“I have been practicing the 2500-year-old Siddha Veda lineage. Thirty-two years ago when I started practicing it with my late husband Dr. Pankaj Naram, I experienced unbelievable results from its ancient healing techniques. Together we trained 50 western medical doctors and also published research papers in the US and Europe. This inspired me on the journey to propagating Ayurvedic healing techniques and following Siddha Veda,” shares Dr. Smita Naram, Co-Founder of the Ayushakti ayurvedic clinic.
The treatment centre has 150 plus clinics worldwide, and three hospitals and resorts in Mumbai, Goa and Germany. Dr. Naram calls attention to three most important steps in being healthier. She says it is very vital to balance our doshas, pitta, kapha and vata in our body, and make sure that digestion is optimum so that whatever we consume reaches every cell. How do we do that? By detoxing.
For example, Jane who Dr. Naram encountered in London was riddled with arthritis. Her doctors also gave her a grim BP and heart diagnosis. She chose Ayushakti to get out of the miasma that was her physical health, where allopathic medications would have to be used persistently with probable side effects. Naram diagnosed Jane as having a lot of vata (air and dryness). Her knees had been on the path to degeneration because the toxins, due to too much vata, were blocking nourishment to her knees.
With Naram’s treatment plan, eventually Jane was able to walk, use the stairs, and sleep without the agonizing aches. It’s been 20 years since the treatment and today, Jane has no arthritis or BP. Her friends have not been so lucky. They have had hip and knee replacements, the whole hog. “People nowadays are so busy with their fast-moving lives that they neglect their health and their problems become chronic. The wrong food and lifestyle deplete metabolism, and slow digestion causes toxins and inflammation.”
Detoxing is potent
Seconds Ravi Dixit, Joint Director at Kaivalyadhama, “Detox is necessary because toxins accumulate, eventually turning into disease.” Referring to crucial bodily parts like the liver, Dixit says, “Good food full of fibre is what organs like the liver need. Fibre reduces cholesterol and improves the excretory system. It’s important to eat wholesome carbs, for example unpolished rice and whole wheat. Twenty or thirty years ago fibre was thought to be useless and removed from food. But then research showed it cleanses.”
Dixit recommends eating the fruit without peeling off the skin and stocking up on hearty multigrain atta. No maida shares the wise Kaivalyadhama Joint Director. Naram also speaks about not putting things mindlessly into the body. “Include gluten free and dairy free products and avoid red meat and refined sugar,” she says. Like Dixit, Naram is a believer of robust eating – eating whole foods. Are you ready to make these “small changes” they ask.
Talking about herbal cures that go hand in hand with Ayurveda, Dixit is of the view that wonder herbs like giloy, which you can mix with your amla juice, triphala, and shankhpushpi can be used with food to enhance health and to achieve ‘mitahar’ – that is moderate and balanced nutrition. Dr. Naram also recommends using her herbal formulae which she says can be clubbed with her variegated diet plans.
So how does one do the famed detox? Naram recommends a five day moong and vegetable diet to detox successfully. The diet is ‘initiated’ by drinking only ginger water on Day One. (Boil one litre of water with dry ginger and keep sipping the detox warm throughout the day).
From Day 2 to 5 it’s only moong and vegetable soup throughout the day – to be eaten when hungry. Vegetables one can include are bottle gourd, pumpkin, Padwal (Pointed Gourd), zucchini, carrots and tendli (Ivy Gourd). The soup can also be seasoned with condiments like cumin, coriander seeds, fennel seeds, turmeric, ginger, garlic, and garam masala for that extra something to give you instant stimulation and nurture. Naram has suggested this plan to patients who want to lose belly fat.
A dawn smoothie for better resistance
So far enough has been said about immunity boosting. It’s now time to implement. If the past year has taught us anything, it is that taking care of ourselves, instilling some self-love is topmost priority.
Smoothies are something many of us have adopted as part of our morning brekkies or evening in-between fillers, and Naram suggests a morning smoothie recipe. This can kickstart a day that can otherwise be dull and without inspiration. The smoothie method which is a concoction of vegetable and fruit juices, dates, nuts, seeds and spices promises huge amounts of liveliness and vitality. Try it. There’s nothing to lose! All it requires is a little bit of pottering around in the kitchen.
Smoothie Recipe:
Carrot juice (1/2 glass), pomegranate juice (1/4 glass), beetroot or spinach juice (1/2 glass), soaked almonds – 10, dates – 4 (optional), walnuts (5), a peeled cardamom, flaxseeds (1 teaspoon), a little ginger paste (1/2 teaspoon), and fresh turmeric (2 inches) (or turmeric powder – 1 teaspoon). Blend all together.
