Throughout my Ayurvedic training, I found myself interested in understanding where do Ayurveda and Western medicine overlap. Recently, I’ve looked to functional integrative medicine for answers—an evolving, evidence-based model of healthcare which assesses the balance and interplay of the multiple systems in the body to determine the root cause. I’ve since joined such a practice in Austin, Texas.
As I tread the terrain of functional medicine, I find myself drawing so many parallels with the ancient wisdom of Ayurveda. Little explosions of light burst in my mind, and I feel compelled to tell you all because I’m so excited. Old meets new. East meets west. Tradition meets science. Amid it all, daily, I’m re-inspired in my pursuit of health, because the truth I’m discovering on my journey is pervasive and knows no boundary of time or culture.
Today, I want to share with you my latest inspiration for achieving a finer balance — realizing that not only am I the caretaker of my own health, but that I am also the custodian of the trillions of organisms in my gut. It’s like being pregnant – what you eat, your GI flora eat! This concept is not new to me, but for some reason (possibly due to my maternal instincts kicking in,) of late, it inspired a revelation.
There’s a war being waged in each of our bodies between the good guys like lactobacillus and bifidobacter, and the bad guys such as candida, viruses, and parasites. We are all colonized with variable levels of each of these players, and it’s just a matter of who you feed that determines who wins the territory of your GI tract.
Probiotics operate by a similar principle. You ingest the good bacteria in order that it may adhere and compete for space in your gut, which essentially crowds out harmful organisms.
In Ayurveda, good bacteria are actually considered part of agni. They facilitate transformation and metabolism and play crucial roles in making nutrients such as B vitamins bioavailable. Bad organisms can both create ama and are thought to be part of ama as well (in a general sense, ama includes anything that exists in a quantity greater than it should). Bad organisms thrive in the sticky medium of ama, and by interfering with metabolism, they propagate the creation of more ama and, therefore, more bad flora.
What does imbalanced flora mean for you? Dreaded inflammation — the root of most health woes. Allergies, acne, autoimmune disease, heart disease, and cancers, to name a few, begin with inflammation. Imbalanced flora triggers the immune system, causes inflammation, and releases toxins. These processes make the GI lining and intestinal cells more permeable (aka. leaky gut), which in turn, further stimulates the immune system and perpetuates the cycle of inflammation.
Just as it’s all about agni in Ayurveda, it’s all about the balance of GI flora and intestinal integrity in functional medicine! Both systems focus on the integrity and synchronous movement of microvilli — the hair-width intestinal projections whose primary function is the absorption of nutrients.
Another startling parallel between functional and Ayurvedic medicine is between the concepts of ojas and tolerance. In Ayurveda, healthy ojas bestows high tolerance and robust immunity. It certainly makes sense that tolerance of oneself is a necessary part of the immune system in recognizing self-cells, targeting foreign invaders, and preventing autoimmunity.
However, it was only upon making the connection that 80% of our immune system exists in our GI tract and learning the importance of the cross-talk of the good flora with our immune system in building tolerance versus an immune response and inflammation, that I fully understood the conception of ojas as tolerance.
Balanced flora (your army) builds ojas! Agni, healthy flora, ojas, and intestinal integrity interplay and, when balanced, bestow optimal health. (For more on ojas, revisit the ojas vs. mucus newsletter)
What can you do to ensure a healthy army of good guys in your GI tract?
1. Feed your flora first. Recognize that while the sensation in your mouth will last seconds, the effect of the food will last for days. You control the microbiome in your gut with the choices you make, and this ultimately determines your health.
Intense cravings actually come from bad flora itself. If you feel like you have to have that brownie or else, chances are it’s not you truly craving it, but the yeast and parasites tricking your body into feeding them what they want!
2. Try to delve into the cultural and emotional roots of cravings and unhealthy habits. Be kind and compassionate with yourself, but do the work. Journaling can help a lot. Associating with like-minded company, sanga, will support you in the choices you make for your health.
3. Consider an elimination diet. Many people are sensitive to gluten, dairy, eggs, soy, coffee, peanuts, and processed sweetners such as high fructose corn syrup and aspartame. Allergenic foods will trigger inflammation. Eliminate these foods entirely for several weeks and slowly add back one group at a time to determine the culprit food. Many food allergies are delayed hypersensitivity reactions, which manifest 4-7 days after ingestion with possibly vague symptoms such as fatigue and headaches. Therefore, a food journal can be helpful to document delayed responses. Many foods can be added back with no problem after some time when the gut has healed or, as we would say in Ayurveda, agni has been restored.
3. Probiotics. For maintenance, food sources are ideal, such as ferments and yogurt. However, for more serious conditions and imbalances, high dose supplementation starting at 100,000 billion for 1-3 months is often recommended.
And there’s so much more! Get a start with these basic guidelines and remember that a nuanced, tailored approach will ultimately help you achieve the highest level of health.
Happy eating and nurturing,
– Nisha Khanna, M.D.
© 2014 Nisha Khanna. All rights reserved. Please note that this content is intended for educational purposes only and does not constitute medical advice.