What is Naturopathy?

Naturopathy is a science of holistic healing . Nature Cure or Naturopathy has its origin in the postscript of Ayurveda, "SwasthaVrutta". SwasthaVrutta advocates an ideal lifestyle, which enables a person to live for hundred years in his prime health. The contemporary 'Father of disease management'- Dr.Dean Ornish has proved through his decades of research that lifestyle modifications are equally important as medicine for treatment of chronic diseases. The theory that Reversal of Heart Diseases can be brought about through lifestyle changes is now accepted throughout the medical population.

Naturopathy is a system of healing with the help of Five Elements of Nature namely Sky or Space, Wind or Air, Fire or Sun, Water and Earth or Mud. As these five elements make-up the whole Universe , they make-up the Human Body too. They are present in fix proportion in the Universe, hence in our body too. Any change in this proportion would lead to the body scumbing to diseases. For example , rainy season will increase the humidity in air and therefore water content in the body will rise. Heamostasis would then start throwing away excess water from the cells, tissues, etc. If this process is hampered by either infrequent urination, low sweating due to use of air-conditioners, intake of high amount of liquids, etc. Then the body would scumb to cough, cold, fever, water-bourne diseases. Alternatively in summer, there will be increase in diseases due to excess heat like -eye infections, skin & hair problems, acidity, joint problems, etc.

Diet & Nutrition, Exercise, proper Sleep, calm Mind, good behaviour together with proper Daily Routine go a longway to keep diseases away. Naturopathy is science of prevention rather than cure. It is a Life-Style. Diet is the only medicine. Yoga, walking , cardio exercises , etc. are vital part of the daily routine. Diet & Exercise are infact, two sides of the same coin. The importance of a exercise regime in one's life is undebatable. 25 - 50 minutes of any type of planned activity is a MUST for at_least 5-6 days a week. This keeps the circulation systems, digestive system, excretory system and skeleto-muscular system Vital & strong.

The human body's biological clock is tuned according to the Sun. Hence breakfast would be the most important meal. It should compromise of proteins & fibres with little of carbohydrates. Eggs, sprouts, idlis, mix grain dosa or parathas or thalipith or bread or pancakes with milk and fruits would be ideal at this time of day. Around 8:00am would be the perfect time for breakfast . Over eating should be strictly avoided. Lunch should be around 12:30 - 1:30pm. A staple diet of chapatis or rice, vegetables , dal, salad, chutney, buttermilk would suffice. A light snack of fresh fruits or dry fruits would be ideal around 5:30 - 7:00pm. Dinner should be as early as possible around 7:30 - 9:00pm. It should be light, bland & simple one dish meal. Like dal rice, khichidi, vegetable rice, soup n salad, dalia, kanji, etc. Avoiding fast foods, refined foods, bakery foods, high sodium foods, fried and oily food, spicey food, beverages, so-called chinese food, non-vegetarian foods is also most important.

A good nights sleep goes a longway to revitalize and rejenuvate the body, keep it healthy and strong. 7-8 hours of quality sleep is most important. Its the quality and not the length of sleep that is important . 5 hours of sound sleep is more beneficial to the body than 9 hours of tossing & turning. The tiredness of the Nervous system is the root cause of all the diseases says Dr. Lehman, Naturotherapist of Germany. Modern researchers relate sound Sleep and proper Diet to Immunity Index. PNI index (Psycho-Neuro-Immumo) predicts the likelihood of disease incidences of a person in future. PNI, say expert endochronologist, depends on a persons lifestyle, emotional quotient, sleep patterns and serenity of mind. Naturopathy adresses all these areas of the person and keeps him healthy.

-- by Dr.Mrudula D. Bhat, Naturotherapist, Yoga pravin & Dietician.