ayurvedic therapy

Ayurveda is neither an exaggerated "Indian metaphysics" nor a worthless traditional dregs. It is a life science system that originated in ancient India and has been passed down for more than 5,000 years. Its core logic is to maintain health by adjusting the balance between the individual's body, consciousness and the environment. It currently belongs to the category of complementary and alternative medicine that is globally recognized. It has clear applicable scenarios, and there are also boundaries that have not been confirmed by evidence-based medicine. There is no possibility of "cure all diseases".

To be honest, the first time I really felt its effect was when I went on a business trip to Kerala, India, in 2019. At that time, I stayed up late for three months to catch up on projects. The seborrheic dermatitis on my face had been recurring for almost half a year. The young girl from the local partner took me to a community Ayurveda clinic that has been run by my family for three generations. The white-bearded old doctor touched my wrist pulse, asked a few questions about whether I always like to eat spicy food and talk to people in a choked manner, and then classified me as "Pita". "(Fire energy) imbalance", I was not prescribed any strange medicinal powder, but just asked me to drink a cup of warm fenugreek seed water on an empty stomach every morning, eat less hot fruits such as mango and lychee, and apply cool coconut oil on the soles of my feet for 5 minutes before going to bed for 7 days. Can you believe it? By the 5th day, most of the rash on my face was gone, and my constipation was gone. The total cost was less than one-tenth of the ointment I spent before.

Interestingly, the opinions about Ayurveda on the Internet are now completely polarized. On the one hand, Internet celebrities are touting it as a universal magic. What kind of oil can cure tooth decay after 7 days of rinsing, fasting for 10 days can eliminate 10 pounds of feces, and massage with medicated oil can cure rheumatoid. I wish I could do all the work of aesthetic medicine, traditional Chinese medicine, and Western medicine. ； On the other side, many popular science bloggers directly label it as "pseudoscience" and feel that all conditioning logic is baseless metaphysics. The statements on both sides are actually a bit extreme.

I later talked with many regular Ayurveda doctors and friends who do traditional medicine research, and I found that the opinions of people with different positions are quite different. Physicians of the traditional school insist that the core of Ayurveda is "individualization", and there has never been any universal treatment plan - for example, if you also have low back pain, and people with Vata (wind energy) constitution have tight muscles and cold, you have to use hot water with turmeric and pepper. Use oil for deep massage. People with a Kapha (water energy) constitution suffer from compressive pain caused by edema and viscosity. On the contrary, they should not use oil too much. They must drink pepper ginger water for a week to drain away the excess "mucus" before conditioning. If used indiscriminately regardless of the constitution, it will aggravate the problem. Friends who do evidence-based medicine research told me that some of the Ayurveda intervention methods that have been proven effective by clinical trials around the world are mainly used to improve chronic pain, stress-induced insomnia, and functional indigestion. The active ingredients of commonly used medicinal materials such as turmeric and amla have also been extracted and used as medicine. However, claims such as "curing cancer" and "reversing diabetes" circulated on the Internet are completely unsupported by data and are completely false propaganda.

Oh, by the way, I would like to remind you that most of the "Ayurveda projects" offered by many beauty salons and health care centers in China are not reliable. Last month, I accompanied a friend to have a hair treatment. The store said that they used "Ayurvedic hair-fixing essential oil" that can be used by everyone. I went over and smelled it. It was full of pungent ginger smell. If someone with a pitta constitution uses it, it will not fix the hair, but will stimulate the scalp to break out and cause more hair loss. I have seen a young girl following the trend of Internet celebrities and doing a 7-day Ayurvedic fast, and ended up in the emergency room due to electrolyte imbalance. In essence, the conditioning plan that originally needed to be customized was turned into a standardized Internet celebrity product. It would be strange if there were no problems.

I have been exposed to Ayurveda for almost 4 years, and my biggest feeling is that it is not as mysterious as many people think. In the final analysis, it is a way of life that teaches people to "be aware of their own bodies." Now when the seasons change, I occasionally adjust myself. For example, I always feel edematous and lazy recently, so I make some red bean and ginger tea and drink it. If I have trouble sleeping for a few days, I will apply ghee on the center of my eyebrows. I will not impose any physical formula. After all, whether my body is comfortable or not is more accurate than any standard. Of course, if I really have a fever or severe pain, my first reaction is to go to the hospital for emergency treatment. No matter how good traditional therapy is, it is only a supplement to modern medicine, never a substitute.