Meaning

When many people think of Ayurveda, they think of wellness treatments like the well-known forehead massage, which many hotels use to advertise their spas. In fact, Ayurveda is probably the traditional medicine with the most empirical knowledge worldwide, having been continuously practiced for over 2,000 years and thus boasting an extremely comprehensive treatment knowledge. Neither TCM, which only experienced a politically motivated revival in the 20th century, nor European medicine—with the exception of the writings of Hildegard von Bingen—can look back on such a tradition.

Ayurveda means "science of life" (ayus = "life" and veda = "knowledge") and has its roots in the sacred Indian scriptures, the so-called Vedas, which, like Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM), combine physical, emotional, mental, and spiritual aspects of healing. Thus, Ayurveda can be considered a perfect example of a holistic healing system.

It is about v.a. around five areas:

• Healthy, type-appropriate nutrition
• Exercise through yoga for physical well-being
• Elimination procedures, v.a. via the intestines (“Vasti”) and nose (“Nasri”), but also external elimination, for example through sweat chambers (“Svedana”) and oil massages
• herbal medicine
• Conscious breathing and meditation to recharge your batteries and find peace

Nutrition plays a particularly important role in Ayurveda—both in the prevention and treatment of illnesses. Spices and herbs are used specifically as medicinal remedies. In Ayurveda, spices are comparable to herbal teas in Western naturopathy. We have compiled the most important spices and herbs for you in this category.

The control forces

Just like in TCM, everything in Ayurveda is based on the five elements fire, water, earth, air, and ether (in TCM, wood and metal represent air and ether), from which everything is composed. These five elements are assigned the three so-called "doshas" – these are the regulatory forces Vata (ether, air), Pitta (fire, water), and Kapha (earth, water).

Vata

Vata is the principle of movement in the human body and is closely linked to the nervous system. Its headquarters is located below the navel in the area of ​​the large intestine. Everything that moves within us is governed by Vata: our breath, digestion, metabolism, and thoughts.

Characteristics: cold, dry, rough, quick, hard, and cracked. If Vata dominates, the skin is dry, hands and feet are often cold, metabolism and speech are fast, and hair is fine.

On the intellectual level, Vata dominance is characterized by impulsiveness, a thirst for knowledge, enthusiasm, and the proverbial juggling of many things at once. Vata types start many things enthusiastically, but often don't finish them or quickly lose sight of the goal. They find cool and windy weather unpleasant.

• Positive: lightness, cheerfulness and joy of life, alertness, clarity, creativity
• Negative: restlessness, pain, thin-skinnedness, sadness, depression

Helpful for too much Vata: Routines, warm meals (ideally sweet, sour and salty), little raw food, massages and baths

Pita

Pitta is responsible for digestion, metabolism, intellect, hormone balance, and the body's heat production. It is located in the stomach, duodenum, and small intestine.

Characteristics: hot, spicy, liquid, moist, sour, bitter and sudden.If Pitta is too high, you're constantly hungry and very impatient, angry, and irritable if food isn't readily available. Acne, stomach pain, heartburn, diarrhea, and inflammation are common Pitta problems.

On the spiritual level, Pita dominance is v.a. can be recognized by ambition and perfectionism; they are very critical of themselves and others. Pitta types never lose sight of their goal. Pitta imparts strong charisma, intelligence, and a strong will.
Leaders are therefore often PITA types. Too much leads to aggression and the compulsion to always be the best, everywhere.

• Positive: lots of energy, charisma, charisma, glowing eyes, goal-oriented energy, enthusiastic.
• Negative: Feeling hot, inflammation, aggression, envy, jealousy

Helpful for excess Pitta: regular relaxation phases (no competitive sports, prefer quiet walks), meditation, yoga, sufficient sleep, all cooling foods and spices such as melon, potatoes, fennel, cardamom, mint, and coriander. Spicy and acidic foods such as meat, white flour products, alcohol, coffee, and sugar should be avoided.

Kapha

Kapha represents strength, structure, stability, potency, and is something like the framework of the body. It is located in the upper part of the stomach and chest. It is, in addition to the body structure, d.h. v.a. the bone structure, is responsible for our immune system and fluid balance. An excess of it manifests itself u.a. in obesity, laziness, diabetes or high blood lipid levels.

Characteristics: sweet, heavy, persistent, soft, cold, oily, fatty, sluggish. If Kapha is too dominant, one easily becomes inflexible. Cravings, especially for sweet and fatty foods, due to pleasure and boredom, easily lead to excess fat in the tissue.

On a mental level, Kapha represents courage and emotional stability. Kapha types are somewhat slow-moving, yet very persistent and strong. They act thoughtfully, consider decisions very carefully, and prefer a calm, steady lifestyle. They dislike spontaneous decisions and hectic behavior. Kapha types often desire solitude, laziness, and prefer to deal with conflicts by "waiting it out."

• Positive: calm, consistent personality, patience, compassion, tenderness, steadfastness
• Negative: lack of drive, lethargy, ignorance, inertia. He is mentally stuck and immobile.

Helpful for too much Kapha: lots of physical activity (even strenuous ones), active holidays, spicy and bitter foods to stimulate metabolism and digestive power, such as chicory, spinach, chard, artichokes, seasoned with cumin, pepper, chili, horseradish, turmeric, ginger and mustard seeds.

According to Ayurvedic theory, if Vata, Pitta and Kapha are in harmony, a person is healthy – then the organism is self-renewing and self-correcting.

Ayurveda defines "health" as more than just the absence of disease. The Ayurvedic term for a healthy state is "svastha," which means "abiding in the self."
However, if the balance of the doshas is disturbed, illnesses arise. They always begin when our natural state of health ("prakriti") is confronted with a pathogenic factor such as (emotional) stress, unhealthy diet, environmental toxins, etc.

Ayurveda today

Conventional medicine is based on a so-called molecular biological body model and analyses enzymes, hormones, genes, pathogens, etc.and attempts to modify or deactivate individual biological substances at the micro level. Ayurveda, on the other hand, thinks in terms of characteristics: "Movement," the main characteristic of Vata, for example, promotes an environment that produces symptoms of stress, tension, constipation, and difficulty concentrating. "Sour" (Pitta) leads to inflammation in the long term, and "sweet" (Kapha) leads to obesity and the risk of diabetes.

Contrary to our Western understanding, Ayurveda therefore does not classify "healthy" or "unhealthy" foods, but only those that are "suitable" or "unsuitable" for a particular dosha constitution. For example, we would classify an orange as a fundamentally healthy food due to its high vitamin C content; however, for a Pitta type, Ayurveda would classify the orange as completely unsuitable and therefore "unhealthy."

Ayurveda has been recognized by the WHO as a medical science and is officially recognized in India and many neighboring South Asian countries and is considered equal to modern conventional medicine. v.a. used for acute problems such as bone fractures, whereas v.a. chronic diseases are primarily treated with Ayurveda.

On the website http://dharaonline.org , established by the Indian government, you'll find a good overview of articles focusing on "Ayurveda" published in scientific publications worldwide. Thanks to a good keyword search, you can quickly find everything relevant to your specific question.

Legal consumer information

German and European law aims to protect consumers from supposedly misleading claims of effectiveness. The statements made here refer to the original Ayurvedic and TCM texts. This ancient knowledge is based on experience passed down from generation to generation. It is not intended to claim that the products described here have an effect in the sense of Western medicine. All products are dietary supplements; they are not medications and have no medical effect. If you are ill and require medical care, please consult your doctor or pharmacist.