According to Ayurveda, there is a special substance in the body that governs aging, immunity, radiant skin, vigor, mood, sleep, digestion, spirituality, and physical strength. This substance is called ojas (OH-jas).
In Sanskrit, ojas has two prominent meanings. In the context of physical health and vitality, it means “vigor.” In the context of spiritual and emotional well-being, it is referred to as “the physiological expression of consciousness.”
Ojas is considered the most refined by-product of digestion. While complete digestion of a meal is said to take around 24 hours, it takes a full 30 days for the body to digest food and refine it enough to manufacture this substance.
Unfortunately, during those 30 days, there are many factors that can undermine its production. Therefore, many people have depleted ojas and lack the vigor, immunity, and radiant glow they long for.
What Is Ojas?
Perhaps the best way to describe it is to compare it to how honey is made. Ten to twenty-thousand bees per hive collect the nectar of thousands of flowers and concentrate them into honey: the “ojas” of the flowers.
In the same way, when we eat fresh, unprocessed foods, microscopic amounts of their essence accumulate over time through the process of healthy digestion and become ojas.
If the digestive process is disturbed, the essence of the foods will not be extracted and no ojas will be made.
How is Ojas Made?
According to Ayurveda, the entire digestive process takes 30 days to complete. Within that time, not only is food ingested and eliminated, but nutrients from the food are used to build what is known as the 7 major tissues of the body. The culmination of this process is the production of ojas. As mentioned, many factors exist that can compromise or block its production.
Here is how it is made, step-by-step:
Step 1: Healthy, wholesome, unprocessed food is ingested. The coordinated efforts of the stomach, pancreas, and liver/gallbladder prepare the food to be assimilated. (Assimilation is when the nutrients are drawn out of the food and into the bloodstream.)
This first product of digestion is a nutrient fluid called rasa. Rasa is the first of the seven major tissues of the body. A small amount of local or not-supreme ojas is released as each of the seven tissues is made. The 30-day process of building supreme ojas begins. Ojas gradually builds as the digestion process continues and as each tissue is made.
Step 2: The rasa or first product of digestion is converted by enzymes—called agni or digestive fire—into blood which, in Ayurveda, is called rakta. Here, another small amount of local ojas is released into the blood.
Step 3: The rakta or blood converts into muscle or mamsa with the help of blood-based enzymes. A small amount of local ojas is released into the muscles.
Step 4: The mamsa converts into fat or medha with the help of muscle enzymes, and releases a small amount of local ojas into the fat.
Step 5: The medha or fat converts to bone or asthi, and releases a small amount of local ojas into the bone.
Step 6: The asthi or bone converts to nerve tissue or majja, and releases a small amount of local ojas into the nervous system.
Step 7: The majja or nerve tissue converts into the reproductive fluid, where a small amount of ojas is released into the sperm or ovum. Remember, supreme ojas has been building with the production of each tissue, making the reproductive fluid the bodily tissue with the most accumulated ojas.
Step 8: The final product, supreme ojas, is released and stored in the heart. From there, it nourishes the subtle energy in the body which, in turn, feeds the body’s vigor, vitality, and immunity.
The Western Equivalent of Ojas
Some experts believe ojas is actually the hormone melatonin, which is produced and secreted by the brain’s pineal gland. The pineal gland produces less and less melatonin as we age and this is directly linked to our vitality and immunity.
>>> Learn more about melatonin
Others suggest ojas is made mostly of peptides, small protein-like molecules. In the form of ojas, these peptides control immunity, endocrinology (hormones), the nervous and digestive systems, and the psychology.
In the west, cutting-edge research by Candice Pert, Ph.D. at the National Institutes of Health (NIH) discovered that certain peptides also known as neurotransmitters act as carriers for the immune, endocrine and nervous systems, and the emotions. These peptides, as described by Dr. Pert, act much like Ayurveda’s concept of ojas. (1)
Activities that Deplete Ojas
According to Ayurveda, stress and excessive activity deplete ojas. This makes sense when we consider the research by Dr. Gerson in his book, The Second Brain, which confirmed that humans process the majority of their stress through the digestive system. Remember, 95% of the body’s serotonin and the majority of its neurotransmitters are manufactured and stored in the gut. (2)
Stress is also the main culprit behind excess stress-fighting hormones and free radicals, which will alter the function and flow of the body’s peptide (ojas)-based information network. The production of ojas and the neuro-peptides are greatly dependent on the efficiency of digestion. (2)
Since the production of the reproductive fluid is the last step before supreme ojas is made, the reproductive fluid carries all of the accumulated ojas getting ready to be stored in the heart. Excessive sex can deplete the ojas both in the sperm and ovum, prevent supreme ojas from entering the heart, and even deplete the reserves of ojas in the heart. Multiple orgasms a day or sex every day for extended periods of time will deplete reserves.
How the Seven Body Tissues Can Deplete Ojas
When any one of the seven bodily tissues described above engages in excessive activity, ojas will be depleted and overall vitality and well-being will be compromised.
The production of rasa, which is the first nutrient fluid that eventually becomes lymph, is literally stopped by the chemistry of stress. This can be stress from work, exercise, emotions, travel or digestive stress from bad food.
The lymphatic fluid flows best in an alkaline environment. Stress releases stress-fighting hormones that have acidic waste products. Excessive stress results in excess acidity which causes the lymph to congest.
Rakta, the body’s blood, can deplete ojas when it becomes inflamed and toxic and can carry damaging, inflammatory, and degenerative chemicals throughout the body.
Mamsa, the muscle tissue, most commonly depletes ojas through excessive exercise and exhaustion.
Medha, the body’s fat, will deplete ojas when it is stored and taken out of circulation due to the excesses of stress. Most toxic chemicals are fat-soluble and, thus, are stored in the fat in times of stress.
Asthi, the body’s bone, will deplete ojas in the case of chronic issues, such as osteopenia and osteoporosis. These conditions are extremely rare in second and third world countries, where stress culture is not as rampant.
Majja, the nervous system, depletes ojas when it is directly affected by stress and excessive activities. Excess stress stimulates the release of degenerative hormones which accelerate aging, cause chronic disease, fatigue, sleep issues, and much more.
Shukra is the reproductive fluid. Excessive sex will deplete this precious substance.
Note: Since ojas accumulates in each of the seven tissues, the last three are the more common sites of symptomatic ojas depletion: the bone, nervous system, and reproductive fluid.
Activities that Build Ojas
- Loving others
- Laughing
- Acting on things you are passionate about
- Giving and serving others
- Yoga, breathing, and meditation
- Nose breathing exercise
- Being in nature
- Eating fresh wholesome foods in a relaxed manner
- Getting ample rest: 7-8 hours of sleep with the natural cycles (up early, to bed early)
Using Foods to Build Ojas
Eating these foods and herbs in combination with a more balanced lifestyle will support immunity, sleep, vitality, complexion, mood stability and longevity.
The following recipe is derived from our Ojas Nightly Tonic formula and can be taken before bed to boost vitality and support sleep. This may be the yummiest, most nourishing drink you will ever have.
I realize milk is a controversial issue, but most healthy grocery stores sell non-homogenized, vat-pasteurized, chemical-, antibiotic-, and hormone-free milk. Don’t drink milk? You may substitute with non-dairy milk, such as coconut, almond or hemp.
Ojas Nightly Tonic Recipe
1. Add small amounts of these to one cup of milk as you slowly bring it to a boil:
- Chopped dates (1 tbsp)
- Chopped almonds (2 tsp)
- Coconut meat or flakes (1 tbsp)
- Saffron (1/2 tsp)
- Ghee (1-2 tsp)
- Cardamom (1/8 tsp)
2. Add ojas-building herbs to the milk (1/8 tsp or one 500mg capsule of each):
- Shatavari (Strength of 100 Husbands, sometimes spelled Shatawari)
- Ashwagandha (Strength of Ten Horses, sometimes spelled Ashwaganda)
3. Optional: Once the milk, herbs, foods and spices are cooked and off the flame, add 1 tsp of raw honey.
Drink one cup each night for 3 months to rebuild ojas levels to support sleep, immunity, and overall well-being.
In the LifeSpa online shop, you’ll find these delicious ingredients formulated into an organic, 30-day supply called Ojas Nightly Tonic.
Print the Ojas Nightly Tonic Recipe here:
Since ojas is seemingly necessary throughout life is there any harm in taking your ‘Ojas Night Formula’ indefinitely?
Wouldn’t the dates and honey contribute to spiking blood sugar which can interfere with sleep (especially with prediabetes or diabetes)?
Yes, great question.
The effect of this drink, according to the studies, is that it lowers Cortisol at night to support sleep.
In the situation of high Cortisol it works amazingly.
For other issues and those with blood sugar issues this can be taken after the mid day meal.
Interestingly the biggest cause of high morning blood sugars is high cortisol at night rather than insulin issues.
So as a result, surprisingly we see lower blood sugars in the AM from the ojas tonic at night.
I see the same result with our chyawanprash which is also sweet.
It seems to be more about stress – although I get it … I don’t think a steady diet of this is a long term plan before bed.
Thanks,
John
I understand ghee is a holy substance in Ayurveda, and not much can compare but I’m curious, Is this drink effective if made dairy free?
Patricia, I’ve been listening to (bingeing on, really) the podcasts and I did hear Dr. John say you can use almond milk instead of cow’s milk and coconut oil instead of ghee. Sorry, I don’t remember which episode, because…bingeing.
Hi Patricia,
Yes, you can make the drink dairy free as Deane said.
You will still experience the benefits of the other ingredients. Also, coconut oil has many health benefits in its own right.
Here are some articles to check out for more details:
https://lifespa.com/4-reasons-to-use-high-potency-coconut-oil/
https://lifespa.com/why-eat-more-butter-and-coconut-oil/
https://lifespa.com/move-saffron-to-your-medicine-cabinet/
https://lifespa.com/your-daily-dose-of-cardamom/
I wonder about boiling the “concoction.” Does that not kill any beneficial microbes and enzymes? Also, how does this factor in to the plan to eat 3 meals a day, no snacks? Do you drink it with a meal, or right before bed? So many questions! Thanks for answers and for all that you share, Dr. John!
Hi Deane,
Great questions.
Taking it before bed is a sleep tonic to be used when needed – not suggested for everyday use before bed.
It can be taken with or after meals to build ojas for energy, vitality and immunity.
Bringing it to a quick boil is called vat pasteurization which is known to kill only the bad bugs.
Thanks,
John
Thank you!
Is this okay to do if you are on Coumadin? Also, I am confused. One place it says take morning and night everyday. Another place it says at bedtime only. Also, some places say add cardamom, others don’t. Help!
Hi Sherry,
Because Ojas Tonic is not a stimulant or a sedative, it can be used any time of day. The cardamom is not essential, but does add a nice flavor and it is beneficial if you have sensitive digestion.
The herbs are whole herbs so there is less chance of an interaction, but with all supplements please check with your medical doctor before combining with prescription medications.
is there something i can take that helps with everything??? I have severe joint pain, severe constipation (for years), major headaches every day, feel sick after i eat, my skin breaks out bad and since i had shingles any breakout or cut gets bigger, full of puss, then crusts over and when it dries up, falls off. basically, if there can be a problem, i will have it. I am bi polar, have adhd, and depression. but not taking any meds.
Deborah, it sounds like a personalized consult would be best for you to address any underlying issues. An Ayurvedic consult takes an in-depth look at your health history as well as your lifestyle today to determine the best dietary, lifestyle, and herbal recommendations for your body type (dosha) and health concerns. You can read more about an Ayurvedic consult here: https://lifespa.com/about-lifespa/ayurvedic-clinic/
Some important steps to building and maintaining Ojas:
On sex: one of the most stressed points in the ancient texts is that ojas will fail to accumulate and store quickly if sexual abstinence isn’t practiced. The first and foremost major duty of ojas is to give functionality to sexual tissue. In the event of sexual disfunction, such as poor blood supply to the sex organs, cancer, or simple inflammation due to an overburdened colon (which is situated right next to all these organs), ojas becomes damaged or lost. Though a controversial topic (please skip this if you’re sensitive), masturbation and sexual obsession (mentally) both deplete ojas directly. Just like physical sexual activity, mental thoughts on sex can redirect ojas away from the heart, mind, and immune functions. There’s a balance to be kept; one seeking to build ojas should refrain from sexual intercourse, BUT, if the abstinence leads to sexual frustration and obsession, this is equally bad. For people living in the modern world, limited (rather than zero) sexual indulgence is recommended for the purpose of building ojas. Yogis, sages, and saints have evolved a system and living condition to allow for full abstinence without the risk of frustration or obsession, so full abstinence is easily manageable for these people. Modern folk living in cities and frequently exposed to media, advertisements, the opposite sex (or love interests in general) and sexual topics will find total abstinence very difficult.
On food: consider including “sattvic” foods into your diet. Sattvic foods are generally those that don’t have an overpowering flavor, containing a balance of the ayurvedic tastes (bitter, sour, sweet, astringent, pungent, salty), and digesting easily. Furthermore, these foods have a neutral effect on the mind. As an example: garlic contains 4 or 5 of the tastes, but unfortunately it both dampens the mind and stimulates the body. It is useful in disease, but is not considered the best substance for building ojas. In addition, garlic stimulates sexual desire. On the other hand, soaked-then-blanched almonds are very mild, balanced in taste, and digest very easily, if eaten in moderation, and can be very good for building ojas. (These are just general examples, though individual needs are different.) Overall, whatever boosts the immunity and lightens the body without overburdening it or depleting tissues (too much food, too little food, too much cleansinf, etc) will help to build ojas.
Try this: because effective stress management is a large part of maintaining ojas, try taking out paper and pencil and writing down your negative thoughts each day. Include stressors, inhibitions – everything. Then, when you’ve finished, rip it into little pieces and toss it into vinegar. At the end of the week, flush it down the toilet! Some people will also burn the paper. Does this seem ridiculous? While not at all a “logical” thing to do, or rather “scientific,” many people find that it helps in tossing out the negativity without the need for long bouts of meditation. Though nothing will fully replace meditative practices (not just meditation itself, but things like gardening or quiet nature hikes), this technique can be useful for those with a lot of emotional turmoil who are very busy or stressed. Turning struggles into a joke has helped other people; speak with positive humor about the trials in your life, because everybody has them! Find a friend to share your humor with, and let this person do the same. These struggles are part of life, but we don’t always have to be grim about them.
Just some random thoughts. Hope they help!
Hi Cook….thank you for this. It speaks directly to me as does this entire article. I am relatively new to Ayurveda but it’s application has been tremendous on my mind and specifically my sleep in terms of not only what I eat but how I eat. I never really thought of sex as being an issue because many people use it for stress reduction, but when you think about it in terms of Ayurvedic terms, it’s comparable to running your car low on gas without replacing the proper fuel to keep it humming along with a strong engine and transmission. Anything taken out of the realm of “balance” is going to dry out that reserve. Me being a V/P but leaning heaving on V, I tend to go for stimulating activities, extremely strong flavors, and dare I say, the release that sex offers for me. But I notice that when I do go overboard in any one specific, that i get extremely anxious, my IBS flares up, and my skin, which is my most sensitive area, gets red, inflammed, and breaks out with extremely slow wound healing time (sometimes a couple of months for just one rash/breakout) I attribute that to the autoimmunity but also to a malnourished system from “dryness” I am still learning all the terms and applications and there is a lot to learn. But your explanation is extremely helpful. Especially the aspect on cleansing……I actually have had a history of doing many many colonics and eating in a “clean—low fat” manner that has contributed more to my vata (wow—vata resides in the colon) How could I not know that what I thought was hydration was drying me out even MORE and adding insult to injury.
Thanks again……
Best,
Tracy
I thought Ojas went from our food, to our lymph to our blood? Step 1 & 2 as written above both say the blood?
“(Assimilation is when the nutrients are drawn out of the food and into the bloodstream.)”
I thought Rasa was lymph?
Some commentators believe rasa has the identity of lymphatic fluid. Rasa is “essence,” and is often used to refer to “taste” (like the taste of a food, etc). Evidence of rasa being lymphatic fluid is scant, and to my knowledge it’s never been explicitly described to be lymphatic fluid. It can still make sense, but by using the available translations and documents it’s not a certain identification.
Charaka explains it this way: “It enters into the cardiac cycle first.” Rasa is referred to in a broad, somewhat vague way. It might be lymphatic fluid, but this doesn’t reach the “cardiac cycle” first. First blood plasma is created. Though it’s possible rasa could be the lymphatic fluid along with the blood plasma – both share similarities with ojas. The “rakta” (blood) tissue is generally considered to be body-made proteins, such as hemoglobin, suspended in the fluid, working as a single tissue. Confusing enough? These are just the ideas from translators, historians, and various qualified commentators. However, it hasn’t been fully agreed upon what each dhatu (tissue; rasa, rakta, mamsa, etc) actually is or involves.
That’s not the important part, though! 🙂 Ayurveda groups similar structures and substances, including tissues, in a metaphorical way. It works out surprisingly well, and thus not being able to see or necessarily quantify or identify any specific “ojas” is mostly unnecessary. Following the guidelines provided by the sages and progenitors of ayurveda will produce results without a microscopic understanding of a topic’s individual parts and particulars.
I’m not associated with JD or lifepsa, but I hope this helps anyway!
In this article Dr John calls Rasa, Lymph and then shares other meanings.
https://lifespa.com/domino-effect-of-neglecting-your-lymphatic-system/
And if the lymph surrounds all skin both inside and outside the body, then in order for food to go from small intestines into the blood it would have to pass through the lymph. The lacteals in the intestines are therefore connected to the lymph.
So it really seems there’s a miss printing in this article. From my understanding the article should read. “Assimilation is when the nutrients are drawn out of the food and into the lymph”.
Though it may perhaps seem a little off-topic, I might recommend the book “Why Stomach Acid Is Good For You.” (J.V.W., Ph.D. and L.L., Ph.D.) It goes through an intermediate-level explanation of the digestive processes as taught currently to digestion/digestive organ specialists, including the stomach, lacteals, proteins, membrane activities, enteric nervous system, etc, touching also on the gut-brain axis. Digestion from a scientific perspective is a very complex process that isn’t to my knowledge explained comprehensively on the web – that is, I haven’t found any good sources yet. The lymphatic system is indeed connected to the digestive organs, but it’s only one part of the whole process, and many nutrients are selectively taken up by other means. (Note that I’m not connected to the authors of the book above, but I highly recommend it to anyone wanting to understand the basics of the science of digestion without having to enroll in expensive specialized classes.)
And from another article of Dr John’s.
https://lifespa.com/is-your-lymph-making-you-gain-weight/
“The lymphatic system starts in the intestines with finger-like projections called lacteals that absorb and transport both nutritional and toxic fats, lipids and proteins off the intestinal tract and into the lymph surrounding the intestines. Once these fats and proteins enter the lymph, they are processed through a series of lymph nodes where they are filtered through thousands of white blood cells of the immune system. Taking out waste and bringing purified nutrients like proteins and fats back into the heart to be re-circulated is one of the most important functions of the lymph.”
Dr Keith Wallace (www.Docgut.com) believes Ojas is Butyric Acid, the product of selective fermentation of dietary fiber by certain members of Gut flora. I would agree with him.None of the explanations above point to this way of thinking . Any thoughts?
Well, butyric acid may be a really great thing, but it doesn’t seem to match any of the descriptions given of ojas by any of the ancient authors. Nor does the body seem to store butyric acid or butyrates in the heart or reproductive fluid. Who know, there may be some link here to make butyric acid relevant to ojas production, but it seems like a very long stretch to call ojas butyric acid. The smell, color, activities, process of creation, etc are all a mile off by my reckoning, other than butyrates and butyric acid being generally antiinflammatory. Just my opinion though!
Oh, and ayurveda definitely includes the phenomena of butyric acid/butyrates and their medicinal effects. “Old ghee” (which has been left to ‘ferment’ a little in certain containers and conditions) is used for mental diseases and inflammatory conditions. As you might be aware, this is a dense source of butyric acid/butyrates, and the medicinal uses closely match the therapeutic benefits outlined for butyric acid in recent research. But I’m not aware of any ayurvedic scholar recognizing a link between ferments/aged ghee to ojas.
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I have read though from many Ayurvedic sources that taking milk before bed is a bad idea as it is hard to digest (taking around 3 hours to fully digest) and so drinking milk before bed will result in a large accumulation of undigested food (Ama) which can lead to various diseases if accumulation continues.
great work. really appreciative
Wondering if it would be okay to add this Ojas formula to Golden Milk for the added benefits of the turmeric. I am in menopause and struggling with hot flashes at night so I don’t want to exacerbate hot flashes.