Healthy Living

TheEpochTimes.com
APRIL 6 12, 2011

| 13

Ayurvedic medicine:
ancient secrets of
India, Part 1
Dr Rohan Nagar explains the basic precepts of
Ayurveda and gives some practical tips on how
Ayurvedic herbs can aid good health in the home.
Mastoor Khan
Founded over 5000 years ago, the
word Ayurveda comes from the
mixture of two words Ayur
meaning life and Veda meaning
science. So Ayurveda is the Sanskrit
word for science of life. Various influences that came into India have tried
to curtail the practise of Ayurvedic
medicine, such as the British, who
closed down all of the remaining
institutions that taught the subject.
Nonetheless, it continued in secret,
passed down by master to student.
Today, Ayurvedic universities are
helped by the Indian Government and
the industry is thriving.

Principles

Dr Rohan introduces the principles

of Ayurvedic medicine: The body
is made up of five different elements
air, fire, water, earth and ether, also
known as space. A lack or excess of
any one of those elements leads to
disease. GPs take your pulse from
the wrist as a method to check your
heart-pumping pulse. Ayurvedic practitioners also check the deep artery
pulse.
This ancient healing method has
a thorough method for delineating
different moods or energies, known
as Doshas.
It is not a symptomatical
treatment; we look into the root cause
of ailments, says Dr Rohan.
For good health, the balance
of three substances in the body is
stressed in Ayurveda vata (wind/
spirit/air), pitta (bile) and kapha
(phlegm).
From the pulse, through the fingertips, we can assess what kind of
energy you have. A vata pulse is like

a frog always jumping. The pitta is

like a snake a hiss. Kapha is slow,
explains the experienced doctor.
The pulse is taken on the right
hand in men and the left hand in
women. Patients are often astounded
by what an Ayurvedic doctor can
ascertain through a 20-30 second
reading of their fingertip pulse.
I can tell that a patient has
diabetes, for example. I can get a fairly
good idea that a patient has neck ache
or difficulty sleeping.
When he was studying at university, Dr Rohans teacher would line up
lots of people with different medical

The body is
made up of five
different elements
air, fire, water, earth
and ether, also known
as space.
conditions.
My teacher would say: This
is a patient with diabetes, listen to
the pulse very carefully, recalls the
doctor.

Consultation

Dr Rohan advises clients not to

eat after 6pm the evening before
treatment, as an empty stomach
enables a clearer diagnosis.
At a consultation, an Ayurvedic
practitioner initially takes the pulse.
We can make a fairly good assess-

ment of the
abdomen,
circulation and
co-ordination.
We follow this up
with a detailed,
hour-long consultation. This involves
questions about family
history and the persons
own medical history,
explains Dr Rohan.
Diagnoses and recommending changes in diet and lifestyle
follow, and then the practitioner
prescribes Ayurvedic herbs, making
this a fully holistic health system.
If a person had a high vata, for
example, we recommend yoga,
Pilates, swimming and chamomile
tea. No gym or running. Vata relates
to movement and if vata is high, he or
she needs calming influences. It would
also be good for the patient to avoid
heat-producing foods, he continues.

Each food has its nature

One of the most difficult concepts for

Westerners to grasp is that of food
temperature in Ayurveda. Each food
has its own prabhava, or nature. Hot
foods dont necessarily correlate with
those foods that taste hot to the palate
or that are heated to a high temperature; ginger tastes very fiery, but it
is, surprisingly, a cool food after its
digested; it has a cool nature. Red

meat,
on
the
other hand, is heat
producing. As is raw
salad.
In d i a n d o c to r s a l w ay s
recommend kapha-inducing foods
such as ghee for pregnant women. Its
really important that she is as healthy
as possible, as any allergies or diseases
that she has whilst pregnant may be
passed onto her baby, advises the
doctor.
Indian food contains a lot of the
herbs and spices like mustard, bay
leaf and cumin that go to make
Ayurvedic cures.
Next week part 2: Three kitchen

FABOLA/FLICKR

ingredients that have healing effects:

turmeric, kerela and garlic.
Dr Rohan Nagar is qualified in
Ayurvedic medicine from Jamnagar
University in Gujerat, India. He now
runs the Shymala Spa in Londons
West End.
Mastoor Khan is a freelance journalist
who has a special interest in
preventative health.
www.shymalaayurveda.com

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