Review Article

Evolutionary Changes in Human Lifestyle and its Effects on General

Health of Society in the view of Ayurvedic Principles
Dr Rakesh Narayanan V*
Abstract

Health is greatly influenced by one’s own life style. Ayurveda advocates the modification of
surroundings to maintain the balance of the human being to prevent and cure the diseases. It
meticulously designs a healthy life style with proper dinacharya and ritucharya for a healthy
living. But the present day man has gone far away from these age old healthy practices and
invited a flock of diseases to injure his health. This article is an attempt to collect and explore
such examples from the routine life style of modern day man and to assess and analyze its
effect on general health status of the society from the point of view of Ayurveda.

Keywords: Life style, Dinacharya, Guna, Sadvritta.

Introduction

Human body is an integral part of nature. What makes
human beings different from all other living species in
this world is the ability to modify his surroundings
according to his needs. Ayurveda is the science of
modifying the surroundings to maintain the balance of
the human body to prevent and cure diseases. The main
highlight of all interventions done in Ayurveda was the
utmost care taken in maintaining the balance in the
nature while modifying it to meet our needs due to this
inherent understanding of mutual interdependence. The
modern day man began to consider himself to be
different from or above the laws of nature, he began to
modify, alter and even try to break the unwritten
natural laws for his personal comfort and this has led to
the current day average human being from being
completely cut-off from the rhythm of nature. Humans,
who like other animals used to sleep a little after the
sunset due to the natural serotonin (5-HT) and
dopamine (DA) cycle which promote waking and inhibit
slow wave sleep.1 After creating so much of artificial
lighting, sleep pattern has changed and human being
began to keep awake for a major part of life altering his
innate diurnal rhythm. The discovery of fire, a much
highlighted evolutionary point in human history gave
him the power to cook food and thus to eat things
which were above his natural state of digestive power
and enabled him to alter what was before that, his
natural food habits. This change which happened
*
Ph.D. Scholar, Department of Sharir Rachana, National Institute of Ayurveda, Madhav Vilas Palace, Amer Road, Jaipur.
E-mail Id: vatakkath.rnv@gmail.com
gradually over centuries has taken tremendous leaps
and bounds in the past few decades and reached a helm
that the food articles which have prepared days before
and stored with lot of chemical preservatives have
become a major part of daily diet among urbanites. The
fact that the human body and mind are developed and
nourished by the food which is eaten was a
fundamental principle of Ayurveda2 and thus ultimate
care was taken into what was being eaten, how to eat,
when to eat etc. Food, sleep and activity are the
fundamental pillars on which life runs.3 Thus a proper
care of these three only can maintain a healthy life. The
modern day lifestyle is filled with examples of violations
of these rules of nature and this article is an attempt to
collect and explore such examples from the routine life
style of modern day man and to assess and analyze its
effect on general health status of the society in the
point of view of Ayurveda.
Current Trends in Lifestyle and the
Corresponding Approaches in Ayurveda
Ayurveda looks at life from a functional point of view
and sees the continuum between the body and the
world in terms of what is called ‘Guna’. Guna are the
inherent qualities of the material such as hotness,
coldness, lightness, roughness etc. Every matter in this
universe has its own set of guna and what happens

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J. Adv. Res. Ayur. Yoga Unani Sidd. Homeo. 2015; 2(3&4)
during matter interaction is actually a transfer of guna.
Based on this fundamental principle, karma of a
substance is decided or evaluated.
The cycle of human activity begins with waking up in the
morning. The consideration of digestion of previous day
meal is the criterion for the time of waking up in
Ayurveda4 proper bowel evacuation being the sign that
the process of digestion has been completed. It is a
common observation in modern world that the process
of waking up is not a natural process, but is done with
unease. Waking up should be with a feeling of
completion of sleep and adequacy of rest and
associated with a feeling of well-being and happiness
and should happen before the dawn naturally. If this is
not happening, it is a sign that all is not well in the body.
Either the previous diet has not been digested or that
the body has not got the required rest needed for the
proper formation of adequate kapha needed to
maintain itself. Thus it was advocated to take light food
in the evening and that too before sunset so that it can
be completely digested during the night time.5 It is a
common observation in today’s world that the food is
taken too late in the night generally a very heavy diet,
probably the heaviest of the day and sometimes even
supplemented with milk or desserts which are heavy,
cold and difficult to digest. This heavy intake late in the
night itself is a fundamental cause of obesity and other
associated conditions which are primarily due to
accumulation of kapha in the body which cannot be
utilized due to inadequate activity (for activity reduces
kapha and increases vata). A proper light meal at night
can lead to early natural attainment of sleep and normal
waking up in the morning before sunrise without the aid
of alarm or snoozing with a feeling of urge for bowels.
This is a sign of healthy living which is almost obsolete in
current day world.
Ayurveda advocated the practice of brushing the teeth
in the morning after the evacuation of bowels.6 This
came from an inherent understanding of the functional
continuity of the alimentary canal and from the insight
that only after the major drains where dirt is
accumulated is cleared, the minor drains should be
worked. Otherwise, there will be reflux from the main
blocked channel and the original procedure would be
rendered ineffective. Brushing the teeth is also
personalized based on the consideration of multitudes
of considerations such as the nature of the individual’s
body (called prakriti) and even the taste in the mouth.7
Sweet taste in mouth being an expression of increased
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Narayanan RV
kapha dosha, the opposite, hot or astringent materials
should be used for brushing. Today, brushing is a
mechanical process which is not thought after and done
without consideration of the bowel movements. Even
different types of tooth pastes which are sweet in taste
are used, a taste which is contraindicated as it increases
kapha in mouth which is a natural kaphasthana.8 Even
selection of different toothpastes is not based on any
personalized logical approach but on other chemical
considerations such as presence or absence of a
particular chemical etc.
Only after internal cleansing by bowel evacuation and
oral cleansing, the external cleansing should be
undertaken. Apart from the oral cavity, other openings
of the body such as eyes, ears, nose, skin etc. also need
proper cleansing for a proper contact of the senses with
their objects. Only when this is established, the mind
would be fully aware of the internal and external
environment of the body. This aspect is grossly missed
in the current day lifestyle. The processes of anjana
(applying collyrium to the eyes to reduce kapha to clear
the vision), nasya (instilling two drops of oil into the
nasal cavity to spit out kapha accumulated in the nasal
cavity, sinuses and throat so as to facilitate a clear
pathway for breath to go), karnapurana (instilling few
drops of oil into ear to cleanse ear cavity by softening
wax and giving local nourishing to ear to reduce vata
since ear is a site of vata) and gandusha (retaining
sesame oil in mouth for some time to give strength to
teeth) have gone out from today’s lifestyle. The process
of taking bath is also not a thought out process in
today’s life, but just a matter of hygiene. Ayurveda
clearly says that the process of bathing should be
undertaken only after cleansing of the internal channels
of the body. It is basically cleaning of the channels of
sweat which is situated all over the skin covering of the
body and the cleaning should be preceded by two
procedures; namely application of oil on the skin to
control vata since skin is a seat of vatadosha and
exercise to open up the sweat channels.9 Application of
oil and exercise helps in nourishing and moving various
body parts thus providing flexibility to the organs of
movement (mainly hands and feet). Thus by the
previous procedures, organs of sense are cleaned and
by these three, organs of action are made effective thus
preparing the whole body for the action of life. Apart
from the cognitive and conative organs, the third main
component of the body which holds both of these
together is the mind. Bathing has a tremendous
Narayanan RV
influence on the mind and helps to open up and activate
the mind because of the stimulation to skin which is the
largest sense organ which is in intimate relation with
vatadosha and vata has the most powerful influence on
the mind.10 Thus the process of bathing has to be
undertaken only after the pre requisites are fulfilled. A
proper bathing thus undertaken will highly stimulate the
appetite and will lead to desire for food,11 which is the
proper time for intake of the main food of the day,
which is the morning food. This will also correspond to
the time of the day when pitta dosha begins to
dominate and thus the body cycle in tandem with the
cycle of nature will lead to harmony of functions and
thus form the basis of healthy living. Apart from the
time and pre conditions, the process of bathing can be
adjusted as per conditions and body nature, such as
persons with vata and kapha dominant nature should
use hot water for bathing of the trunk whereas persons
with pitta dominance should bath with cold water. It is a
common practice in today’s world to bath after food,
which is grossly unhealthy because the process of
digestion itself gets impaired and can lead to chronic
diseases due to improper digestion and especially skin
diseases.
Pollution in various forms such as air, dust, noise, water
and soil cannot be wished away in today’s life. The only
thing an individual can do is to increase one’s own
tolerance and immunity to these external factors. Diet is
the most important factor which gives nourishment and
immunity to the body. Ayurveda has given utmost
importance to the nature of diet and its utmost details
of when, where, how and what should be eaten so that
the balance of the body can be maintained in terms of
guna. In today’s lifestyle, the answer to the question
what should I eat now is decided on the basis of the
cravings of the tongue and the availability. The state of
the body or the qualities of the food in terms of its guna
(what it will do inside the body) are not the primary
considerations. Upanishads repeatedly say that the food
itself is transformed into the body and hence we are in
fact what we eat. The mind is also a product of food
eaten and the nature of food decides the state of mind.
The state of mind is described by a different set of triad
of guna, namely the satwa, rajas and tamas, the former
being normalcy and the latter two are deviations from
normalcy.12 Diet with satwaguna will form a satwa
predominant mind etc. What basically sustains life is the
life force within, which is called as prana in Ayurveda. It
is the prana in the food which is transferred to the
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J. Adv. Res. Ayur. Yoga Unani Sidd. Homeo. 2015; 2(3&4)
organism making his life continue.13 The source of food
is thus very important apart from what is being eaten.
The nature of food consumed is the most important
factor in determining the health. Wheat, which is most
wholesome in the grain form becomes highly harmful
for health in its refined form maida, which is used in a
very large scale in baked and fast foods. Pulse when
polished becomes unwholesome even though it looks
more pleasing to eyes. Jaggery is more wholesome than
the crystalized white sugar. Unpolished rice is better
than polished rice. Seedless and other genetically
modified fruits and grains should be avoided as they
result in creating seedless individuals (sterility).
Traditional species of plants belonging to the natural
geographical areas are more suited for the regions than
foreign or imported breeds. Meat from animals living in
their natural environment is better than from caged
animals (meat from birds like chicken growing in the
wild and that from genetically altered and caged birds of
the same species greatly differ in properties and the
hormones injected into them to stimulate growth and to
increase the quantity of meat cause similar effects in
persons consuming them). Vegetables and fruits which
are season specific are to be used. Even utensils used to
prepare and serve food have a vital role in health. Water
stored in silver, copper or mud vessels are good for
health whereas water kept in aluminum vessels
becomes highly toxic and can even lead to diseases
ranging from constipation to carcinoma.14 Similar results
happen when food is cooked daily in aluminum vessels
(such as pressure cookers which are widely used
nowadays).
It has become impossible for urbanites to have access to
freshly collected fruits or vegetables, which is grown in
non-contaminated soil with good natural fresh water
supply in pollution free air without the influence of
injected hormones for higher yields or treated with
chemicals to prevent insects and other organisms from
approaching it (originally in nature, the immunity of the
plant itself was sufficient to protect itself). Thus when
the food which is consumed is subjected to all round
poisoning in the form of soil, water, air, fertilizer,
hormone injections, pesticides, chemicals to prevent
rotting in storage, processing to give appropriate color,
shining etc. in market and currently even genetic
alterations to change the natural characteristics to
retain only the market friendly qualities of the product
eliminating the wholesomeness of the plant which
10
J. Adv. Res. Ayur. Yoga Unani Sidd. Homeo. 2015; 2(3&4)
produced the fruit for its innate purpose of
reproduction, it is almost impossible to get a food
product which is wholesome and healthy in the real
sense. Every food article including milk, which is
described as wholesome food, being the sole source of
nourishment for the newborn is contaminated with
preservatives and chemicals which will show its effects
in the body, weakening the immunity and generating
diseases. Work and Health Status: Work is the main
activity undertaken in the daily routine. It should be
ideally according to the desire of the individual
according to his nature of mind (called satwaprakriti in
Ayurveda) and free from stress. Only then it becomes an
enjoyable process. Rest and leisure should be adequate
and Ayurveda describes that all work done for earning a
living should be completed before noon and the
afternoon time should be left out for spending with
friends and play.15
Psychological Health: Psychological health results from
the combination of having a healthy lifestyle and good
social and spiritual harmony. Mind, according to
Ayurveda, is the mediator between the body and the
self.16 Its normalcy is lightness, perceiving nature and
happiness. This is called state of satwa. Any deviation in
terms of increased activity or negativity is termed as
rajas and tamas respectively and collectively this is
called stress in today’s world (one being positive and
other negative). Both these states lead to altered
perception of reality and thus lead to impairment of
normal mental health. A healthy mind requires a
healthy body and good spiritual growth to control it.
The whole aim of a branch of knowledge called
Dharmashastra is to achieve this conducive state of
mind to direct the life process to its real ultimate aim of
liberation and in this the mind is the most critical entity.
Sadvritta or rules of conduct in life described in
Ayurveda is a short description of the same. When
followed, they lead to a peaceful and orderly life free
from stress.
Conclusion
Ayurveda teaches that if one is closer to nature and
natural state, he would become healthier, and more the
deviation from holism, more would be the ill effects.
Each and every minute particle of the universe is
connected and interdependent being a part of the
universe. Thus a tree cut somewhere will cause
decrease of air quality for the whole world and not just
for that region. More new chemicals are introduced into
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Narayanan RV
the body and the world (which is the body of the
universe), the more new alterations would face leading
to deviations from the normalcy of health.
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