AYURVEDA AND RAW FOODS

How do we make sense of all of the different theories out there?

I often get questions about Ayurveda and raw foods. People ask things like "according to my dosha, I shouldn't eat raw food." 

First and foremost, if you are in tune with your own intuition, you should use what resonates intuitively with you. For many people though, it appears as there is just a sea of conflicting information.

Here is how I personally answer the question for myself. For one thing, I believe all ancient traditional healing modalities have value to some degree.  I have studied both Ayurveda and TCM, as well as Shamanic Healing, and ALL have provided us with invaluable treasures in healing.

However, having said that, human biology and nutrition is science, and for that reason, I typically rely on evidence based science when taking or giving nutritional advice.

I have personally witnessed profound spiritual and emotional healing, as well as people recovering from addictions, under the guidance of a very powerful Indigenous Shamanic Healer, so I have no doubt that healing takes place on levels that our science is a long way from understanding. So, that is not what I am referring to here.

Biologically, for physical health, we are humans. Humans (Homo sapiens) are primates of the family Hominidae, and the only living species of the genus Homo. We have evolved certain physiologic traits such as long digestive tracts, blunt (not sharp) molars, and others that link us all together as a species, not based on where we live. So, nutritionally speaking, science based evidence of health is a solid foundation for us to use when determining the type of eating we are best suited for. 

The reason these facts are important is because as a species, we thrive on a diet that is the consistent. Of course, as humans migrated and moved all over our planet. Humans in their incredible adaptability have been able to survive on diets as varied as almost all meat and blood (like the Masai) or mostly whale blubber (as in the Inuit in Canada or Eskimo of Alaska), or predominantly grain and legume based, as in parts of India and China.

Does that mean those diets are all ideal? No. Surviving and thriving are not the same. The Inuits for example have extremely high rates of heart disease as a result of their diet.

Ayurveda is a folk medicine that is ancient, and based on pre-scientific concepts. An important consideration is that it relies upon many herbs that can contain dangerous quantities of heavy metals, including lead, mercury, thallium and arsenic; not just as contaminants, but that are added deliberately in order to supposedly return the body to health by "rebalancing essential minerals".

See:
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/10/081023101226.htm

Rasa shastra, the practice of adding metals, minerals or gems to herbs, is a source of toxic heavy metals such as lead, mercury and arsenic. Adverse reactions to herbs are actually  described in traditional ayurvedic texts, but ayurvedic practitioners are sometimes unaware.

Clinical trials of Ayurveda and its efficacy have been small, poorly designed studies, and lack appropriate control groups. So ultimately, due to it's lack of an evidentiary body of science, I don't put too much stock in the principles for nutritional health and healing on a physical level. That's not to say that the spiritual and emotional elements of Ayurveda are not profoundly effective.

I did a post a while back on oil pulling, when it was making it's rounds on the internet as a miracle for pulling toxins from the body. In my post, I discuss how biologically that does not happen. It can be good for keeping mouth bacteria at bay, and in two studies, it was shown to be "as effective" as mouthwash. Miracle cure? No. Healthy gums and teeth, sure!

Dr. Gabriel Cousens provides what I think is an interesting intersection between Ayurveda and Raw Foods in his 800 page tome "Conscious Eating" where he talks about the tridosha system, the five elements, and how they manifest in the human psychosomatic complex. I think his theories are interesting, but very esoteric, and not really pragmatic for most people in their day to day lives. The theories are complex, and require very austere adherence to restricted food lists.

With the word dosha being defined by Dr. Robert Svoboda as  "things can go out of whack", I do think that things do get out of whack with our bodies all the time.

And consistently over the last 50 years, a massive body of solid science research has shown that a diet that is predominantly whole food -- plant based -- lots of raw -- supports the best health in the human species, regardless of one's dosha.