- Oct 4, 2024
Mind Your Gut and THAT 4-Letter Word
- Mirabelle D'Cunha
- 0 comments
Energy is the ultimate currency of life.
Without energy, we cannot enjoy success, wealth, travel, education, sex, and even spiritual connection. Depleted energy dampens the savouring of our choicest life experiences.
Our bodies receive energy through the intake of breath. Aerobic respiration combusts food into ATP (adenosinetriphosphate) in the mitochondria of our cells to release energy. We can safely say that the end product of optimal digestion is resources to produce, maintain, and elevate energy. It is this energy that fuels and supports the fruition of our desires. Therefore, understanding and optimizing both breathing and digestion are of priority.
We know, that stress depletes energy and leaves us feeling disempowered. An NIH study* showed that during acute mental stress, the energy consumption of the human brain increases by 12%, and cognition is negatively impacted. We also know that with the activation of the stress response, particularly fight or flight, the body diverts resources to the limbs for survival and digestive functions take a backseat.
A few months ago, I was talking to my neuroscientist friend, Dr. Abha Rajbhandari from Mount Sinai, New York City. She had just returned from a neuroscience conference. She mentioned how the latest research was showing that the onset of both Parkinson's and Alzheimer's takes place in the gut ten years before it manifests in the brain or as visibly diagnosable. I said to her "That's because @#$% is out of whack. Āyurveda has said this and explained the process 5000 years ago." I was amazed that this was all new to neuroscientists! That was the genesis of my inner call to write this article.
So is there a deeper relationship between mental health and digestion?
Does poor mental health cause poor digestion and disease or vice versa?
Mind your gut and that 4 letter word, is an attempt to provide a concise view of the relationship between mental health and gut health through the lens of Āyurveda.
What is Āyurveda? How does it define health? Why does it matter?
The ancient science of Āyurveda expounds on the timeless laws of energy that support health, mitigate disease, and support the longevity of both youthfulness and energy. These eternal laws were downloaded in meditation by Indian seers and rishis over 5000 years ago, passed on by oral tradition, and later documented in texts.
Āyurveda provides us with a spectacular and comprehensive understanding of health and the impact of both food and life experiences on our health, including our mental health. It is only recently that Western science has begun to speak and research gut health and it is barely scratching the surface of what Āyurveda has known for millennia.
Let's start with the definition of health according to Āyurveda given by Charaka and Vagbhata in Sutrasthana
समदोष: समधातु समाग्निश्चा मलक्रियः
प्रसन्नात्मेंद्रियामन: स्वस्थ इत्याभिधियते II
For brevity, I am simplifying this definition to say that
"Health is not just the absence of disease. Health is a state in which the inherent tendencies within us that cause imbalance, are brought into balance, there is digestive agility, proper and regular elimination of bodily wastes, the sensory and motor organs and mind are pleasant and the person experiences ease, sweetness, and contentment in body, mind, and spirit."
Through the modern medical lens, till at least a decade ago, health is the absence of disease. What we call healthcare is actually disease management. Even if we look at the WHO definition of health "Health is a state of complete physical, mental, and social well-being and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity.", we see it is nowhere as comprehensive as that of Āyurveda.
While I have great respect for the place of both modern medicine and Āyurveda and other whole-systems approaches to health, I think it's obvious that the definition of health that Āyurveda offered us more than 5000 years ago is comprehensive.
Q: Ok, so are you going to tell me about this 4 letter word?
A: Of course. The crux of understanding health and coming to our fullest potential rests on the quality of this four-letter word
#$%^
AGNI
(pronounced ugh-knee)
The literal translation of Agni is fire.
We can say Agni is digestive fire.
But it's deeper than that.
Agni as fire represents the principle of transformation.
Whatever you put into fire, can never go back to being what it was before. Burning something in a fire is an irreversible process.
The state of our Agni, determines
how we burn, process, and metabolize our food a.k.a digestion
how our senses process experiences
how our brain processes information
how we digest life experiences resulting in confusion or clarity
how we transform experiences into catalysts for coming into our full physical, mental, and spiritual potential
Q: So what does Agni have to do with Mental Health?
All experiences in life go through a simple 3 stage process: reception, processing, and elimination.
This is obvious for food. We eat, we digest, and we eliminate wastes.
With other experiences, the quality of our agni determines
our openness to experiences (new information, people, places, environments, beliefs etc)
the ability we have to assimilate the best of what they have to offer us
our ability to discard what doesn't serve us. (depleting energies, people, jobs, relationships, limiting beliefs etc)
Let me give you a concrete example of myself. Many years ago, I had no idea about Agni and mental health. I was exploring all kinds of food processes from vegetarianism (I was raised as a hardcore carnivore), raw food, sattvic food, veganism, etc, and psychology and meditation for mental health. One pattern that was consistent in my life experiences, was that of defensiveness. If someone pointed out something with the best intentions, I would turn defensive and feel like
they're criticizing, attacking, or judging me
I'm not good enough
they are the problem
I knew I had to learn how to take feedback, but despite my best intentions, I couldn't.
Imbalanced Agni = inability to receive (food, feedback, or experiences)
I could literally not digest the feedback no matter how much the person who shared it cared for me. That meant I eliminated whatever someone said to me, even if it could help me. I also held on tightly to defensiveness and self-justification (any wonder I used to suffer from constipation)
Now that agni is usually in a state of balance due to education and discipline (self-love) here's what is more likely to happen when someone provides feedback
I feel open
I assimilate what is helpful.
I eliminate with ease what seems to come from personal misperceptions of the other or myself.
I feel grateful for the opportunity that someone pointed out a limiting pattern or behaviour. There is a felt sense of appreciation for the person. There is a love for both myself and my desire to grow. It is a beautiful contented feeling I can feel in my body and a simple note is made in the system to watch out for opportunities to hack this pattern.
The desire for this was ALWAYS there. But I couldn't JUST DO IT! Perhaps you resonate.
PS: You may enjoy this short article by a 42-year-old lawyer who had IBS on her understanding and experience of IBS on mental health and vice versa.
Q: Is my Agni out of balance? How will I know?
These are some symptoms of agni out of balance:
Emotional imbalance: Anxiety, irritability, depression, and mood swings.
Stubborn belly fat despite dieting and exercise
Carbohydrate cravings, low or high blood sugar, inability to miss a meal
Digestive issues: Indigestion, bloating, gas, constipation, diarrhea, nausea, IBS and acid reflux.
Lack of energy: Fatigue, lethargy, and weakness.
Mental fog: Difficulty concentrating, poor memory, and lack of clarity.
Skin problems: Acne, rashes, eczema, and other skin conditions.
Weight issues: Unexplained weight gain or loss.
Low energy, foggy brain, and fatigue relieved by eating
Immune problems: Frequent infections, allergies, and a general sense of being unwell.
Female hormone imbalances from PMS, PCOS, to endometriosis, to hormone-related acne
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Auto-immune conditions
Q: Ok, I have some of these symptoms, but I still can't make sense of this. Can you explain more?
Of course. Here's a simple way to understand. As I mentioned, Agni in the gut is digestive fire.
Imagine it as a real fire in a stove in your belly.
If the flame is weak and you add some steak and kale salad, both of which are hard to digest, they will take ages to cook (digest). But then you may have heard it's good to keep grazing throughout the day, so two hours later, you snack on some yogurt or nuts. Then you eat your next meal. All of this sits on the weak flame in your gut for hours. Undigested, it ferments causing gas and bloating. There is no quality nutritional absorption. This fermentation compounds over time causing toxicity.
Of course, you may have a strong agni, in which case whatever you put into the fire will combust/metabolize and even burn the excessive heat destroying the nutrients.
Or you may have a balanced, optimal fire. Where the food cooks evenly, and is warm, soft, and easily digestable. Nutrients are absorbed easily and excesses are eliminated easily.
Q: How do I bring Agni into balance? How long does it take? Do I have to eat Indian food or become vegetarian?
Agni can be brought into balance by honouring circadian rhythms, and dietary and lifestyle choices. This is simple but not simplistic and for brevity, I'm keeping it out of this article.
Depending on the condition of one's agni and willingness to give up short-term gratification for long-term gain, it can take between 9 weeks to 6 months on an extreme.
And before you ask, No, you don't have to eat Indian food or be vegetarian. :)
You do need to love yourself enough or be desperate enough to be well or be uncompromising about the standard of energy and life you want for yourself.
Q: Once my agni is in balance, how long will it stay like that?
Once Agni is in balance, you will need to keep it in balance. You will know how incredible it feels. You can make choices that wouldn't support your agni, simply because you want the pleasure or taste profile of some foods or experiences. That is totally fine, as long as for the most part, you honour what keeps your Agni in balance.
Q: Is there scientific evidence for this from Western science?
The bidirectional link between the brain, gut, and microbiome has come to the forefront of the medical research community in the past few years. At the end of this article, I have provided some research papers exploring this.
Having a research microbiologist for a mother means I have been fascinated by biology since I was a young girl. Given my upbringing, I looked for answers in Western medicine for years, reading incessantly and being confused by confounding information from leading doctors and scientists.
My observation is that scientific research is valuable and necessary and yet often contradictory and complicated focussing on minute reactions and missing the whole-systems approach. This makes it hard for normal people to understand and implement. What I found in Āyurveda both in terms of science, practical application, simplicity, and results has met my personal standards for health, energy, and simplicity so I can have more time to enjoy life.
End Notes
About 2 years ago, I introduced Agni Balancing as a fundamental tenant of my Breathe Into A Radiant You signature program that supports people with anxiety, burnout, insomnia, or conditions that debilitate them. The effects have been profound. (You can watch some video testimonials of the profound changes that Agni-Balancing brings clients here). As more and more people are open to integrative wellness, I felt the call to share more, for education and awareness and also so those who cannot access programs like this for financial reasons, can have access to this life-changing knowledge.
This article is a personal exposition of my studied and lived experience of Āyurveda. I aim to educate, create awareness, and evoke a thirst in you to open to a more expansive understanding of health so you are exposed to a new pathway of looking at yourself, your health, and this great gift called life.
Disclaimer: I am not an Āyurvedic doctor. I have studied traditional Āyurveda with Dr. Manjunath Gururaj of SVYASA University, Bangalore and a simpler algorithmic approach to Āyurveda from Dr. Kesarkar. My 1:1 work with clients in the BIRY program stems from these studies. In more serious cases, I refer clients to Āyurvedic doctor (vaidya) teachers.
References