The Importance of Elimination
As I was growing up, Baba told me many times that the Vedic concept of internal and external purity (shoucham) was important in the journey of Self-realization. Nowhere does the concept of purity come to life more concretely than in the science of Ayurveda. In the physical realm, Ayurveda is a perfect mirror of the inspiring and transcendent Vedic ideal of purity.
Decades later, I find myself echoing Baba in so many ways. Though I now live halfway around the world from India, I hear myself explain again and again to my earnest students that by not waking up on time, they will not only miss out on the predawn sattva I talk about in chapter 2, they will also delay elimination of the impurities the body has gathered overnight. This delay of a bowel movement may seem minor in the larger scheme of things, but starting late each day drags the body down, bit by bit.
Ayurveda underscores the importance of physical purification, especially through the regular elimination of the body’s wastes. To ensure this daily physical cleansing, elimination must happen without fail every twenty-four hours. To help maintain this balance, the Ayurveda system of health and healing recommends following a particular diet, doing special types of detoxes when needed, and further cleansing the digestive system with spices, home remedies, and herbal medicines — but only if needed.
Biological wastes (urine and feces) must leave the body. It is a natural law, and a law is something that must be followed. If we do not uphold this law, we leave poison in our bodies, and this poison will, sooner or later, take the form of serious disease — an incurable and untreatable disease. If you wish to avoid disease, then as soon as you wake up, you must attempt to purify your body through a regular elimination practice. Remember, the sooner you wake up, the easier it will be to let go of whatever needs to be eliminated!
Sadly, many people wake early now not because they feel excited to greet the sun and naturally purify themselves but because they must get to work early or because they have to make a long, dreadful commute. On the days these people don’t have to report to work, sleeping in late feels like something they’ve earned, waking up whenever they please is a respite from their daily grind. Natural laws, however, do not take into account a person’s reasons for breaking them.
There are students who have come long distances to study with me and wonder, So, this is it? I’ve come all this way just to hear that I have to use the toilet on time? All creatures go. What’s the big deal?
It is a big deal. That is why I am dedicating this entire chapter to the practice of eliminating physical waste. I call it a practice because I am not describing elimination of waste merely as an urge. Due to our busy lives, many of us have learned to suppress our urges. We must now learn to be disciplined in them and to practice purifying ourselves in the Ayurvedic way. Many of my students, after learning firsthand about the importance of elimination, will not eat a morsel of food unless and until they have had a good bowel movement.
The Best Prescription: A Natural Way of Life
One student I will never forget had read deeply on Hindu and Buddhist philosophy, chanted mantras, and meditated several hours a day while studying to become an Ayurveda vaidya (healer). This man came into Vedika Global’s volunteer-run clinic with some problems: his skin was prone to rashes, and he was prone to depression. I understood why when he informed us that he eliminated only once a week, if that.
This man also said that he had an inability to “feel the bliss.” Despite his daily spiritual practice and his understanding of bliss on an intellectual level, he wasn’t doing the physical practice he needed. His physical body was filled with toxins that kept him from experiencing the bliss that was, clearly, within him.
As I listened to this student, Baba’s teaching came rushing back to me: the body and mind are intricately connected. They must be purified simultaneously. If you purify just one, the other will inevitably pull it down. Without tending to both mind and body, you will have no real transformation in your life experience.
This is the kind of message I heard Baba give again and again to those who sought his advice. One man who came to see Baba was suffering from hemorrhoids, a colon condition that developed from his chronic constipation, which responded completely to my grandfather’s surprising prescription.
This prosperous middle-aged man arrived in a new and expensive car that he had driven all the way from Jaipur, almost five hundred miles away — a long road trip in the India of the 1970s. He joined the queue to see Baba, his face a study of physical discomfort. He could not even sit peacefully. When it was his turn to speak to Baba, this man said in a lowered, almost embarrassed voice that he was suffering from painful piles — hemorrhoids that have become inflamed. Piles can cause sharp, severe pain in the rectum, as if you’re carrying a nail there.
This man had visited various doctors and had taken every medicine suggested, even Ayurvedic medicine. When he heard about Baba, he drove to Ayodhya as fast as Indian road conditions (and his sore bottom) would allow.
Baba told the man he would help him. “But first,” he said, “you have to give something to me.” The man looked relieved. It is customary in India to make holy men gifts of money or land, and he obviously had the wherewithal to do this. Little did he know that Baba had never in his life asked for a single rupee, that his work was wholly motivated by his compassion for all living beings, whom he served selflessly day and night.
“This is what I want from you,” Baba told the man. “Go home, and on half of your land, instead of cash crops, grow aparajita.” This is a common garden plant, a fast-growing climber known as the butterfly pea, or Clitoria ternatea.
Butterfly pea is well-known in traditional Ayurvedic medicine and has been used for centuries as a mind tonic. It enhances memory, reduces stress (acting as an antidepressant), and normalizes sleep patterns. And it was obvious, even to a child like me, that stress relief was what this man needed. His face had a pained expression, and his eyes had lost their light.
Butterfly pea also has anti-inflammatory, analgesic, and local anesthetic properties and is used by Ayurvedic healers specifically to control the bleeding and pain of hemorrhoids. Dozens of scientific studies have now confirmed its efficacy in hemorrhoids. In such treatment, the piles are cleaned with the decoction of the whole dry plant (root to seeds), and a fresh paste made from the dried plant is applied over the area to relieve pain and staunch the flow of blood.
I expected Baba to tell this man how to prepare and use the herb, but to my surprise, he did not. He said, “Do not consume any of the herbs yourself. Do not even taste it. The medicine must all be given away. That will be my dakshina.” Dakshina is a Sanskrit term to describe the offerings made to holy men not in payment but in gratitude.
My grandfather did, however, give this man specific directions regarding the changes in his lifestyle. “You must spend two to four hours in the fields every day, digging and hoeing — get your hands dirty as you grow this beautiful flower. Spend time in Nature. Let your garden be filled with butterfly blessings.”
Then, Baba gave the instructions that made the greatest change in this man’s life: “Take a one-year break from your business pursuits. Live in your farmhouse, either with your family or — even better — alone. Spend time with your animals, especially your cows; take care of them. Keep your life simple. Wake up with the sun and go to bed with the sun. Consider this a one-year retirement.”
Baba told the man to continue planting and harvesting the butterfly pea through the year. Several crops of this herb will mature in that time, as they blossom from seed within five weeks. Baba told him to dry the plants in the sun and then grind them — root, stem, flowers, leaves, and seeds — into a fine powder. “Bring me the powder,” Baba said, “and I will make sure it is distributed to the poor people who cannot afford to buy medicine.”
The man looked confused. “But if I don’t use this medicine myself, then how will I get better?”
“Giving this herb to those who are sick and have no resources will, itself, be your medicine,” Baba responded with such finality in his voice that it seemed to put an end to questions. Then Baba turned to give his attention to the next person who was waiting.
One year later, this man returned, and this time, he was smiling. He looked happy and younger; he had lost weight. His arms were loaded with sacks of butterfly pea powder, and his wife and two daughters, who also had big smiles on their faces, carried marigold garlands and sweets.
“I am healed,” the man reported with childlike glee. Baba nodded his head, looked at the man with compassion pouring forth from his eyes, and blessed him quietly by repeating a mantra under his breath. This man, who had been so ill, touched Baba’s feet, which is, in India, a deeply traditional demonstration of reverence and gratitude.
Later, Baba told his students that hemorrhoids are a complication of constipation, with mental stress as the cause in hard-to-cure cases. For this reason, it was important, first and foremost, to relieve this man of his stress by eliminating the root of his problem — preoccupation with himself and his business.
Taking time to relax healed him. By living in Nature, following the sun’s course through the sky, and eating seasonal food, this man was living the true Ayurvedic prescription. The body is a self-healing entity; our job is to provide it the right environment and to change our behaviors so that they work in harmony with, rather than in opposition to, Nature. Health will blossom if you plant the right seeds and tend them in the right way. Contrary to popular belief, regaining your health can actually be a simple and straightforward matter. 
Indeed, my Baba declared the spiritual truth that our health is intricately and ceaselessly bound up with our whole life. Therefore, in order to reclaim the health of our bodies and minds, restoring well-being and balance to our entire lives is necessary.
Looking back, sometimes I am amazed at how bold Baba was with people who sought his advice. As a spiritually inspired healer, he worked not to merely pacify the patient, not to provide yet another herbal medicine. He clearly wanted to end the patient’s suffering by alleviating the patient’s ignorance. Baba invited his patients to join him at a level of higher consciousness — where anything is possible.
Baba’s prescription to the stressed man to take a break from the very lifestyle that was giving him disease and to rest and nurture his mind with fresh air, the sun, and the moon was truly a prescription for restoring life.
As for the other part of Baba’s prescription, I never asked him why he told the man with hemorrhoids to give away the healing herbs he had grown. It wasn’t for many years that I understood. At that point, I was studying the Hindu scripture Bhagavad Gita at Baba’s feet, chanting it in a group every morning with his other students, and then intently listening to his explanation of each verse, word by word. When we got to the passages on karma yoga, the path of spiritual action, I understood the depth of Baba’s spiritual prescription to that patient.
Karma yoga converts our actions (karmas) into a yoga, or spiritual discipline. Ordinary action becomes extraordinary action when we work for the benefit of other creatures. Karma yoga is not about the monetary amount on a check we write for donation, but the attitude and spirit behind the action. If we truly offer an action to uplift others, it becomes karma yoga.
Karma yoga lifts us above ego-motivated consciousness into a blessed, selfless state. When this higher energy circulates throughout our minds and bodies, we generate karmic merit. This merit is spiritual in nature and, while it cannot be seen, it begins to heal us with inner growth and elevated consciousness. I believe that this is what happened to the businessman. When this man, who had worked only to generate income for himself and support his family, began to grow herbs for the benefit of others, he was helping to heal the world. With the karmic merit (punyam) he received from this action, he himself was healed. It is a Vedic spiritual law that by helping others, we heal ourselves.
Watching Baba at work later emboldened me in my own work to truly alleviate the suffering of those who sought my help by listening from my heart. And because my heart is filled with the conviction that was instilled in me over the decades by my Guru, I am able to influence many lives.
So my “prescriptions” include not only making diet changes and consuming herbs with discipline, but also quitting toxic jobs and ending abusive relationships without further delay or indulgence in self-destructive guilt. At my suggestion, one seeker of health returned to her family home, which was in another state, so she could care for her aging parents. The journey back home to her duty and pledge to fulfill her spiritual responsibility (dharma), even at the cost to her own comfort, became a unique spiritual path for regaining her lost health and peace of mind. Within weeks, her blood pressure normalized, she began losing the weight that she had been unable to lose for the prior nineteen years, and her recurrent nightmares ended. With little else but her faith in Ayurveda’s prescription for a wholesome life — and not just for overcoming a specific disease — this woman was able to reclaim a deep, abiding state of well-being in her body, mind, and soul.
Traditional teachers and healers like my Baba and myself often prescribe karma yoga for hard-to-cure disorders that are resistant to other treatments. Ayurvedic texts call these disorders karmaja, “born from karma” — that is, from the negative karma in one’s current or previous lifetimes. These disorders require a selfless spirit and positive karmas in the present moment to heal. No medicine can resolve such problems because, in cases like these, taking medicine is no more than self-gratification. Such individuals are still taking from the universe, not giving back. With karma-induced suffering, no matter how terrible they feel, this is the time to forget their own pain and to wipe away another’s tears, to throw themselves wholeheartedly into caring for others.
Everyday Steps You Can Take
You may not all be able to move to a farmhouse, take a yearlong break, or grow herbs for charity, but anyone can return to Nature — that is, to the natural human state — by adopting Ayurveda’s principles in your day-to-day life. Those who follow the disciplines of Ayurveda approach life with enthusiasm, energy, and joy find that the wisdom of Ayurveda begins to take root in their consciousness.
Many people ignore constipation. People can go days without eliminating and still continue to eat large amounts of food without giving it a thought. Either they skip going to the bathroom in the morning — unless they feel an urgent need — or they are oblivious to any sense of routine and go whenever the urge strikes them. In my organization’s charitable clinics, my students and I have met countless people who, when asked about their bowel habits, look at us with a completely blank stare. They cannot remember when they had their last movement!
One person who sought counsel on this had been constipated for eleven days! Laxatives were not helping. But this isn’t why she came to the clinic. She didn’t care about why her bowels weren’t moving; she wanted to lose weight. When we spoke further, I learned that her lower abdomen was distended and causing her discomfort, her tongue was heavily coated with toxins, and she burped often — an indication that she was filled with toxins and gas.
This woman saw burping as “normal enough” and said she had been constipated for even longer periods than this in the past. “Oh, that!” she said with a smile when I asked about it. “I know,” she added as if she’d been through this before. “I need to drink more water. I am bad about drinking water!”
To give this woman credit, her medical doctor had told her not to worry about her constipation. He suggested that she drink more water and take over-the-counter laxatives when the need arose, but then he told her, “It’s going to come out sooner or later.” The doctor didn’t think constipation was a big deal, so why should she? Everyone she knew was often constipated — her sisters, her mother, even her darling pit bull went only occasionally and with no set pattern of elimination.
I instituted changes in her diet, and these had an immediate effect. Up to that point, this woman had eaten mainly raw salads, dry foods like raw carrots, lots of snacks, and clogging foods like cheeses. Despite her feeling that she needed more fluids, she’d had an excessive water intake and also drank a lot of coffee and soda. We will explore foods in chapter 6, but for now I will say that this woman’s diet was focused on foods that created a drying, cooling action in the colon — foods that led to a vata disturbance, which resulted in constipation.
To counteract this, I recommended she eat warm, cooked, light, and easily digestible foods — specifically, I told her to eat khichadi and drink takra (see appendix 4, “The Ayurvedic Diet Resource Guide” for these recipes). Instead of soda or cold water, I also recommended that first thing in the morning she drink hot water boiled with ginger root — fresh ginger is a mild laxative.
I gave her other instructions as well. I said that every morning, before eating, she should massage her lower abdomen and lower back with warm castor oil and, afterward, place towels soaked in hot water on that area.
Within two days, this woman’s constipation was relieved and her accompanying pain and discomfort was gone. Her first bowel movement came in the form of hard, dry black pellets, but later the stools became easier to purge. In time, this woman developed greater insight into her digestive problems, noticing that constipation was a pattern that came for her when she would overeat or snack on overly processed foods made with white flour or white sugar.
Over time, I was able to show her ways to ensure daily elimination, including following a vata-balancing diet, eating only at fixed mealtimes (no snacking), and developing a regular practice of hatha yoga postures to regularize elimination.
The main point that I made was that it is necessary to take steps before day one and not to wait, suffering as she had, until day eleven. The constipation was her body’s way of speaking to her, telling her there were things about her lifestyle that she needed to change. As far as I know, she is doing much better now: her chronic constipation and all of its uncomfortable consequences — weight gain, bloating, lethargy, and malaise — are all gone.
Are you listening to your own body and hearing its message?
Respect Nature’s Call
All creatures are conditioned to purify themselves. Typically, the urge to eliminate comes in the early morning hours, almost as if the body were on autopilot. That is why, at this time, when parents are still slumbering, babies lie happy and fully awake in their own productions — smiling and cooing with pride. This is why puppies beg to go outside when dawn has not even broken, making owners wonder if it was really such a good idea to have brought a puppy home.
Human adults can, of course, train themselves, their children, and their pets to sleep in and to subdue this natural urge by ignoring it. But if you ignore it long enough, the urge will be more than subdued; it will be suppressed. We will no longer be aware that we have to go at all. At this point, our preferences have disrupted this natural process to such an extent that half of humanity does not go, cannot go, or goes way too many times in a day. This has happened because we ignore the call of Nature.
According to Ayurveda, early morning elimination that is timely, unprompted, and comes without much effort or straining is a sign of good health.1 Becoming mindful of this vital physiological activity will promote your longevity, keep you free from abdominal heaviness, and protect you from attacks of intestinal gas.
In other words, ignore the call of Nature at your own risk because, before long, Nature will stop calling, and imbalance will call instead.
Asked if your bowel movements are regular, you might answer yes. If, however, you rely on laxatives or if you void your bowls at random times of day, don’t be lulled into a false sense of security. Ideally, elimination should occur naturally (without the aid of habit-forming medications), and it should happen once or twice a day, generally very early in the morning, almost right after waking. The second urge is often felt late afternoon, after lunch is digested. Too many movements or too few is not a good sign.
Like everything else in the body, the bowels are connected to the doshas (which were discussed in earlier chapters). Each human being has a genetically determined dosha constitution or body type — often a dominant dosha and subordinate dosha. The purpose of this book is to explain basic principles of Ayurveda lifestyle wisdom in a way that helps all doshas. There is, however, quite a bit of difference between the doshas regarding problems with elimination, and if you have trouble in this area, you might find table 14 helpful.
The Colon and Immunity
For thousands of years, Ayurveda has addressed problems associated with a condition that is known today as leaky gut syndrome. Instead of moving toxins out of the body, the colon absorbs these harmful substances and creates inflammation and disease. The colon cells’ absorbing function and these especially sensitive, super-absorbent, permeable membranes are known as kala in Sanskrit to Ayurveda scientists.
Research in recent decades has shown that disturbances in the colon can lead to inflammation. The diseases linked to this inflammation — arthritis, Crohn’s disease, ulcerative colitis, irritable bowel syndrome (IBS), and inflammation in various organs — are generally regarded as anomalies of the body’s immune system.
Such conditions as constipation, chronic loose stools, and other disturbances in the colon are usually considered “nonissues” in mainstream medicine, and doctors often recommend over-the-counter medications for such complaints. Ayurveda, on the other hand, does not take disturbances of this nature lightly and recommends measures to deal with the problem at its root. One primary consideration of an Ayurvedic healer is always the doshas.
The three doshas circulate throughout the body, but each has an area in the body where its influence is most strongly felt. This is the dosha’s “seat,” its area of predominance. For kapha dosha, this is between the heart and the top of the head. Pitta dosha’s seat is between the heart and navel. Vata dosha’s seat is between the navel and the lower extremities. In regard to our organs, we can say that kapha dominates the heart, lungs, and brain; pitta holds the stomach, liver, gallbladder, and small intestine; and vata pervades the colon, kidneys, bladder, and organs below.
From this perspective, any adverse events in the colon impact vata dosha, and any vata imbalance affects the colon. If vata dosha increases in the rest of the body, or even in the mind, its impact can be seen in the colon.
The Colon and Toxins
Ayurveda holds that sometimes the intestinal mucosa absorbs not only what the body needs but also what the body does not require — what the digestive system has rejected in earlier stages of digestion. These unwanted substances are toxins (which means they are harmful, even poisonous) or autotoxins (which means they are formed within the body), and their name in Sanskrit is aama.
TABLE 14 Dosha-Based Bowel Characterstics
When excrement is mixed with toxins, it does not float but sinks to the bottom of the toilet bowl quickly and smells even more foul than usual. Naturally, all waste has an unpleasant odor, but when toxins are present, the smell is excessive. Other signs that your body may contain toxins include a coated tongue and flatulence, unpleasant-smelling gaseous emissions. With chronic constipation, the toxins are reabsorbed into the body and, ultimately, disturb healthy tissues.
Aama is associated with what Western medicine calls inflammatory, degenerative, or atrophic mucosal damage from plaque, debris, or deposits in the body. Ayurvedic science describes how the body with an impaired digestive system creates and stores these toxins. The ancient texts note how aama obstructs a channel, coats a membrane, or in some way binds with the blood or the skeletal or nerve tissues. We have all witnessed the devastating effects of aama in coronary arteries, which can result in heart attacks, and in damage to the nerve tissue, which is linked to multiple sclerosis. In the form of plaque, aama is also responsible for the premature aging of cells and, as mentioned earlier, for many inflammatory conditions. It’s just a matter of vocabulary: what Western medicine calls plaque, Ayurvedic medicine knows as aama.
As I’ve mentioned, constipation or an occasional diarrheal-type condition are often low priorities in Western medicine, but Ayurveda sees them as conditions meriting our timely attention since aama is at their root, and aama is a cause of disease.
It is commonly said, “You are what you eat”; in Ayurveda we say, “You are what you can digest.” If your food choices are important, no less important is the understanding of what your body can adequately and efficiently digest and metabolize — and what it cannot. Eating more than your body can digest leads to aama. In chapter 6, I describe how to eat on a daily basis in such a way that you don’t manufacture aama.
Prevention is always the best strategy, and anyone who follows Ayurveda lifestyle will never become constipated. Those who suffer from chronic constipation or diarrhea due to previous lifestyle and dietary indiscretions need not lose heart. Ayurveda offers a restorative protocol. Once you regain balance and follow Ayurveda’s lifestyle teachings, and you will never become a victim again.
What Is Healthy Elimination?
Most of us pay no attention to what comes out of our bodies or the frequency with which it comes. Glance through this list of ten qualities of good elimination to determine whether your elimination is healthy:
1. The urge to evacuate bowels is experienced once or twice every day.
2. The urge to evacuate the bowels is experienced at the same time every day (ideally in the early morning, before 6:00 a.m.).
3. In shape, the stools are generally well formed and cylindrical.
4. In density, the stools are soft and dense, not too loose or runny.
5. In color, the stools are yellowish-brown and not dark (black, green, and red are not healthy colors).
6. Stools typically have a foul odor, which is due to metabolic processes and bacterial breakdown, but healthy bowel movements are somewhat earthy in odor and not extremely offensive.
7. The stools float in water and do not sink to the bottom of the toilet bowl.
8. The stools are oily but not with so much fat that they’re sticky.
9. In quantity, the bowel movement is neither very large nor very small. One sign that the size is right is that you feel satisfied after a full evacuation of the bowel.
10. The bowel movement happens easily, without discomfort, though a sensation of very mild pressure in the lower abdomen is normal.
Constipation Prevention Protocol
Many believe that constipation has very little to do with what we eat and how we choose to live our lives. In Ayurveda, however, constipation is a sign that your whole life needs to be brought into order — what time you go to sleep and wake up, what time you eat, and what you eat during the twenty-four-hour cycle. Constipation signs and symptoms include the following:
• No urge to pass stool
• An urge to pass stool at random times and intervals
• Difficult passage of stool; straining
• Dry, small, and hard fecal formation
• Abdominal bloating, cramps, and uneasiness in abdomen
• Bad breath with coating of mouth and tongue; loss of appetite (sometimes)
• Feeling lethargic with miscellaneous physical aches
• Slow digestion
There are many potential complications of constipation. These include fecal incontinence (generally defined as the inability to control bowel movements, causing stool to leak unexpectedly from the rectum), fecal impaction (hardening of stool inside the rectum), rectal prolapse (protruding rectal tissue), and of course hemorrhoids and anal fissures (tearing in the lining of the lower rectum or anus) cannot be ruled out.
What follows are tips to support the daily ritual of elimination, to prevent constipation from occurring or, if it has already begun, to bring your system back into balance:
• Bring no cell phones, reading material, or coffee cups with you to the toilet.
• Maintain silence and concentrate on the physiological act. This helps the entire process, as both your body and mind are involved in elimination.
• Resist straining or actively applying force to evacuate your bowls, as this can lead to complications (such as hemorrhoids), though it is fine to apply some concentrated muscular effort to stimulate the urge to evacuate.
Disadvantages of Relying on Laxatives
The laxative market is growing worldwide every year! Laxatives move the bowels, but — as any laxative label will inform you — there can be serious problems when you rely on such solutions, even herbal solutions, long term. Unfortunately, laxatives are often habit forming and cause dependency instead of resolving the root problem. On top of that, laxatives have a diminished effect over time because the body becomes resistant through extended use. Further, new symptoms can emerge, such as bloating, gas, cramps, and abdominal pain. Another potential complication of laxatives is that they can cause diarrhea.
Six Rules to Help Overcome Constipation Naturally
Here are some simple and extremely efficacious ways to handle constipation.
1. Say No to Irregular Mealtimes and Snacking
One aspect of a modern lifestyle is to eat whenever we want to. There is a trend, sometimes called “grazing,” that promotes snacking throughout the day. The only one getting healthier through this grazing is the formidable ready-to-eat snack industry. Our bodies, sadly, struggle with the overload.
Snacking disturbs the body’s metabolic processes. If you eat breakfast and then, before it is digested, eat a snack, the recently eaten food mixes with the partially digested food. Together, they generate toxins. One predictable outcome is constipation. The next time you open your mouth to pop in one between-meal grape, ask yourself: Will this grape make its way out anytime soon? Or will it get stuck in my digestive queue?
2. Do Not Eat Very Heavy or Very Light Foods
Very heavy foods are meats, processed foods with added sugars, and foods laced with cream, butter, and nuts. Very heavy foods take a long time to digest. If our digestive fire, agni, is not at an optimal level, we may not have the capacity to benefit from these heavy foods. If we don’t, our systems will reach an impasse, and autotoxins will be formed.
Very light foods, on the other hand, such as puffed rice, popcorn, barley, lentils,2 raw vegetable salads, and fruit, are easy for the body to break down and digest quickly, but they also lack natural fats so they add to the inherent dry quality of vata dosha. A trace of oil or fat is needed with every meal. This might mean eating certain foods that contain oil — wheat or nuts — or it might mean drizzling warm ghee over foods like popcorn, salads, and cooked lentils.
An important tenet of Ayurveda is moderation, and accordingly, we are instructed not to eat foods that are either excessively heavy or excessively light. We need a judicious mix. Food rules are covered at length in chapter 6.
3. Avoid Excessive Fasting and Dieting
Extreme diets or fasting protocols, such as water fasts, can be brutal on the body and, by creating an absence of food, aggravate vata dosha. Hence, fasting and dieting must be approached with extreme caution. The aim is to ensure that the body’s channels are purified and that, at the same time, vata dosha doesn’t become aggravated.
Signs of aggravated vata dosha during dieting or fasting include such symptoms as constipation, physical aches, dry skin, cracking joints, fatigue, irritability, moodiness, and even depression. Some of us may think we are meeting our bodies’ requirements with calorie-controlled shakes, bars, or packaged foods. These do not, however, also meet all of the body’s requirements for nutrients and foods — life energy (prana), for instance, and the requisite warmth and fats to balance vata dosha.
Ayurveda does recommend occasional detoxes, and the approved detox guidelines are described in appendix 4, “The Ayurvedic Diet Resource Guide.”
4. Consume Only Warm Foods and Drinks
Today, it’s conventional wisdom that the lower a food’s temperature, the more it challenges our metabolism to work hard, so the greater the number of calories that are burned. So, in California at least, chilled water is the rage!
In contrast, Ayurveda teaches that cold increases vata dosha and dulls the digestive fire agni. In fact, agni benefits from the deliberate intake of warm, or even hot, foods and drinks.
Remember, cold is an intrinsic quality of vata dosha, just like wetness is a dominant quality of water, and heat is a dominant quality of fire. Therefore, due to the natural law of “like increases like,” all cold-temperature foods increase vata dosha — the dosha that governs the colon and, therefore, the most significant dosha for elimination. This is one reason Ayurveda recommends eating foods that are hot or warm.3 Refrigerated foods, including fruit, should be allowed to warm to room temperature before being eaten.
What does the temperature of our food have to do with the purification process? Everything! First, it’s important to understand that Ayurveda envisions the human body as a creation of natural substances (the five elements) interlaced by pathways, channels, and pipes, gross and subtle. These conduits are called srota. The srota serve the physiological functions of transportation, circulation, and elimination. Some srota are large and visible, namely, the esophagus, veins, arteries, and intestines. Other srota are smaller (like the tiny intestinal villi that pass nutrition to the cells and help eliminate waste), and some are subtle. The mind affects each and every srota through its own srota, which are spread throughout the body — everywhere except our nails and hair. This is why when our nails and hair are cut, we do not have a mental sensation of pain.
From all of this, it should be obvious that if we want to be healthy, then all the srota in our body need to be open and unrestricted.
The basic principles of physics state that cold constricts while heat expands. If what you consume is cold (that is, cooler than room temperature), it will constrict your body’s channels, a metabolic liability. If you are already experiencing irregularity or constipation in the eliminative pipes, cold water is disastrous. Ice-cold water and food extinguishes the fire of your digestion and leads to vata disturbances, such as constipation. Pumping freezing cold water, iced drinks, or frosty smoothies into your stomach — especially if you are trying to purify your body — is inevitably counterproductive.
Drinking water and eating foods that are warm or hot in temperature will, on the other hand, keep all the srota open.
Many late-night infomercials these days are selling the latest fat-burning smoothie recipes. These commercial messages are cleverly crafted, with miraculous weight-loss success stories delivered, as scripted, with big smiles. Each time I even glimpse one of these commercials, my heart hurts for all of the gullible viewers who are desperate to lose weight or purify their bodies and think that loading up on crushed ice and frozen fruit will help!
If you drink cold smoothies or ice water, ask yourself whether such a diet could possibly be natural for the human body. Have you ever seen any animal — other than the human animal — consuming such things as crushed ice? Such a thing wasn’t even known to humanity until the invention of refrigeration and ice-making technology.
Today, without any awareness at all, we consume cold water, cold drinks, and cold foods. This modern habit is, I believe, one of the contributing factors to obesity, which is becoming a global epidemic. I say this because cold foods and drinks consumed in quantity are a liability. The excessive and unseasonal cold quality in foods and drinks not only disturbs digestion and excites vata dosha, but it also aggravates kapha dosha. This is a double whammy, because when kapha dosha becomes aggravated, one of the ways it manifests is as weight gain — slow, continuous weight gain. To refresh yourself on the qualities of doshas, and what happens when they become aggravated, refer back to chapter 1.
A study assessing the effect of temperature on gastric emptying was conducted in 1988 by introducing a temperature sensor into the stomachs of six men.4 They then drank orange juice at three temperatures: 4 degrees Celsius (cold), 37 degrees Celsius (the control group), and finally, 50 degrees Celsius (warm). These men’s mean intragastric temperature returned to normal ten minutes sooner when they drank warm juice as opposed to cold. A later study by the same team demonstrated that both warm and cold liquids could suppress gut motility (the contracting and stretching of muscles in the gastrointestinal tract) for thirty minutes after ingestion, but that with cold liquid, the muscles showed greater inhibition.5
Those who need to lose weight or are suffering from toxicity or elimination challenges should begin by removing cold beverages and foods from their diet. It’s that simple. A daily intake that is vata-aggravating and agni-extinguishing must be stopped if a person is to make any headway in the goals of regular elimination, detoxification, and weight loss.
5. Incorporate the Right Kind and Quantity of Fiber in Your Diet
It is unfortunate that Western concepts largely endorse a totally mechanical view of the human body. Constipation is viewed as a case of “plugged up bowels.” Hence, those suffering from constipation are asked to add more fiber to their diets, typically through an increased intake of raw vegetables. The question I want to raise here is this: How much is too much, and at what point should a person stop adding fiber?
As we’ve said, in Ayurveda, constipation is inexorably linked with digestion. A healthy bowel movement is possible only when healthy digestion happens. As Ayurveda sees it, to throw into your digestive system something that is highly fibrous and not easily digested can only further compromise your digestion. Fiber is not a solution for constipation; it is a cause!
The properties of fiber lead to bloating and digestive distress. The colon’s native bacteria act on fiber’s indigestible carbohydrates, which leads to further bloating and — thanks to the production of gases such as methane, hydrogen, and carbon dioxide — to flatulence. If the digestive fire is already compromised, then every ounce of additional fiber becomes dead weight to the body. Sadly, if someone who only occasionally suffers from constipation begins to focus on a fiber-rich diet, their constipation will inevitably become even more pronounced.
For a number of years, there were trends toward low-fat cooking that caused people to stop using oil in their cooking, even though oil is needed to lubricate the colon. Their focus on low fat combined with the added dryness of fiber, worsened constipation for many. Fiber acts like a sponge, absorbing water and oil content from the colon, and this renders stools even drier than they otherwise would be. And the solution suggested by many modern health mavens is to drink more fluids. Now, you’ve added water to an already “clogged” system, one that’s already filled with fiber. How is the digestive fire, agni, to survive this? In some cases, diarrhea may occur within hours of consuming fiber.
The media continues to sing the praises of fiber, and we continue to see its commercial promotion: fiber supplements, high-fiber candy bars, books promoting fiber-rich diets, Internet sites dedicated to the “fiber miracle.” Humanity seems to have made fiber some kind of god!
A Doctor Asks, “Do We Need So Much Water? Really?”
Heinz Valtin, a professor of neurobiology and physiology at Dartmouth College’s medical school, debunked the “8 × 8” myth (that everyone should drink eight eight-ounce glasses of water a day) in a scientific review published in the American Journal of Physiology in 2002.6
Dr. Valtin was inspired to undertake this project, he writes, because he found it “difficult to believe that evolution left us with a chronic water deficit that needs to be compensated by forcing a high fluid intake.” In fact, he found “no scientific proof” to support the recommendation that everyone needs eight glasses of water a day. He adds that there are many ways drinking too much water can be harmful — including possible water intoxication, kidney failure, potential exposure to pollutants, and the expense.
The author suggests that the “8 × 8” myth might have arisen from a National Research Council report that recommended “approximately 1 milliliter for each calorie of food,” which would amount to roughly two or two and one-half quarts. In the next sentence, the report stated that “most of this quantity can be found in prepared foods,” but it seems that this explanation was missed.
In recent years, this situation — colons jammed with stools and minds jammed with pseudoscientific claims — has prompted many to contact Vedika Global’s clinics. We’ve broken the news that the fiber-plus-water approach is not all it’s cracked up to be, that the duo is taxing to digestion. This news has not yet gone viral, but its fans are growing in number.
Fiber, of course, is a natural part of various human-friendly fruits, vegetables, and cereals. The soft, soluble variety of fiber is amply present in dried beans and legumes, oatmeal, oat bran, barley, and citrus fruits. The hard variety, usually referred to as roughage, includes the woody or structural parts of plants, such as wheat bran and whole-grain cereals. Ayurveda doesn’t discount these foods, but suggests them for only those who have a capacity to digest them. There is never a one-size-fits-all recommendation in Ayurveda.
Cooking these fiber-rich foods in light oil or ghee with the addition of digestive spices, like cumin or mustard seeds, makes them easier to digest. These adjustments make fiber much more palatable as an anticonstipation diet strategy!
Take the example of the guava, a tropical fruit that contains ample soft fiber and, more important, also has natural oils to balance vata. I suggested guava to a person who had off-and-on constipation. Since she was of Latino heritage and familiar with this fruit, I asked her to consume one fresh, ripe guava fruit at breakfast each day. She liked that prescription and smiled when she received this guidance. The home remedy to make it even more effective and digestion-friendly requires sprinkling some fresh-ground black pepper, rock salt, also called Himalayan pink salt,7 and grated ginger on the slices before eating. I also reminded her that when we consume fruit in Ayurveda, we do not mix it with dairy or other food items.
TABLE 15 Effects of Chilled Drinking Water on Doshas
I always smile when I recommend this recipe. Any person who grew up in the countries in which guava is a native plant will tell you that of all trees, the guava is the easiest to climb. Guava branches are low, smooth, and slippery — a natural play structure of sorts, as kid-friendly as a tree can be. While the tree trunk and branches are slim and not very substantial, the inner oiliness makes the wood strong. It’s great to swing and hang from. The guava tree branches also remind me of the way healthy intestines look — when we take the time to eat well, exercise, and purge daily.
Within a few days, my Latino friend e-mailed me to let me know that everything was “moving along,” happily and regularly.
6. Drink Only When You Are Actually Thirsty
Since when did we start requiring a minimum eight glasses of water each day in order to have a bowel movement? Today, nutritionists, personal trainers, articles in trendy health magazines, and even many responsible physicians prescribe drinking water as a solution for constipation and as a panacea to a variety of health problems — even when the person is gagging at the thought of taking in even one more drop of water.
Water Q&A: The Ayurvedic Perspective
Q: Does anyone benefit from naturally cooled water?
A: There are, of course, physical problems that can be addressed by drinking cooled water. In any heat-generating condition, cooled water is prescribed. This includes pitta aggravation, dizziness, heat exhaustion, burning sensation of body, poisoning, alcohol intoxication, blood-related conditions, excessive strain (including strain due to exercise), and nose bleeds. The water should be cooled naturally (see chapter 6).
Q: For what conditions does Ayurveda prohibit cooled water?
A: If possible, cold water should be avoided any time the digestive fire is compromised. This includes constipation, diarrhea, indigestion, abdominal bloating, flatulence, loss of appetite, anorexia, irritable bowel syndrome, and conditions associated with vata and kapha doshas such as hiccups, colds, coughs, asthma, recent fever, or pain in side or lower back. Under all such conditions, any water should be first boiled and then cooled to a drinkable warm temperature (see chapter 6 for more about boiling water before drinking).
Q: When should water intake be reduced or measured?
A: Excess water is very harmful according to Ayurveda in conditions such as nasal discharge, weak digestive power (impaired digestion), dropsy, consumption, excess salivation, enlargement of the abdomen, eye diseases, fever, ulcers, and diabetes mellitus. A person with any of these conditions should sip water from time to time (but not immediately after meals) and in a carefully measured quantity. This water should be boiled and then cooled to a drinkable warmth.
Q: How much time is required to digest water?
A: Natural, room-temperature water is digested in six hours. Water that has been previously boiled and then cooled to room temperature is digested in three hours. Water that has been boiled and consumed when still warm (but not piping hot like tea) is digested in one and one-half hours. Essentially, the hotter the water (through the process of boiling), the less time it takes to digest the same.
It may be a coincidence that the fad of drinking water parallels the rise in brands of bottled water, but I think otherwise. Research has shown that too much water can kill you. Water intoxication is known medically as hyponatremia, and it is a serious consequence that occurs when the body is flooded with fluid, which upsets the delicate balance of salt and other electrolytes. This condition stresses various organs, including the kidneys and brain, and stresses nerve impulses, and can cause rapid brain swelling that can lead to coma or death.
From an Ayurvedic perspective, we see that drinking too much water aggravates not one or two but all three doshas — in other words, not some people but everyone! Following the law of “like increases like,” let us examine the impact of drinking too much refrigerated or ice water. The heart of this analysis comes from the classical Ayurveda text Ashtanga Hridayam, recorded between the fifth and sixth centuries CE.8
Remember that each dosha has its inherent qualities and additions and subtractions to these qualities make for increases and decreases of the individual doshas. Cold, dry, rough, and mobile are the qualities of vata dosha. Fluid, hot, light, and sharp are qualities of pitta dosha. Smooth, heavy, slow, dull, and cold are intrinsic qualities of kapha dosha. Table 15 demonstrates that drinking water, especially cold water, aggravates all three doshas simultaneously. Hence, ideally, chilled water must not be consumed. Cool water is advised at times, but only in the autumn or when the body is undergoing heat-related challenges (see more on this in chapter 6).
Because this is the effect drinking water has on the doshas, drinking too much water would escalate these effects. Besides, extra water — that is, water the body does not need — becomes a liability to digestion. This extra water dilutes the digestive enzymes, blocks the bio-channels of circulation (srota) and, in general, taxes the digestive system.9 The body now must spend precious energy processing each extra swallow of water.
If, after a health-inspired water binge, you become bloated, feel heavy, and lose your appetite, then you and your digestive fire are most likely drowning in the water you have consumed. Rather than causing a so-called flushing of toxins and stools, this excess fluid actually causes toxins to increase in the body because it obstructs the channels and aggravates the doshas.
While millions lap up their ice-cold water, and the bottled water industry thrives, weight gain is epidemic. Excessive water intake can make your brain fuzzy through hyponatremia, and perhaps this is why masses of educated, intelligent people never stop to ponder the research on the harmful effects of water drinking. Few pause to reflect on whether drinking the supposedly requisite eight glasses a day might be just a fad or a myth, with no basis whatsoever in science.
Newborn babies instinctively know when they are hungry and when they are not. Why don’t we just listen to our own bodies? We live in strange times, when someone else tells us what to drink, how much to drink, when to drink, and which brand we should buy.
Of course, adequate hydration is important, especially during increased physical activity, during the summer, at the warmest part of the day, or while experiencing certain illnesses. What I find distressing is the arbitrary, one-size-fits-all prescription of at least eight glasses of water a day. It just doesn’t work. Even the apple-a-day proverb can lead to indigestion in those who have a vata disturbance in the digestive system; it’s clearly not always a way to keep the doctor away!
Ayurveda never imposes arbitrary dictates of foods, fluids, or behaviors on a group of people. Each of us differs widely in our dosha constitution, physical strength, digestive power, level of aama (toxins) in the body, status of bodily tissues, age, and health history. How could it be possible to prescribe one optimal diet for all? Ayurveda’s customized, specific, and detail-oriented system celebrates that we are, each of us, one-of-a-kind. The human body’s ingenious design, with the integrity of its complex systems and those systems’ needs, should never be tyrannized by the latest health fad.
Let me assure you that if you wait until you are thirsty to drink, you will not have become dehydrated! That is a myth. Every animal I know makes its way to the best-known source of water — and slowly! — when it’s thirsty. Sometimes, in the wild, this can take hours. Nature has built us with much more resilience than water industry experts would have us believe. Ayurveda restores to us our power to drink only when thirsty. And fear not, it will be a long, long while before our thirst becomes life threatening.
Diarrhea Prevention and Restoration Protocol
Diarrhea — excessively watery stools due to increased motility of the intestines — is a debilitating digestive extreme that many face on an almost daily basis. This condition results in an increased amount of excrement, sometimes with accompanying discomfort or pain. It manifests due to accumulation of doshas, mainly vata and pitta, in the large intestine, along with impaired agni, which lead to hypermotility and hypersecretion.
Once you decide that you no longer want to live out of control, you can heal your tendency toward diarrhea using Ayurvedic lifestyle and diet modifications, as well as home and herbal remedies.
Correcting Lifestyle vs. Battling Bacteria
For those who suffer from diarrhea, the Ayurveda system of health and healing recommends selecting foods that are gentle to the digestive system (for instance, lentils, Ayurvedic buttermilk, white rice — for recipes and a list, see appendix 2, “Healthy Elimination Resource Guide”). Restorative activities like yoga stretches (see appendix 2) are helpful, and abstaining from activities that aggravate vata and pitta doshas is also important. In most cases, I don’t recommend medications. Why take chalky antacids or pills that momentarily curtail the problem? Why not instead look for lasting relief through lifestyle habits and food?
My recommendation may baffle those new to Ayurveda, particularly those who are used to blaming diarrhea on pathogens that invade the body. Some may wonder why it’s necessary to modify eating and lifestyle habits to correct their weeping bowels when it’s so simple to just take a series of antibacterial pills.
Let me warn you: Ayurveda’s expectations of you are definitely more demanding than those of most Western medical doctors. If you visit a modern medical facility for help with your diarrhea, you will likely walk away with a prescription for an antidiarrheal and perhaps an antibiotic — and nothing else. At an Ayurvedic clinic, you would be asked to take stock of your entire lifestyle and be ready to make some changes in it.
If healing were as simple as taking a pill, there would be no need for this book. Allopathic remedies for diarrhea may provide immediate respite, but this relief will not be long lasting. Without lifestyle and dietary corrections, you’ll once again find yourself in the doctor’s waiting room. Some types of bacteria have virulent strains, so multiple prescriptions are becoming necessary to destroy the pathogens. In the meantime, you, the unfortunate victim, remain unaware of your role in the loose bowels that deplete you every morning, continuing to make the same choices of food and lifestyle that are the root of your problem.
Weeks later, you may feel guilty that your body — weakened from yet another round of antibiotics — seems to be experiencing an obstinate, rare, unique, perplexing, or unresponsive pathogen. The doctor has told you, with a professional smile, “Sorry, we killed the wrong pathogens and some good guys, too, in the process. But, don’t worry; this new antibiotic will kill the one we want to get. This time it’s sure to work!” Sound familiar?
In modern Western medicine, there is often a failure to evaluate the whole picture when determining the cause of a particular effect. You, the patient, have diarrhea. Isn’t it possible that what you eat could be one of the reasons? Yet once a patient has a particular ailment, Western medicine practitioners tend to look mainly at the symptoms and how to assist in symptom management. While this is important, too, allow Ayurveda to address the big picture or the root cause.
The Ayurvedic sages encouraged building immunity and creating a healthy environment inside the body by virtue of a healthy lifestyle from the very beginning. Such a lifestyle incorporates a healthy diet, regular exercise, thinking pure thoughts, and reining in excess emotions. This holistic view of health, which has been adopted by forward-thinking Western physicians, ensures that the body is not vulnerable to germs. When a person’s immunity is strong, even eating rotten food and living in unsanitary conditions (as are seen in much of the world) will have a much less damaging effect.
Food Choices to Combat Diarrhea
I offer specific suggestions of foods (with recipes) for the dietary treatment of active diarrhea in the appendix 2, “Healthy Elimination Resource Guide.” Here, I focus on the general qualities in foods that anyone who is prone to diarrhea should avoid. Notice the word overly in these suggestions. This indicates that someone combating diarrhea should avoid these types of foods in excess and instead eat foods that will in no way be a shock to the digestive system. The goal is to find a happy balance between the diverse qualities of dry and oily, heavy and extra light. In anyone with a tendency toward loose stools, the gastric channel has become hypersensitive, and just about anything can set it off. So, try to avoid foods on this list of seven:
1. Avoid Overly Heavy Foods (Atiguru)
Closely examine your eating habits to weed out foods that are heavy in quality, which are more difficult to digest. From an Ayurvedic perspective, these foods are typically dominant in the water and earth elements. Be especially careful at night, when your agni technically “falls asleep.” Heavy foods include beef, nuts, pastries, cheesy pasta dishes, thick-crust pizza, and anything that causes difficult digestion. Bear in mind that “overly heavy” is a subjective designation. One person may experience difficulty in digesting even one slice of thin-crust pizza, while another is able to digest the entire pie without any trouble. It is up to each of us to evaluate what feels “heavy” — that is, what foods leave an uncomfortable sensation in the abdomen after you’ve eaten them? And, of course, which foods give you, shortly thereafter, loose stools?
2. Avoid Overly Oily Foods (Atisnigdha)
Avoid consuming anything overly oily, as it will excite pitta dosha. On the “avoid” list are fried foods of almost any kind, oily curries, pickles in oil, and cream- or cheese-based pasta dishes. A compromised agni has a difficult time breaking down fat. And whatever a digestive system in this condition cannot break down, it will literally throw out — often with discomfort and accompanying sound and fury. Even a beneficial fat like ghee should be consumed in only very small quantities until diarrhea is no longer an issue.
3. Avoid Overly Dry Foods (Atiruksha)
Overly dry foods, which aggravate vata, include chips, crackers, popcorn, pretzels, breakfast cereal, and rice cakes, as well as most salads and raw vegetables. Those with the tendency toward diarrhea have to be especially careful to avoid vata buildup. Instead of eating drying salads, you can steam your veggies and serve them with a small spoonful of ghee.
4. Avoid Overly Hot Foods (Atiushna)
While warm food is preferred over cold, it should not be at an excessively hot temperature. While some degree of heat will enhance the digestive fire, which is typically compromised when we experience loose stools, too much heat will overstimulate it and expand the bodily channels, the srota. The heat of spices is not suitable in dealing with diarrhea either — spicy hot food can also overstimulate agni — so you’ll want to avoid wasabi, jalapeños, sriracha sauce, and so forth.
5. Avoid Overly Cold Foods (Atisheeta)
Eating food that is cold has a double liability: it dulls an already compromised digestive fire and aggravates vata dosha in the digestive tract. This means that you should avoid cold cuts, frozen yogurt, ice cream, and ice cubes. During the flu and bouts of diarrhea, it is popular advice for the patient to stay hydrated by sucking on popsicles, drinking chilled lemon-lime sodas, or eating Jell-O. This entirely mechanical prescription is counterproductive. It sees diarrhea as a one-to-one ratio of “liquid out” to “liquid in.” Instead, we need to consider the properties and temperature of the liquid, and what the body requires.
6. Avoid Excessive Water Drinking
Doctors often advise drinking plenty of water and fluids or eating watery foods like soups, fruits, and vegetables to a patient with diarrhea so that they may avoid becoming dehydrated. It is true that a person loses fluids during bouts of watery stools. But taking in too much fluid can exacerbate this condition — and besides, drinking too much extra fluid means your digestive system cannot rest. Water, too, is digested, and a compromised digestive system cannot withstand a constant influx of fluids. To combat diarrhea, Ayurveda prescribes restorative foods, which deliver results every time (see recipes in appendix 2, “Healthy Elimination Resource Guide”).
7. Avoid Incompatible Foods
Fortunately, Ayurveda makes a point of identifying food combinations that are incompatible and, therefore, cause gastric distress. Any number of these food combinations (see chapter 6) can result in loose stools.
The Power of Choice
Even if you were not born with good digestion, you can achieve it by consuming the right foods and making the right lifestyle choices. It’s important to pay attention to your body’s wisdom. Certain extremely commonplace and seemingly benign practices — drinking ice water, eating a cold breakfast — can undermine your digestive power and set you up for serious health issues in the future.
It all seems like minutia, I know, but the hundreds of tiny choices we make, minute-by-minute throughout our day, determine whether the magnificent apparatus we call the body is able to digest food and eliminate toxins — in other words, whether it can continue to function. The choice is up to you!