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“Rekindle Your Fire, Rekindle Your Life"

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Table of Contents 1. Introduction ........................................................................ 5

2. The Effortless Weight Loss Program in Brief ............... 8

3. A Quick and Easy Overview of the Effortless Weight Loss Program .................................... 11

4. Time to Ignite Your Digestive Fire ............................... 13

4.1. Agni and Ama ............................................................. 15

4.2. Is My Digestive Fire Weak? Quick Test ................... 17

4.3. The Destructive Fire in Inflammation ...................... 19

4.4. Ojas: The Vital Nectar of Life.................................... 20

5. Phase 1: Prepare ............................................................ 22

5.1. Healthy Eating Principles: .......................................... 22

5.2. Why Is Our Weak Digestive System To Blame For Our Weight Gain And Chronic Exhaustion? .................................................. 25

5.3. How Can You Reverse The Digestive Fire In Your Belly? ......................................................... 26

5.4. Castor Oil Cleanse ...................................................... 27

6. Phase 2: Accelerate ...................................................... 29

7. Phase 3: Transform ......................................................... 31

7.1. Your Weight and Your Prakruti ................................ 32

7.2. What Is The Importance Of Digestive Fire From A Preventive And Wellness Point Of View? ............................................................. 35

7.3. When You Have A Weak Digestive Fire, You Create Ama. How Does It

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Create Disease? .......................................................... 36

7.4. What Is The Connection Between The Digestive System And Nervous System, Immune Health And Microbiome? ......... 38

7.5. Why Do People Gain Weight And Become Fat? ................................................................ 39

7.6. Contrary To Most Diet And Weight Loss Plans, I Believe We Should Only Eat When We Are Hungry. Why? ............................ 40

7.7. Secrets to Lifelong Weight Management ............ 41

7.8. Common Causes Of Imbalances .......................... 42

7.9. Lifestyle Choices Supporting The Effortless Weight Loss Program ................................ 43

7.9.1. Meditation ........................................................ 44

7.9.2. Yoga ................................................................... 44

7.9.3. Belly breathing ................................................ 45

7.9.4. Fasting ................................................................ 45

7.10. How Does Rekindling Your Fire Rekindle Your Life? .............................................. 46

8. Ancient Secrets For A Lively Digestive Fire .............. 47

9. Ayurvedic Wisdom for Effortless Health & Well-being .................................................................... 49

10. Resources ...................................................................... 51

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Medical Disclaimer

All material provided here is for educational purposes only. The instructions and advice

presented here are in no way intended as medical advice. The information should be used in

conjunction with the guidance from your primary care physician. The program is not intended for

pregnant or nursing mothers.

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1. Introduction

Namaste!

I am Dr. Suhas Kshirsagar and I welcome all of you on a wonderful journey to lose weight and feel great. As we all know, obesity is a worldwide epidemic. We have millions of people, not only in developed countries but also in developing nations, who are overweight. Obesity is related with many chronic conditions like heart disease, diabetes, various types of cancers and depression. Today we are going to discuss the various causative factors for obesity and its effective management. Let me share some statistics with you. • 2.1 billion people – nearly 30% of the world’s population – is either obese or overweight • More than 75 million U.S. adults are now obese • Highest proportion of the world’s obese people (13%) lives in the United States. China and India together represent 18% • Over 2/3 (67%) of US adults are overweight and 33% are obese,

o Obesity rate has nearly tripled since 1980 o More than 50% of the world’s 671 million obese people live

in 10 countries (US, China, India, Russia, Brazil, Mexico, Egypt, Germany, Pakistan, and Indonesia)

• 79% of African-American and 73% of Hispanics are overweight, terrible obesity rates in about 23 states • More than 30% of US kids are overweight • Only 3 in 10 adults get any physical exercise, 50% BMI>26 • In 10 years, 1 in 3 adults will have diabetes • “Diabesity” will be found in every other adult over 40 years of age • Overweight people will have double risk of stroke, cancer and CHD • Over 50 million Americans eat fast food every day • Being overweight is directly linked with depression and other mental disorders • You don’t feel good so you eat bad food, and since you are eating bad food, you are feeling this way. • The “EPIC” study published in the Archives of Internal Medicine

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studied how 23,000 people adhered to four simple behaviors: Not smoking, exercising 3-4 hours a week, eating a healthy diet and maintaining a healthy weight. Adhering to these four behaviors alone prevented 93 percent of diabetes, 81 percent of heart attacks, 50 percent of strokes, and 36 percent of all cancers. So let’s get back into perspective and ask yourself: Are you overweight? • Do you feel heavy?

• Does your weight feel out of control?

• Do you gain weight no matter what you eat?

• Are you feeling confused with the latest diets, books, plans and nutritional supplements?

Look no further! Ayurveda is one of the oldest health care systems known to man. Remarkably, this ancient approach to understanding the body, which has been tested and proven over thousands of years, is also completely compatible with our contemporary understanding of modern lifestyle and modern science, understanding exactly how nature works. In fact, Ayurveda simply uses a different terminology to express some of the most advanced ideas of molecular biology and quantum physics. We need to go back to really understand that this not an ancient science, but this is a cutting-edge, new-age medicine. The first principle, which is the most important one, is this new/old perspective that the human body is not a solid, particulate, static, fragmented, “frozen sculpture” that exists in isolation from the rest of nature. In fact, it is a very dynamic organism. It is totally connected with nature. The ancient Ayurvedic wisdom says “Yatha Pinde Tatha Brahmande”, “as the microcosm, so is the macrocosm”. Rather, Ayurveda recognizes the body as part of the natural continuum. From this point of view, the human body is a dynamic field of energy. It is constantly participating in an exchange with the larger field of energy that surrounds it, and it comprises the rest of the universe. We are an inseparable part of the universe, in Vedic terms we call it “Aham Brahmasmi”. Most remarkably of all, as a result of this continual exchange, your body is being renewed and replaced

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every moment of your life! The most important Ayurvedic principle is that “our physiology itself is inherently intelligent, and the many physiological functions guiding the replacement of cells and molecules and even atoms are dependent on the inherent intelligence that inhabits the human body. The most important principle is the practical application of being ‘mindful’ or being ‘self-referral’. Asking yourself a simple question; “what did you do and how do you feel?” If you are connected with your own self, you are able to make changes at the right time. Ayurveda is a perfect solution to understand your challenges and help you design a personalized weight loss program that will make you lose weight and feel great.

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2. The Effortless Weight Loss Program in Brief

The Effortless Weight Loss program is a revolutionary diet plan grounded in today’s science but it combines several different strategies rooted in the ancient science of the wisdom of Ayurveda to help you do more than just lose inches around your waist. You’ll experience a transformation in your overall wellness. I use the word transformation because that simply means you are not going back to your good old self. You are not only feeling improved wellness, but a level of contentment and confidence. The Effortless Weight Loss program is a rallying cry for anyone who hasn’t been able to lose weight permanently and discover true health. Why do we need another diet plan from an Ayurvedic perspective? Because I’m a firm believer that all roads to perfect health—and an ideal weight—begin with your mindset, and your diet is the most important factor in creating that positive mentality. Food is information, after all; it gives your body the fuel it needs to survive (and ideally, thrive) and helps generate the connection between what you think and do, and how you feel. What you eat directly impacts how you experience life and nourish your body’s needs all the way down to your waistline. And this, my friends, is the essence of Ayurveda. By trying my 21-day protocol, you will experience this for yourself. Among the immediate effects that will be taking place over the next months or weeks (even though you may not “feel” everything): • Mobilization of fat storages so excess fat can easily be burned off • Higher digestive functioning and metabolic recalibration that will help you absorb nutrients better, so that you don‘t feel tired and fatigued • Stabilization of your blood sugar balance • Removal of toxins that antagonize every system in your body from digestion to immune system • Lower levels of inflammation. I increasingly treat people who’ve tried everything to reclaim the health that they deserve and who fall victim to fad diets and

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questionable health practices that seriously compromise their physical well-being. The laments I hear daily are constant: low energy, body weight chaos, digestive disorders, poor sleep, headaches, congestion, low libido, low--grade depression, anxiety, burn-out, and signs of ongoing inflammation such as sore joints or relentless allergies. The irony in all this is that many of these people are indeed active - they lead healthy lifestyles and yet fail to experience optimal health. Well, the reason is that these myriad conditions actually have a surprising common denominator: a weak digestive fire. If you don’t keep your digestive fires burning cleanly, you cannot lose weight permanently or achieve the vibrant health you’ve always dreamed of. I want to emphasize that this isn’t another diet that severely restricts your calories and has an unrealistic “do not eat” column to abide by. I won’t tell you to go totally gluten free or low carb. True, gluten free diets help some people to a certain extent. But the vast majority of us just need to reprogram how we think about the foods we eat and how we prepare them in combination with other foods. You’ll be rejoicing at the fact that this diet is based on smart carbohydrates, showing you how to use carbs smartly to feel lighter and purer in body, mind, and spirit. Anyone who has twisted their own arms in a bid to go low carb forever knows what an impossible feat that can be. And it’s wholly unnatural, because those are the building blocks of our body and you cannot completely take that out of your diet. Especially from an Ayurvedic and scientific point of view, we all know that the body needs carbohydrates like it needs air and water. We also know that vibrant health isn’t about the hours spent on a treadmill and the portions at the dinner table. It’s about what types of foods you choose, and how they are digested to either fuel your fires of health or dampen them. I think we all can agree that life is about so much more than our weight and dietary choice, and it extends far beyond mere chronological age or even physical health. This is how Ayurveda sees it, too. “Life,” or ayus, is a union of the mind, body, sense, and soul. As such, Ayurveda respects the nature of life through the wisdom of Mother Nature herself. It teaches us how to live in harmony with the basic laws of nature, offering a roadmap for awakening our healing potential. The fundamental prescription of

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Ayurvedic medicine is simple: recognize the power of self-healing within you, and you will become your own greatest doctor. Ayurveda also teaches that health is not a state defined by lab tests or annual check-ups (nor the number on the scale or your cholesterol level!). There is no such thing as an “average person” or “one-size-fits-all” standard treatment. Much to the contrary, health is a continuous and participatory process that embraces all aspects of “life”: physical, mental, emotional, behavioral, spiritual, social, and so on. True health is the achievement of balance in all aspects, and each one of us is one-of- a-kind with a unique blueprint for health. This explains why each one of us can respond so differently to various treatments, drugs, and dietary protocols. That said, Ayurveda does provide a universal framework for understanding these blueprints. It teaches us how to honor and support our true individual natures. Likewise, this program offers you the blueprint for understanding your own inner metabolic constitution for achieving optimal health and weight maintenance. I trust that most of you will start to feel the effects of this diet within a matter of days. But it will take a full month for it to have a lasting impact on your body at both the cellular and metabolic level. It also takes that long to reset your mentality so that you can effortlessly enjoy a new lifestyle. So here’s the program at a glance:

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3. A Quick and Easy Overview of the Effortless Weight Loss Program

• Phase 1: PREPARE! This 3-day phase trains the tongue to think and sense differently. Cravings wane. Kindling is being introduced. • Phase 2: ACCELERATE! This 21-day core diet phase rekindles your digestive fire through a carefully controlled protocol, setting the stage for you to re-introduce foods after 3 weeks and welcome a leaner, happier you. In Ayurvedic medicine, the secrets to metabolic acceleration encompass deepana, which means “bioactivator,” and pachana, which means “bioaccelerator.” As these words suggest, the goal is to stimulate appetite and prepare digestion to extract nutrients quickly and easily once food arrives. • Phase 3: TRANSFORM! After the core 21-day regimen, it’ll help you reintroduce foods back into your diet and you will learn how to incorporate those foods into a healthier, modified lifestyle.

Key Highlights of the Program:

1. Tongue Scraping

2. Castor Oil Cleanse

3. Eat Less, Eat Right

4. Only 3 meals, No Snacking, Dinner by 7 PM & No Food After

5. Intelligent Waters: Herbal Tea 1 Qt. Plus Triphala & Trikatu

6. Go to bed by 11 PM and start your day by 6 AM

7. Get a brisk 45 minute workout every day, rotate physical

activity

8. Clean foods like Whole grains, Fresh Vegetables and Fruits,

Nuts, Seeds, Oils, fish, chicken or eggs (optional)

9. Meditation & Pranayama

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10. Self-Reflective Journaling

Once I’m done teaching you the basics to this diet and how to follow it, I will spend time sharing how to maximize and maintain this new way of life. We need to rise above the idea that food is only something that provides nourishment. In Ayurveda, nourishment comes from everything and everywhere—the air, the soil, the water, our relationships, and so on. Do we need to become sick and grow old at all? People have asked this question for centuries. According to Ayurvedic wisdom, we are never born and we are never gone. The motto of Ayurveda is “Ayurveda for immortality” so the wisdom is to really align yourself with the universe. And the digestive forces, which are often revered as the cosmic source, allow us to keep in harmony and balance with the surrounding environment. The first that happens when we’re dead, is that we’re cold. So it’s the fire that keeps us burning, it keeps us immune from illness. It helps us to manage and balance a state of perfect health. It makes us passionate and ignited, when we are breathing and alive, it’s the fire that is ticking. And we need to understand how to really nourish ourselves from all kinds of food which is not just everything on your plate. It’s what you take in from any field of perception. I’m excited to get you started, so without further ado, let’s begin with an understanding of how you’re going to return life to your body with life from food. Part of this lesson entails busting pervasive myths that circle the diet world today, and another part involves you figuring out which type of digestive fire you have through a few fun and simple quizzes so you can then maximize all the rewards of this program. I know you can do this. It doesn’t matter how often you’ve failed following diets in the past or how much doubt you have in the effectiveness of Ayurveda. What matters is that you focus on your goals and have faith that health and happiness await you.

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4. Time to Ignite Your Digestive Fire Firstly, we need to decode our mind-body constitution. We call it prakruti. In Ayurveda, the foundation for good health is maintaining balance in the body and mind and living in tune with one’s unique mind-body constitution. Assessing one’s vikriti (deviation from your normal self – an imbalance) provides vital information about what kinds of changes in lifestyle, diet, and other areas are needed to return the body to state of balance and well-being. I often need to dig much deeper and look at what’s driving a person’s motivation to choose an unhealthy lifestyle. How did they drift away? When did they become less inspired? What threw their bodies off balance and how can we get them back into equilibrium? Which body type do they possess and how can I return it to that place where it functions in terrific coordination with their environment? According to the Ayurvedic healing system, our mind-body constitution is determined at the moment of conception. Thus we are each born with a unique combination of the Vata, Pitta, and Kapha doshas that stays the same for the rest of our life. This is known as prakruti - a Sanskrit term that means “nature” or “the first creation.” Your prakruti is your base point and it determines what will keep you in harmony with your nature and what will cause you to get out of balance and become sick (and overweight or obese). Trying to change your prakruti would be like trying to change your stature from short and stocky to tall and thin, or changing the color of your eyes or the texture of your hair. In contrast, vikruti is the current state of imbalance in an individual’s doshas. When a person comes for a consultation with me, I focus on his or her vikruti rather than prakruti, because I want to find out what current underlying imbalances need to be addressed. Second to your individual dosha and current doshic state, agni is the most important factor in determining your dietary needs. Agni or the “digestive fire,” is one of the most important principles in the ancient science of Ayurveda. It refers broadly to our ability to

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process all aspects of life, including food, experiences, memories, and sensory impressions. More specifically, your digestive fire, or agni, is the collection of digestive processes that are required to convert food into high-quality tissues and energy for cells. And those processes involve all the digestive juices, hormonal secretions, enzymes, and the activity that’s needed to get the body’s cylinders firing. (In fact, the words “ignite” and “ignition” come from the Sanskrit word agni.) There are in fact a total of 13 different agnis governing our metabolic functions. Any process involving heat, light, and conversion—basically, any biochemical reaction in the body relates to agni. In the bigger picture, agni is the creative flame of intelligence that is present in all life. If we were to use more modern, technical terms, we’d say that your digestive fire is simply the body’s fund of digestive enzymes, acids, biochemicals, hormones, and other substances it needs to properly metabolize foods so they can be broken down into useable parts, transported into destination cells, and carried to various areas of the body to conduct chores essential in keeping you alive. It’s seated within the lower stomach and small intestine but finds its way throughout the entire body to preside over life-sustaining processes. Although agni literally means ‘fire’, in the body it measures your strength, power and resilience, and may be compared to your metabolism. Agni is responsible for absorbing the nutrients and essential elements the body needs while burning off waste products. Ayurveda views the health of the body as the functioning of a biological fire-governing metabolism. If this essential part is functioning effectively, the whole body will be nourished, full of life and vibrancy. A healthy digestive system is revered in Ayurveda as a cornerstone of well-being and that every disease is believed to arise from inefficient digestion. In fact, we can even distill the science of Ayurveda down to the simple idea that total health resides in the state of our digestive system, and that restoring health must originate with a focus on our digestive system. If our agni is strong, we build healthy appetites and we’re able to digest food efficiently and easily assimilate our daily experiences.

Ayurveda identifies four main states of agni:

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balanced, irregular, sharp, and weak. When your agni is balanced, it ensures proper

nourishment, energy levels, regular elimination, strong immunity, a clear

complexion, excellent circulation, and overall strength and vitality.

On the other hand, if agni is weak, our body won’t digest well, creating toxic residue or ama that lodges deep in our cells. Ama is considered the root cause of many diseases. And poor agni, like poor appetite, is a sign of illness. In the body, agni gives our organs the strength to work well. In our mind, agni gives us emotional strength and stability. Good agni brings vitality, clarity, and enthusiasm. Strong agni leads to excellent health and well-being, while the accumulation of ama results in the slow deterioration of the body and—ultimately—disease. The inability to metabolize emotions produces just as much toxic residue as undigested food. Pent-up anger, long-held sadness, and lingering guilt are more debilitating for most people than problems with physical digestion.

4.1. Agni and Ama

Agni and ama are opposite in properties. Agni is hot, dry light, clear, and aromatic. It can metaphorically be seen as the fires within a wood-burning stove. Ama, on the other hand, is cold, wet, heavy, cloudy, and malodorous. It’s like the black build-up in the pipes and chimney. The more efficiently the wood burns in the wood stove, the more heat (energy) that is produced, the less cresol (toxins) is created. This metaphor symbolizes very well what happens in our digestive system, depending on the health of this bodily system. To treat ama, it is

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necessary to increase agni.

Signs of Good Agni • Energetic • Lightness • Clarity • Brightness in the eyes • Good appetite • Regular elimination • Well-formed stools

So contrary to what you might initially have thought, a hot digestive fire burning bright in your belly isn’t solely about metabolism and it isn’t just about digestion, either (and it’s clearly not about heartburn!). It’s about maintaining the body’s overall homeostasis—the body’s preferred state of being, a perfect balance whereby hormones and other biomolecules are flowing as they should. It’s about ridding the body of toxins that slow down its vital systems and clog its natural drains, and it’s about gaining control of ama. If water and blood are the sweet nectars of the body, then ama is the rotten gunk. When our ability to digest food becomes impaired, the body can no longer absorb essential nutrients. Undigested and partially digested food lingers, leading to the formation of intestinal sludge that clogs the intestines and other vital pathways, such as blood vessels and capillaries. It actually gives rise to vascular inflammation, it creates leaky gut syndrome and a variety of metabolic imbalances. Ama undergoes a multitude of chemical changes, gradually creating toxins, which are released into the bloodstream. These toxins eventually accumulate in the weaker parts of the body, where they create tightening, stagnation, and failing of the organs and systems, and decrease the immune system’s functions. Through its toxicity, the ominous ama elicits a negative immune reaction in the body’s tissues until, finally, disease manifests in these organs associated with the mutated tissues. And so the end result is a disease state which can manifest as heart disease, cancer, and immune system break down, among other ailments.

Ama is one of the most threatening barriers to good health. Simply stated, ama is undigested food that begins to eat you! And here’s the problem with virtually all diet systems currently on the market:

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they focus on calorie restriction through foods that merely perpetuate this intestinal swampland - causing serious build-up on our insides that antagonizes weight maintenance and can even lead to conditions such as irritable bowel syndrome, food allergies, celiac disease, and, as I just mentioned, cancer. The statistics tell the story: as we’ve witnessed a radical shift in the quality of our food supply coupled with our “toxic hunger” for anemic food found in processed and packaged products, we’ve simultaneously witnessed a dramatic increase in chronic conditions and diseases that can be linked back to this notion of ama.

4.2. Is My Digestive Fire Weak? Quick Test

Is my digestive fire weak? Quick test: The hallmark sign of weak digestion is postprandial narcosis. If you feel sleepy

after eating a meal, it means you have very weak digestion. You have thrown a log on a very weak fire and

blocked your essential system of energy extraction, so you feel like dozing off for an hour or two.

The best way to gauge your levels is to answer a few basic questions, which reflect the symptoms that emerge when the levels of ama increase beyond the body’s ability to deal with it.

For each question below, rate your matching characteristics on a scale from 0 to 5: 0-1 doesn’t apply, 2-3 sometimes applies, 4-5 strongly applies.

1. I often feel a sense of blockage in my body (such as constipation or congestion).

2. I often have difficulty digesting food (I often feel gassy and bloated or get heartburn).

3. I feel dull and foggy when I wake up in the morning (I sometimes wake up with a headache).

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4. I tend to feel weak for no apparent reason (I have low energy).

5. I often feel dull, heavy, lethargic and unmotivated (I don’t have a passion for life like I used to).

6. I feel the need to cough regularly (I often have to clear my throat because I feel mucousy).

7. I become easily exhausted, both mentally and physically (It’s hard for me to get through my day).

8. I frequently feel dull and depressed (I am unhappy).

9. I often have no taste for food (It’s hard for me to taste food without adding salt).

10. I catch a cold several times a year (I deal with health issues chronically).

Add up your total. A score between 1-19 indicates a low level of ama, 20-34 indicates a moderate amount of ama, 35 + indicates a high amount of ama.

Another way you can easily diagnose ama is to simply look for it. Tomorrow morning, when you wake up, open your mouth in front of a mirror before doing anything else such as brushing teeth, rinsing with mouthwash, or drinking water. If you notice a white coating on your tongue, that’s it. That’s ama, and if it’s present on your tongue, then it’s present throughout your physiology!

I realize that I’m not using scientific terms that you’re probably used to reading about in the media or modern health journals, but we can easily translate this philosophy to today’s vocabulary. There are many types of agni in the body. Within the digestive system, agni determines the production of hydrochloric acid in the stomach, bile acids in the liver, and sugar-digesting pancreatic enzymes. It also regulates the thyroid gland and the metabolic transformations of the tissues. Special agnis are even found in each cell. The metabolic pathway of agni begins with digestion and ends in the cells. Another way of looking at ama is to consider it the residual, poorly digested food particles like excess sugars and fats that get

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into the bloodstream and wreak metabolic havoc, triggering hormonal disturbances such as blood sugar imbalances, insulin resistance, and, at the extreme, diabetes and other serious conditions. It can be recognized today as high cholesterol, hypertension, Candida, acute constipation and/or diarrhea, among other health challenges.

Although there is no equivalent in Western medicine to ama, it’s well documented and widely accepted that toxins typically originate in the digestive tract. Ama first accumulates in the colon and small intestine, and then travels throughout the body via the blood. Put simply, ama creates toxic breeding grounds and acts as a precursor to disease.

4.3. The Destructive Fire in Inflammation In the last decade, scientists have figured out that the cornerstone of all degenerative conditions, including overweight and obesity, is inflammation. And by now most everyone has a rough idea about “inflammation” in terms of the body.

Whether it’s the redness that quickly appears after a cut or spider bite, or the chronic soreness of an arthritic joint, most of us understand that when the body experiences an insult or injury, its natural response is to create swelling and pain, hallmarks of the inflammatory process. But inflammation isn’t necessarily “bad.” It serves as an indication that the body is defending itself against something it believes to be potentially harmful. When it’s tending to an open wound or sprained ankle, it’s ultimately helping us to survive.

The problem with inflammation, and which gives it such as negative reputation today, is that it can get out of control. A fire hose turned on momentarily to douse nearby flames is one thing; but leave the hose on indefinitely and you’ve got another problem on your hands soon enough. And that’s the case with inflammation gone awry. It’s intended to be a spot treatment, not an ongoing process left on forever. But that’s what’s happening in millions of people. I see it every day in my practice with my patients. If the body is constantly under assault by exposure to irritants, the inflammation response

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stays on. And it spreads to every part of the body through the bloodstream; hence, we have the ability to detect this kind of widespread inflammation through blood tests. It’s no wonder that people with high levels of inflammation have an extensive list of symptoms: fatigue, brain fog, low resistance to infection, muscle weakness, joint pain, digestive disorders, acne, anxiety, headaches, depression, irritability, allergies…and body weight chaos.

So we want to reprogram our Agni, we want to get rid of the ama, and rebuild something what we call ‘Ojas’.

4.4. Ojas: The Vital Nectar of Life So if we desire perfect health, it is crucial to eliminate the ama stored in our body and focus on producing ojas, which is the essential life energy. A Sanskrit term meaning “vigor,” ojas is the pure and subtle substance that’s extracted from food that has been completely digested. Ojas circulates throughout the bodily tissues and heart, sustaining the physical self, bringing clarity to the mind and balancing the emotions. In short, when the body produces ojas, the vital nectar of life, we feel blissful. The cells sing with happiness because both the mind and the body are receiving the nourishment they need.

To promote the creation and flow of ojas, we need a good diet focused on pure foods, referred to as “sattvic” in Ayurveda. The body can easily digest sattvic food and extract its ojas or prime energy. The most sattvic foods include those found on this diet, notably seasonal fruits and vegetables, sprouted mung beans, and nuts and seeds. Some foods are difficult, if not impossible, for the body to convert into ojas, including fatty meats, fried and processed foods, leftovers, and items with an excess of sour or salty tastes. Food that has been canned or reheated won’t produce as much ojas as freshly prepared meals. In addition, as you can imagine, consuming alcohol and smoking cigarettes destroys ojas.

The following chart will help you determine whether you have healthy ojas or an accumulation of ama in your body. If you’ve been storing toxicity, you can choose now to begin to nourish yourself and enjoy increasing levels of joy and well- being in your

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life.

Signs of Ojas Signs of Ama

You feel rested upon awakening It’s hard to get out of bed

Your skin has a healthy glow Tired, sallow skin

Clean breath and pink tongue Bad breath and coated tongue

Your body feels light, regardless of weight Your body feels heavy

Strong appetite Dull appetite

You feel centered throughout the day Fatigue, spaciness

Your digestion is strong without bloating

Sensitive digestion, sluggish elimination

Your body feels strong and pain free Generalized pain

You feel energized & enthusiastic Difficulty realizing your intentions

Your mind is clear Depression

You rarely get sick Susceptibility to infections

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5. Phase 1: Prepare

The first phase of the diet is very straightforward. Over the course of the next three days, you’ll do the following:

5.1. Healthy Eating Principles: •Eat REAL food. Shop the perimeters of your market for nutrient-dense whole foods.

•Clean up your diet. Choose organic, grass-fed and pasture-fed meats and wild, small and sustainably farmed fish.

• Go organic. Choose as much organic food as your budget allows.

• Stay local. Farmers Markets and CSA’s are great opportunities to procure high quality fresh food. Avoid the following: 1. Sugar: Avoid all pseudonyms for sugar including artificial sweeteners and even so-called healthy alternatives such as stevia and agave. Ditch the sweetened and sugary drinks too. No juice, alcohol, sweet coffees or other liquids full of sugar. Even only one to three days off sugar, your brain chemistry will change, ending the vicious cycle of addiction and cravings. Sugar is eight times more addictive than cocaine! 2. All flour products (even gluten free): From bagels, crackers and pasta to cookies, wraps and pizza dough, we are bombarded with poor quality sources of carbohydrates at every meal. Avoid these foods. They are absorbed into your bloodstream too quickly, causing blood sugar to rise and insulin to spike. Remember that gluten free alternatives might even cause as big a spike (or bigger!) in blood sugar as the wheat-based product.

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3. Processed junk “food”: This includes all trans fats, (avoid anything with hydrogenated oils) and poor quality fats, high fructose corn syrup, artificial sweeteners and flavorings, preservatives, dyes and anything you could not imagine growing in nature. All of this stuff literally confuses the body. Your weight regulation and metabolism malfunctions. 4. All gluten and dairy: These are the two most common major inflammatory foods in our modern diet. Foods that trigger inflammation tend to promote obesity and diabetes. The scary part is that most people are unaware of their hidden sensitivity to gluten and dairy. Besides a scale that just won’t budge, other signs of a food sensitivity are: nasal congestion, indigestion, bloating, autoimmune diseases, rashes, drops mood or energy, headaches, joint or muscle aches, and even chronic disease such as heart disease and cancer. 5. Higher Glycemic Index Carbohydrates: This includes all grains, starchy vegetables and fruit. 6. Cut refined flours, processed carbohydrates, and starches: While you don’t have to cut all carbs (and you won’t be on this diet), prepare to change which carbs you consume by eliminating those that weaken your digestive fire. These include the root vegetables and any refined flours (“refined flour” has had the germ and bran removed and is typically referred to as “white flour”). Refined flour is processed—its core nutrients like fiber have been removed, and this creates a heavy stickiness that’s hard on the body. It’s also difficult to eliminate from the body, leading to incomplete evacuations (not enough fiber to move the bowel), so it sits and adds to sludge, dampening digestive fire. What’s more, it can inhibit your body from extracting any nutrients at all from the food. 7. Cut “diet foods” such as products manufactured to be “low fat,” “lite,” or “sugar--free”: These products often contain ingredients that make up for that extracted fat and sugar and which dampen that digestive fire. I once treated a woman who was on a diet but nothing was happening; she was eating gluten-free pizza every day with low-fat cheese. Little did she know what she was consuming in these processed products that were sabotaging her efforts. Gluten-

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free flours often contain potato flour and tapioca as a substitute, which is a processed ingredient worse than the real thing! And it can be more offensive to a gut that’s sensitive to gluten, the protein normally found in wheat. What’s more, any flour consumed with dairy (e.g., pizza dough and cheese) can create a digestive stickiness and heaviness. 8. Eliminate red meat and full fat dairy: Red meat takes a long time to digest, and dairy is a heavy food that can weaken that digestive fire and build mucous, which exacerbates ama. While I’ll give you guidelines for re-introducing some red meat and full-fat dairy into your life during the maintenance phase, for now you’ll avoid them. 9. Nix white sugar and artificial sweeteners, including those such as Truvia and Splenda: While we like to think we’re doing ourselves good by replacing refined sugar with semi-natural products like Truvia and Splenda (which are marketed as “made from nature”), these are processed chemicals in disguise. In Ayurveda, taste is an important component to the eating process. It signals the body and prepares it to digest the incoming food. Unfortunately, these processed sugar products can dupe the body: while it tastes sweet to you, the body cannot register the flavor and the sweetness cannot have an impact on satiety. So the body goes through a sluggish response, perpetuating that ama again. For a touch of sweetness, you can use honey. 10. Reduce alcohol and liquid calories from sugary beverages. The goal of this weaning process is to begin training the tongue to think and sense differently, to cut cravings, and to jumpstart the weight-loss process. We need to train our body to learn the difference between how we feel at the sensorial level (i.e., the taste buds and brain’s interpretation of those sensations) and at the cellular, physical level. Many times we enjoy foods on the tongue (and in our minds) but our bodies don’t actually take pleasure in it. Or we can taste something we think we don’t like, yet the body loves. The goal should be to create a cellular memory for what the mind AND body both want. In Ayurvedic medicine we call this the difference between Shreyas - what’s eternally good

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for us and it doesn’t matter whether your senses like them or not - and Preyas, or that which is purely sensorial and mental. In Phase 1, we’re helping to establish the right balance between the Shreyas and the Preyas. In our eating life, we all reach for foods that might make us feel good in the short-term but they may not necessarily be good for the body (e.g., sweets, pastries, fried foods), especially in the long term. And we may also opt for foods that we know are “healthy” (e.g., kale, fish, brown rice) but which our senses may not enjoy. So the goal is to transform Preyas—short-term choices based on the need for a pleasure fix—into Shreyas, sources of pleasure that are actually good for us.

5.2. Why Is Our Weak Digestive System To Blame For Our Weight Gain And Chronic Exhaustion? From an Ayurvedic perspective, weak digestive fire is responsible for low energy, body-weight chaos, digestive disorders, poor sleep, headaches, congestion, low libido, low-grade depression, anxiety, burnout, and signs of ongoing inflammation such as sore joints or relentless allergies. Well, the reason is that these myriad conditions actually have a surprising common denominator: a weak digestive fire. If you don’t keep your digestive fires burning cleanly, you cannot lose weight permanently or achieve the vibrant health you’ve always dreamed of. In Ayurveda, a healthy digestive system is seen as a cornerstone of well-being; as such, disease and disorder are believed to arise from inefficient digestion. In fact, we can even distill the science of Ayurveda down to the simple idea that total health resides in the state of our digestive powers, and that restoring health must originate with a focus on our digestive system. Your digestive fire simply refers to your 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 and chemical interactions.

There is a clear connection between your gut, brain and immune health, which is validated by modern medical science. If you are unhappy and depressed due to weak digestive fires, you are simply

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unable to make positive health choices and you are unable to manifest all of your intentions.

Ayurveda identifies four main states of agni: balanced, irregular, sharp, and weak. 1. Vata Body Type: Visham Agni - Irregular Fire. Air blowing over fire, wavering, variable cooking 2. Pitta Body Type: Teekshna Agni - Sharp, Regular Fire. Sharp, light and blue flames 3. Kapha Body Type: Manda Agni - Dull, Sluggish Fire. Damp wood, more smoke

5.3. How Can You Reverse The Digestive Fire In Your Belly? The ingredients that make for a strong digestion and fast metabolism or “fire” include four chief components: 1. Eating specific foods (filled with Prana) and drinking healing hot waters that feed and fuel your metabolism rather than slow it down, ultimately supporting digestive balance and efficiency. I call these healing waters “holy waters versus unholy waters”. When you talk about caffeine and sodas and sugary fruit juices and drinks, these are unholy waters. When you talk about plain neutral pH water, sipping hot water all day long, drinking hot water with lemon or herbal waters with spices like cumin, corianders, fennel, and a dash of ginger, those are what I call healing waters. This healing water is going to increase your digestive metabolic function. 2. Fasting in between meals (no snacking), for the sensation of hunger is essential to weight loss and overall health. You will be sipping hot water, but you are not allowed to eat in between the meals. No snacking – the sensation of hunger is absolutely important. In recent research, most of the Americans reach for a snack when they are in fact thirsty. We are becoming so dumb that we cannot even differentiate between thirst and hunger. New science shows that intermittent fasting can help you live a longer, healthier life. The people who live longer were eating light. Intermittent fasting also creates a mental discipline. It cultivates the positive outlook that ‘you only gain energy from food’ – which is

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actually a misunderstanding. You gain more energy from air, secondly from water, and the third and least important one – from food. Sometimes we actually give more importance to food compared to anything else. So eating less is actually the secret to a long, healthy, fulfilling life. 3. Making lunch the most important meal of the day. So what you’re going to do is; have a light breakfast, good lunch, and light dinner. The dinner has to be 3-4 hours before you sleep. That doesn’t mean you can have dinner at 11 P.M. and go to sleep at 3 A.M. It has to be before 6 or 7 in the evening so that, when you go to sleep at 10 or 10.30 P.M., you will have digested the food. Eat when the sun is burning brightest, at noon. Studies now prove that eating more calories midday can result in greater weight loss, and that late lunches and big dinners can be detrimental to weight-loss efforts and general health - even if the total calories consumed in a day are the same. 4. Clearing out the “Ama” “digestive sludge - residue from poorly digested food that antagonizes weight loss, provokes hormonal imbalances, and ultimately triggers inflammation, the root cause of virtually all disease. This sludge also includes toxins that cannot be cleared by the body effectively due to a weak metabolism and debilitated digestive organs such as the pancreas and liver. Research now shows that these toxins, which are created by the body during normal metabolism, can trigger weight gain and impede weight-loss efforts. Removing this sludge, however, is like clearing dust and ashes from a used fireplace to get the logs to burn stronger and cleaner the next time.

5.4. Castor Oil Cleanse After the three days of preparations, on the fourth or fifth day, get some organic, cold-pressed, good quality Castor oil from a local health store. Castor oil is an age old remedy for an effective cleanse – especially for resetting your digestive fire. What you’re going to do on a Saturday or a Sunday when you don’t have to go to work, is take three tablespoons of Castor oil and mix it in half a cup of freshly squeezed orange or grapefruit juice and drink it. Stay close to the toilet – you will have some explosive bowel movements that day and it will start clearing all the built-up tissue sludge; the

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sticky, slimy ama which is clogging your digestive tract. Follow a liquid diet that day; it can be soup, stews, broth or freshly squeezed vegetable juices.

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6. Phase 2: Accelerate

We are talking about Effortless Weight Loss – the Ayurvedic way. We are discussing Phase 2 of this program. As we discussed earlier, the first three days are about Elimination. We talked about all the food that you need to eliminate. Right before you start the Accelerate phase, you’re going to do a Castor oil cleanse. The next day, the actual core program will start. Start your day with a light breakfast. It can be a power smoothie, you can prepare the smoothie with the right kind of vegetables and fruits and prepare it with rice milk or almond milk as a non-dairy preparation. You can have some eggs if you like, or oatmeal in rice milk, coconut milk or almond milk. You can add some small portions of raw nuts and dry fruits. Have this breakfast early at around 8 or 8.30 in the morning. Wait until you are hungry and eat the main meal of the day at lunch time: Khichadi. Khichadi is the main food you will be eating during the next 17-18 days. It is an Ayurvedic super food, and is one of the ancient dishes known to humanity. It’s a great combination of rice and Mung beans. There are different recipes about preparing Khichadi and adding the right kind of vegetables, seeds and nuts available. Khichadi is super easy on digestion; your belly will love it. Easier on the digestive function creates a degree of satiety, which does not create any blood sugar fluctuation. You will feel nice and full, you won’t be feeling sleepy, sluggish and tired, and you will be able to digest this food rather easily. In the evening, have a simple bowl of vegetable soup or lentil soup with a plate of steamed or stir-fried vegetables. We are minimizing the grain and flour in this diet. You can again have a light soupy version of the Khichadi if you are hungry. As I said, the dinner has to be at least 3-4 hours before you sleep, so by 6.30 or 7 P.M. you should be done eating. Summary

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You’re having a light breakfast, a nice decent lunch in the middle of the day, and a light dinner far away from your bedtime. You’re sipping hot water and herbal healing waters all day long, prepared with Ayurvedic herbs and spices, which is going to purge the impurities out through sweat, breath, urine and the stool. After 17-18 days, you will repeat the program with a Castor oil cleanse. You will start and end the Accelerate phase with a Castor oil cleanse. You’re eating Khichadi for lunch and dinner, you’re fasting in between the meals and are trying to gently enjoy a sense of mild hunger while you are sipping hot healing herbal waters all day long. I routinely recommend a Castor oil cleanse for everyone. Those having an existing medical condition, have recently gone in and out of surgery and women who are pregnant or nursing should stay away from doing this cleanse or appropriately consult their primary care physician to see whether they are fit enough to do that. Even if you don’t do the Castor oil cleanse, you will still reap all the benefits of this program by doing everything else. When you are drinking the hot water all day long, prepare about one quart or one liter of healing herbal water every day. Take one liter of water and add one tablespoon of this weight loss tea – which is a blend of Ayurvedic herbs and spices – and bring it to a boil (you can add some freshly grated ginger). Strain it and put it in a stainless steel thermos flask. You can squirt in some lemon juice if you want. This is a great simple drink which will minimize any cravings of salt and sugar. You’re having a light breakfast, a decent lunch, lighter dinner, you’re sipping the healing water all day long, you start and end this phase with a castor oil cleanse, after which phase 3 begins.

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7. Phase 3: Transform

We are discussing effortless weight loss – The Ayurvedic way. Phase 1 is to Prepare, during which you are eliminating the foods which we have discussed for 3 days. The second phase is Acceleration, in which you are eating Khichadi, doing a Castor oil cleanse, sipping hot water and drinking herbal teas. Phase 3 is the most important phase – that’s the reason we call it Transform. Transform simply means that you’re not going back to your good old self. You’re trying to maintain the weight you have lost and continue to feel great. In order to do that, you are:

- Eating clean foods - Eating mindfully - Eating light - Eating right - Making sure your evening meal is lighter and earlier - Taking care of your emotions and taking care of your

senses properly - Leading a disciplined life; not feeling stressed out and

burned out but enjoying your life to the fullest by eating the right food in the right amount

- Most importantly: exercising - Paying conscious attention to what you take in and how

much you burn - Enjoying your physical activity and exercising in groups

All of that is a different way of living. In fact, Ayurveda is nothing but the way of life. It’s simply a mindful way of living, an enlightened way of living. It’s not just a mindful practice to maintain your health – it’s also a spiritual practice. We say that health is a byproduct of enlightenment.

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As you start leading your life in an Ayurvedic way, you are embracing what we call ‘the original positive lifestyle medicine’. This is embraced by Western medicine. They talk about TLC: therapeutic lifestyle changes. The lifestyle medicine is a new area of preventative medicine, which shows that about 80% of all chronic diseases such as heart disease can be prevented and even reversed by simple changes in diet, exercise and stress management. Another new area of medicine is called ‘personalized medicine’, and what better than Ayurveda to talk about personalized medicine? Personalized medicine identifies genetic and metabolic differences between individuals and then prescribes a diet, drug or treatment plan based upon these differences, which are tailor-made and suitable for you. The field of nutrigenomics, way before even the Western medicine coined this term, has been talking about Vata, Pitta and Kapha pacifying diets for thousands of years. That’s nothing but very specific personalized medicine which is suitable to your body type and what you should be eating. A Vata person should be eating the right kind of warming foods and grounding fats. A Pitta person should be following an anti-inflammatory plan eating lots of fruits, vegetables and leafy greens. A Kapha person should be eating warming spices, less carbs, eating dry foods, drinking hot water and herbal tea. These are the real templates for nutrigenomics. The studies now show how the food and nutrients can actually influence the expressions of the genes in the body. Which genes you are turning on and which genes you are turning off is totally dependent upon not only what you eat, but how you live.

7.1. Your Weight and Your Prakruti There are several important things we often discuss regarding your weight. Number one is your eating habits. What you eat, how much you eat, the attitude and purpose of your eating (whether you eat for nutrition, pleasure or stress-relief). Your exercise habits, the intensity and frequency and how many calories you actually burn.

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What is your crystallized self-image about your own body type? What is your basal metabolic rate? What are your fitness levels? And what is your body composition? Because at the end of the day, we often ask the question “It’s not just important what you eat, but when you eat, why you eat, where you eat, how you eat and how much you eat – are equally important.” These questions are often ignored in a standard diet plan. Your ideal body weight depends upon your predominant dosha type, or the Prakruti or the Somatotypes. These somatotypes are actually understood and respected in Western medicine. We often call them endomorph, mesomorph and ectomorph. Most individuals are a combination of these 3 subtypes. Even in functional medicine nowadays, we actually talk about degenerative types which are more Vata types; inflammatory types which are more Pitta types; and retentive types which are more Kapha types. Vata is a combination of space and air, which is more likely to be similar to ectomorph. Pitta is more similar to mesomorph as a combination of fire and water. Kapha is a combination of water and earth and is similar to endomorph. In order to really understand and feel happy with your own weight and body image, you need to take a simple dosha quiz which you can find in our resource section at the end of this book. You need to understand what your unique mind-body type is. If you’re a Vata type, you have a light frame and low body fat. You have excellent metabolism and you can eat a lot without gaining fat. You’re a slow gainer, so you have difficulty in building body mass. You have to be careful in how you eat and when you eat, especially the regularity of the timing is very important. I like to call Vata people ‘regularly irregular’. They have to be very regular in breakfast, lunch and dinner timings, quantity and quality of the food. Pitta types often have a stocky, V-shaped body and have a medium to heavy frame. They have good muscles and gain muscle

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mass easily with the right kind of training. They have a very fast metabolic function so they have to be careful not to eat junk food but rather food that is clean and pure. Mesomorphs who spend most of their time eating will get fat. They shouldn’t have a sedentary lifestyle and should stay active. Kaphas have the highest need for activity. Kaphas are naturally big, heavy built, soft, have denser bones, are tall and have a high body fat composition. They gain fat rather easily; they can even look at food and gain weight. They have big muscles and bones, but can gain muscle mass relatively quickly if they’re doing the right kind of workout. They are very sensitive to carbohydrates so if they eat a lot of carbs, they’ll gain weight very easily. This is the body type which we call ‘retentive’ since they will retain more fluids and foods. This is not an ideal bodytype for athletes, and these people often go through yoyo dieting where they gain, lose, gain and lose weight. They have to create a real structural plan of eating so they are minimizing the grains, flours and simple starches from their diet, eating more fiber, following a Kapha balancing lifestyle. As a part of this plan, you need to really understand what your body type is. If you are a Vata type, you can be thin but still fat. In medicine, we use the term TFOFFI: Thin From Outside, Fat From Inside. For Vata types, it is important to eat the right kind of fats. For Pitta types, to eat lots of green fruits and vegetables which are healthier, bitter and astringent. Kaphas should be eating dry, light food with more spices, they should eat less food and drink hot water. We want to avoid the general feeling of being heavy, dull, groggy, toxic and tired. Determining your ideal weight is very important. There is no fixed number for the right weight for your age. You need to ask yourself the question “Is this the weight at which I feel at my best physically, mentally, emotionally, metabolically and even socially?” You need to ask yourself “What is the weight at which I feel my best?” The symptoms of being overweight are very simple – something you

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will experience every day. • Difficulty getting up and out of the chair • Difficulty tying your shoe laces or getting dressed properly • Having a larger than normal belly which is hanging and

protruding at times • Difficulty with physical activity • Excess of fat alters your optimal body mechanics; you are

not able to bend, twist and turn so easily. Where you carry your body fat is also very important. You need to ask yourself whether you are an apple-shaped person or a pear-shaped person. Do you carry more fat around your waist and belly or rather around your hips? Visceral fat has greater risk of diseases, contrary to subcutaneous fat. In apple shaped bodies, carrying abdominal adiposity, it can be compared to having a wet blanket wrapped around your digestive area. That big, thick layer of fat dampens all the vital organs (liver, gallbladder, pancreas), slows down intestinal movement and creates more fat. When comparing the apple and pear shape, I would say that the apple is worse than the pear. However, both of them need to be identified and treated.

7.2. What Is The Importance Of Digestive Fire From A Preventive And Wellness Point

Of View?

Digestive fire, or “agni,” is one of the most important core principles in Ayurveda. Broadly speaking, it refers to your ability to process all aspects of life, including tangible things like foods, drinks, memories and even sensorial experiences. More specifically, your digestive fire is the collection of digestive processes that are required to convert food into high-quality tissues and energy for cells. And those processes involve all the digestive juices, hormonal secretions, enzymes, and the activity that is needed to get the body’s cylinders firing. (In fact, the words ignite and ignition come from the Sanskrit word Agni.) There are in fact a total of thirteen different agnis presiding over our metabolic functions. Any biochemical process or

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reaction in the body relates to agni. Each cell has special agnis that work at a molecular level. So we can say that the metabolic pathway of agni begins with digestion and ends in the cells. And in the bigger picture, agni is viewed as the creative force of intelligence that resides in all living creatures. If we were to use more modern, technical terms, we’d say that your digestive fire is simply the body’s fund of digestive enzymes, acids, biochemicals, hormones, and other substances. It needs to properly metabolize foods so they can be broken down into usable parts, transported into destination cells, and carried to various areas of the body to conduct chores essential to keeping you alive. It’s located within the lower stomach and small intestine, but finds its way throughout the entire body to preside over life-sustaining processes. Although agni literally means fire, in the body it can be compared to your metabolism. It’s responsible for absorbing the essential nutrients the body needs while burning off waste products. And if this critical part is functioning effectively, the whole body will be nourished, full of life and vitality. If our agni is strong, we build healthy appetites, and digest food efficiently. Agni gives our organs the strength to work optimally, and our minds emotional stability, clarity, and resilience.

7.3. When You Have A Weak Digestive Fire, You Create Ama. How Does It Create

Disease?

When our agni is balanced, it ensures proper nourishment, energy levels, regular elimination, strong immunity, a clear complexion, excellent circulation, and overall strength and vitality. On the other hand, if our agni is weak, we can’t digest efficiently, creating toxic residue, or ama, that gets trapped in our bodies. Ama is considered the root cause of disease. And its accumulation leads to a slow deterioration of the body. It also incapacitates our ability to process emotions, which in turn creates more toxic residue. For this reason, repressed anger, ongoing sadness, and chronic guilt are often seen in Ayurveda as being more debilitating than

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problems with physical digestion. If the sweet nectars of the body are water and blood, then ama is the gunk that impairs our ability to digest food. Undigested and partially digested food lingers, leading to the formation of this intestinal sludge that plugs up not only the intestines, but also other vital pathways, such as blood vessels and the movement of hormones in the body. As ama undergoes a multitude of chemical changes that wind up creating toxins in the bloodstream, it ultimately allows these toxins to accumulate in the weaker parts of the body, where they disrupt organs and cripple the immune system’s powers. Eventually the end result is a disease state, which can manifest as heart disease, cancer, or an autoimmune disorder, among other ailments. Ama is one of the most menacing barriers to good health. As we’ve witnessed a radical shift in the quality of our food supply coupled with our “toxic hunger” for anemic or un-intelligent food found in processed and packaged products, we’ve simultaneously witnessed a dramatic increase in chronic conditions and diseases that can be linked back to this notion of ama. Another way of looking at ama is to consider it the residual, poorly digested food particles like undigested proteins, excess sugars, and fats that get into the bloodstream and wreak metabolic havoc, triggering hormonal disturbances such as blood sugar imbalances, insulin resistance, and, at the extreme, diabetes and other serious conditions. It can be recognized today as high cholesterol, hypertension, and digestive disorders such as acute constipation and/or diarrhea, among other health challenges. Although there is no equivalent in Western medicine to ama, it’s well documented and widely accepted that toxins typically originate in the digestive tract. While some toxins, called exogenous toxins, can enter our body directly from the foods we eat (e.g., pesticides, herbicides, and antibiotic-treated meat and poultry), most are endogenous— a normal outcome of our body’s digestive and metabolic processes as we turn nutrients from food into energy for cellular life. But if any of these toxins are not properly dealt with and neutralized, they can be harmful. Ama first accumulates in the colon and small intestine and then travels throughout the body via the blood. Put simply, ama creates toxic breeding grounds and acts as a precursor to disease. Imagine a sticky, greasy pan that cannot be cleaned easily. The

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best way to clean this greasy pan is to pour some hot water and gentle soap and let it sit. The grease will come out easily. That’s exactly what we are doing here – the Ayurvedic concept of hot water, panchakarma, detoxification, is getting rid of these water soluble and fat soluble impurities. A stagnant water puddle that gets green, moldy and infested with bugs is disrupting your microbiome. Drinking hot water resets everything – there’s an innate connection we’re exploring between your enteric nervous system and central nervous system.

7.4. What Is The Connection Between The Digestive System And Nervous System,

Immune Health And Microbiome?

Your gut is your first line of defense and is in constant communication with your brain. When a nasty microbe is mistakenly consumed, the gut quickly recognizes the intruder and leaps into action. The gut plays a major role in immunity, helping to differentiate between what is harmless and what is harmful. Every day, you introduce pounds of foreign material in the form of sustenance into your gut. The immune system is like a gatekeeper; it has to decide what is okay to let through and what is not. This extraordinary system gets going the day you enter the world. At birth, your gastrointestinal tract was entirely free of bacteria, but moments thereafter it began to be colonized—thereby creating your personal microbiome. And during the first few years of life, your gut developed a unique tribe of bacterial species whose characteristics were determined by a variety of factors, including genetics, diet, hygiene, geography, medication use, and even the tribes of bacteria colonizing people around you. And because these microbes take up residence on the delicate folds of your intestinal walls, they help create a physical barrier against potential invaders such as bad bacteria (pathogenic flora), viruses, and parasites. The intestinal flora also have a role in preventing infections and combating many toxins that make it down into your intestines. The good bacteria also digest part of your food. Just as microorganisms in the soils of a forest help break down fallen fruit to

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return nutrients to the plants and trees, your gut’s microorganisms are charged with aiding in the extraction of essential nutrients from foods so that they can be absorbed across the intestinal wall and into the bloodstream for delivery to cells and tissues. Without these bacteria, you’d be at a loss for transporting many nutrients, which explains why a depletion of healthy gut flora pretty much guarantees nutrient depletion and its consequences, system malfunction. We have 10x more bacteria that the total number of cells in our body. We have 50 trillion cells and this microbiome is ten times more than that. More than 90% of DNA found in our body is “theirs”. There’s a wonderful Vedic Expression which says: “Is it your body or their body? Are they living in your body or are you living in their body?” If you keep them happy and healthy, they will make you happy and healthy.

7.5. Why Do People Gain Weight And Become Fat?

The bottom line is very simple: people eat more calories than they can burn. Excess calories which you don’t digest are stored as fat. It is a definite biochemical process. If you don’t burn the calories of your meal in the next 2-4 hours, the meal is stored as fat. There’s an interesting survey which came out, saying that on average, people eat around a million calories a year. There are about fifty to sixty thousand calories they don’t burn properly throughout the year. Those calories result in those 2-5 extra pounds that you carry around and can’t burn. The Ayurvedic concept of gentle fasting between the meals and observing a 24-hour cleanse or fast once a week is very important. I’m going to share a very simple technique of Ayurvedic fasting. What you need to do is to burn the fat so that it doesn’t build up within a week. You’re going to have breakfast in the morning and a late lunch around 1 or 1.30 in the afternoon. Since you had a decent breakfast and decent, late lunch, you’re going to skip dinner that evening. The next day you’re going to skip your

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breakfast and take an early lunch. You’ll be using a simple trick where you’re not eating from lunchtime today until lunchtime tomorrow – and it’s almost a 24-hour fast which actually gets rid of all the metabolic impurities which are stored, and will not snowball further to create an easy weight gain thereafter. Fasting once a week will help you lose weight. Fasting is one of the most underutilized medical healing modalities. You need to get used to fasting. Some people get a feeling of hyperacidity, feel as if their blood sugar is suddenly dropping, or feel light-headed or dizzy. In that case, instead of going for conventional food, you can have a piece of fruit. You can have a banana, an apple, tangerine or nectarine. These foods will stabilize your blood sugar, will not create hyperacidity and will help you go through the fasting plan once a week. You have to slowly get used to doing this. I have hundreds of patients who do it regularly and they feel absolutely fabulous by doing it.

7.6. Contrary To Most Diet And Weight Loss Plans, I Believe We Should Only Eat When

We Are Hungry. Why? Most Americans have never experienced true, genuine hunger. We are overfed and undernourished. Several times a week, I correct someone for saying a version of the following: “But I thought it was important to stay semi-full throughout the day and graze on multiple meals rather than three large ones. Doesn’t this keep the metabolism humming? Isn’t it healthy to spread out my calories throughout the day and eat constantly?” Quite the contrary: The more meals you eat, no matter how small (snacks included), the smaller your digestive fire will be. Of all the lessons I teach, one of the most important ones goes against conventional dieting wisdom that says you should “never wait until you’re hungry to eat.” This is perhaps one of the most harmful pieces of advice out there in diet circles. Hunger is a vital marker of health. Appetite is your friend, not your enemy. It’s imperative to experience a healthy sense of hunger between meals; one needs to prepare the body to receive food. People who

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graze all day and never get truly hungry are sapping their digestive fire. Think about it: If you’re slowly putting fuel inside your body when you don’t need it, excess fuel will get stored as fat and that digestive sludge or “ama” as we say in Ayurveda will begin to build. The fire begins to act more like smoldering embers rather than a hot flame.

7.7. Secrets to Lifelong Weight Management

‘How to lose weight’ is a very simple formula. You need to burn more calories than you consume, or you should be eating fewer calories.

• Choose foods that are bulky, but lower in calories coming from salads, fruits, vegetables, and small portions of whole grains. • Eat foods that boost metabolism like spices • Exercise which helps you burn the calories, gain muscle mass and boost metabolic function

The absolute secret to lifelong weight management is ‘choosing to be active’. A sedentary lifestyle is worse than alcohol and smoking together. Sitting and doing nothing is the main reason of weight gain. I see so many patients who wake up in the morning, drive to work for 45-60 minutes, sit at their desk in front of their computer for 7-8-9 hours, and commute back home. They come home feeling mentally exhausted, slump into their sofa with a bag of chips or passive entertainment for an hour or so, and go to bed completely exhausted tired for another 7-8-9 hours. They wake up in the morning and do it all over again. In a 24-hour cycle, people are hardly walking and moving around for 1-2 hours. Even if you’re doing one hour exercise in a 24-hour day, you are doing maybe 5% activity. Try to be as active as possible. Choose to be active, full of energy – it will make you happy. Developing healthy eating habits is another secret to lifelong weight management. Eat lots of fruits, vegetables, whole grains,

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lean proteins and plenty of water. We don’t drink enough water, which is one the reasons we have depleted enzymes in the hormone production. Exercise regularly. It releases endorphins and makes you happy. Maintaining a high fitness level and bodily constitution is very important. Take the best supplements possible. We talk about the Ayurvedic supplements Triphala and Trikadu which are metabolic accelerators. They are smart, intelligent foods made by Mother Nature.

7.8. Common Causes Of Imbalances

The age-old simple Ayurvedic concept is ‘Water the root, and enjoy the fruit’. You cannot look at the body as an isolated principle. Every organ, every cell and every tissue talks to each other. We have to look at the body in a holistic way and in order to do that, we have to eat the right food, pay attention to our sleep and restoration, and pay attention to our macro and micro nutrition at a cellular level. We also have to pay attention to our spiritual health and well-being, emotional and mental balancing so that we are not stressed out and burned out. We want to pay attention to our energy release and how we maintain and use our energy. We also want to make sure that we are not holding any physical stresses creating any structural imbalances in the body. More importantly, whatever we are doing is environmentally friendly. The new concept we are talking about is a green way of living and thinking. Sustainable living - everything that you do is in accordance with the laws of nature. Ayurveda is a true natural medicine and the whole plan we’re talking about is going to improve every condition that you have and is going to restore the state of health and vibrancy. Another main reason people actually gain weight is because of chronic stress.

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When you are not feeling good, you eat bad food – and since you are eating bad food, you keep on feeling bad. Chronic stress is a huge factor in why your body at the endocrinal physiological level starts misbehaving. We call it the ‘fight or flight’ response. Because of the chronic stress, it creates effective disorders. Your hypothalamic–pituitary–adrenal axis creates imbalances: cortisol deregulation. You feel sleepy, sluggish and tired during the day and you feel awake and are not able to sleep at night. Your reactivity of stress is greatly enhanced. You have autonomic nervous system dysfunction, insulin resistance which is almost having a tendency for pre-diabetes, cortisol deregulation where your serotonin and melatonin get imbalanced. You have hypothalamus imbalance which actually gives rise to poor processing of your emotions; you get angry, feel sad, get depressed and dull. You have platelet dysfunction where the platelets get sticky and this creates endothelial dysfunction and vascular inflammation. It also creates erectile dysfunction, poor libido and reduced sex drive. That’s also a major stress factor for many people. More importantly, your attention span is greatly reduced; your cognition, retention, memory and recall are greatly compromised. You walk around feeling a state of mental fault, hyper reactivity and you are not even aware that your body is processing this chronic stress in which all the other digestive functions are automatically imbalanced. I see quite a few people in my practice who are eating well and exercising but have chronic stress in their life, in which the body and the endocrine system start misbehaving. Ayurveda talks about recalibrating and helping you lose weight which will help you find happiness. If you’re happy, healthy and active, you will start losing weight and maintaining it the same way.

7.9. Lifestyle Choices Supporting The Effortless Weight Loss Program

Eating the right food is very important and one of the core components of this plan is to eat an Ayurvedic super food called Khichadi. Khichadi is one of the most ancient meals known to humanity and is really compatible for all ages, all walks of life. It’s a

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complete meal by itself. It’s the perfect blend of protein, fat, carbohydrates, vitamins, minerals and fiber which is so important. Fiber is the most important missing link in the modern day diet. When you are eating Khichadi with whole grains, it’s a complete meal by itself. It’s very sattvic, it has a very positive impact on your mindset and creates a positive lifestyle choice that you select in every decision you make. The super dish Khichadi is very easily digested, doesn’t create any ama, burns cleanly and more importantly, it is so easy to digest that you actually absorb the nutrients more easily. Another wonderful benefit of eating Khichadi is that it creates a degree of satiety. Satiety is very important because you don’t want to have the cravings of food constantly. It makes you feel full for a certain amount of time and the satiety factor robs you of any cravings.

7.9.1. Meditation Another important component of this 21-day program is everyday meditation. Meditation makes you mindful, self-referral, allows you to ask yourself the question; “How am I walking through the quagmire of life? How is this experience of life affecting me?” From my perspective, meditation is one of the most important lifestyle choices that you want to embrace. It makes such a huge difference in everything that you do. It slows down the pace of life, the pace of your mind purposefully; it creates a degree of distance in between the thoughts, which allows you to reprogram your body and self properly. It effectively manages the stress on your nervous system.

7.9.2. Yoga Doing yoga is another wonderful activity. A recent study compared two groups of people where one group would do physical activity in the gym every day, running mindlessly on a treadmill. The other

group would do yoga classes only twice a week in group. They compared their weight loss goals and found that the first group, who considered their

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exercise as a chore, shopped for and ate the wrong foods, did not lose weight. The group that was doing yoga slowly became more mindful and self-referral, started going to bed at the right time, started shopping at the right places, and started asking themselves the question whether they felt full and should still consume more food during a meal or not. The group of people doing yoga twice a week actually lost about 23% more weight than the other group. Yoga is a very positive activity, it’s an open-eyed meditation. Exercising is very important and sweating it out is very important because you retain water – you get puffy, bloated, swollen. Sweating releases that.

7.9.3. Belly breathing When you do belly breathing, deep diaphragmatic breathing, you’re actually moving your belly in and out every time you breathe. It’s actually a massage to your digestive organ. You’re consciously emptying all the toxic gasses. Breathing is one of the most important detoxifications you will ever do. And we’re doing it constantly. When you’re consciously doing some deep belly breathing, you are actually recalibrating the functioning of your heart and brain together.

7.9.4. Fasting Fasting, as I always say, is one of the most important underutilized medical healing modalities. To fast is something which gives you mindful control over everything in life. That’s the reason why all the ancient cultures, all the religious traditions talk about fasting. It’s not eating certain foods in large amounts, but eating less and staying away from food during those times. Fasting for medical reasons once a week is a great idea. And more importantly, your full-time job is to take care of your body. It’s not to go out and earn a paycheck. You should be taking care of your body and you should be cultivating a positive affirmation for self-referral activities. You should be reflecting upon

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how you started your day every morning, and how your day was and what you did at the end of the day. You need to be more reflective, cultivating a positive state of confirmation so that you cultivate an optimistic attitude and outlook on life. It actually makes you happy for no good reason.

7.10. How Does Rekindling Your Fire Rekindle Your Life?

If you have a humming digestive fire, you will simply radiate health and attract abundance, splendor, and prosperity in all walks of life. Job satisfaction, better relationships, resilience and a natural desire to make positive lifestyle choices. We all appreciate the pleasure and happiness of good health. Without it, life isn’t the same. And since having a roaring, “hot” digestive fire is at the heart of achieving optimal wellness, then when we learn how to rekindle a dull or dying fire we can effectively rekindle the passion for life and get back to feeling youthful, vibrant, and successful.

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8. Ancient Secrets For A Lively Digestive Fire

I’m going to share some ancient secrets for a lively digestive fire. These are some simple tips you can incorporate in your daily life. 1. Avoid eating in between meals. No snacking; let your hunger - and fire - build 2. Sip warm fluids. Avoid cold and carbonated drinks; drinking just hot water throughout the day will stoke your digestive fire, improve digestion, and help prevent the accumulation of ama 3. Sit down to eat, chew well, and avoid passive entertainment while you eat. No TV, computer, or even reading 4. Make lunch the most important (biggest) meal of the day. Eat like a king during the day, and a pauper at night; digestion is strongest at midday; avoid heavy dinners (think broth soups and light salads) 5. Spice it up! Add spices to your meals like fresh ginger, cumin, black pepper, turmeric, and fenugreek. These contain properties that will enhance your digestion and weight loss goals. 6. Eat less, live longer. Watch your portions (skip the second or third helping and push away from the table before you reach maximum fullness). 7. Eat foods filled with Prana (“life”); no processed, packaged or even reheated/leftover foods. Avoid bad but popular combinations that will weaken your fire: milk with meat, fish, eggs, bananas, yogurt, and sour fruits; eggs with milk, meat, fish, yogurt, cheese, fruits or beans; fresh fruits with any other foods (eat them alone but avoid eating fresh fruit as dessert) 8. Respect the 24-hour solar day: Time your meals to maximize your body’s inherent preferences for turning on its digestive fire. The ideal schedule: breakfast between 7:00 and 8:00 A.M. Don’t eat a lot of food after 9:00 A.M. 9. Lunch - largest and most important meal of the day - between noon and 1:00 PM 10. Dinner - which should consist of a light meal - before 7:00 PM. Avoid ever being wakeful between 10 PM and 2:00 AM —the key time period during which the immune system is rebooting itself. 11. Fast a few times a year, or at least once a season (“detox on the equinox”): Generally speaking, the four different fasting

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protocols - from least to most vigorous - entail the following: a. Consuming light, easily digestible foods only such as Khichadi, soupy broths, and warm herbal teas. b. Eating fruits, vegetables, or juices only c. Avoiding solid foods and only drinking water or herbal teas. d. Avoiding both food and water (limit to twenty‐four hours).

12. Pursue your passions and live to the fullest of your unique self: Strive to align your goals and values with your talents and passions in a job that supports your livelihood, and allows you to feel appreciated and needed in the world at large. And don’t forget to make room for fun and laugher in whatever job you pursue. The act of laughter itself will make you feel lighter and heighten your sense of awareness. A belly full of laughs is a hot belly indeed.

10 Commandments for Effortless Weight Loss 1. Tongue Scraping

2. Castor Oil Cleanse

3. Eat Less, Eat Right

4. Only 3 meals, No Snacking, Dinner by 7 PM & No Food After

5. Intelligent Waters: Herbal Tea 1 Qt. Plus Triphala & Trikatu

6. Go to bed by 11 PM and start your day by 6 AM

7. Get a brisk 45 minute workout every day, rotate physical activity

8. Clean foods like Whole grains, Fresh Vegetables and Fruits, Nuts, Seeds, Oils, Fish, Chicken or Eggs (optional)

9. Meditation & Pranayama

10. Self-Reflective Journaling

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9. Ayurvedic Wisdom for Effortless Health & Well-being

• Ayurveda is the most ancient and most comprehensive system of Health Care

• Consciousness based approach to health & well-being, “New Age Medicine”.

• “Yatha Pinde Tatha Bramhande” Microcosm & Macrocosm

• Eat foods, which are fresh, alive and vibrant like fruits/vegetables, complex grains, nuts, seeds, sprouts and clean water. God Made Foods vs Man Made Foods

• Eat in small portions, chew well. Fast in between meals, avoid snacking

• Drink plenty of water, about 1 oz per 2 pounds of body weight. Drink hot water.

• Breathe, deep breathing, diaphragmatic breathing, Pranayama

• Meditate daily 20 minutes, self reflection, awareness, mindfulness

• 30 minutes of brisk physical exercise daily. Rotate, sit less, walk more

• Early to bed & early to rise, positive lifestyle changes

• Minimize compulsive habits like smoking, alcohol, drugs, tobacco, caffeine

• Use the power of your own mind to make an enormous difference in your life and experience the life of your dreams. Mind-Body-Spirit Medicine

• Use visualization, positive affirmations and autohypnosis to achieve the results you desire. Resilient mind, sensory control & optimistic attitude

• Observe yourself in a detached manner, witness dispassionately

• Do something good daily. Sweet words, thoughts & deeds

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• Treat your body like temple and not like trash, toxic foods & emotions

• Do cleanses twice a year (Spring & Fall) one week each, Panchakarma

• Practice compassion, acceptance, unconditional love & forgiveness

• Try to learn something new, laughter, ample rest

• Organize your life, reduce the clutter

• Spend time in nature, ocean, mountain, and forest. Replenish prana

• Frequent vacations, slow down the pace of life

• Happiness is just a “State of Mind”

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10. Resources Discover Your Dosha

Take a free 3-minute quiz to discover your real personality type- your own unique combination of doshas.

• Uncover the hidden cause of all your physical and mental discomforts

• Learn about your ‘Prakruti’ to understand why you face certain problems in your life as well as how to rectify your ‘Vikriti’ or ‘Personal Imbalance’ through natural ways

• Understand why you and others around you react the way they do and how you can minimize the negative elements in your relationships

• Also learn how you can use this discovery to look even better, get healthier and live a much happier life!

Go to https://www.theayurvedaexperience.com to take the test.