What Is The Role Of Fasting In Ayurveda Diet?
In traditional Indian medicine, Ayurveda is known for its holistic approach to health and well-being. It focuses on topics such as long-term happiness and lifespan. Fasting is seen as a treatment for a variety of ailments as well as a promoter of well-being. Proper fasting under the medical supervision of the Ayurveda Guru benefits a person by providing promotive, preventive, and therapeutic advantages.
What Exactly Is Ayurvedic Fasting?- According To Ayurveda Guru
In Ayurveda Health Care, fasting is refraining from chewing, licking, or swallowing food and abstaining from drinking. When we choose to fast in Ayurveda, it is known as Pratyahara. It is a combination of two Sanskrit words: “prati,” which means “against,” and “ahara,” which means “something absorbed into the body.” When we practice pratyahara, we pick what we take into our body-mind-spirit, whether food, breath, or sensory input. Pratyahara has two aspects: by avoiding what is toxic, we open ourselves up to what is healthy and help our health and pleasure.
Ayurvedic fasting may not always imply abstaining from meals entirely. It does not imply starvation and suffering from hunger pangs. Rather its main focus is on healthy foods and drinks, but it also includes eating a cleaner, lighter diet that is good for our constitution or overall health.
Why is Fasting Necessary?
Many Ayurvedic physicians believe that people in this world are either overfed or malnourished. More processed foods, pesticides, fungicides, artificial fertilizers, preservatives, and chemical additions are being consumed than ever before. Eating an abundance of low-quality foods might cause illness and frequent health problems.
Furthermore, when we overeat and consume low-quality foods, our digestion suffers. Ayurveda believes that you are what you consume and what you digest. When your digestive fire, or Agni, is low, you start producing and accumulating poisons, or ama, instead of properly digesting your nutrients. Ama is a Sanskrit word for “undigested foodstuff.”
According to Ayurveda, ama is the fundamental cause of all sickness. When you initially start accumulating ama, you may suffer various symptoms, including cravings, mood swings, exhaustion, fogginess, stress, poor breath, tongue coating, body odor, and laziness. If you continue to eat poorly and produce more ama, this harmful undigested food will eventually enter the bloodstream and circulate throughout the body. This sticky, heavy ama gradually settles into our “weak” areas, or khavaigunyas, manifesting in more serious conditions. It is critical to halt and remove ama before it creates more severe complications.
Think About The Doshas – According To Ayurveda Guru
Ayurveda normally promotes fasting for short periods regularly. This could be once a week, once a month, or during the change of seasons. Fasting over an extended time is normally not suggested because it can damage digestion, create a disconnect between your mind and body, and cause difficulties that can take months to recover from. Also, a certified ayurveda guru will share all the important information related to better healthcare.
✔️ Fasting For Vata (Vata Dosha)
Fasting can aggravate Vata since it increases the qualities of bright, dry, and cold. A fast of 12–24 hours is a good place to start. People with Vata imbalance or composition should strictly avoid fasting or conducting water fast for more than two days. Consider fasting during the change of seasons or once a month at most. If you have enough energy and are healthy, you can mono-fast sweet orange, mango, or grape juice, all Vata-balancing. Warming teas with ginger, a bit of salt, and a squeeze of lime are ideal for Vatas, as is ginger and fennel tea.
✔️ Pitta Cleansing Fasting
For Pitta dominants, you should try a juice fast consisting of astringent or bitter vegetable juices from diluted grape, leafy greens, or prune, or pomegranate juice. Because pittas have powerful digestion, they should not fast on water alone and should not fast for more than three days at a time. A prolonged three days fast is beneficial for Pitta when the seasons change.
✔️ Fasting To Balance Kapha
If you are Kapha predominant and in good health, you can fast up to three days a year on liquids such as hot water, lemon, and honey, apple, or cranberry juice. Kaphas can use a pinch of trikatu powder to boost their Agni during the fast. Furthermore, it is often beneficial for Kapha’s to fast one day every week. The best Ayurveda Guru will serve excellent suggestion and services that can help you to get better knowledge for healthcare.
How To Break a Fast?
It is critical not to resume your regular diet after you have completed your fast. For example, after an all-day juice fast, you might have fruit or a little bit of hot cereal for breakfast the next day, followed by a simple, easy-to-digest lunch. It is critical to devote the same amount of time to preparation, fasting, and breaking the fast. So, if you’re going to perform a two-day pomegranate juice fast, you should eat a lighter, cleaner diet for two days before you start and then take another two days to gradually build your way back to your solid food diet. Otherwise, you risk overstressing your digestive fire and doing more harm than good.
It is also essential to know when not to do the fast. If you want to know which fast can provide you with results, get in touch with one of the best Ayurvedic physicians. Or the best way to gain knowledge of fasting in Ayurveda, contact Ayurveda Guru Manish Ji.
Acharya Manish invites you to join him on this journey towards holistic wellness. Embrace the ancient wisdom of Ayurveda and Naturopathy, and be a part of a global community committed to natural health and well-being.
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