You Are What You Digest
You’ve probably heard the saying you are what you eat. According to Ayurveda, it’s more accurate to say you are what you digest. It doesn’t matter what you eat if you’re not properly digesting and assimilating all of the nutrients and prana (vital energy) from your food.
Improperly digested food creates Ama, a toxic build-up of sludge in the tissues. Environmental toxins also contribute to the build-up of Ama in the body. You will notice the effects of Ama as a white coating on the tongue, excess bodyweight, or chronic conditions such as pain, fatigue, skin issues, low mood, or brain-fog.
You can remove Ama and look and feel better every day by strengthening your digestive fire or Agni. Agni means to ignite. It’s your inner radiance, joy, courage, and intelligence. It’s the fire of transformation in your body and in your life: With strong Agni, your body can breakdown food to nourish your tissues and you can make the positive changes you want to make to improve your life and your health.
To strengthen Agni and remove Ama:
- Follow a daily routine (dinacharya)
- Tongue scrape every morning
- Eat for your dosha
- Eat for the season (ritucharya)
- Drink room-temperature water rather than ice water
- Drink ginger tea
- Sip water with meals (too much water extinguishes the flames)
- Maintain a consistent meal schedule
- Favor pungent (spicy), salty, and sour tastes over bitter, sweet, and astringent tastes
- Avoid excess cold, wet, heavy, oily, or processed food
- Favor cook foods over raw
- Exercise and practice Yoga
- Practice Pranayama such as Ujjayi Pranayama, belly breathing, Nadi Shodhana (Alternate Nostril Breathing), Surya Bheda (Right Nostril Breathing)
Ayurveda emphasizes right diet as the number one method of disease prevention and health maintenance. You can meditate, take herbs, exercise, and practice yoga, but it will all be ineffective if you fail to fix your diet.
If you need guidance and support fixing your diet so you can improve your health and your life, email me and let’s get started!
Alicia Cross is a Certified Personal Trainer, Wellness Coach, and Yoga Instructor with more than 17 years’ experience working with clients in classes and one-to-one. She is a yogi, meditator, vegan, and lifter of heavy things. If you’re ready to discover the strength and peace that comes from within, email Alicia@AliciaCrossTraining.com.
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