The concept of detoxifying the body has become popular in the modern era. But if we take a closer look, we’ll find that Ayurvedic vaidyas have been touting the benefits detoxification for thousands of years. Unlike modern detoxification goals, however, when using Ayurveda for detox , you are not limited to the digestive system and body — to function smoothly, effectively, and without impairment, the body, mind, and spirit must all be in harmony. Ama , Agni and Detoxification If we look at digestion through an Ayurvedic lens, we would understand that finding balance through the right kinds of foods, a centered lifestyle, and de-stressing techniques would all contribute to good health. The Sanskrit word for this harmonious state is Agni , the first word written in the Vedas. Its antithesis is Ama , which points to a toxic buildup. Ama results not only from dietary issues, but also from emotional, mental, and spiritual imbalances. Fortunately, Ayurveda has a prescription that has
In this article, we explore how to use food as medicine to harmonize doshic imbalances in the body and stimulate optimal digestion. Gut health has become quite a topic of conversation in recent years and Ayurveda offers us an ancient pathway to belly wellbeing that takes each unique constitution into consideration.
As with all other senses, there are specific routines and rituals through which we can pacify imbalance for vata, pitta and kapha and allow taste’s full, highest expression to emerge. We will dive into those shortly. Before we get specific, it’s important to understand the foundational aspects of taste that apply to all three doshas and our overall digestive health.
What Is Agni?
In Ayurveda, there is a principal referred to as agni. This Sanksrit term translates to “digestive fire.” It is the fire burning deep in your belly—the furnace that fuels your entire digestive system. Agni governs our metabolism and our ability to convert food to energy.
When agni is burning bright and strong, we’re able to effortlessly extract the nectar from the foods we eat and efficiently eliminate toxins. If agni is dull and dwindling, it becomes quite challenging for our body to process nutrition regardless of our dosha or the foods we eat. A thriving agni equates to thriving gut health, so it’s important we focus on kindling this flame before all else.
The best way to stoke your internal fire is to take an occasional detox. Imagine a campfire with too much wood piled on top…the flames become suffocated and cannot burn effectively. The same is true for agni. If we continuously supply the body with food and don’t allow our system space to breathe, agni can become weakened.
Fasting & Detoxing
There are many methods of fasting and detox, and it is important to choose one that not only suits your lifestyle but is approved by your medical professional. A simple variation is to take a 24-hour fast every week. I personally enjoy fasting from supper to supper, as it doesn’t require an entire day from sunup to sundown without food. I end one day with a satisfying dinner at 5 or 6 p.m. and indulge the following day at the same hour.
During this time of fasting, inflammation in the body is reduced, toxins are eliminated, and fat stores are moved and metabolized—and it’s evn quite common to experience increased mental and physical clarity. By allowing our body, digestion, and systemic processes time to rest and recharge, they can engage more powerfully after this much-needed and deserved moment of pause.
During your fast, be sure to drink loads of room temperature or warm water, herbal teas, and lemon water. There are many opposing schools of thought when it comes to coffee, so it’s best to experiment and notice how you feel. I occasionally treat myself to one cup of black coffee during the 24-hour fasting period. Use your intuition to determine what is right for you. It’s best to avoid cold, icy drinks during detox (and always, in general) as the cool temperatures can smother and suppress agni, creating an undesirable effect.
On the other days of the week (or if you simply don’t wish to engage in occasional detox and fasts), you can keep your agni burning brightly by drinking a cup of ginger tea each morning. Take fresh ginger root and slice it lengthwise, exposing as much of the fleshy insides as possible. Place 2-4 thin ginger ovals in 8-16 oz. of water and bring to a boil. Transfer to a mug and enjoy.
For those with excessive pitta in their constitution, limit your intake of ginger tea as your fire is most likely already burning quite brightly! Vata and kapha digestions can indulge a bit more. When these two doshas feel extremely aggravated within my own digestion and I can tell it is slow or weakened, I’ll even toss those same slices of ginger into my water bottle and use them all throughout the day.
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How To Eat To Strengthen Agni
So now that we have a few tools in our arsenal to amplify the strength of agni within our system, we can turn our attention to what types of foods will best satisfy and support the three doshas.
Ayurveda teaches us that in nature, foods fall into six categories of tastes—sweet, sour, salty, bitter, pungent, and astringent. These six tastes occur organically in the natural world and, because our bodies are fine-tuned to resonate with nature, we know intuitively and internally that we must include all six tastes in our diet to feel satiated and satisfied.
This is a very important concept in Ayurveda that sets it apart from many other nutritional systems—in Ayurveda, it is never about NOT. Essentially, what this means is that there is no natural food that we should eliminate entirely from our diet because we need all six tastes to feel fully supported. Rather, we use the terms and behavior of favor and reduce. We place more attention on favoring three of the tastes and reducing the others, but do NOT eliminate them entirely.
Physicality aside, this is a true hero when it comes to the psychology of eating. Often, when we feel like we are forbidding ourselves from a certain taste or experience, we eventually cave and indulge in it to an extreme. Ayurveda says we truly can have it all, so long as we pay conscious attention to the proportions that best serve us.
Each of the tastes contains an expression of the five Mahabhutas (space, air, fire, water, earth) so, naturally, some tastes will be pacifying to your dosha and others may aggravate it if you add too much. Remember that, in Ayurveda, opposites attract and lead to harmonic balance in the body/mind!
Food Combinations: Ayurvedic Food Combining Guide (Lissa Coffey)
The Six Tastes In Ayurveda
The general categorization of the six tastes are:
With our new-found understanding of the imprint of each food group and our own doshic makeup, we can apply this knowledge in deciding which foods to favor and reduce throughout the day. If you find it cumbersome or challenging to balance the six tastes into each meal, make sure you at least incorporate each of them at some point throughout the day to satiate your body’s cravings for harmony with nature.
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