The concept of jathara agni, or digestive fire, is central to Ayurveda. The idea is that our digestive capacity transforms food into energy just as fire turns wood into heat and light. Healthy agni is synonymous with a hearty appetite, radiant skin, enthusiasm and an abundance of energy. Like other fire, agni needs proper fuel and tending to burn optimally. Without fuel--food-- the flame of agni will grow small and disappear. On the other hand, an excess of heavy, hard-to-burn foods will smother the fire, generating unwanted byproducts--picture a fire fed with wet cardboard sending off a plume of thick black smoke. The physiological equivalent of such smoke and soot is known as aam, and it lies at the root of many types of ill health. Over time Aam can accumulate and cause a sense of heaviness, fatigue, sticky and smelly feces, foul breath, diminished appetite and a host of other symptoms. Aam clogs the system and undermines our bodily intelligence.
When this happens it can change the nature of our cravings, from natural balance-maintaining urges to perverse once that perpetuate imbalance. For example, a healthy person with slightly high kapha but no aam may crave hot, spicy food and bitter greens, both of which will help to reduce kapha and restore balance. However if the same person has an aam condition, his natural bodily intelligence may become distorted. He may crave ice cream and sweets, even though he doesn’t have the agni to digest them thoroughly.
Agni and aam are two sides of the same coin: without strong agni, aam develops; without aam, agni is free to burn hot and clean. However, agni is vulnerable not only to aam but also to the three doshas.
Types of Agni
There are four classifications of agni, although most people will experience some combination.
The idea type of agni is sama agni, balanced digestion. Those with sama agni can digest almost anything and experience no gas, bloating, or discomfort after eating. They get hungry at regular intervals but not so intensely that they cannot function if they skip a meal. Sama agni is closely associated with a balanced state of the doshas and is both a cause and an effect of good health.
Each of the other types of agni is connected with an imbalance of each of the three doshas:
Vishama agni is agni affected by Vata, the airy humour. Vata affects agni like a wind does a fire, sometimes causing it to flare up and other times nearly extinguishing the flame. Vishama means “irregular,” and those with vishama agni may get intensely hungry or may forget to eat for a day or more at a time. Their digestive capacity is often limited so they may eat more than they can properly digest. They usually have sensitive digestion, and can feel off if they don’t eat the right thing at the right time. In general, those with vishama agni should take care to eat a Vata-pacifying diet and to eat regular, small-to-moderate size meals without snacking in between. Establishing regular dietary habits and controlling Vata are key to bringing vishama agni back to balance.
Tikshna agni is associated with high Pitta, the force of fire. Tikshna means sharp, and those with tikshna agni tend to get extremely hungry and burn through their food quickly, as a hot fire that requires frequent feeding. They are prone to hyperacidity and burning pain during digestion or elimination and are intolerant of missing a meal. Tiskhna agni can handle heavy, relatively hard-to-digest foods like dairy products and meat and indeed need sweet and heavy foods to cool their fire. A generally Pitta-pacifying diet is appropriate for them.
Manda agni is Kapha-type digestion. Kapha affects agni like damp weather does a fire. This kind of agni is sluggish, so those with manda agni find it easy to gain weight and hard to lose it. They can often get by eating only one meal a day, and if they eat heavy, greasy food they may feel like it lingers in their stomachs for hours. Those with manda agni should eat lightly and sparingly and favor Kapha-reducing foods. It those with manda agni for whom standard western dietary advice is often most appropriate.
Stoking Agni
According Ayurveda, a marked lack of appetite and chronic digestive issues are signs that agni is low. Whatever your agni type (see above), low agni needs to be treated just as you would tend a tiny flame when trying to build a fire. If starved for too long, any fire will go out. Yet a small flame cannot handle too much fuel, or too heavy or wet fuel, at one time. Just as you would build a fire by feeding it increasingly larger sticks, your internal fire needs to be fed conservatively at first, then with gradually more substantial foods until finally it burns hot and clean. Let your appetite and intuition be your guide as you work on building your agni. Practice eating light foods in moderate quantities, and stop eating before you feel completely full. Favor warm, cooked foods, especially vegetables and whole grains. Soups, stews and other one-pot meals are excellent food for agni. Perhaps the best possible such dish is called kichari, made of split mung beans (mung dal) and basmati rice stewed together with spices and vegetables.
A simple home remedy to boost agni is a home-made ginger pickle: grate a couple inches of freshly peeled ginger and season to taste with lemon or lime juice, honey, and rock salt (kaalo naamak). Eat a small spoonful of this before meals, or treat it like a condiment. A stronger herbal combo for lighting the fire of agni is chitrakaadi vati, while hingwashtak churna (along with some Shankha bhasma, perhaps) is the formula of choice for low agni with signs of Vata.
Source: Ayur Info 2067
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