Ayurveda and H pylori

 AYURVEDA PERSPECTIVE ON H PYLORI INFECTION

H pylori not only cause ulcers but affects your health in many ways. It irritates the lining of the stomach, causing inflammation. Chronic H pylori cause permanent damage to the stomach (atrophic gastritis), causing loss of stomach function and poor secretion of stomach acids. When infected, your ability to digest food diminishes over time, meaning you get less and less nourishment from your food. Eradicating H pylori can be an important way to both improve your digestion and maintain your health and vitality as you age.

Anti-inflammatories There are a number of anti-inflammatory herbs that also have one or more of the below properties. Antimicrobial Yes, antimicrobial herbs can help, especially those that can survive the low pH of the stomach.

Astringents Yes, it helps reduce inflammation.

Easy to Digest Yes - especially when atrophic gastritis present

Antioxidants Yes - helps reduce inflammation. Research shows vitamin C supplements are helpful.

Probiotics can compete with H pylori. Bifidobacterium is especially useful against gastritis.

Demulcent Demulcents include slimy foods like oatmeal and okra. These can soothe the stomach and rebuild the mucosa. The additional mucus may allow h pylori to survive more easily. Suggestion: Mix demulcents with antimicrobials such as coconut oil & turmeric when taking.

An Ayurvedic diet consistent with the constitution of the client reduces stress on the digestive system and may improve the efficiency of herbs used, as well as the efficacy of antibiotics. The client should follow all of the rules for maintaining optimum digestion during the treatment.

Specific foods not mentioned with beneficial properties include:

Pomegranate Juice Astringent, anti-inflammatory, improves digestion

Coconut Oil Antimicrobial soothes inflammation

Blueberry, strawberry, etc. High antioxidant

Other cruciferous vegetables Like broccoli, these contain sulforaphane.

Astringent, anti-inflammatory

Cilantro A cooling digestive useful for GI inflammation Kale, Endive A bitter vegetable that may cool inflammation

Aloe vera gel Anti-inflammatory, anti-microbial

Honeydew, Cabbage Juice, Pear Juice Cooling, soothing anti-inflammatories.

Despite feeling hungry, poor acid production in individuals infected by H pylori reduces appetite. Your stomach may feel bloated and heavy after only a small portion. Appetite is also reduced in Hp (H pylori) infected individuals due to lower ghrelin levels. Ghrelin is known as the hunger hormone. The mechanism of ghrelin suppression is not known however the suppression of ghrelin may not be unique to H pylori. Infection and inflammation of the stomach generally reduce appetite. I.e. you lose your appetite when sick. Leptin, the satiation hormone, is also lower in Hp-infected individuals. Thus, while appetite is decreased, so are feelings of fullness after a meal. After the eradication of H pylori, ghrelin levels return to normal. Your esophagus may feel hot & sour even in the absence of acid reflux or heartburn. If you have H pylori, you may have frequent burping and bloating as the activity of the bacteria releases carbon dioxide. Although believed to be transmitted through saliva, vomit, or fecal matter (oral-oral and fecal-oral routes), the method of transmission of H pylori is still poorly understood. Sharing drinks, kissing, or living with someone who has H pylori may be common ways of catching this disease. Once established, H pylori are hardy and resilient. The infection is generally believed to persist for life unless it is treated pylori may spontaneously disappear in the elderly as the stomach's mucosa becomes thinner and inhospitable.

Treatment of H pylori

Standard western medical treatment includes antibiotics. However, H pylori are increasingly resistant to common antibiotics. For this reason, doctors often recommend two antibiotics to be used at the same time. The use of antibiotics may have side effects, including the proliferation of Clostridium difficile, a bacterium that causes diarrhea.

Doctors may recommend bismuth salts (such as Pepto Bismol?), yogurt or probiotics containing lactobacillus, and herbs to enhance the effect of the antibiotics and aid in the eradication. [Bismuth salts have been used for over three centuries to cure various forms of dyspepsia due to their antimicrobial action and ability to soothe & coat the stomach. Although bismuth salts may suppress an active H pylori infection, cure rates are low.

The presence of infection in the gut causes a buildup of free radicals released by the immune system to combat the bacteria. Antioxidant supplements are thus supportive for individuals with H pylori infection. One such antioxidant is vitamin C, naturally found in many berries as well as the ayurvedic herb amlaki, Vitamin C levels were found to be significantly lower in individuals with H pylori infection. Improving vitamin C levels led to the eradication of H pylori in 30% of cases.

Antimicrobials such as ginger, cinnamon, garlic, oregano & turmeric can inhibit H pylori growth. Antimicrobial herbs are especially useful if they are anti-inflammatories as well, such as barberry, turmeric, fresh ginger, and cinnamon. The cinnamon extract also interferes with H pylori's ability to use urea for protection against stomach acids. Fresh ginger also promotes the regeneration of the protective mucus layer. Licorice root may be soothing and cooling. Green tea has been shown to block the adhesion of H pylori to the stomach lining.

Herb Formula for H Pylori

 Amalaki is the primary herb for anti-oxidant and anti-inflammatory effects. The dosage of antimicrobials in the formula should be sufficient to kill H pylori. We used several antimicrobials for broad-spectrum action. Finally, we included herbs for soothing the stomach. No clinical trials have been done with this formula. For the best results, please modify this formula according to the constitution of the client.

1)Amalaki-Antioxidant, anti-inflammatory 2) Shatavari-Anti-inflammatory, antimicrobial

3)Neem -Anti-inflammatory, antimicrobial4) Vidanga-antimicrobial

5)Cinnamon- Anti-inflammatory, antimicrobial, and digestive   Green Tea Reduces adherence

6)Licorice Root- Soothes stomach 7)Avipattikar Churna- Digestive

Alternative Herbs: To licorice root: Marshmallow Root 1 - Soothes stomach, neem: Barberry 1 - Anti-inflammatory, antimicrobial

The Ayurvedic Detox Cleanse (Steps)

 Day 1

Morning

Get up and have a warm, not hot shower. When finishing the shower, turn the water to cold and rinse your hands and feet to help ground your energy.

Then head to the kitchen to consume 3 tablespoons of warm ghee. If you are Vata, add a dash of salt. If you are Kapha, add a pinch of the Ayurvedic remedy trikatu.

If you have high cholesterol, high BP, or diabetes, eat 2 spoons of flaxseed 15 minutes before you eat breakfast. 

Breakfast

Oatmeal is served with water or basmati rice with some coconut milk.

Afternoon

Enjoy a dosha-supporting meal. If you are Vata, eat fruit as a snack 2 hours after eating.

Evening

Before your meal, place 1 teaspoon of Triphala powder into a cup and add 1/2 cup of boiling water. Allow it to cool for 10 minutes, then drink warmly. It will serve as a mild but nourishing laxative. Enjoy a dosha supporting dinner. If you are Vata, wait 2 hours and then have your fruit for dessert.

Go for a walk after your meal. Enjoy some relaxing reading. Don’t watch TV or work on the computer for at least 2 hours before you go to sleep.

Day 2

Shower, then sit in a comfortable place to meditate for 10 minutes. Do simple breathing meditation. Try to be focused and relaxed. Eat ghee or flaxseed on the first day, and breakfast.

Eat a dosha supporting meal at lunch and dinner. Drink plenty of water throughout the day. About an hour after dinner, try some simple yoga poses such as Mountain, Tree and the various warrior poses. Head for bed in due time.

Day 3

Do the same as Day 1.

Day 4

Today you should try some exciting recipes. Take a shower and get ready to cook breakfast.

Cook the good old khichdi and eat nothing else for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. It should be enough to last the whole day.

Drink the herbal or green tea that you like. Have one cup with each meal and plenty of freshwater throughout the day.

Throughout the day, practice mindfulness meditation in whatever way is comfortable to you.

Go for a walk after your evening meal.

At bedtime, try to give yourself a massage for 15 minutes with several ounces of warm essential oil. Vata should go for sesame oil, pitta for sunflower oil and kapha should go for corn oil. Wait 5 minutes so your skin can absorb the oil. Then take a warm shower or bath with pure unscented liquid Castile soap or glycerine soap, but allow some oil to remain on your skin.

After your shower or bath, head to the kitchen. Mix 1 teaspoon of Triphala powder with 1/2 cup of boiling water. Drink it warmly and head to bed.

Day 5

Day 5 is the same as Day 4. If you are lacking in energy, try inhaling some essential oils like Grapefruit or peppermint to uplift your spirit.

Day 6

Day 6 is again the same as Day 4, except this time, you can add a couple of vegetables to your khichdi according to your dosha. Add about 10 minutes before the mixture is fully cooked. Do easy yoga poses an hour after dinner.

Day 7

On the last day of the detox - Vary your vegetables. Instead of yoga, go for a walk. When you get back home, practice breathing meditation for 15 minutes. During your shower, today, concentrate on clearing your sinuses. Run the shower as hot as it will go for about 1-2 minutes before you get in, so the bathroom temperature rises. Turn down the temperature until it is warm and shower as usual, but try to blow your nose into your hands several times to clear any congestion.

Today you will be using a longevity tonic Rasayana for your day cleanse. Use the Rasayana designed for your dosha. Today you can eat unlimited steamed vegetables for every meal, according to your doshic diet.

Do yoga in the evening and enjoy some light reading or a movie. Take your Rasayana again before bed.

Post Cleanse

Having done the 7-day detox, you are probably wondering what’s next?

Ayur-Veda experts suggest you gradually add more foods to your diet and take your Rasayana for 30 to 60 days. They also recommend avoiding anything with yeast, try to use oatcakes or rice cakes instead of bread.

Continue taking the Triphala for 2 to 3 months after your detox. Continue eating according to your dosha type as much as possible.

It may also seem self-indulgent to spend so much time on yourself and doing things you enjoy, like reading, walking, and yoga, but the truth is you can’t care for others if you don’t take care of yourself first. Invest the time and effort and see what a difference an Ayurvedic detox can make in your life.

Ayurvedic detoxes can be fulfilling for your gut, mind & body balance. 

 

Ayurveda cleansing therapy

Many of the toxins in our bodies exist because of mental and emotional imbalances that come from unhealthy lifestyles. When we’re mentally or emotionally stressed, that tension is stored in the body as toxins.  While no one is completely free from toxins, how you live your life can determine the extent of toxicity. Everyone wants to live a healthy and happy lifestyle to possess any toxins in our bodies. I created some questionnaires, please go through them.

How do I know if my body contains excess toxins?

Ayurveda has a few signs that indicate your body contains a lot of toxins. Some of these include:

• You have low energy.
• You feel sluggish when you wake up in the morning.
• Your tongue is coated in the morning.
• Your appetite isn’t really sharp and you tend to eat out of habit rather than because you’re hungry.
• You are prone to flu, colds, coughs, or allergies.
• You get sharp headaches and dizziness.
• You have mild tremors in your limbs.
• You have unexplained muscle aches, especially in the calves.
• Your throat is sore.
• Your skin is less radiant, heavier, and oilier. You find it breaks out more often.
• You are more prone to sunburn and have dry patches on your skin.

Ayurvedic detox

Ayurveda recommends internal cleansing to clear the channels in your body of toxins (ama) that may have built up over time. You could begin your detox by having a personal consultation with an Ayurvedic practitioner. During this, you will have your pulse read and through that find out what your current doshic balance is.

The central concept of Ayurvedic medicine is that health exists when there’s a balance between three fundamental bodily doshas: Vata (air and space), pitta (fire and water), and Kapha (water and earth). Ayurveda provides a wide range of treatments, herbs, and lifestyle guidelines for purifying your entire body and bringing the tri-doshas (three doshas), the supportive forces of life, into balance.

Once the practitioner knows your body’s doshic balance, they can give you guidelines and lifestyle habits for your individual body type that are conducive to your dosha and rebalance any imbalances that exist in your body. These guidelines may relate to eating habits, exercise, yoga, meditation, sleeping, skin, and hair care. 

There are two approaches to detoxifying in Ayurveda. One is shamans (to balance or pacify the doshas) and the other is shodhana or cleansing. The first is more gradual. It slowly detoxifies and balances, and prevents new toxins from taking residence in the system, while the second is a fast approach and includes the purification processes of panchakarma. Will explain these two verities of treatments plans in a future post.

Ayurveda solely believes in prevention is better than cure.

Rohini Ayurvedic Wellness Center (RAWC) will help you achieve a healthy and balanced life through herbal medications, ayurvedic oil therapies, detox procedures, lifestyle management and diet advice.

Ayurveda aims at being both preventive and curative. Ayurvedic treatments help at developing and maintaining a healthy lifestyle by using five elements from nature to prevent/minimize acquiring various chronic medical illnesses. Ayurvedic treatments are highly individualized and  consider body types like Vata, Pitta, and Kapha while developing a treatment plan. 

Ayurvedic pharmacology stresses heavily on using natural herbal medicines to alleviate distress from various chronic medical conditions. 

While considering family history, evaluation of the patient is done by analyzing the body's current constitution while understanding the history and progression of the ailment.

Success has been reported in treating chronic ailments using various Ayurvedic procedures like Panchakarma (Five fold detoxification), Shiro dhara, Takra dhara, Nasya Karna Poorna, Vasti, Lepana vasti etc. 

• Panchakarma is both a preventative and a corrective method which consists of 5 processes called Vamana, Virechana, Snehana, Swedana and Vasti.  As per Ayurvedic system, it’s recommended to undergo Panchakarma at regular intervals to keep the vigor and as a detox procedure for body, mind and spiritual reset. 

• Ayurvedic oil therapy involves applying herbal oils externally to relieve distressing and disabling pains and aches and also for treatment of injuries. 

• Shirodhara therapy is useful in reducing migraines and tension headaches. This therapy involves slowly pouring herbal oils on the forehead region in a systematic manner which gives relief from chronic headaches. 

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• Takra dhara reduces hypertension. Takra dhara uses buttermilk as a key ingredient. Cold buttermilk is poured through the hair/head which helps in reducing high blood pressure.

• Nisya Karna poorna reduces sinusitis. This is an extensive therapeutic technique that considers the length of the condition and involves pouring drops of herbal oils into the nose.

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• Kati Vasti is an effective treatment for lower back pain. Treatment involves identifying the area of the pain and treatment is done by using a paste made with natural products and herbal oils. 

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Lepana helps  for various skin disorders. Treatment involves application Herbal paste on the affected area.

Apart from herbal treatments, RAWC’s stress management programs are designed to help you relax the mind and body, bringing more focus and clarity to your life. These programs promote better sleep, decrease anxiety and also give you more energy and vitality. Nutritional advice will also be given - as per your unique body-type - in order to help you overcome cravings, curb appetite, balance the digestion and live more healthily.

 

Relaxation techniques may be given to help quiet your mind and calm emotional imbalances. We may also recommend learning some simple Yoga postures to tone and strengthen the body . Meditation may also be offered as this is the most powerful way to calm the mind, increase energy levels and ensure a sound and blissful night sleep.

Ayurvedic Winter tips

 

During the winter, your digestive fire is the strongest. Your body needs more fuel to stay healthy and warm during the winter months. The cold weather helps ignite your digestive capacity. Your body needs a more nutritive, substantial diet this time of year. A winter diet will help give your body warmth, comfort, and hydration. Here are our favorite tips to nourish your body this winter with Ayurveda. Choose Foods Higher in Fat

Your body needs more fat during the winter due to greater digestive capacity. Try to choose foods high in healthy fats, like coconut and olive oils ,Ghee. Drink Warm Beverage Avoid chilled or iced drinks in the winter. They can aggravate vata and Kapha energies. Instead, choose warm teas, milk, and other drinks. You can try adding ginger, cinnamon, and clove to your warm tea—this will improve circulation and heat, and help clear out your nasal passages. Combine cinnamon, cardamom, and ginger with a cup of warm milk—this soothing recipe will help you feel warm and comfortable no matter how cold it is outside. Drink warm water throughout the day to help remove toxins from your body. Choose Hardy Vegetables Nutrient-dense root vegetables like onions, carrots, and sweet potatoes are more dense and rich in vitamins and antioxidants—which is perfect for boosting your immunity throughout the winter. NAdd Some Spice Spices like cayenne, nutmeg, chili, black pepper, and ginger are an important part of a winter Ayurveda diet. These spices help you feel full and raise your inner temperature. They keep the body and soul warm and balanced during the bitter cold months. Nourishing your body with the proper food and drink will help keep your doshas in harmony this winter. When your doshas are balanced, you’ll feel a greater sense of well-being and peace.

Dinacharya/ Daily routine for healthy life.

 Ayurveda is the eternal science of life. The goal of Ayurveda is to maintain the health and cure of the diseases. To achieve one such goal of maintaining the health,

Dinacharya is one of the means. According to layman Dinacharya means to follow certain things like waking up early in the morning, brushing teeth etc whereas in Ayurveda along with these things there are different procedures like Nasya(Nasal Therapy), Tambula (For Oral Hygiene), Abhyanga(Over all skin Maintenance), Snana,etc. Dinacharya includes things which are mandatory to follow regularly so as to maintain normal equilibrium of Dosha, Dhatu, Mala and Agni. Practising Dinacharya is easy to understand and implementation of it; For being healthy one should follow the daily regimen which is described in our classics Start establishing your dinacharya with a few simple things. We've included a  basic structure below. Once you relax into these practices, there are many other components that you may want to add, such as abhyanga.

• Wake before sunrise. Waking early ensures you avoid sleeping past the heavier kapha time, which can lead to grogginess and inertia. If sunrise is late where you live, aim to get out of bed before 6:00 a.m.

• Purify your body. Scrape your tongue, brush your teeth,

• Meditation, asana or any other spiritual practice or supportive exercise to bring balance to your mind and body.  

• Eat breakfast by 7:30 or 8:00 a.m. Take 20 minutes to sit down and give your digestion a good start for the day.

• Eat lunch by 12:00 or 12:30 p.m.  Setting a designated time to eat lunch will improve your health by reducing the chances that you’ll overeat or eat poorly because you are too hungry. Walking away from work or daily activities for a short time to eat also helps you come back with a clear focus for your afternoon.  Be sure to sit down while you eat and leave your phone, email or other  distractions behind.

• Eat dinner by 6:00 p.m. This gives your body enough time to digest before bedtime so you can avoid feeling foggy and heavy in the morning.

• Wind down activities  (including shutting off electronics) one hour before bedtime and focus  on your spiritual practice, reading or quiet time with loved ones. This prepares your body for the transition to sleep, ensuring a peaceful rest  and more energy for the next day.

• Go to bed before 10:00 p.m.  Getting to sleep before the more active pitta time begins ensures you  don’t get caught in the “second wind” trap – cleaning your closets out  at midnight will not lead to you feeling good the next day.

 

While this structure may seem simple, the impact is truly life changing. This  is because the greatest benefit dinacharya offers is calming vata dosha  by more closely tuning to your body’s natural rhythms and reducing the  stress associated with a lack of routine. When the wind energy of vata is out of balance, the excessive movement can quickly throw pitta and kapha doshas out of balance. But with dinacharya, vata is grounded and  supported through routine and can help balance the other doshas. And, in the free spaces in between the structured times, balanced vata supports  greater creativity and mental flexibility. Through this change, you can  begin to experience deeper enjoyment in life – and have your intentions  stick all year long.

Ayurveda introduction

 Ayurveda, the traditional Indian medicinal system remains the most ancient living traditions .The name Ayurveda implies, Ayuh-Life+ Veda-Knowledge. It is a science of life with a holistic approach to health and personalized medicine. It is known to be a complete medical system that comprised physical, psychological, philosophical, ethical, and spiritual health. In Ayurveda, each cell is considered to be inherently an essential expression of pure intelligence hence called self-healing science. In addition, to the self-healing concept, the use of herbal treatment is equally important in this Indian traditional system of medicine. Ayurveda has unique self designed axiomatic framework as its foundation, which remarkably holds out a truly global vision. Ayurveda explains us thoroughly how our human body and nature compensate each other.