Ayurveda: Uses, Benefits, and Side Effects

History of Ayurvedic Medicine

Ayurvedic medicine originated in ancient India about 5000 years ago.

According to tradition, the Hindu god Brahma, the creator of the universe, passed on the healing knowledge of Ayurveda to the seers and wise men of India to help mankind. The seers passed down their tradition orally to their students.

In the 2nd century, the healers of India used the Vedas, the ancient Hindu religious texts, to develop a medical system that they named “Ayurveda” or “the Science of Life.”

The Vedas mention a wide variety of medicinal plants and include concepts of mindful living. Ayurvedic medicine mainly stemmed from the Atharva Veda, which contained references to several diseases and how to treat them.

In the 6th and 7th centuries, scholars began writing the knowledge they received from their teachers, forming Ayurvedic texts. One of these scholars was Charaka. He later wrote and edited the Charaka Samhita (Charaka Compendium), which is one of the foundational texts of Ayurvedic medicine. 

In 1858, the British colonized India and introduced the Western system of medicine to the country. The British believed that Western medicine was superior to Ayurvedic practices. Thus, Western medicine became the standard healing system in India, and the British placed Ayurvedic medicine on the sidelines.

However, British scholars unknowingly helped keep Ayurvedic knowledge alive by studying and recording the physical properties of different plants and herbs across India.

In 1889, the first study center for Ayurvedic medicine was established. However, it wasn’t until 1926 that the Indian government approved a formal, more defined Ayurvedic curriculum at the Sanskrit college in Kerala.

In 1927, Banaras Hindu University began offering a five-year degree course in Ayurvedic medicine. 

The academic spin on the ancient practices helped preserve Ayurvedic systems of medicine.  Today, the Ayurvedic Formulary of India lists over 600 herbal compound formulations that can treat various diseases. 

In 1996, the World Health Organization (WHO) created benchmarks for Ayurveda. These benchmarks ensured safe practices and uniformity in training, examination, and licensure as a reference for national governments and health stakeholders.

In 1998, a non-profit organization, the National Ayurvedic Medical Association (NAMA) was founded to regulate Ayurvedic practices in the U.S.

In July 2001, the first Ayurvedic hospital outside of India opened in West London. The Ayurvedic Charitable Hospital operates as a charity and treats people with chronic illnesses.

Although the United States now considers Ayurveda to be a part of Complementary and Alternative Medicine (CAM), not all Ayurvedic practices are legal in different states. In the U.S., Ayurvedic practitioners often focus on the dietary and lifestyle aspects of Ayurveda.

Currently, Ayurvedic doctors around the globe can practice some aspects of Ayurvedic medicine relating to diet and lifestyle.

How Ayurvedic Medicine deals with different diseases

Ayurvedic medicine is a broad umbrella term that houses a variety of treatment techniques to treat both mental and physical illnesses.

It examines all of the person’s bodily processes to determine if the body’s internal energies are in harmony. It also looks at every single cell in the body while examining the individual’s immediate connection with the environment and the universe.

If either of the body’s internal energies or the person’s connection with his environment are out of balance, diseases may occur.

Ayurveda empowers people to be mindful. They are called to be aware of how their choices and actions impact their health. Ayurvedic medicine gives them the tools and necessary support to become healthy and maintain a healthy lifestyle.

This mindful and multifaceted approach to well-being digs into the root cause of the body’s imbalances. It offers multiple natural remedies and health enhancers to treat and prevent the root of discomfort and illness. 

Ayurveda is also highly personalized to the individual seeking treatment. It analyzes the person’s constitution which is made up of a unique combination of three energies or doshas: vata, pitta, and kapha.

People are at risk of developing different illnesses depending on what dosha dominates their constitution:

- Vata dosha (space and air): vata dominant people are at risk of developing asthma, arthritis, heart disease, skin problems, and digestive problems.

- Pitta dosha (fire and water): pitta dominant people are at risk of developing heart disease, Crohn’s disease, and hypertension.

- Kapha dosha (water and earth): kapha dominant people are at risk of developing asthma, allergies, and heart disease.

When the doshas are imbalanced, diseases occur. Ayurveda medicine seeks to restore balance to a person’s dosha to treat or prevent illness by prescribing:

1- Diet and supplements: herbal supplements and a personalized diet will help promote digestion to restore balance to the doshas. It also ensures a person eats a healthy, balanced diet that nourishes his or her body. Snacks are discouraged because Ayurvedic medicine believes that the body needs adequate time to get rid of waste products between meals.

2- Exercise: different types of exercise can restore balance to a person’s dosha. The duration and intensity of the exercise depend on the season and a person’s energy levels. Exercise strengthens the body’s muscles and helps the body sweat. Sweat is one of the body’s necessary waste products. It should be eliminated to keep the doshas balanced. 

3- Detoxes: detoxes cleanse the body by eliminating toxins from it. Detoxing practices may include vomiting, bloodletting, and using enemas to restore balance to the doshas. They also include massages and steam and nasal treatments to help the body eliminate toxins. This helps rejuvenate the immune system, reverse aging, and improve skin and hair health.

4- Mindfulness practices: these practices include meditation, reflection, yoga, and mindfulness about what we eat and when we eat. These practices promote mental well-being and relieve stress.

According to Ayurveda, each person’s body can heal itself. These practices encourage it to begin the process of healing and rid the body of disease.

How to use Ayurveda for Diseases

A trained Ayurvedic practitioner carefully determines the source of energy imbalance within the individual seeking treatment by looking at the body as a whole.

The practitioner examines the person’s symptoms and touches different parts of the body, listening to the pulse. He or she asks the person questions about their dietary and lifestyle habits and mental health.

Based on this information, the practitioner guides them through a customized treatment plan that restores balance to their energies or doshas.

The Ayurvedic approach uses both preventative and curative medicinal techniques.

- Preventative medicine includes health routines that focus on positive personal relationships, massages, meditation, herbal therapies, diet, and exercise.

- Curative medicine includes at least one of the following approaches: detoxification, palliative care, oil treatments, steam therapy, surgical methods, mental and spiritual therapies, and herbal measures.

Ayurveda benefits

Ayurveda is the knowledge of life, and its overall goal is to achieve total wellness. It uses a holistic approach to treat the mind, body, and soul. Ayurveda aims to restore balance to a person’s dosha or energy, which is out of balance when a person is ill.

It provides stress relief, reduces hair loss, reduces signs of aging, and promotes weight loss.

Ayurveda prescribes certain foods, herbs, massage oils, and gentle exercise to treat the following disorders:

- Asthma: Ayurveda prescribes herbs that have anti-asthmatic properties. Some herbs block histamines and help relax the airways, allowing an individual to breathe easily.

- Anxiety: Ayurveda prescribes herbs and foods that calm the mind to curb anxiety. It encourages engaging in relaxing activities such as taking a warm bath or having a massage. A person with anxiety would benefit from breathing exercises and meditation. 

- Arthritis: Ayurveda prescribes herbs and supplements that relieve joint pain and have anti-inflammatory properties to treat arthritis. It also recommends massages and light exercise to strengthen the joints and the cartilage that surrounds them.

- Cancer: Ayurveda prescribes herbs, foods, and supplements that have anticancer properties to kill cancer cells. It also prescribes herbs that eliminate toxins from the body and herbs to strengthen immunity.

- Chronic Inflammation: Ayurveda prescribes herbs, foods, and supplements that are anti-inflammatory to reduce inflammation. It also prescribes herbs to flush out toxins that are causing inflammation. It encourages people to practice meditation and breathing exercises to relieve stress, which is a major factor that triggers inflammation.

- Depression: Ayurveda prescribes herbs, foods, and supplements that regulate mood to treat or prevent depression. It can prescribe nasal oil drips, massages, yoga, fasting, and exercise to stabilize mood depending on a person’s dosha.

- Diabetes: Ayurveda prescribes herbs, foods, and supplements that control a person’s blood sugar levels to treat diabetes. It also prescribes herbal supplements that stimulate the pancreas to produce insulin and increase insulin sensitivity.

- Eczema: Ayurveda prescribes herbs and supplements that flush toxins out of the body to treat eczema. It also uses herbal pastes and spreads them over the affected area to treat itchy and flaky skin.

- Epilepsy: Ayurveda prescribes herbs and foods that restore balance to one of the three doshas that are out of balance to regulate the brain’s electrical activity. The herbs have anti-convulsant properties and prevent the occurrence of seizures. Ayurveda also recommends detoxification therapies to flush toxins out of the body in some types of epilepsy. It also recommends yoga and breathing exercises to reduce stress, which can trigger seizures.

- Glaucoma: Ayurveda prescribes herbs and foods that lower intraocular pressure and increase blood flow to the eyes. It also recommends detoxification therapies to flush toxins out of the body and nourish the eye’s tissues.

- Hypertension: Ayurveda prescribes herbs, foods, and supplements that lower blood pressure and keep the arteries relaxed to treat high blood pressure. It also encourages different forms of exercise to help lower blood pressure.

- Inflammatory Bowel Disease (IBD): Ayurveda prescribes a specific diet to manage and prevent IBD and other gastrointestinal disorders. Some herbal formulations help flush toxins out of the body to reduce inflammation. Meditation and yoga are also encouraged to reduce stress, which often triggers inflammation in the gut.

- Insomnia: Ayurveda prescribes herbs, foods, and supplements that calm the mind to curb anxiety and improve sleeping patterns.  It encourages engaging in relaxing activities such as taking a warm bath or having a massage to relax and relieve stress, which is one reason behind insomnia.

- Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS): Ayurveda prescribes a bland diet to manage and prevent IBS. It also encourages brief periods of fasting to flush toxins out of the body. Meditation, yoga, aromatherapy, and massage also help reduce IBS symptoms, which are often triggered by stress.

- Lupus: Ayurveda prescribes a specific diet to treat lupus aiming at restoring the body’s immunity. It also recommends consuming specific herbal formulations that flush toxins out of the body. It also offers herbal or oil massages and herbal pastes to relieve and treat lupus symptoms.

- Osteoporosis: Ayurveda prescribes herbs, foods, and supplements that contain calcium and other minerals that help strengthen the bones and prevent bone loss to treat osteoporosis. 

- Parkinson’s Disease: Ayurveda prescribes herbs, foods, and supplements that help improve digestion, helping maintain the gut microbiome. This helps prevent inflammation in the brain. Some herbs also help reduce the shaking and stiffness that accompanies Parkinson’s disease. Other herbs, massages, and exercises like yoga focus on calming the nervous system and the mind.

- Polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS): Ayurveda prescribes herbs, foods, and supplements that help regulate hormones, restore fertility, and regulate the menstrual cycle. The Ayurvedic diet also regulates blood sugar and promotes weight loss to manage the symptoms of PCOS. It also recommends herbal formulations that flush toxins out of the body to treat the disease.

Ayurveda can also help:

- Relieve stress: Ayurveda prescribes herbs, foods, and supplements that calm the mind and body, reducing stress. It also recommends oil massages, mediation, yoga, and exercise to relieve stress, which helps prevent most illnesses.

- Limit skin aging: Ayurveda prescribes herbs, foods, and herbal formulations that promote cellular growth, which limits aging. Most of these herbs also have antioxidant potential and remove free radicals that damage the skin and increase aging. Massaging the skin with oils also helps rejuvenate the skin and reduce wrinkles and cracked skin. 

- Skincare: Ayurveda prescribes herbs, foods, and herbal formulations that have antioxidant potential and remove free radicals that damage the skin, keeping it healthy. Massaging the skin with oils also helps rejuvenate the skin and keeps it glowing.

- Reduce hair loss: Ayurveda prescribes herbs, foods, and herbal formulations that promote hair growth. It also recommends oil massages to rejuvenate the scalp, strengthen hair follicles, and promote hair growth.

- Promote weight loss: Ayurveda prescribes a specific diet that reduces the number of calories a person consumes, which encourages weight loss. It also recommends exercise to promote weight loss. Plus, Ayurveda focuses on mindfulness centered around eating habits to regulate eating times and appetite.

Ayurveda precautions

Ayurveda uses natural and herbal remedies to treat diseases. However, if you want to use Ayurvedic medicines, herbs, supplements to treat a particular condition, you should consider the following precautions:

- Consult your Ayurvedic practitioner before taking Ayurvedic products on your own. Let them know if you have a particular illness, allergy, or are taking medication that may affect your treatment plan. They should adjust it to avoid any harmful interactions with the medication you are taking.

- People who are anemic and women who are pregnant should not undergo panchakarma treatments, particularly bloodletting. Eligibility for panchakarma is carefully determined by an Ayurvedic practitioner.

- If you have a primary care physician or other healthcare professional following up on your case, make sure to disclose that you are seeing an Ayurvedic practitioner and are taking Ayurvedic formulations. This ensures you stay safe and avoid medication interactions that might cause serious side effects.

Ayurveda Warning:

- Some Ayurvedic products and practices are banned in the United States. The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) does not approve or review Ayurvedic products. Some herbal compounds or preparations may contain lead, mercury, or arsenic in toxic amounts.

If they do contain heavy metals, the Ayurvedic products can cause serious illnesses in children and may be life-threatening for pregnant or lactating women and their babies. Other compounds from untrustworthy manufacturers may contain steroids, which may cause further health issues.

- Some Ayurvedic practitioners may not be qualified to treat you. Make sure that your Ayurvedic practitioner is well-trained, certified, and has the relevant experience to meet your needs.

- Be careful when buying Ayurvedic herbs or formulas. Don’t buy Ayurvedic products unless they have a GMP (Good Manufacturing Product) stamp on them if you are buying them from India. Be extra careful when purchasing herbs online because the websites may not be trustworthy.

Ayurveda side effects

Since Ayurvedic treatments are derived from natural herbs and plants, most treatments do not cause adverse events. However, if you take some Ayurvedic preparations or herbs, you may experience side effects.

- Some Ayurvedic products contain toxic amounts of heavy metals like lead, arsenic, or mercury. They might cause heavy metal poisoning.

- Some Ayurvedic herbal formulations might cause headaches, nausea, gastrointestinal problems, diarrhea, rashes, or allergic reactions.