Debunking the myths related to Ayurveda-2

त्यजे दार्तां भिषग भूपैरद्विष्टं  तेषां द्विषं द्विषम |

हीनोपकरणम् व्यग्रंविधेयं गतायुषं |

चण्डं शोकतुरं भीरुं कृतघ्नं वैद्यमानिनं |
                                                         अ .हृ .सू .1/34

I read this today and wanted to share it with you all. This is an excerpt from one of  the Ayurvedic texts Ashtang hridayam which clearly and bluntly instructs the vaidyas to not extend their medical help to people who have ill feelings for the king or the vaidya, to enemies, to men who can't arrange for their medical expenses, to people who have an unsteady and shaky state of mind, to folks who don't follow the orders of the vaidya, to a person who is on the verge of death, to men who are arrogant, grief- stricken, timid, ungrateful and most importantly to the populace which considers themselves as doctors even when they have no professional knowledge about medicine.

I have highlighted the points which are of profound importance in today's era.

Google has become an inseparable part of our lives.There was a time, I remember, when my sole purpose of opening google was to check if my dial-up connection was working properly. It has come a long way since then. From impressing your spouse to making a pizza, you get it all. But the real problem starts when the Chef Google turns into Doctor Google. Well, let me tell you that google can be extremely misleading in terms of medicinal advice. It can easily tell you that you are pregnant when you have symptoms like cough and cold and/or you are a man.

I have seen a number of patients who google their symptoms and diagnose themselves with a random disease. Some of the brave ones even start their medication by simply googling the drugs which would work for their condition and turn up to the doctor when their condition has worsened or has not shown any signs of improvement. As I have mentioned earlier, the vaidyas were strictly told that they should not treat people who regard themselves as doctors when they are not. It stands for, I suppose, the self- diagnosis which is bottom line dangerous and highly prevalent in this period of time. It's good to be informed, but when it comes to your health, understand that doctors are there for a reason.

Enough of blabbering, I would do an elaborate post on this someday. For today, let's dig into the widely believed myths related to Ayurveda.

Myth No.1- This drug has helped Sharma Ji recover from constipation/ cough and cold/ fever/ back ache/ stomach ache/ low libido and thus would help me too.

Myth buster- No, it won't. You and Sharma Ji or Mishra ji or any one else is totally different in terms of body constitution (Prakriti), the causative factors which have lead to your diseased condition (Nidan), the digestive fire (Agni), Koshtha (which in layman's language, can be explained as your body's ability to respond to a particular purgative for example some people have loose motions even after drinking milk while some are unaffected even after having a cup of castor oil).

You, also may or may not be different in terms of your age, the place where you reside or your food habits. But still, the core remains same.

Any Ayurvedic drug, which works on a particular person will not/may not work for you in the same way.

In modern medicine, for example, we have Paracetamol for every kind of fever, ranging from a normal seasonal fever to a bout of dengue. Only the drug doses are different in children and adults but apart from that, everything is the same.

Ayurveda does not work like this. The main focus while choosing a particular drug for a condition depends upon a variety of factors ranging from the main causative factor.

            For example, let's consider a simple condition, say hair-fall. Now, hair-fall can be due to a number of reasons that may include high chlorine content in water, vitamin deficiency, use of certain drugs etc (Note that, I am talking about the general causative factors and not the causative factors which Ayurveda considers for hair-fall). So, the treatment would be planned according to the causative factor which has led to the condition and thus is said that AYURVEDA TREATS THE CAUSE AND NOT THE DISEASE.

Now, let me give you a very common example which you will find everywhere and almost everyone knows about it. Almost every third person in India suffers from constipation. Ask anyone, the Ayurvedic remedy for constipation and they would proudly utter 'Triphala churna' , thanks to the enlightenment provided by Baba Ramdev. Well, this is only 10% correct.

The causative factors of your constipation would be many and apart from that, your Prakriti and Koshtha would play an important role. Triphala shows its purgative action on people with Mridu koshtha only. Rest of them, Triphala doesn't give a damn.

Myth No.2- Sprouts, according to Ayurveda are extremely healthy.

Myth buster- Well, all I can say is that, sorry for deleting another option (apart from curd) from your list of super foods.

Sprouts, or anything fermented (including breads, idli, dosa, uttappam) leads to the production of Aam Dosha inside your body.

Aam Dosha stands for the undigested material which keeps rotting inside your body and is more or less, the cause of all the diseases including conditions like Rheumatoid Arthritis. And more importantly, if you are someone who suffers from conditions like Irritable Bowel Syndrome, strictly stay away from these sprouted grains.

किलाटदधिकूर्चिकक्षारशुक्ताममूलकम् |
कृष्शुष्कवराहाविगोमत्स्य महिषामिषं |
माषनिष्पावशालूकबिसपिष्टविरूढकम् |
शुष्कशाकानि यवकान् फाणितं च न शीलयेत् |
                                                                   अ .हृ .सू .8/40
I won't go on explaining all the points mentioned in this shloka. Probably, my next blog post would be diet according to Ayurveda. The point which I wanted to highlight was 'विरूढकम् ' which stands for sprouted grains which are a strict no-no according to Ayurveda.

So, the next time you experience bloating, lack of energy and indigestion after having that oh-so-protein rich bowl of sprouted grains, watch out. Your body is trying to tell you something.

P.S- I don't deny that sprouts are a rich source of proteins. But the protein from the grains can be harnessed by simply soaking and boiling them. You don't need to sprout them for that, trust me.

Myth No.3- Papaya leaf extract and goats's milk are Ayurvedic remedies for dengue.

Myth buster-How badly I wished they were, but they are not.

Your platelet count is bound to increase on the 8th or 9th day following dengue fever and papaya leaf extract or goat's milk has no role in improving the platelet count.

None of the Ayurvedic texts shows them to be useful in dengue.
Goat's milk is indicated in Tuberculosis, fever, respiratory distress, raktapitta (hemorrhage) and diarrhea.

आजं शोषज्वरश्वासरक्तपित्तअतिसारजित् |
                                                     अ .हृ.सू .5/24

Probably, the utility of goat's milk in dengue has originated from its use in hemorrhagic disorders and fever. It does help in those conditions but not in improving the platelet count.

This is all for today. There are a number of misconceptions apart from these too which I will try to cover in my future posts. Start questioning things which you feel to false. Don't fall in believing things only because the rest of the world believes so. Remember, there was a time, when the earth was considered as the center of the Universe with our mighty sun and other planets encircling it. Had there not been scientists like Galileo who dared to question and ponder over the theory, men would have believed the theory of geocentrism for many more years.

Start analyzing everything you read. Modern medicine is easy as it needs memorizing the drugs. Ayurveda demands reading between the lines.

Until next time, bye- bye.