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Health advice
 Ayurveda
talks a lot about ama -- toxins that build up in the body due to an improper
diet or lifestyle or pollution and provide a fertile breeding ground for
disease. Ama clogs the channels of the body, preventing nutrients from
being delivered efficiently to the cells and preventing wastes from being
discharged efficiently from the body.
Say the authors of the
new book The Answer to Cancer: "If you were to take all the 'bad stuff'
circulating in the body and lump it together with a single name, that would
be ama. It's germs. It's partially digested food. It's oxidized LDL (the
bad cholesterol)...Ama is the forerunner of all disease. If you have enough
of it, you will get sick. The less of it you have, the healthier you are."
So how do you tell if
you have ama? In the Answer to Cancer, authors Sharma, Mishra and Meade lay
out a simple questionnaire, which we reproduce here, with permission from
Select Books: To find out how much ama your body has, complete the
following test from the book: The Answer to Cancer.
Reducing Ama
 If
you've discovered you have a lot of ama in your physiology, you might want
to schedule a wellness appointment with an ayurvedic expert, who will lay
out an individualized program to clear the ama out.
Following an
ama-reducing diet and lifestyle and periodic internal cleansing with a
Maharishi Ayurveda detox formulation such as
Detox (MA1010) can help flush the
ama out and prevent more from building up. Here is an ama-reducing spice
water recipe from Vaidya Rama Kant Mishra, co-author of The Answer to
Cancer:
Ama Pachana
Spice Water
To make the water, boil
two quarts of water and put it in a thermos flask. Then add two to three
thin slices of fresh ginger, 1/4 tsp. cumin, 1/4 tsp. fennel, 2 black
peppercorns, and 2 leaves of mint. Let it steep. Drink this water throughout
the day for a very purifying effect. Also, this ama pachana water will help
enhance your digestion.
The Answer to Cancer
 Is Never Giving It Chance to Start by Hari Sharma
MD, Vaidya Rama Kant Mishra and James G. Meade.
The present state of Western medicine does not involve prevention. At best,
early detection is encouraged through ammograms, Pap tests, prostate
screenings, etc. However, all the information available suggests that the
majority of cancers are, in fact, preventable. It is estimated that 60-70%
of cancers can be averted by implementing simple changes in one's diet and
lifestyle. Why wait until cancer attacks when you can easily make sure the
disease never gets a chance to start? For this reason we have written a
how-to book of easy, uncomplicated steps that anyone can use to modify his
or her diet and lifestyle. Small changes that prevent cancer and also
promote overall health and well-being.
Edited from MAPI
newsletter. 2002 .
www.mapi.com |
Ama
Questionnaire
-
Circle your response (1 = least; 5 = most)
-
- 1. tend to feel
blocked in my body (constipated, congested in the head, general lack of
clarity, or other).
-
1 2 3 4 5
-
- 2. In the morning
when I wake up, I'm groggy; it takes me quite a while to feel really
awake.
- 1 2
3 4 5
-
- 3. I tend to feel
weak, physically, for no reason that I can see.
- 1 2
3 4 5
-
- 4. I get colds (or
similar conditions) several times each year.
- 1 2
3 4 5
-
- 5. My body tends to
have a feeling of heaviness.
- 1 2
3 4 5
-
- 6. I just tend to
feel that "something isn't working right" in the body (digestion,
breathing, bowel movements, or something else).
- 1 2
3 4 5
-
- 7. I tend to feel
lazy. (My capacity to work seems all right, but I have no inclination.)
- 1 2
3 4 5
-
- 8. I commonly have
indigestion.
- 1 2
3 4 5
-
- 9. I often have to
spit.
- 1 2
3 4 5
-
- 10. Often, I just
don't have a taste for food. I have no appetite.
- 1 2
3 4 5
-
- 11. I just tend to
feel tired, even exhausted...in mind or body.
- 1 2
3 4 5
Add up your scores to arrive at a rating for your level
of ama:
- 45-55 Severe
- 35-45 Moderate
- 25-35 Mild
- 11-25 Minimal
-
-
- Also see:
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Dietary Guidelines
-
Digestion – the foundation of what you are
-
Close-up On The Six Tastes Of Ayurveda
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