The cacao bean is the source of perhaps the most magical and beloved foods on Earth because it is the source of chocolate. Even the cacao tree's official name, Theobroma cacao, recognizes the long-standing love most of us have for the fruit of this tree. Theobroma comes from the Greek language for "food of the gods." And while chocolate is the most popular and favorite of these foods from the cacao bean, an even healthier choice is raw cacao powder. How Is Cacao Powder Made? To produce raw cacao powder, raw cacao beans are simply cold pressed to remove the fat, and the remaining solids are ground into a fine powder. Cacao vs. Cocoa: What's the Difference? Cacao powder contains all the beneficial nutrients and beneficial compounds of the raw cacao bean minus the fat. In contrast, cocoa powder is made from roasted cacao beans. And even if they look alike, the two are different. In making cocoa powder, up to 90% of the nutrients and beneficial compounds in raw c
There are so many detox treatments on the market these days that a question can arise: “How is Panchakarma detoxification treatment different from all these other treatments that promise to remove my toxins”.
The following is a transcript of the above video in which Ayurveda
practitioner, Dr Donn Brennan, explains how the expert use of specific
oils is central to the effectiveness of Panchakarma in cleansing the
body thoroughly, and at the same time in strengthening and keeping it in
balance.
Why are ghee and oils used in Panchakarma?
Well, Panchakarma is a very unique and specific strategy within the
Ayurvedic tradition to help your body to clear the accumulated toxins
and to help our body to get rid of the consequences of our past
mistakes, so that we can start afresh in that we can be more balanced
here and now and create more balance for the future.
Panchakarma treatments always involve the use of ghee and oils. When
we recognise that we are made of oil, our physical structure is
primarily of oil with protein, then we can start to see how cleansing
this structure would be benefited by the use of oils.
The toxins that gather over time are fat-soluble toxin, because it is
easier for the body to eliminate water-soluble toxins through the
waterworks as we urinate. The fat-soluble toxins tend to gather in the
tissues and become dissolved in our very cells. Those dissolved toxins
interfere with normal structure and function.
If you think of the membrane, the skin of a cell, which is made of
oil protein – the oil makes it flexible and malleable and it can shunt
this way and that. That function of movement is used to open and close
the gateways to allow in the nutrition that is needed and to close off
when enough is ingested. and to allow the products of the cells to be
released through opening and closing of these gateways, through moving
membranes this way and that. But with the toxins you can see how this
process, this malleability and the capacity of the cell to move and
integrate gets disturbed. It’s the very nutrition of the cell, the very
release of its by-products that can immediately be interrupted and
cellular function can start to decline. Those interferences of natural
function can cause premature ageing and even death of cells.
Then
along comes this ancient tradition which has us ingest a lot of ghee.
Ghee is a very particular oil used for the purposes of what Ayurveda
calls Virechana –
one of the Panchakarmas. This ghee can cross the blood/brain barrier.
Using a lot of it along with heat allows the toxins dissolved in the
cells, even in the brain, to start to get dissolved in this excess oil
or ghee, and start to be shifted into the circulation. The body can
then, through the function of cleansing, remove and put them into the
bowel for elimination. Then the elimination treatment or enema type
treatment, is shifting these toxins through liver and gut from the very
cells in our body, even in the nervous system.
That’s why Panchakarma can have such a rejuvenating effect, because
it’s eliminating the blocks of natural flow and function within the
physiology. That in turn allows our digestion and metabolism to get more
benefit out of the nourishment that we ingest, to create better health
going forward. It has a profound effect on function and then allows for
healing and health.
That’s
why Panchakarma is advised in the old texts for the treatment of any
disease. Our interest in it is in prevention and promotion of health and
that’s why our clinics give us very simple strategies for Panchakarma
that can be easily implemented into or lifestyle by taking a week or so
off. It is recommended within Ayurveda to be done once or twice a year
just to ensure an ongoing process of cleansing and healing so that you
keep a balance going through life, and prevent the diseases from
emerging and arising in the first place.
The function of oils is very significant – sesame seed oil in
particular is used quite a lot for the massage, and various other
processes in Panchakarma. Vata is what rules everything in mind and
body, and here we have sesame seed oil which, unique amongst all oils,
has all the opposite properties of Vata. Therefore, of all the
substances in the universe, sesame oil is the best thing for Vata.
The applying of that oil to the body and our skin, also being made of oil, means we absorb the oil. The use of that oil in the enema type treatments, or the application of that oil in various other treatments just by virtue of its absorption – particularly in the colon area which is the seat of Vata – leaves the Vata in the body very much more reorganised and reintegrated. And, as Vata rules everything including the Pitta and Kapha in the body, this is a very profound way of reorganising from the subtlest level of the three Doshas, by getting Vata, who is the king of the Doshas, back to an integrated style of movement and function
The applying of that oil to the body and our skin, also being made of oil, means we absorb the oil. The use of that oil in the enema type treatments, or the application of that oil in various other treatments just by virtue of its absorption – particularly in the colon area which is the seat of Vata – leaves the Vata in the body very much more reorganised and reintegrated. And, as Vata rules everything including the Pitta and Kapha in the body, this is a very profound way of reorganising from the subtlest level of the three Doshas, by getting Vata, who is the king of the Doshas, back to an integrated style of movement and function
So, both for the cleansing and from the processes of dynamics of transformation and movement in mind and body, Panchakarma is unique and very, very useful.
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