Ayurveda — the knowledge of life — is India's classical medical system, set out in the Charaka Samhita, the Sushruta Samhita and the Ashtanga Hridayam. It is a recognised system of medicine in India, regulated under the Ministry of Ayush, with formal degree courses and licensed practitioners.
Ayurveda describes three functional principles arising from the five elements. Everyone has all three; the proportion is held to be individual and to shape both constitution and vulnerability.
The dietary principle is that like increases like, and opposites balance. Vata is settled by warm, moist, oily, grounding food and unsettled by raw, cold and dry. Pitta is settled by cooling, sweet and bitter food and aggravated by chilli, sour, fried and fermented. Kapha is settled by light, warm, spiced and dry food and aggravated by heavy, oily, sweet and cold.
Beyond type, the general guidance is consistent and sensible: eat fresh food cooked that day, make the midday meal the largest, eat at regular times, eat sitting down and without distraction, and stop before you are full.
Rise before sunrise. Empty the bowels. Scrape the tongue. Oil pulling. Warm water. Abhyanga, self-massage with warm oil, which is genuinely one of the most pleasant and useful things in the whole system. Exercise or yoga. Bathe. Eat at settled times. Sleep by ten.
Very little of that requires belief in dosha theory to be worth doing.
The classical five-action purification programme — vamana, virechana, basti, nasya and raktamokshana — preceded by oleation and sweating. It is an intensive medical procedure, not a spa treatment, and should only be undertaken under a qualified practitioner's supervision at a properly run centre.
Two real cautions. Some traditional bhasma preparations contain heavy metals — lead, mercury, arsenic — and studies of products sold in India and abroad have repeatedly found significant levels. Buy only from reputable licensed manufacturers, and never from an unregulated source.
Second, herbal preparations interact with conventional drugs. Tell your doctor everything you are taking. This matters especially with blood thinners, diabetes medication and thyroid treatment.
This site is a personal account and a record of traditional practice, shared for information. It is not medical advice, not a diagnosis, and not a treatment for any disease. I am not a doctor.
If you are unwell — and especially if you have a serious illness such as cancer, diabetes or heart disease — please stay under the care of a qualified physician. Nothing here should replace or delay that care.