Agni And Ama

AGNI

THE KEY CONCEPT OF AYURVEDA

Agni or the “Digestive Fire” is the collection of digestive process that is required to convert food into high quality tissues & energy for cells. And those processes involve all the digestive juices, hormonal secretion, enzymes. It is responsible for absorbing the essential nutrients the body needs while getting rid of waste products. If our Agni is strong, we build healthy appetites & digest food efficiently.

In ayurveda, a healthy digestive system/fire (Agni) is a cornerstone of wellbeing; as such, disease & disorder are believed to be arising from insufficient digestion.

Your digestive fire simply refers to yours body’s metabolism—the process of turning nutrients from food into energy for cells to sustain life, which, of course is commandeered by your digestion, a complex combination of biological & chemical interactions. If our agni is strong, we build healthy appetites & digest food efficiently.

Digestive fire is responsible for digestion. Hunger is the sign of healthy digestive fire. When our hunger lags & the fire diminishes, then our digestion suffers, food is not assimilated & toxins accumulate in the body. Healthy digestion nourishes the body. When we harness & maintain a healthy & balanced Agni, we can live a long & healthy life.

According to ayurveda, there are 40 types of Agni in the body that carry out different metabolic activities. Following are the 13 forms of Agni in the body that are most generally recognised:

• The one digestive fire
• The five elemental fires
• The seven Tissue fires

According to Ayurveda, all the diseases are connected directly or indirectly to an abnormality of Agni. When Agni is healthy, there is excellence digestion, normal elimination, proper tissue formation, good circulation, strong immunity, high energy, good complexion, pleasant body odour & breath, intelligence, enthusiasm & perception.

When Agni is disturbed, incompletely digested food forms an internal toxin known as Ama. This substance can further putrefy & ferment within the intestinal tract and can spread throughout the body to cause disease. Thus, the care of Agni is central to maintaining health & treating diseases.

AMA

 THE ROOT CAUSE

AMA: Ama means immature, unripe, uncooked, & undigested. Ama originates from improperly digested toxic particles that clog the channel in your body. Channel includes the intestine, lymphatic system, arteries, & the veins, capillaries & the genitourinary tract. Ama is considered the root cause of disease, all diseased states from ama, whether physical or mental, & ama is always the result of an improperly functioning “Agni”.

The main causes of ama:

1. Eating a large, heavy meal in the evening.
2. Irregular eating habits.
3. Heavy or indigestible foods.
4. Overeating, even the healthy foods, will create ama.
5. Foods that produces distension of abdomen.
6. Consumption of unclean & contaminated or infected food.
7. Poor food combinations.
8. Eating leftover that have being in the refrigerator. Our diet should be fresh food freshly prepared for good health.
9. Eating processed, refined foods made by man & not by nature. The more a food has been processed the more it is high in ama-creating quality. In ayurvedic terms, processing destroys the inner intelligence & prana (life force) of the food. Processed food to avoid as much as possible include canned, pack-aged, micro waved, frozen food & high- heated food.

Sings of Ama:

• White coated tongue.
• Low energy level
• Sluggish, sleepy, or weak
• If you feel “cloudy” in the mind
• Feel blockage in the body (constipation, congestion, breathing)
• Indigestion
• Not hungry or no taste for food