Ayurveda and superfood
Throughout history, every civilisation has had its own idea of what superfood is. For modern man it is some capsule with which he will survive in the cosmos, in airless space; for the French kings it was wine — the drink of the gods, which gave them “courage” and “creativity”; for the Roman soldier it was wheat, which provided the fuel for a 30-kilometre march under full battle gear; for the Maya and the Inca it was cacao with its theobromine (Theo — God, broma — food, hence food of the gods); for the Chinese, ginseng, and so on.
So: different people, different temperaments, different views of the world. And the notion that something is “super” or “anti-super” depends directly on a person’s understanding of themselves and of the world around them. Ayurveda views the human being as a small universe — a microcosm — which ultimately strives to attain eternity, immortality in complete Unity with the whole cosmos — the macrocosm. That is why, in ayurveda, the superfoods that are celebrated are those foods that most help a person on the path towards immortality and perfect health. Their general name is “rasayana”.
What are rasayanas?
The pillar of ayurvedic prevention consists of special herbal formulas called rasayanas (rasa — the vital juice, ayana — that which brings, that which introduces). Accordingly, a rasayana is that which creates the perfect vital juice (the perfect rasa).
Ancient texts describe many foods that act as rasayanas, and there are also particular recipes for herbal or herbal-mineral preparations. These preparations are made from specially selected plants and are prepared according to recipes that are often many thousands of years old. According to ayurveda, rasayanas bring people legendary benefits such as:
- preventing premature ageing,
- longevity,
- the growth of intelligence, strength and vitality.
The purpose of rasayanas is to prevent illness and in that way help every person attain the four aims of life:
- Duty (Dharma)
- Wealth (Artha)
- Pleasures (Kama)
- Liberation (Moksha)
Individual foods — rasayanas
Compound rasayanas have a much stronger and deeper effect than individual foods, but some foods are easily available here in Serbia, and so it is practical to set out what the ancient sages say about their influence.
Milk (cow’s, goat’s — not plant milk)
Generally speaking, milk is sweet, fatty, cooling, refreshing, nourishing; it stimulates the libido, is good for the intelligence, gives strength, is useful for mental work, removes fatigue, cures bronchitis and dyspnoea; it helps wounds to heal and cures bleeding from various parts of the body (raktapitta). It is beneficial for all living beings and reduces and eliminates the doshas (impurities). Milk quenches thirst and improves the appetite. It is extremely useful in phthisis, anaemia, excess acidity, consumption, abdominal tumours, ascites, diarrhoea, fever, burning syndrome and especially oedema.
It also helps with diseases of the female genital tract, the male reproductive fluid, constipation and hard stools; it is beneficial for those suffering from vata and pitta disorders. Milk is good for inhalation, anointing, bathing, emesis, enema, for cleansing and for ointments.”
Charaka Samhita, Sutrasthana 1/105─113.
Naturally, this refers to non-homogenised, non-pasteurised, non-deodorised fresh milk from healthy, well-fed animals.
Clarified butter (ghee)
Ghee is purified butter. In earlier times it was made here so that larger quantities of butter would not go to waste. It has different properties from ordinary butter and can be kept for years in a clean vessel at room temperature. The older it is, the better (stronger) ghee is, and there is a belief that a drop of butter ten years old can bring a person back from a coma.
The Charaka Samhita states: “Ghee from cow’s milk strengthens the memory, intellect, the power of digestion, the semen, ojas, kapha and fat. It calms pitta, vata, poisonings, madness, consumption and fever. It is the best of all fatty substances. It is healthy, cooling and sweet. When used in the correct way, it increases its qualities a thousandfold and brings manifold benefits.”
Ch. S. ─ Sutrasthana XXVII/231─233.
Lassi, buttermilk
Lassi is a drink obtained by mixing fresh sour milk and water (in a ratio of 1:4). One of the ayurvedic aphorisms says that “not even Indra in the heavens has a drink such as lassi drunk after a meal.” Lassi is extremely useful for digesting food, thereby contributing to the removal of toxins and the building of all seven tissues, so that in an indirect sense it is a superfood — it helps us extract the maximum from the food we eat.
“Buttermilk is useful in oedema, haemorrhoids, sprue, anaemia, anuria, persistent abdominal disorders including ascites, anorexic anaemia, and poisons of the gara type. It is also used to calm complications arising from oil therapy.”
Ch. S. Sutrasthana
White gourd (pumpkin)
The gourd is known in ayurveda as a rasayana, because it has the property of flushing out and cleansing toxins, so it is most often recommended for inflammations and diseases of the kidneys and bladder. The pumpkin gives strength and builds all seven bodily tissues, calms the spirit, encourages beauty and longevity, and strengthens ojas (the life force).
Honey
In ayurveda, honey is mostly used as a medicine, in small quantities for people prone to gaining weight and accumulating mucus. It is a superfood for children and an excellent carrier of the medicinal properties of herbs and minerals, because it helps these precious substances pass through the intestinal wall and reach the deeper tissues and organs without major losses during their passage through the intestinal tract.
Naturally, there is also an abundance of other foods which, on some basis, for some people and in some circumstances, constitute superfood. These are, for example, dates, sweet oranges, ripe bananas, garlic, basmati rice, almonds, sesame, shatavari, ashwagandha, liquorice, sweet black grapes, and so on.
Compound rasayanas
The ancient sages developed particular rejuvenation procedures which allowed them to live for as long as they wished. These procedures of completely replacing all the cells and tissues in the body, known under the name kaya kalpa, were carried out under strictly controlled conditions and with the use of special superfood. Here is one illustration from the Charaka Samhita:
“For one year a person should tend a herd of cows and feed only on their products, and recite the Gayatri hymns three times a day (at dawn, noon and dusk). At the end of the year, he should find an amalaki tree, climb it and choose the largest and juiciest (sweetest) fruits. As many of those fruits as he eats, that many thousand years more he will live.”
There are also more rigorous methods in which, during the first three months, the nails, hair, teeth and so on fall out in turn, and during the following three months entirely new teeth, hair, nails and all the other organs and tissues grow, so that after six months a young man appears in place of an old one. This is, of course, hardly applicable today, but is offered simply so that the reader gains an insight into what is possible and what kinds of knowledge exist.
Today in Serbia we have two well-known and popular rasayanas — chyawanprash and triphala churna.
Chyawanprash
Chyawanprash is among the best-selling and most widely used rasayanas both in India and across the whole world. It came into being more than 3000 years ago thanks to the great sage Chyawana. According to the original ayurvedic text, the Charaka Samhita, chyawanprash is “the best of all rasayanas, especially for calming cough and asthma. It nourishes and strengthens the weak, the old, the wounded, and growing children.” By using this rasayana “a person gains a strong intellect, memory, bodily beauty, good health, longevity, strength of the sense organs, great pleasure in the company of the opposite sex, a strong agni (the digestive fire), and balance of the bodily energies (doshas).”
“Chyawanprash is an exceptional rasayana. It is especially useful in cough and dyspnoea, for the old, the sick and the worn-out, as well as for the development of children. It calms hoarseness of the voice, chest diseases, heart diseases, blood diseases caused by the vata dosha (vatarakta), thirst, and problems of the urine and semen. It should be taken in a dose that will not disturb digestion. By using this rasayana, the extremely old Chyawana regained his youth.”
Charaka Samhita, Chikitsasthana, chapter 1, verses 62 – 74
Triphala churna
The plants from which triphala is made have a great power which, through the use of this product, is transferred to us and becomes part of our protective potential. The three fruits contained in triphala (haritaki, amalaki and bibhitaki) correspond to the three fundamental principles of ayurvedic medicine (the three doshas).
Some scientific research and the practical experience of people who have used it over a number of years show that triphala effectively cleanses the blood, stimulates the secretion of bile by detoxifying the liver, aids digestion and assimilation, and significantly reduces cholesterol and the level of fats in the blood. As a result, it is considered a kind of universal remedy and is the most frequently prescribed herbal formula.
A popular saying in India goes: “Have you no mother? Do not worry, as long as you have triphala.” Indians believe that triphala is able to care for the body’s internal organs like a mother caring for her children. Each of the three fruits that make up triphala cares for the body by gently encouraging the internal cleansing of all states of stagnation and excess, while at the same time improving digestion and assimilation.
There are, of course, also a great many other rasayanas, such as for example brahma rasayana, various combinations of triphala with minerals and metals (shilajit, iron, gold, silver…), various formulas based on amalaki or haritaki, purified metals — “bhasmas” (from mercury, gold, silver, diamond and other precious stones) and many other fine things. In different climes, different things are available.
And yet, of all nourishing things, Charaka claims that the most nourishing is knowledge! That is, true, real knowledge, “worthy to be heard, learned and applied”, is the best rasayana for a healthy and long life.