Tag Archives: nutrition

Our Relationship with Micro-organisms

The number of micro-organisms living within the average human adult body are estimated to outnumber human cells ten to one. They are found anywhere in and on our bodies but are most concentrated in the digestive system, the gut flora. This gut flora has a dynamic and continuous effect on our immune system.

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In order to understand how changes in normal bacterial populations affect us or are affected by disease we must consider lifestyle, nutrition, personal hygiene, exposure to stress, pollution and the environment we live in. Just as the human mind allows a person to develop a concept of intellectual self, the immune system provides a concept of the biological self.

Exposure to bacteria and/or viruses and our reaction to these invaders or their transmutations will depend on the health of our microbial environment and our mental, emotional state. Microbes in our gut are connected to our well-being and are the biggest defenders of our health.

Ayurvedic Nutrition

Colorful healthy meal on white plate

In the ancient medical system of India we find use of the oldest and most time-tested approaches to nutrition. Its science of food and diet is an integral part of philosophy of man, of his consciousness and of his relationship to the universe. The result is an approach to diet that is unsurpassed both in its profundity and sophistication as well as in its practicality and simplicity. Here the selection and preparation of food is seen as inseparable from the treatment of disease and the cultivation of vibrant health.

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Through its long history, it would appear that Ayurveda witnessed the rise and fall of many schools of therapy ranging from herbal medicine to physical therapy and massage, surgery, psychiatry, the use of medication, mantra and many other treatment modalities. Each of these were integrated into physicians practice, and the conceptual scheme expanded to accommodate them. As a result the school of Ayurveda has a breadth and a depth that could be unparalleled in the history of medical science.

This also made it possible for the Ayurvedic physician to develop, over thousands of years, an extremely complex and complete science of herbology and pharmacology. The science of nutrition is vast and comprehensive and is not separated from pharmacology and no distinction is made between foods and drugs, herbal and mineral substances.

The world of nature and the predominance of wild fruits, vegetables, herbs and game provided the Ayurvedic physicians with a rich store of foods having a wide variety of very specific effects. Our western analytical science of nutrition may have attained greater precision at the expense of a decline and loss of appreciation of the richness and versatility  of natural resources, both in the world of foods and in the world of human physiology.

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