About Maharishi Ayurveda Products

MAHARISHI AYURVEDA PRODUCTS INTERNATIONAL

Restoring Health and Wholeness to Daily Life

By Dr. Ted Wallace, Managing Director, Maharishi Ayurveda Products International (USA)

The importance of good health cannot be overemphasized, as good health is the foundation for our ability to fulfil our goals in life. In Sanskrit, the word for health is Swasthya—from Swa, the Self, and Sthya, established. So the Vedic definition of a healthy individual is one who is established in the Self, in wholeness, which is the natural result of a pure, healthy and vital mind and body.

Maharishi Ayurveda Products (MAP), established in 1985 as the world’s premier supplier of natural, prevention-oriented Vedic health care products, has as it’s goal to help every individual in our world family to enjoy total health and longevity, leading to a truly full and happy life.

The Science of Life

The holistic system of health at the basis of MAPI’s efforts to bring perfect health to our society, nation, and world is Maharishi Vedic Approach to Health. One traditional aspect of this health care system is Maharishi Ayurveda, the science of long life.

Ayurvedic texts include the knowledge of herbal formulas and daily and seasonal routines for creating balance in mind, body and consciousness. While this complete system of health care was written down over many centuries ago, the oral tradition is even older, as old as the human race itself. From age to age, sages and vaidyas, or knower's of the Veda, have rediscovered and revitalized this timeless health wisdom.

In recent years, with the influence of Western medicine and the long passage of time, Ayurveda had lost its effectiveness, and has become fragmented. In 1980, Maharishi Mahesh Yogi began to restore the knowledge of wholeness, of consciousness, to this ancient knowledge, calling it Maharishi Vedic Approach to Health. Maharishi gathered the foremost vaidyas, including Dr. V.M. Dwivedi, Dr. B.D. Triguna and Dr. Balaraj Maharishi, who formed a medical council that re-created the authentic herbal formulas according to the Ayurvedic texts.

At the same time Maharishi established an international network of doctors, clinics and schools that are dedicated to eliminating disease and offering perfect health to the people of every nation. This network includes leading medical doctors and researchers, who recognized the failure of modern medicine and have introduced the preventive approach of Maharishi Vedic Approach to Health to the citizens of their own countries.

Maharishi Ayurveda Products (MAP) has the role of supplying traditional, effective, and pure herbal products to this global health network.

Backed by Research

Since its inception 22 years ago, MAP has become the world leader in Ayurvedic herbal products, with its state-of-the-art, ISO-certified manufacturing facility in India.

MAPI is truly a global presence, with hundreds of products available throughout the world. What sets MAP apart is our dedication to tradition, authenticity and purity at every stage of production. A complete range of safe and natural Ayurvedic herbal formulas are available to maintain and promote health without harmful side effects.

These include products for emotional balance, deeper sleep, enhanced energy and vitality, heart health, detoxification, immunity building, allergy relief, women’s health, fitness and strength, memory support, mental ability, sugar metabolism, strong joints and bones, and balanced digestion and metabolism.

Thousands of people in the past 22 years have reported health benefits from Maharishi Ayurveda Products. Even more importantly, scientific research has validated the products’ effectiveness. For example, research on Maharishi Amrit Kalash, cherished as the “nectar of immortality” in Ayurvedic texts, has been the subject of dozens of research studies at leading research institutions. One study conducted at the Ohio State University Medical School found that Maharishi Amrit Kalash is remarkably effective in reducing free radicals—10,000 times more powerful than Vitamin C or other common anti-oxidants. Another study published in Pharmacology Biochemistry and Behaviour demonstrated its effectiveness in lowering cholesterol, preventing atherosclerosis and preventing cancer in laboratory animals.

Traditional Methods Protect Herbal Intelligence

According to the Vedic tradition, herbs embody a concentrated form of nature’s intelligence. At Maharishi Ayurveda, every step of production—from the way the herbs are gathered to the way they are combined to the way they are stored—is aimed at maintaining the integrity and intelligence of the herbs. This ensures that the herbal products work effectively at the deepest levels of the physiology.

As much as possible, herbs are gathered in the wild, without threatening the natural balance of the ecology. These wild-crafted herbs are regarded more potent than their cultivated counterparts, and are gathered in remote areas far from the pollution of cities. In cases where wild-crafted herbs are not available, herbs are organically grown in fertile soil without pesticides and chemicals.

And to ensure that the herbs are gathered at their peak potency, even the harvesting of the herbs follows the Vedic texts, taking into account the seasons, the cycles of the moon and the time of day.

Once the herbs are gathered, experts in dravyaguna—plant identification—carefully sort each batch of herbs to select those that are mature, pure and potent. These experts also use HPLC (High Performance Liquid Chromatography) to chemically identify the herbs that meet stringent Vedic standards, which are then sent to the processing area.

Authentic Herbal Formulas Create Balance

At the MAP processing plant in India, every step is conducted in accordance with the traditional Ayurvedic methods prescribed in Vedic texts to create balance in mind and body. For example, the whole herb or traditional extracts are used, not just the active ingredient as in Western medicine. The whole plant contains balancing elements, which prevent negative side effects.

The herbs are processed using traditional Ayurvedic processing methods. For instance, herbs are never exposed to high heat, which destroys the healing intelligence. Gentle steam distillation is used for extracts rather than harsh chemicals. No artificial colours, or flavours of any kind are allowed, and only natural binders are used.

Also, Maharishi Ayurveda formulas contain dozens of whole herbs, even as many as 50, rather than a single herb because single herbs, when taken on a daily basis over an extended period, could create an imbalance. This is the key principle of the Ayurvedic science of sanyog: herbs are more powerful when combined, creating synergy, a whole that is far more powerful than the sum of the parts.

In fact, our complex formulae herbs have different functions to create a holistic effect:

• Primary herbs target a specific area of health: for example, the cardiovascular system.

• Supporting herbs enhance and reinforce the healing action of the primary herbs; they may clear the arteries of toxins, thus supporting the primary action of strengthening the heart, for instance.

• Herbal co-factors address a different system in the body that could be a factor in creating disease in the targeted area. By preventing harmful cholesterol from being manufactured in the liver, for instance, herbal co-factors could help support cardiovascular health.

• Bioavailability herbs enhance digestion and absorption, thus improving the effectiveness of the other herbs in the formula.

• Balancing herbs counteract any one-sided action of the primary herbs. Balancing herbs are the most important part of the formula, because they cancel any side effects that could result from taking single herbs in isolation.

High Standards of Purity

Once the products are completed, they undergo a battery of tests to assure purity and consistency. Herbal formulas are tested again by premier independent analytical laboratories before they are bottled for sale in Europe.

Always a leader in product safety and purity, the MAP manufacturing plant in India is a state-of-the-art facility that has earned a number of international quality and safety certifications. In 1988 it became the first Ayurvedic company in India to be awarded the ISO 9001:2000 Certification and HACCP Certification.

This ensures the stringent standards of inspection, storage, and testing, thus protecting the consumer from ineffective or even dangerous products.  Later, MAP received the World Health Organization’s GMP certification, which certifies that its products are “fault-free, safe, and have a consistent quality”.

The MAPI facility in India also has earned the ISO Good Laboratory Practice Certification, which certifies that it implements systems for chemical testing, trace heavy-metal testing and microbiological testing. Again, MAP has been the first Ayurvedic company in India to earn this certification. Finally, the MAP facility in India recently received its USDA and EU organic certification as an organic production facility.

Organic and Vedic Organic Products

Besides its hundreds of herbal products, MAP has recently developed a line of organic clothing, bedding and linens. Raam Raj organic clothing uses cotton that is organically grown and GMO-free. In addition, it uses low-impact dyes, and the cotton is not pre-treated with chlorine bleaches or formaldehyde. The Raam Raj factory, the fibre, and the cloth are certified organic by SKAL International, the Dutch certifier.

One of MAP’s newest products is Maharishi Vedic Organic Honey. Honey is revered in the Ayurvedic tradition, lauded as the supreme sweet, the essence of flowers, and the most delicate and refined source of herbal intelligence.

Maharishi Vedic Organic Honey is the purest organic honey available today. It is not only free of pesticides and chemicals, it is Vedic Organic, which means that it has been developed and harvested using Vedic methods. Using the ancient apiary techniques known to the Vedic seers, both bees and flowers are serenaded with the rhythmic, harmonious chanting of Vedic melodies throughout its production process.

Maharishi Vedic Organic Honey simultaneously enhances holistic and integrating qualities throughout the physiology. It even enlivens and supports the most fundamental level of all, the intelligence that structures the cells, tissues and organs. It supports a range of neurophysiological functions, and is truly a heavenly elixir.

Conclusion

Maharishi Ayurveda Products continues to be dedicated to providing the finest Ayurveda herbal products in the world. MAP’s programs and products of prevention-oriented, consciousness-based health care are helping our dear world family to realize the Vedic ideals of wholeness, happiness and balance in every aspect of life.

For more information on Maharishi Ayurveda Products or to place an order, please contact: Phone +44 (0) 1695 51015 E-mail: map@maharishi.co.uk