15 Methods to Enhance Digestive Fire

Spices at the market Marrakech, Morocco and AfricaDigestive fire is a collective term for all the enzyme and bacterial systems in the gut from the stomach to the rectum  When we have a good digestive fire we can burn through past mistakes and current ones that we make when we eat foods that aren't balancing for us or poor food combinations  

Over the years of doing these mistakes without rectifying for them, the accumulated imbalance in the GI tract begins to make us sick  Hence preserving or making the digestive fire healthy is of prime importance  Here are some tips as to how you can make your fire robust and best for optimal health

1 Biggest Meal at midday

2 Only eat when appetite is ready for the experience of food

3 No snacks between meals

4 All beverages at room temperature   Ice is not nice

5 Tongue scraping stimulates digestive fire

6 Do at least one meal every 2 to 3 days in silence

7 Try to not eat when emotionally upset or bored

8 Try not  to eat large meals late at night

9 Drink milk separate from meals

10 Use a rice bowl or similar measuring device for measuring 2 handfuls (how much should eat at any one meal)

11 Juice fast according to VPK protocol

12 Try to always sit to eat

13 Exercise regularly

14 Use churans to improve the digestion of a meal

15 Don't chew gum  This may sound strange but if saliva is continually sent to the stomach with mastication movements of the mouth, the body thinks that eating is occurring  This false signal makes the body feel that it's eating all the time and essentially causes deterioration of agni(digestive fire)

Do these tips on a regular basis and see for yourself how you feel after meals

To Health as a Skill   Love DB

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Is Disease Prevention Possible?

Doc with computer

Disease prevention is what we look for but sadly enough the current system of healing as practiced cannot offer it  The reason for it seems quite simple actually  It is because the molecular or matter science model of healing of today cannot trace the origins of the diseases that it studies

The Origin of Disease

If we are to begin helping people prevent disease, it will have to come from an energy field discipline since it is at the energy field level where all disease begins. As we have written earlier, Hippocrates, said to be one of the four fathers of Western medicine, stated that, "All disease begins in the gut."

In other words we must reassess our understanding of the origins of disease Presently the matter field medical discipline of which I am a practitioner, looks for molecular reasons why disease occurs But the matter field is actually developed from the underlying energy field and diseases that are created in the energy field percolate up into the matter field as expressions of the underlying energy field imbalance

Energy Model of Disease

In reality the body's energy and matter fields coexist but the disease first begins its expression in the energy field but is not detectable in the matter field until an obvious disruption in the matter field can be detected by our gross studies

Currently our present matter field medical discipline provides a system of early disease detection and treatment We attempt to detect prostate cancer in its earliest stages using PSA and the prostate exam Using mammography we try to detect breast cancer in its earliest stages and cervical cancer by PAP smear By the use of sophisticated imaging we uncover unsuspected cancers in their earliest stages. For example, renal cancers are being found as small unsuspected lesions

But now we can see that all these mentioned cancers had their earliest origins in the energy field and gradually the imbalances in the energy field became disruptive enough to show as an early cancer

Early Detection Versus Prevention

The question is, "Is early detection the same as prevention of disease?" The answer is obviously no And the present matter field medical discipline will not be able to deliver disease prevention because it's detection devices operate at the level of the matter field which cannot detect the origins of disease

What we desperately need is a medical delivery model which is a marriage of the matter and energy field disciplines Then we would have a prevention system and one which could deal with diseases that had gotten out of control and needed matter field expertise

So if you want to prevent disease in your life or minimize the consequences of disease that does occur, it would be best to practice an Ayurvedic lifestyle and encourage balance in your life

To Health as a Skill   DB

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The Inertia of the Human Spirit: 3 Ways to Manage It

fat and thinThese days there is a lot of money spent by companies or individuals hoping to get the "edge" using a motivational approach using such professionals as Tony Robbins or Jack Canfield  The promise is that if I amp up my performance then I "win"

This may be all well and good in 20th century but I would offer a different perspective as to why "we need motivation"

The Kapha Energy Pattern

A complete model of the mindbody is that it's both a matter or molecular and an energy field simultaneously coexisting with one another   This is the biological model of the 21st century that respects the molecular investigations of the body but also sees the energy science contributions as well

To my point about motivation that I began with I believe that there can always be present in the biological energy field a problem with inertia or lack of compelling passion to get the job done

From an energy science point of view Pitta becomes the driving force behind the passion to get things done but there can be at times and restricting force on this passion that comes about when the energy pattern of stability comes into play  Kapha has the qualities of heavy, slow/dull, cool, slimy/smooth, oily, liquid, dense, soft, static, and cloudy  Just reading these qualities can make you tired!

3 Ways to Manage Physiologic Inertia

Foods Not Correct for Our Mindbody Energy Constitutions

I watched a couple of ballgames this weekend and was surprised at the food ads in between innings, all vying for my tastebuds  It's not surprising that two-thirds of us are overweight or obese  All these foods are programming us for these Kapha qualities I listed above   If  we keep eating the "good old American diet" we will continue to get the same results 

Not only do these qualities produce our weight problem on the planet but they also put the brakes on our drive and creativity  It's been shown that an individual who is fit and of normal weight outperforms in the workplace his obese counterpart  No or little inertia versus lots of inertia  Is this discriminatory or is it a fact?

Incompatible food combinations

There are several ways that foods when not partnered properly can lead to lowered metabolism and Kapha inertia  For more see foodsheal.com

Breathing techniques

An excellent way to reduce the Kapha inertia is through breathing techniques called pranayama  The sequence requires instruction but is a surefire way to jack up the system that is sluggish and needs help  Called pranayama in yoga circles it is a bonafide way to reduce the debilitating Kapha energy pattern in the physiology  As a matter of fact no weight reduction program is complete unless it has these breathing exercises as part of the program

To Health as a Skill   DB

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“I Eat Healthy” or Do I?

Eating Beautiful GirlOne common refrain I often hear from my patients is that "I eat healthy." And we all want to believe that we are doing the very best for our bodies. But have we ever stopped to assess what this statement means?

If healthy means eating lots of fruits and vegetables, that might be healthy   But some would contend that eating raw vegetables would be even more nutritious  Perhaps eating less meat would be considered healthy. Eating fast food might not be considered healthy  Or avoiding refined sugar would be healthy  Or I only eat organic  But all of these statements miss a very important point

Does "I Eat Healthy" Have Any Real Meaning?

Whether corn is organic, the vegetable is raw, the meat is buffalo or the fast food is nutritious, the food to be healthy must resonate with our physiology  So corn, even if organic, if it doesn't resonate with my physiology(and for me it doesn't) then I shouldn't be eating it

Currently there is no nutritional system that has guidelines grounded in a science that globally addresses the nutritional needs of the human physiology  And we will not find it in our present nutritional system followed by the medical matter field healing system

The reason for this is actually quite simple  Our matter field nutritional information is not a system, but rather a collection of data about the foods we ingest  The guidelines come from a level where a quantitative assessment of foods consumed is paramount

Matter Science Nutrition Misses What's Good For YOU

Allow me to explain  We know a lot about broccoli, the number of calories per gram, the number of carbohydrates per gram, the vitamin and mineral content but this quantitative analysis cannot tell me if broccoli resonates with MY physiology  I just know a lot about broccoli

From an energetic perspective I understand foods from a qualitative viewpoint  So what is healthy for me may not be so healthy for you from an energetic perspective  I could use banana once or twice a week but for another individual, banana should never be consumed because it would produce imbalance  I shouldn't eat tomatoes or corn but some other friend, she could use them in moderation  So you see it is the qualitative character of the food that makes it relatively good or not so good for us  This is the value of the energy approach to nutrition  And it's a great gift that the energy sciences have given us because it gives us direction for our nutrition and removes all the confusion about nutrition

Whether it's the Paleo diet, the blood diet, or whatever, there's no system of nutrition that gives you how to be healthy from a GIT standpoint other than the energy science approach to nutrition

When we begin eating foods that resonate with our physiologies then we will be able to say, "I eat healthy." The energy tradition of Ayurveda can give us these much needed guidelines 

The explanation of this rich energy science is explored in my new book Foods Heal.

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