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Maintaining Prostate Health the Ayurvedic Way:
Prostate Health - A Powerful Approach
Prostate health can become a serious issue for men in their middle
age. According to recent statistics, prostate enlargement is found in
50 percent of American men in their sixties, and up to 90 percent of
men in their seventies and eighties. Worse, prostate cancer is the
second leading cause of death by cancer in men, with about 80 percent
of all cases of prostate cancer occurring in men over sixty-five.
Even though the prostate seems to be an older man's health problem,
these imbalances begin much earlier in life. The good news is that
following an appropriate diet and routine and taking appropriate
herbal supplements can all help keep the prostate healthy and
functioning well.
The Ayurvedic Perspective
There are many reasons why prostate problems develop. One is overuse
of Shukra Dhatu, or overuse of the sexual organs. Another is lack of
adequate fluids in the body, due to not drinking enough water during
the day. Habitually suppressing the natural urge to urinate also can,
over time, cause the urine to become more concentrated and, in turn,
irritates the prostate.
Drinking too much alcohol or caffeinated beverages can also cause an
imbalance. Alcohol, for instance, creates an abnormal increase in
urine production, which aggravates Pitta and Vata doshas.
Even your job can be a source of imbalance. If you have to sit for
long periods of time without taking a break or stretching, this can
create an imbalance in the reproductive area of the body. Not getting
daily exercise, or eating a diet that creates impurities (ama) in the
body, are other causes of prostate problems. If your diet does not
contain spices that purify the urine daily (such as turmeric, cumin
and fennel), that can also cause toxins to build up that lead to
imbalances or infection.
Finally, if you don't have a healthy daily routine, for instance, if
you watch TV late at night or for other reasons don't sleep enough,
or if you don't eat meals on time or your routine is very irregular,
that can also cause ama to build up and disturb the immune system.
One main factor tying all the above together is ama. Ama refers to
the sticky impurities that are created when digestion is weak and
food is not digested completely. Now, aging itself can create some
weakening of the digestion, but most ama is created by poor dietary
and lifestyle habits already mentioned-eating foods that are old and
heavy or eating meals at irregular times of the day.
Vata dosha increases as we age. The later part of life is actually
known as the Vata Kala (or Vata time of life) in Maharishi Ayurveda.
Because Vata dosha is irregular, dry, and moving by nature, it can
cause the digestion to become more irregular. This contributes to
more ama being produced and spreading to the tissues.
If the person also has an imbalance in Shleshaka Kapha (the subdosha
of Kapha that governs lubrication of the joints, body fluids, and
moisture balance in the skin), and ama is accumulating in the body
fluids due to dietary mistakes, then Shleshaka Kapha and ama gets
mixed with urine, creating a more irritated situation and further
weakening the immune system.
The Ayurvedic Solution
Maharishi Ayurveda tries to support health on all fronts: by
balancing Apana Vata, the subdosha of Vata related to the downward
flow of energy such as occurs with urination, stopping ama from being
produced, strengthening the immune system, and cleansing the urine
and nutrient fluid, and cleansing the blood, muscle and fat tissues
of ama, and cleansing Shleshaka Kapha of shleshma.
Here are ten tips from Vaidya Mishra, Director of Research and
Development at Maharishi Ayurveda Products International, Inc., for a
balanced prostate:
Drink lots of water throughout the day, in between meals. This will
keep the urine from becoming too concentrated. If you add some herbs
to the water, it will flush out toxins, dissolve ama in the blood
tissue and help purify the urine. Here's a recipe: Boil two quarts of
water and put the water in a thermos flask. Add three leaves of holy
basil, 1/3 t. fennel seed, 1/4 t. coriander seed, and six white
pumpkin seeds or six fresh cucumber seeds. Keep drinking this water
throughout the day, but stop drinking it after 7:00 p.m... Stay away
from fluids at night if you have a prostate problem, as a full
bladder at night can cause pressure on the prostate and disturb your
sleep with the need to get up frequently to urinate.
Each time you urinate, take the necessary time to empty your bladder
completely. Because the urethra (the passageway through which the
urine drains from the body) is already narrow, when there is some
enlargement of the prostate, the urinary channel becomes even
narrower. If you are in too much of a hurry, all of the urine might
not be drained from the bladder. This is not a good thing, because
the urine becomes more concentrated if it is not drained from the
bladder each time you urinate. So take the time to empty the bladder
completely.
Avoid drinking alcohol, because it creates imbalances in the blood
tissue, as does caffeine. Both of these create abnormal urine
production and irritate the bladder as well.
If you have to sit all day at your job, take short breaks frequently
and try to stretch or take a short walk. This will restore the normal
flow of energy, blood, and nutrient fluid to the prostate area.
When the weather is cold, take care to keep your head, neck, and body
warm. If your body temperature drops, it leads to urine retention,
which aggravates the prostate. So keep your body temperature in a
moderate range.
Make sure that your bowel movements are regular. Constipation creates
an obstruction in Apana Vata, in turn creating pressure on the
prostate, increasing ama in the blood tissues, and creating excessive
dryness in the whole area. To help with regular elimination, try
having a stewed apple in the morning for breakfast with stewed figs,
raisins, or prunes. You can also add more fiber and cooked vegetables
to your diet, and have 2-4 teaspoons of psyllium seed husk with warm
milk or water at night before going to bed. If these measures don't
work, take 2-4 Herbal Cleanse tablets before bed with water.
Daily abhyanga or oil massage pacifies Apana Vata, and that is always
good. Massage the hands and feet, in particular, as an effective
preventative.
If you are having trouble sleeping at night, be sure to correct the
underlying imbalance. If you are not able to fall asleep, take
Blissful Sleep I for Vata imbalance that causes this problem. If you
wake up between 2:00 and 4:00 a.m. with lots of energy, this is a
Pitta imbalance, and Blissful Sleep II can help.
Eat foods that are tri-doshic, which means that they pacify all three
doshas. These include soaked walnuts and soaked almonds. Avoid foods
that aggravate any one of the doshas: food that is too dry, too oily,
too greasy, too cold or too hot, too spicy or not spicy enough. Avoid
extremes.
Include lots of sweet, juicy fruits in your diet, as these help
nourish the Rasa Dhatu (the nutrient fluid), purify the urine and
help maintain a healthy flow of urine. They also create ojas,
improving immunity and enhancing cellular intelligence. If stewed or
cooked until they are soft, they are not only pacifying to Apana
Vata, but also to Pitta dosha. They make an ideal breakfast when
combined with prunes, figs, and raisins. If you have a Kapha
imbalance, you can eat sweet, juicy fruits raw, but even then you
should avoid eating raw fruit after sunset, as the digestion is not
as strong after the sun goes down.
Note : This ayurvedic information is educational and is not intended
to replace standard medical care or advice.
Copyright MAPI, 2002.
For more information on Ayurveda or to subscribe to free newsletters,
plaese visit http://www.mapi.com
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