environment. But we can only ever really live with the elements in the now.⁠⠀

Similarly, our bodies know no time. When we think of the past, the weight of it, we inflict these emotional impressions on our bodies/psyche over and over and over again. Because our bodies don't understand the difference between a memory, a thought, and real time. To our bodies - we relive that thought, that emotional rollercoaster, all while you're having a little daydream (usually around peak Vata-time at 3pm!).⁠⠀

So ask yourself //⁠⠀

What are you inflicting your body to by not being present?⁠⠀

What thoughts, feelings, emotions are you subjecting yourself to unknowingly?⁠⠀

What could their impact be?⁠⠀

Ayurveda truly is in everything, so I've been delving into the impact of emotional ama/toxins in light of this theme. Because what we digest goes beyond food - we are constantly digesting the impressions and energies that we're exposed to in our external environment. People - good and bad. Places - good and bad. Things - good and bad.⁠⠀

Get out into nature and check-in. ⁠⠀

Where's your head at? Is it here?⁠⠀

MA  // MODERN AYURVEDIC TM

[modernayurvedic]

Image by John Forson

Here are our Modern Ayurvedic top tips for restoring your Agni.

1. Eat when you are hungry

When you are hungry your Agni is at it's peak. Whatever you eat when your Agni is strong will be broken down and assimilated properly.

2. Stop eating before you are full

Ayurveda says your stomach should contain 1/3 food, 1/3 liquid and 1/3 air at the end of your meal. If you are eating with presence (top tip 5) you will notice your body speaks to you at this point... you actually get a little pocket of air rise aka a mini burp. That is your cue to stop eating.

3. Drink warm water

Warm water is an Ayurvedic must. It cleanses the digestive system. Would you wash your dishes with cold water? Probably not. So why try rinse your internal tubes with it?

4. Chew

Drink your food and chew your drink. Whatever you put in your mouth will be digested better when it is a) partially digested by the enxymes in your mouth and b) warm. Your body has hormonal feed forward mechanisms. When you chew you food thoroughly it cues your entire digestive tract to release the digestive juices required to break down your food.

4. Eat mindfully

Pay attention to your food when you are eating. One of our fave Ayurvedic proverbs goes 'to eat is human, to digest is divine'. Hoovering food in front of a screen is not divine. You know it. Enough said.

5. Eat ghee

We pay full respect to all the people out there that are vegan - veganism is sustainable. Full stop. If you are open to having small quantities of the best animal products, then incorporating small amounts (1 tsp a day) of grass-fed ghee may be for you. Ghee is one of the few sources of butyric acid, which science and Ayurveda agree works absolute wonders for the health of the GI tract cells. Butyric acid is selectively used by the bacteria in your gut that support healthy digestion. It's also an anupana - meaning it carries nutrients from your gut into your deeper tissues.

6. Know the constitution of your gut

We often bang on about 'tube types' to our clients in our clinic or in our Ayurvedic workshops. There are three types of tube. Can you guess what they are? Kapha-tubes, Pitta-tubes and Vata-tubes, of course! Kapha-tubes are prone to heaviness and excess mucous, Pitta-tubes to hyperacidity, and Vata-tubes to dryness (constipation). If you know your tube type, you can eat to counter the natural weakness in your gut.  

7. Exercise

Exercise is a MUST for healthy Agni. Kapha's benefit from cardio, interval training and hot yoga (anything to amp it up), Pitta's from a combination of strength-based workouts, light jogging, unheated yoga (anything to disperse accumulating heat) and Vata's benefit from slow walking and grounding yoga (anything to calm your farm back down).

8. Eat variety

According to Ayurveda the first stage of any disease is ACCUMULATION. Eating the same food diminishes Agni and increases Ama. It causes you to feel heavy and apathetic. Your zest for life is taken alongside your zest for food. Keep the variety.

9. Be careful of the company you keep when eating

Kapha's don't do well when eating alone. Pitta's don't do well if they eat when they are emotionally charged, and Vata's will often neglect to eat unless they are with a nurturer/feeder/Kapha. Know your constitution, know it's strength, and know that the people you surround yourself with can help you to establish and maintain healthy food habits.

10. Eat whole foods

This one is basic. Your body recognises six tastes, and those six tastes are made up of five elements. There is no recognition 'processed' foods. If it has a number instead of a name, if it ends in -ol or if it comes from a packet, then your body is unlikely to recognise or digest/process it. Stick to what your Mumma (Earth) gave you.

If you are looking to maintain day-to-day gut health, then you may want to give Triphala a go. If you are looking to stoke your Agni (that is you, Kaphas!) then you may be better off with Trikatu.

MA // Modern Ayurvedic TM

[modernayurvedic]

"Tastes of Ayurveda"

The Sanskrit word for taste, 'rasa', means elixir, sap and essence. Our taste buds do more than just identify foods – they provide the road map to nourishment.

There are six tastes in Ayurveda which determine the energetics and healing properties of herbs, foods and even minerals.

Each dosha is reduced by three tastes and increased by the remaining three. It is important to incorporate all tastes in your diet as they feed our body, mind and spirit in unique ways.

Do you want to know the key to reducing those crazy cravings?! Include ALL six tastes in your diet, preferably in every meal.

Psst. I’ll let you in on a little Ayurvedic secret. JK, there are no secrets in Ayurveda. It is well known that Triphala reduces cravings and improves satiety. How? It possesses five of the six tastes. The only one missing is salty, which is the most readily available in our modern Australian diet.

So how do the tastes relate to the doshas? Let’s recap Ayurveda 101.

Vata // Ether + Air

Pitta // Fire + Water

Kapha // Water + Earth

In general sweet, sour and salty tastes balance Vata, pungent, bitter and astringent tastes balance Kapha, and sweet, bitter and astringent tastes balance Pitta.

To understand it more deeply, we need to break it down to the elemental level.  

Working out who balances who can be confusing, especially in table form. If your brain is anything like ours, you'll prefer symbolism.

Ether // all encompassing circle Air // ascends + spreads across the horizon (upwards arrow, horizontal line) Fire // rises (upwards arrow) Water // falls (downwards arrow) Earth // downward pull + covers surface below (downwards arrow, horizontal line)

Now lets look at that all together.

This little roadmap shows what we said before. Like increases like, and opposites attract.

So the air and/or ether containing tastes increase Vata, the most provoking being the bitter taste. The tastes containing heavier elements (water and earth) balance Vata. You know Vata needs grounding.

Any taste with the fire element (salty, sour or pungent) gives Pitta the cranks. The worst of these is salty, because the elemental make up is exactly the same. Pitta needs the sweet taste as it is more fuel to occupy the flame. The bitter taste is especially nourishing to Pitta because it supports the liver, spleen and blood purification. These are the sites that Pitta naturally dominates.

Finally we have Kapha, sitting in exact opposition to Vata. Kapha is increased by the heavier elements and balanced by the tastes composed of lighter elements (air, fire and ether). Kapha even benefits from an intermittent fast.

The best Ayurvedic Practitioner's know that Ayurveda is much more interested in energetic balancing than food lists and diet charts. Why? Your body changes, minute to minute, and day to day, with fluxes in your environment and emotional state. There is no fixed, so no fixed chart can possibly apply.

Here's your breakdown to the energetics and healing properties in the six tastes of Ayurveda.

Want more why? It is not just about the food that you eat. It is about how you prepare it, pair it (food combining) and the state of mind you are in when you eat it. There are many aspects of healing diets.

But we know you still love your diet charts. You can download the lists of foods that are best for each dosha here. We also have tips on the food principles of eating to balance Kapha, Pitta and Vata doshas.

Here's your little roadmap to the tastes of Ayurveda.

What are the signs of an elemental imbalance? Check our guide on learning to read the language of the doshas here.

MA // Modern Ayurvedic TM

[modernayurvedic]

“Inner Ear" by Kaitlin Walsh (republished with permission)

The Inner is a spiral orbiting an eye, or central pinpoint. A perfect reflection of the conch. The conch is an auspicious symbol in Hindu mythology. It represents Ayurveda’s five elements (earth, water, fire, air and ether). The spiral patterns of the conch and cochlear form from perfectly timed pulses of expansion and contraction. The spiral gives the illusion of infinite acceleration.

Having mastered the art of expanding and contracting during development, the inner ear matures to form the major organ for regulating physiological balance.

The moral of the story? Know when to expand. Know when to contract.

If you don’t combine the two you will dismantle your centre of balance.

The inner ear is also your internal microphone. It transmits pressure generated from sound waves into electrical impulses that are other parts of your brain recognise as sound.

What about the internal voice? Where does that come from?

I will let you in on a little secret.

The doshas speak. JK. I mean the doshas speak, it's just that it's no secret. The language of the doshas is one of the oldest tricks in the book of Ayurveda. Who knew. All this time you have been guessing, stabbing in the dark as you navigate your internal path, and you already had the power to flick your light switch.

You are a natural born mind reader.

Those internal voices, you know the ones I mean, its the mind chatter or 'chitta vritti' in modern yoga speak. They are not really you. Just doshic excesses and deficiencies.

Knowing the literal language of the doshas - the way that they manifest themselves in your patterns of thought and speech - is game-changing. Life saving, even. At least in my case.

When you recognise the toxic thoughts are an energetic expression of your physical state, it becomes less personal. You are not your imbalances.

Angry? Blame excess pitta.

Feeling spacey? Sounds like Vata.

Are you spiraling out of control?

Perhaps you're lacking Kapha.

Time to do some grounding.

Disinterested? Apathetic? Too much Kapha there, my friend.

Here is your little dosha mind roadmap.

All that your body asks of you is to check-in, observe and listen. Maybe you like what you hear. Maybe you don't. For those times when you don't, know that you can change it. How? Ayurveda makes it easy to restore wellness.

The doshas are the elements embodied.

Earth, water, fire, air and ether.

Kapha is earth and water.

Pitta is fire and water.

Vata is air and ether.

Each of these elements has certain qualities.

The food you eat, drinks you drink, activities you do, places you go and people you spend time with reflect the same energetic qualities. They are your toolkit for health, healing and wellness.

The founding principle is super simple. Like increases like, and opposites balance each other out. To restore balance in your system, to treat an excess of deficiency of the doshas, you have two options. Increase a deficient dosha by taking in the qualities that reflect that dosha. Decrease an excess dosha by taking in the qualities that oppose that dosha.

The wisdom and simplicity of Ayurveda is profound. Here is your little road map to balance. Your tool to connect your pattern of thought back to what the doshas are doing inside of you.

Got questions?

We (ahh, make that Ayurveda) have answers.

Contact us with your query, schedule a free phone chat, or make a booking in our Adelaide Ayurvedic clinic. This is the 21st century. We also do remote consultations via Skype.

MA // Modern Ayurvedic TM

[modernayurvedic]

Image by JanFillem

Agni is an energetic current in the human body, often confused with the element of fire or Pitta dosha. Agni is more subtle than an element, and Pitta dosha is a dosha – a part of the human body.

Agni references the digestive fire, but is better understood by picturing the dynamic nature and transformative power of fire. It allows to to integrate above with below; to align the image we reflect out with our true self. That’s why we make Agni the centre of treatment in our Adelaide Ayurveda clinic.

The word agni has the same root as the latin word 'ignis'. Ignis is the seed for the English word ignite, so Agni means that which ignites.

Agni depends on fire, but it equally depends on the balance of earth, water, air and ether elements, because all five elements impact the transmission of the igniting energetic current.

Chemically speaking this transmission is called conduction. Let's break that word down.

Conduction: noun l con-duc-tion

1 : the act of conducting or conveying

2 : transmission through or by means of a conductor

3 : transfer of heat through matter by communication of kinetic energy from particle to particle with no net displacement of the particles 

4 : the transmission of excitation through living tissue and especially nervous tissue

// Merriam-Webster

Agni is the master conductor - it transmits all energetic input through the human body. For as long as Agni is strong disease cannot manifest.

The King Agni resides in the gut, but mythology teaches that agni functions across three realms.

Agni is the Hindu God of fire (earthly or physical realm), the Sun (light or intermediate realm) and thunder (cosmic realm). These realms relate to the doshas, and three corresponding junctions at which we integrate a part of our external environment.

The most contained level (fire) is the earthly or physical plane ruled by Kapha. Here agni directs the assimilation of food.

The light or intermediate realm (Sun), operates from the pineal gland and is ruled by Pitta. Here agni directs the integration of our impressions; the imprint of our emotional environment and experience.

The cosmic realm (thunder) is our intuitive centre ruled by Vata. Here agni directs our ability to hear and heed our instinct.

Agni ripples through every tissue level of the body and is a cornerstone of health. It governs heat; digestion; the experienced outcomes of cellular metabolism such as seeing, hearing, tasting, smelling, touching, feeling, thinking, understanding; ability to respond to systemic fluctuations and reinstate balance; and cycles of cell growth, repair and death

Agni gets disrupted when we accumulate food or impressions of the same qualities - foods or impressions that do not serve us. Accumulation never occurs as a once off. It is with repeated exposure from ingrained habits and subconscious patterns that we take in excess. Excess is simply more than your little bod is able to process.

The Sanskrit name for the disorder of agni is Grahini. The English or western medical translation of Grahini is Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS). That is why, according to Ayurveda, IBS is not just about food or disturbance of the gastrointestinal tract. Yes disorders of agni affect the digestive power of the gut (agni in the earthly realm). But disorders of agni also affect the processing of impressions (light realm) and intuition (cosmic realm).

Do your symptoms of IBS worsen when you are under some other form of stress? Did your IBS start following a life changing experience or upheaval? Do your gut symptoms make you feel anxious or depressed? You are absolutely not alone, and your body is not playing tricks.

Disease processes that underlie CNS disease or mental unrest often have enteric manifestations, and signals from disorders within the digestive system can spread to the brain. Said a little more simply, thoughts and emotions affect the gut, and the gut affects thoughts and emotions. The two worlds are one. This is the mind-gut connection.

If you suffer from IBS (or weak agni, in Ayurvedic speak) then you may like to find out your IBS type by taking our Ayurveda IBS type test. Or get yourself some Triphala. It really is Ayurveda’s best.

MA // Modern Ayurvedic TM

[modernayurvedic]

“Retina" by Kaitlin Walsh (republished with permission)

The retina is a layered sensory membrane that transforms light into electrical neural signals that create visual perception. The image you see is, at best, a representation. Shaped by many parts of the brain working in tandem.

What do you see when you look at yourself?

What do you see when you look at this picture?

Ayurveda sees a composite of five elements.

Earth. Fire. Water. Air. Ether.

A world within a world.

A chariot.

An instrument.

Maybe Mary Schmich had the definition of instrument pinned to her desk when she wrote her column “Advice, like youth, probably wasted on the young”

for the Chicago Tribune in 1997. Maybe the columnist danced with words so often that every one of them became a song.

Maybe she spoke from experience.

Maybe from intimate connection.

Maybe from an innate knowing.

Maybe she too was plagued by negative body talk.

Maybe we all are.

Maybe she found a different way of assembling the same incoming picture.

Maybe you can too.

In her words, “Enjoy your body, use it every way you can. Don’t be afraid of it, or what other people think of it, it’s the greatest instrument you’ll ever own.”

This is Ayurveda’s voice. These are Ayurveda’s eyes.

Instrument: noun l in-stru-ment

1 : a device used to produce music

2 : a means whereby something is achieved, performed, or furthered

3 : an implement; especially one designed for precision work

4 : an electrical or mechanical device used in navigating

// Merriam-Webster

Your body is that device that produces the music. Your body is that means of achieving your deepest desires; performing your gifted talents and furthering your understanding of yourself. Your body is that perfectly designed implement that can be sharpened for the finest precision work. And, my favourite of all, your body is that electrical and mechanical device used to navigate.

Want more Mary Schmich inspiration? Go play a bit of Baz Luhrmann. Because Everybody's Free (to Wear Sunscreen).

MA // Modern Ayurvedic TM

[modernayurvedic]

Turmeric truly is Ayurveda's wonder herb.1

One of the most commonly prescribed.

We know you’ve met this guy before. It is... Anti-inflammatory. Anti-viral. Anti-bacterial. Anti-oxidant. Anti-carcinogenic. Anti-everything?

You probably also know that turmeric is a much loved spice in the Ayurveda. So loved that has been a hallmark ingredient in every pantry, homemade beauty product and medicinal paste (called lepa, pronounced like pepper but with an 'L') for thousands of years in Ayurvedic households.

Here's your scientific low down. Class (yes plants have classes): Monocotyledonae. Order: Zingiberales. Family (yes plants also have families): Zingiberaceae. Genus: Curcuma. Species: Curcuma longa. Translation: Yellow coloured root belonging to the ginger family. AKA: the Golden Spice (for your m-y-l-k) and source of curcumin (in the capsule on your shelf).

Instead we would like to take the little fragments of scientific findings that are being bandied about and piece them together where they belong – within their traditional context. Here’s a little back story to get your brain ticking like a Modern Ayurvedic. There are 4590 scientific papers on turmeric in our go-to repository. The earliest backdates to 1876.2 It is a letter to the editor of the “Indian Medical Gazette”. It was written in response to trials where the plant-derived alkaloid quinine was injected directly into the urethra to treat Gonorrhoea. Um. OUCH. The (Ayurvedic) author puts forward a simple alternative. 'Drink ground turmeric dissolved in warm water with a pinch of sugar daily at dawn for one week to clear up the infection.' My science brain looks at this and is dying to know: a) is this for real and b) which part of turmeric contains the miracle cure We have spent 142 years and 1 month since then picking turmeric to pieces (literally) trying to nut out (isolate and bottle) the active constituents. Curcumin has gotten the most attention. It is a phenylpropanoid that packs a punch, but has poor bioavailability. That means not much enters the blood stream. If it cannot enter the bloodstream then it cannot act on bodily tissues.

Lots of work has gone into optimising (chemically modifying) curcumin extracts to improve their bioavailability. These efforts have been deemed an outrageous success. You will, no doubt, be charged a premium for your curcumin to be chemically modified. There is no contesting that science is smart, but it overlooks a few founding Ayurvedic principles. The whole is greater than the sum of the parts, and Mother Nature is also damn smart. The Ayurvedic treatment in the medical gazette is not just about the active constituents. Hell, it is not even just about the turmeric.Every detail in the prescription counts. The condition of the patient. The turmeric. The sugar. The warm water. The dose. The timing of taking the ‘medicine’. Everything. Ayurveda is not about instant fixes and brash attacks. She is too gentle and clever for that. The turmeric elixir was designed to promote a shift in the internal environment. A shift that renders it infertile to the disease-causing bacteria. This line of treatment is what make Ayurvedic medicine so effective. To cure a disease you make the landscape impenetrable to its growth. Simple as that. Now that we have built turmeric up we can break it down. The percentage composition of curcumin in turmeric is 1-9% depending on climate. Just a reminder, curcumin is a phenylpropanoid that is commonly misrepresented as the silver bullet found in turmeric.

BUT turmeric contains other phenylpropanoids, as well as essential oils. These are sesquiterpene ketones, zingiberine and phellandrene. It also contains alkaloids and glycans. Not to mention the resins, proteins, vitamins and other minerals. This is not a phtyochemistry lesson (I know, I almost lost you) but many of these have therapeutic potential. The bonus is that you do not need to know the scientific ins and outs to get a conceptual understanding.

According to Ayurveda turmeric is pungent, bitter and astringent in taste. Of the six tastes of Ayurveda, these three benefit Kapha dosha. If you have a Kapha imbalance, then a dose of turmeric will do you great.

ALL of these tastes aggravate Vata in excess. So if you have a Vata imbalance, then turmeric is not the best. Pitta is balanced with bitter and astringent tastes. However, some Pitta conditions are made worse by the pungent taste and volatile quality of turmeric. This is especially true if it is taken in excess. The volatility comes from the oil component, which acts an absorptive aid or a carrying agent. Ayurvedics would say it confers the 'sthira' (mobile) quality of turmeric. So, you see, turmeric itself has natural compounds that improve its bioavailability.

Do you want to know something crazy? One 'bioenhanced' preparation of curcumin simply added back the components that are normally found in turmeric root to the curcumin.3

Boom. Just like that. Put curcumin in its natural environment and it can be better used by the body. 

Let’s take the bioavailability a step further. Turmeric is traditionally paired with either black or long pepper in Ayurveda to enhance its potency. It is now well known that piperine (in the peppers) enhances the bioavailability of curcumin by around 2000%.4

So if you want the maximum benefit of turmeric then a perfectly good way to have it is as nature made it. Did you even know your turmeric latte was oh-so Ayurvedic? Well, perhaps not having one e-v-e-r-y-d-a-y. Turmeric lattes are better than coffee, hands down. The warming property of a turmeric latte nurtures digestion. While turmeric is mildly acidic, it has nothing on coffee. It is also a better choice than a cold smoothie, especially in winter. Ayurveda says smoothies are like a wet blanket to the metabolic fire.

Complex? Sounds it. But not really. Not when you know your Ayurvedic constitution and have learned to read the language of the doshas in your body. Need help with that?

Head over to our bookings page and schedule your free initial phone consult. MA // Modern Ayurvedic TM

References

1. Pole, Sebastian. Ayurvedic Medicine: The Principles of Traditional Practice. Churchill Livingston; 2006. 282-283.

2. Ally, B. Turmeric Flower as a Remedy for Gonorrhœa. Ind Med Gaz. 1876; 11(10) 273.

3. Antony, B. et al. A Pilot Cross-Over Study to Evaluate Human Oral Bioavailability of BCM-95 CG (Biocurcumax), A Novel Bioenhanced Preparation of Curcumin. Indian J Pharm Sci. 2008 Jul-Aug; 70(4):445-449.

4. Shoba, G. et al. Influence of piperine on the pharmacokinetics of curcumin in animals and human volunteers. Planta Med. 1998 May; 64(4):353-6.