Understanding Ama: The Root Cause of Disease in Ayurveda
“Sarve Rogha Mandagni” ...Amashyasamuthpanna!
- All the diseases start from our low digestive capacity, which is located in Amashaya-the stomach! The great Ayurvedic Physician Vhagbhatta.
What Is Ama & Why Does It Disrupt Balance?
Imagine you are driving your beautiful new car on the highway with great music, and suddenly, one of the tires gets punctured by a big nail. Now, imagine driving your car with one tire. You feel like you’re missing one leg and cannot walk straight, isn’t it? There is no balance.
According to Ayurveda, perfect health can be like enjoying your beautiful new car with great music. Now let's move into the definition of the term “Ama.” It is the big nail that causes imbalance in your perfectly healthy car. No, you cannot drive the car with a big nail in the tire, the same way you cannot live in perfect health unless you remove that painful Ama (undigested toxins) from your body.
For a mechanic, it doesn’t matter how beautiful your car is or how lavish its features look. What matters is that your car is in driving condition. In the same manner, for a Vaidya (Ayurveda physician), it doesn’t matter how beautiful you look on the outside; what matters is how healthy you are on the inside.
Understanding Ama in Ayurveda:
Coming back, one of the important concepts of Ayurveda is “Ama” (pronounced as “aa-ma”). Understanding ama is the first step in Ayurveda to learn how to catch diseases and their signals at their very seed level.
In the stage of ama, the body gets weak immunity, and the body becomes what a Vaidya calls a “beej-bhoomi,” or breeding ground for disease to take root, a seedbed for disease to thrive in, and a body fed with all toxins. Not a pretty image, but alas, true. Ama is one significant concept to diagnose the conception of any disease ayurvedically.
Where Ama Begins: The Role of Digestion:
The first production of ama almost always begins with inefficient digestion in the stomach; therefore, in Sanskrit, the stomach is called “ama + ashya” = "Amashaya,” the organ or space for ama (stomach).
Meaning of Ama:
“Ama” is a Sanskrit word consisting of two words, “Aa + ma”, “Aa” means near, and “ma” means poison - near to poison. So, now you know, Ama is a substance or group of substances that is near to poison or acts like poison.
In Ayurveda, this kind of ama is described as sticky, white, raw, undigested, incomplete oxidized/combusted material, whether in the form of food, bile, acid, or negative thoughts, that leads to sickness, ill health, and indigestion.
Physical and Mental Ama: A Holistic View
The Ayurvedic perspective encompasses the total picture, so it takes into account the toxicity that germinates in both body and mind. Ama, therefore, is both physical and mental, and if you ignore it too long, it can even seep into your soul.
How Ama Develops in the Body:
Hmm, now you understand ama, but the real secret is how you know ama develops in your body and how you can get rid of it easily, right? So, let’s get down to the brass tacks of this Ayurvedic road map and identify this ama.
When your lifestyle is at your mercy and is at odds. You skip meals, eat foods that are not right for you or leftover food, eat at the wrong time, and eat incompatible-wrong combinations of food, like fish and yogurt or dairy and fruits together, and the list goes on and on (that is where you need a qualified, scholarly Vaidya to help).
Your body’s vital digestive fire (capacity) -“Jathragni” diminishes, as a result, food fails to be totally digested and properly absorbed. This undigested food, or ama, sits in the stomach and putrefies, releasing toxic chemicals, slowly clogging the intestine, and preventing the colon from assimilating nutrients from digested food.
Lifestyle and Ama Accumulation:
The tyranny of today’s busy, stressful lifestyle makes it impossible to resist assault from Ama. But with the help of a Vaidya and knowledge of Ayurveda, you can do your best to slow it down and eliminate it regularly.
Ayurvedic Tips to Remove Ama Naturally:
As a Vaidya, I would like to share some golden nuggets with you all, but this is where your actions count. Here we go:
a. Small Swaps to Cleanse the Body:
Choosing fresh fruit over a sugar-loaded donut; by giving priority to lunch over that pending overstocked work, you can prevent the accumulation of ama in your body by drinking warm water over ice-cold drinks, and yes, choosing adequate exercise over being a couch potato watching TV.
Small Habits That Cleanse Ama:
I. Physical Detox through Movement and Hydration:
Think of your kitchen while you make sure the sink is always draining instead of trying to unclog a choked drain. Similarly, exercise and hot water improve circulation, helping the body flush out the toxic ama faster.
II. Mental Detox through Daily Micro-Practices:
For your mental health, reading an uplifting book, strolling in good weather with your spouse, and taking a 60-second mental vacation while you have hours of work commitments on the computer, these small actions work like vitamins and minerals to boost your psyche and strengthen and tone your immune system.
Ama Affects Everyone:
These general guidelines from Ayurveda work well for everyone regardless of gender, nationality, or genetics. Although we all are considered to be unique, AMA is one common reality!
So, let’s see how many of you really take these actions and strategies for achieving freedom from Ama and keep yourself in tune with nature.