Erika Crotta, N.D. Ph.D.

In my previous article I mentioned that uncovering your body’s inner intelligence, pure consciousness or pure awareness, is what leads to making healthy choices. Our physical body is blessed with this inherent intelligence and so is our food. Every food has different qualities of intelligence. Miraculously, our bodies understand this intelligence (our digestive system knows exactly how to digest the broccoli or potato we eat).

In Ayurvedic Medicine we study the intelligence within food (including herbs) and its actions in the mouth, digestive system and in the tissues, as well as its unique specific effect on the body. We do not only look at food in terms of carbohydrates, protein and lipids, vitamins and minerals. We also look at the effect of the six tastes of food: sweet, sour, salty, bitter, astringent and spicy. Food is evaluated for its many different qualities and effects that occur in our tissues during the various stages of digestion. Those effects might create heating or cooling, may be oily or dry, heavy or light, or soft or penetrating. Many foods have unique specific effects not predicted by the qualities, such as milk (a natural laxative) or rice (which has a constipating effect). This is a sampling of the microbiology of Ayurvedic Medicine.

Food has the intelligence to either heal us or create disease. This is why we use food as medicine. You cannot be healthy without eating healthy foods, so think about food as something that can improve your health. An Ayurvedic doctor will ask you what kind of foods you are eating for breakfast, lunch and dinner, what you are drinking with your meals, and at what time you are enjoying your main meal. With this information, your symptoms/disease can be understood and the origin of your imbalances can be determined. Whole, fresh foods can be used as medicine to bring you back to a balanced state of health.

The herbal industry might say that you only need their products to be healthy. This is a common misunderstanding. You have to consume healthy foods with healthy intelligence to sustain good health. You cannot substitute healthy food with vitamins, minerals or herbal supplements. Healthy foods, full of vibrant intelligence, are fresh and natural, transported quickly from the farm to your market and then to your kitchen. Organic (not genetically modified) are the most desirable foods. Be aware of pesticides and herbicides being used on many non-organic crops. Non-organic meats are filled with hormones and antibiotics. Even hormones, antibiotics and pesticides that claim to be “safe” because they are within so-called “acceptable levels” can still be detrimental. These additives can be exceptionally toxic to humans and can significantly contribute to disease. Avoid them. Food is supposed to be nourishing.

The molecular structure of food changes when genetically modified. Combining genes from different organisms (example: a DNA molecule of fish skin put into the DNA of a tomato to produce a strong tomato skin that won’t easily break) is called recombinant DNA technology. According to Ayurvedic Medicine, the laws of nature are universal in plants, humans, and animals. Any kind of DNA manipulation (or change of intelligence in foods) confuses our physiological system, especially our digestive system, which does not know how to digest these kinds of foods. This results in the formation of toxic waste material.

Be aware: if you can’t understand the ingredients on a food label, don’t buy it. Example:  bread only needs flour, water, salt and yeast; it doesn’t need hydrogenated vegetable oils, high fructose corn syrup, or cooked honey, all of them will surely be toxic. If you avoid foods with inferior intelligence or toxicity, your health will improve significantly. Whole, fresh foods are nature’s medicine; they support good health that is so important to an enjoyable quality of life.

Dr. Crotta is a licensed Naturopathic Doctor from Germany with a Ph.D. in Physiology and Ayurvedic Medicine from the United States. She has an Ayurvedic practice in Petaluma.
www.AyurvedaND.com