In This Article
Ayurveda is the ancient system of medicine from India, where ayus means life and veda means truth or science. While Ayurveda was passed on as an oral tradition for about 2,000 to 3,000 years before it was first written down, it was first recorded in the Caraka Samhita about 2,500 years ago.
Many of you might think–how could something so ancient be relevant today in a world with so much new technology and medicine? Well, if something has been practiced successfully for thousands of years and is still in practice today, then this system’s benefits should at least be considered… and the best way to do that is through the rigors of science.
After thousands of years of seeing this medical philosophy in practice, the All Indian Ayurvedic Congress is still one of the largest medical organizations in the world. We could compare that to the sustainability of a medicine like antibiotics, which are still not even 100 years old. It makes us pause and wonder if maybe there is something valuable to a time-tested medical system… but do these practices pass the Western science test? (Spoiler alert: yes, they largely do).
At LifeSpa, I have spent the last 20+ years writing evidence-based articles about the ancient wisdom of Ayurvedic medicine with thousands of citations from the National Institutes of Health. To date, we have over 1,500 such articles and videos available for free at LifeSpa.com that can be searched by certain areas of health concerns.
See also Dr. John’s Article Library by Health Topic
Blending Science + Art
Before I dive into the science and research, it should also be mentioned that Ayurveda is as much a science as it is an art. As an art, Ayurveda is a study of nature. Specifically, nature wherein communities survive by living a life in tune with the natural rhythms of the Earth. While many native cultures lived as one with nature and carried valuable wisdom, Ayurveda’s philosophy has been documented so the wisdom has not been lost or forgotten. They documented their knowledge of the seasonal cycles, seasonal eating, seasonal herbs and medicines, and daily circadian rhythms. Yoga, breathing (pranayama), and meditation are all important Ayurvedic components that are now ripe with Western scientific research.
In Western medicine, we rely on scientific studies that suggest reasons that coffee is good or that coffee is bad. Which one do you believe? There are studies that can convince you soy is either a medicine or a poison depending on which studies you read.
In comparison, Ayurveda starts with the recognition that we are all a reflection of nature and there are three major governing principles in nature: fall-winter, summer, and spring. Fall-winter is cold and dry, governed by air.Summer is hot, governed by fire.Spring is moist, governedd by earth and water. If we look closely, we can recognize body types within all three of these governing principles. Winter or vata types, which Western science may call endomorphs, tend to be cold and dry like winter weather, and are always looking to get warmer. Summer or pitta types a.k.a mesomorphs are hot like summer weather and are always looking to be cooler, often wearing less clothes and throwing off blankets. Spring or kapha types hold onto more water like the earth in the spring. The tend to be heavy, easy-going and calm and may easily become congested or gain weight.
In each of the seasons, the harvest provides antidotes the extreme qualities of that season. Summer for example, is a hot and dry season, and the harvest is cooling fruits and vegetables. Spring is a rainy, muddy allergy season, and the harvest predominates with astringent, bitter roots, some bitter leafy greens that dry up the excess moisture of spring. Fall is perhaps the biggest harvest of the year, designed to give us enough food to feed us throughout the winter. Winter is a cold and dry season and the fall harvest provides fatty nuts and seeds, along with grains which are loaded with soluble fiber, fat, and protein that both insulate us from the cold while storing reserve fuel. To summarize, there are three major harvests in nature: a spring, summer and fall harvest. The large fall harvest is for winter eating as well. Nature is based on cycles of rest and activity and winter is generally a dormant season where we take rest.
Studies on the hunter gatherer Hadza tribe has shown that the microbiomes in their guts changes dramatically from one season to the next with an increase of actinobacteria in the spring to help them digest, fat and fiber. In the fall, their guts surge with bacteroidetes that are better equipped to digest and deliver carbohydrates to store in reserve energy.
Studies also show that there is a dramatic transformation of microbes in the soil from one season to the next. Every spring, there is a microbial surge that attaches to the roots and leaves of many of our vegetables. When we eat those foods (grown organically), we inoculate our gut with the right bugs for the right season. Bugs in the spring help to decongest us, the microbes from the soil in the summer help to dissipate heat, and the microbes in the soil in the fall/winter help us boost immunity when we need it the most.
Studies are beginning to understand the benefits of the microbiome of plants and their benefits . Plants also have bacterial endophytes that have been shown to provide potency, longevity, immunity, growth rates, and resistance to predators that live on the leaves of the plants that we can consume. This may sound simple and logical (like common sense), but it is an ancient understanding, with emerging science suggesting that inoculating our gut with diverse bacteria is critical for our longevity.
In Ayurveda as written in the Rig Veda, some 5,000 years ago, they mentioned that there were invisible insects called krimi that they understood could be either beneficial or harmful. They suggested that the invisible krimi that were harmful should not be killed. Rather, the host or the gut environment should be altered and brought back into balance–a concept that is only recently gaining traction.
A Stanford study that measured the microbiome of ancient humans from museums in Mexico and Utah found that the microbiome of these mummies was so much more diverse compared to modern humans that they’re calling our lack of microbial diversity an extinction event.
Eating foods that are sterile because they have been sprayed with pesticides, or taking herbs that have been extracted in sterile alcohol, kills the plant microbiome. Imagine sterilizing the human microbiome–we would all be completely different mentally and emotionally, with barely any immune system.
The Gut – Brain Connection
Ayurveda says that the large intestine is said to be the seat of Vata or the seat of the nervous system. We now know that 95% of our serotonin and other neurotransmitters for mood stability come from the intestinal tract. We also know that we perceive stress through the intestinal tract, and that stress is transported to the brain. When the brain is processing stress, it transports that stress bidirectionally to the gut, creating conditions like irritable bowel syndrome or other gut related issues.
Living in Harmony With Our Biological Clocks and Nature’s Circadian Rhythms
Ayurveda understood that we are intimately connected to the cycles and rhythms of nature, and that aligning oneself to these rhythms was a requirement for optimal health. Today we know this as the Nobel prize winning science which we call circadian medicine.
There is a daily ritual called Agni hotra, which is a fire ceremony that takes place while looking at a flame at the precise moment of sunrise and sunset. Studies now show the yellow flame and orange flame create a contrast between the blue light of the sky, which tells our biological clocks to either turn on or off at sunrise and sunset.
Studies also suggest that it is not only our exposure to blue light that blocks are melatonin, but it is the stark contrast between the blue light (which is on the higher frequency of the visual light spectrum), and the yellow, orange and red (which are on the slower frequency side of the visual light spectrum). Studies also tell us that early hominids did not have color vision, so it could not have been only the blue light that blocks melatonin production. It had to be the contrast between the blue light with the red and orange light at sunrise and sunset.
In Ayurveda, it was traditional to honor both the sunrise and sunset with yoga, breathing, and meditation practices. During this time the most damaging UV radiation is blocked by the atmosphere, letting predominantly red and infrared light reach our bodies.
The infrared light in the morning is warming, decongesting, strengthening, immune, boosting, and protective for the skin. The properties of red and infrared light in the morning increase kapha, supporting more physical activity where the muscles are stronger, and we have more energy during the morning hours. In the pitta time of midday when the UV radiation is the strongest, this heats the body up, kindles the digestive system, and prepares the body to take its biggest meal of the day. Studies show that if humans front-load their meals by having a larger breakfast and lunch and a lighter supper (compared to a bigger supper), there was significantly more weight regulation and metabolic support.
The heat in the middle of the day created by the UV radiation also accelerates evaporation which causes wind and wind is what Ayurveda calls Vata (which means air). In the afternoon during the time of the day when the winds are more prevalent, the mind is considered to be more clear and creative. By sunset, the dust created by the wind builds up enough to block the blue light of the sun from penetrating enough to block melatonin. The dust enhances the orange and red light of sunset that encourages melatonin production.
In the evening from 10 o’clock to 2, which Ayurveda calls the pitta time of the night, the liver becomes active and engages in detoxification. Western medicine is now prescribing certain medications at different times of day to take advantage of the cycling of the body’s biological clocks. One study found that an aspirin before bed lowered blood pressure and protected folks from stroke, but if the aspirin was taken in the morning there was no such benefit.
Breathing
Studies show that when you breathe through your nose, a significant amount of nitric oxide, which is a powerful immune boosting antiviral agent is produced in the paranasal sinuses. When you breathe through your nose at night, you are breathing this antiviral gas into your lungs, which provides a nighttime level of protection against possible infection. This does not happen when you breathe your mouth. When I was studying Ayurveda in India in the 1980s, researching nose breathing versus mouth breathing, I found numerous studies showing that soldiers who were nose breathers had significantly greater immunity than those who were mouth breathers. I also saw studies that showed that parents would traditionally train their children to be nose breathers by lying them on their side and regularly tucking their chin, something that we are only beginning to understand.
In the early 1990s after my training in India, we published studies in the International Journal of Neuroscience that compared mouth breathing and nose breathing during vigorous exercise. We found that when the athletes were breathing through their nose, their brains went into a meditative calm documented by a significant production of alpha brain waves. When the athletes did the same workout with mouths open, their brain waves became significantly stressed in beta brainwave activity. Finally, we measured their fighte or flight nervous system, which usually goes to 100% during vigorous exercise, and only went up by 50% when nose breathing. The parasympathetic nervous system, which usually zeros out during vigorous exercise, actually increased by 50%… so we had the two opposite nervous systems now coexisting, allowing the body to be engaged in dynamic physical activity while the nervous system is calm. This is the brain chemistry and physiological parameters of the runner’s high/runner’s zone experience, where athletes say ‘my best race race is my easiest race’.
