What happens when you eat or The Mechanics of Ayurvedic Digestion

Proper digestion of food is the foundation of our health. But what does proper digestion mean in ayurvedic terms and what does it entail? Vaidya Mishra offers a very specific and clear answer. Click here to hear Vaidya Mishra explain the details of the ayurvedic digestive process. But do we every stop to think about what triggers digestion? How does our body “know” when to start the process of digestion?
The SVA tradition reminds us that the process of human digestion is initiated even before you put something into your mouth! When you see and smell the food, your body already prepares itself by sending signals to your different brain centers. The brain then triggers the release of specialized chemicals that will help in the break-down, digestion, and absorption of your food. We have all experienced this. Remember what happens when you look at pickles? Your mouth automatically produces more saliva to coat the spice, salt and sour that is coming in with the pickle! Or the feeling of content in your heart when you see or smell a freshly baked hot-from the-oven cake?

This is your brain sending signals to your digestive system based on what the senses are gathering. Science confirms the fact that digestion begins with the sight and smell of food and calls this stage of digestion “cephalic phase” (cephalic means that which has to do with the head). This phase occurs before food enters the stomach and is very important because it readies the body for eating and digestion. The sight and thought of the food stimulate our cerebral cortex. Then the taste and smell of our food are sent to yet other specialized parts of our brain, the hypothalamus (this is a small chamber in our brain that connects the nervous system to the endocrine system) and the medulla (this part of the brain deals with the cardiac, respiratory, vomiting, and involuntary functions, such as breathing, heart-rate, blood pressure). When the cerebral cortext, the medula and the hypothalamus receive all this information they adjust their functions and ready the physiology in all its aspects to enhance the secretion of gastric juices and enzymes.
Ayurveda also explains this complex system of digestion in detail.Vaidya Mishra’s lineage, Shaka Vansiya Ayurveda, likens the digestive system to a burner and uses the analogy to its fullest to explain its different components. This is how Vaidya Kameshwar Mishra explained the digestive process to his interning son, Vaidya Ramakant Mishra, when his college teacher was unable to explain and elucidate the difference between Pachak Pitta and Pachak Agni….

SV Ayurveda likens the stomach to a ‘burner’ – imagine a burner as the one in your kitchen stove on which you cook everyday. In order to function and cook food placed on top of it, your burner needs fuel. Our stomach supplies such fuel (gastric acid, pepsin, digestive enzymes). In ayurveda, the fuel of this burner is called “pachak pitta.” How do you ignite this fuel? When your brain receives the signal that food is coming, it starts releasing pachak pitta in the stomach cavity which amounts to lowering the stomach pH so that the “cooking of the ingested food” can be initiated. This produces a flame/fire called “pachak agni” or “jathar agni” which is responsible for transforming the food that was ingested. This phase is called the gastric phase (or the stomach phase) that takes approximately 3-4 hours to complete! At this point in the stomach we have food, we have gastric and digestive juices (pachak pitta), a lowered pH (1-3), and automatic reflexes that churn the food breaking it down into smaller molecules and particles and this constitutes the pachak agni, the actual cooking activity.

SVA highlights that in order to support this highly sophisticated activity of eating and digesting food, of maintaining the proper balanced activity of Pachak Agni and Pachak Pitta in the burner, the gap, it is necessary to chew well, and helpful to eat in silence because chewing helps to break down the food by mixing it in with the digestive fluids found in the saliva, because unlike some other species, for humans, digestion begins in the oral cavity or the mouth. We secrete large amounts of saliva every day (1-1.5 litres/day). This saliva helps moisten the food and it contains digestive enzymes which aid in the chemical breakdown of complex molecules. The tongue helps form the food into a ball and pushes it to the back of the mouth and then down the esophagus where it is ready to be broken down by the stomach. Keeping silence helps to focus on the food. It gives the brain the opportunity to put undivided attention to govern all the activities in the mouth, the esophagus, the burner, or the digestive gaps. When the brain’s attention is not divided by other activities, then it can better determine how much flame needs to be given during the process of digestion. The brain then knows best what to do if there are problems arising due to either the food that was ingested (if it needs more breaking down if it is too rich in fat or protein) or if the digestion is slow because the individual is tired(not sleeping enough and working too much) or undergoing emotional stress etc. If digestion is slow due to heavy foods, it may also be due to the lack of proper spicing and cooking or the quality of the food or the quantity of the food, or the temperature of the food. This is where the concept of Ama comes in. The vedic shastras (ancient classical texts) say that no physical disease can happen without Ama hence one of the synonyms of disease is “amaya” (full of ama).

What are some ayurvedic digestive imbalances?
There can be 3 kinds of imbalances that the flame can have due to problems in the fuel or the burner. Click here to listen to Vaidya explain these.
For example,  if the fuel is less in quantity or the burner is clogged (different parts of the stomach are not functioning optimally) or both then the flame, the Agni (overall cooking process) will be low. This state is called Mandagni – or low Agni. In this case, when the food reaches the stomach without proper spicing that would correct that condition, then whatever portion of the food is not cooked properly will result in Ama. Proper spicing can help this situation very easily as different spices can help with different parts of the digestive process – some enhance the Pachak Pitta, others correct the Pachak Agni, others yet just clean the gaps on the burner to let the Pachak Pitta and Pachak Agni interact and do their job better in a cleaner environment! Modern nutraceutical science promotes high nutrient content diets across the board for all individuals. For example, brown rice. Brown rice contains more nutrients than white rice but then what happen when somebody has low Agni? When they eat heavier food that their stomach cannot fully properly digest, it will remain semi-digested, that is they will produce ama (semi-digested toxins) out of the nutrients in brown rice. In the case of Mandagni or the slow flame, SV Ayurveda gives specific recommendations for spices based on specific body types, age, climate, or season, and even ethnic background. Taking care of Mandagni or low agni situation through recommending spices is easier than other conditions Common helpful spices for Mandagni are: fresh ginger, sunthi(pitta-pacifying ginger), black pepper corns, long pepper (pippali), green thai chilies, ajwain seeds, cumin seeds.  But recommending these spices to all low Agni or Mandagni people would be dangerous in the situation where the person is either high Pitta by Prakriti (natal constitution), or if the Pitta is aggravated and accumulated in the stomach or the Sandhi (gap) or the burner is clogged, due to vibrational toxins (resulting from emotional or other non-material stress).  Unlike mainstream Ayurveda, SV Ayurveda identifies this condition called “High Pitta Low Agni” and has remedies to help balance it preventing further digestive and emotional aggravation. If an individual has high Pitta low Agni when the fuel is hot and the flame is low, then all the above spices will heat up the Pitta even more and create aggravation (desire to eat more but ability to digest less and less resulting in heaviness, fatigue, acidity, heartburn, emotional upset). In this situation, SVA recommends spices such as fennel, coriander to cook with. Clove is also very good for high Pitta and low Agni situations. but in very moderate doses. As far as turmeric, the king of spices goes, it has to be used in high Pitta low Agni with lots of coriander and fennel.
Connecting the mind and the stomach, that is keeping your attention on the eating process and not on TV or a conversation or reading a book is also recommended in Ayurveda. In ayurvedic terms, the mobility factor in the our bodies is call the Vata Dosha. The Vata Dosha helps to move things where they are meant to go. It supplies the air principle to our physiology. It has many subcategories. During digestion, it is important to keep Prana Vata (that runs the brain activity) and Samana vata (that keeps activity in the stomach going) balanced and coordinated, since the brain always commands the conversion and flow of the flame as modern science also recognizes. Hear more about the sub-doshas with Vaidya Mishra, click here

Tips for connecting Samana and Prana Vata :
when you eat, keep your spine straight to allow for the optimal flow of Prana Vata to the stomach area and also to give better room for Samana Vata to do its job. If you are having trouble with your circulatory vibrational channels, you can use Vaidya Mishra’s Supersport Transdermal cream on the spine or Supersport spray on the stomach (apply in clockwise motion) before food.