Reenita's Wisdom

How many times have you heard the cliché “You are what you eat”? I think that when it comes to staying healthy, most clichés originated from Ayurveda. According to this ancient healing science, everything that you eat, and the way you eat it, has a strong effect on your mind and body. So not only the food and herbs that you eat, but the amount you eat, the timing of your meals and snacks, and the combinations of flavors all influence your well being. Ayurvedically speaking, food and cuisine can have a medicinal effect. When you eat well, you maximize your vitality or ojas. Ayurveda recommends whole, nutritious foods and eating patterns that are tailored to balance your mind-body constitution or prakruti (primary dosha).

There are no “bad” foods in Ayurveda—there is only the idea of balance. A harmonious diet balances not only nutritional qualities, but tastes and even the heating or cooling energetic effects of a food after it is digested. It takes into account single raw materials such as fruits, meats and vegetables as well as they meals that they combine into once they are cooked. While there is an emphasis on fruits and vegetables, and many Indians are vegetarian, Ayurveda in itself does not prescribe vegetarianism. In fact, a whole array of meats and fish are emphasized in the ancient texts.

But Ayurvedic doctors do recommend a diet that is pure and close to nature with plenty of fresh fruits, vegetables, nuts, seeds, fish and lean meats, combined with herbs and spices that will purify and balance the mind and body. Moreover, if you are to truly benefit from these foods then it is important that each meal reflect the natural colors and flavors of the ingredients. Poor digestion, stemming from an unbalanced diet, is one of the first signs of ill health. When your diet is out of balance, not only are food nutrients are not easily absorbed, but they can also accumulate as toxins.

Since your digestive tract is the origin for imbalances, ahar or diet is always considered to be the first order of medicine. And since preventative medicine is the only surefire way to ward off disease, eating Ayurvedically as often as you can, will help you to stay healthy for the long term. Although this healing science originated in India, Ayurvedic cooking encompasses so much more than merely Indian food. As long as it is prepared per Ayurvedic principles, it can draw from just about any cuisine. You can have fun mixing and matching your favorite foods with Ayurvedic herbs, ingredients and cooking techniques to yield flavorful cuisine. It is simple to prepare, yet easy for the body to assimilate into the raw building blocks for health and vitality.

If you want your kids to stay healthy, you had best give them a daily dose of outdoor playtime. Old fashioned as it sounds, daily exposure to the sun is probably all that they need to absorb Vitamin D, a fat soluble vitamin necessary for building strong bones and preventing disease.

The American Academy of Pediatrics has changed its stance on its Vitamin D recommendations for kids. Up until now the accepted daily dosage of Vitamin D intake had been 200IU. However, pediatricians are now recommending that children receive double this amount of because of increasing evidence pointing to its ability to help reduce the risk for cancer, diabetes and heart disease [...]

Although everybody hates the idea of allergies, the truth is that if you are healthy, an allergic response will protect your body against invasion by harmful agents. Secretions and inflammation help your immune cells impact the affected tissue by wash away toxins. ‘Allergies’ develop when these immune responses begin to occur on a excessive basis.

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Hollywood celebrities are trying their hand at Rakta Moksha detox techniques too. While most people squirm at the thought of blood sucking leeches, celebrities like Demi Moore are swearing by leech therapy to keep themselves toxin free and youthful. According to US Magazine, leeches are Demi Moore’s secret to looking sexy at the age of 45.

“I feel like I’ve always been someone looking for the cutting edge of things that optimize your health and healing,” she told David Letterman when she appeared as a guest on his show a few months ago. Demi describes how four leeches got drunk on her blood, starting from her bellybutton, and how they don’t like hair and prefer waxed or shaved skin.

While Moore actually appeared on Letterman’s show to promote her movie Flawless, most of the conversation focused on how leech therapy has kept her health flawless. Check out the video for yourself:

I have received a series of questions from various folks following my recent post Leeches Help You Live Longer. Although a bizarre concept for many, this detox ritual has been a mainstay of Indian medicine for centuries. Banaras Hindu University recently released a news video showing leech therapy procedures for treating certain types of hair loss.

Since I know that many of you are curious, I decided to post the video for greater visibility. Even though it is in Hindi, it has universal appeal. After all, moving pictures say so much more than words…!