Letha’s Asian Health Secrets

I brought back a sun lamp from New York to Vermont. It is mid-summer but feels cold and rainy in the mountains. Autumn brings a change in climate from hot to cool and dry. That is said to increase Vata, according to Ayurvedic health traditions. With a Vata imbalance nerves and energy may be compromised. To prevent arthritic pain during cold, damp days, I work with a heating pad at my waist as I type. It keeps me warmer and brings needed blood circulation to the kidneys. Many people feel depressed in autumn and winter. It may be because the days are shorter and they need extra light and warmth. They can get relief by calming and nourishing their nerves–taking care of their Vata. Vata Depression: Nervous Exhaustion, Anxiety, Panic

The traditional Vata constitution and appearance–thin body, small deep-set eyes, kinky hair, and dry dark skin–no longer apply. Thanks to modern life, anyone can have a Vata imbalance. Nervous exhaustion is brought on by jet-lag, over exertion, lack of sleep, overuse of stimulants (including the computer!) and a cold, raw under-nourishing diet. Most of us experience some Vata disorders simply by living a fast-paced, stressed, professional, student, or big city lifestyle. Vata disordered are increased during relatively cooler and dryer autumn and winter months and with aging.

Typically the person will feel cold and may experience shivering even in warm weather. If sitting in the warm sunshine appeals to you, if you feel weak with a chronic backache, you may have nervous exhaustion. Depressed people with a Vata imbalance feel supersensitive, fearful, and anxious. They chatter incessantly or giggle. They cannot sleep soundly. They may have digestive problems, including diarrhea or constipation. They may have an irregular appetite and sudden weight loss or weight gain. Frequent urination and joint aches indicate adrenal weakness.

The best ways to treat nervous exhaustion-depression with diet and herbs is to increase foods that are strengthening, heavier, and warming. Avoid salads and raw foods, unripe fruits, candies, iced drinks, and caffeine. Favor moistening whole grains such as cooked oatmeal, rice and wheat, cooked vegetables, spiced soups, and dairy products. Hot cooked foods and sweet and sour tastes are soothing to the nerves. Raw nuts and nut butters are nourishing and grounding. Moderate amounts of well-cooked chickpeas, mung beans, pink lentils and tofu, adding raw sesame or olive oil after cooking are desirable. Heated or spoiled oils are dangerous to health.

Favor cooked vegetables especially those that contain water such as cucumber or useful hormones such as asparagus. Others include beets, carrots, garlic, green beans, cooked onions, sweet potato, turnips (sedate hyper-thyroid mania and hyper-emotionality), and blood-enhancing leafy greens all in moderation.

Favor sweet, very ripe fruits (high in sodium): apricots, avocados, bananas, berries and cherries, coconut, fresh figs, very ripe grapefruit and lemon, dark grapes, mangos, sweet melons, papaya, pineapple, peaches and plums (sources of iron), and stewed fruits.

Spices should be warming, digestive, stimulating, and grounding such as cinnamon, cardamom, cumin, ginger, and cloves (used in moderation), allspice, star anise, asafoetida, basil, bay leaf, black pepper (use sparingly), caraway, cilantro (green coriander), fennel seed, ginger, juniper berries (diuretic), licorice root (estrogenic), mace, marjoram, mustard, nutmeg, oregano, sage, tarragon, and thyme.

Also balancing are regular hours for eating and an early bedtime for sleeping; a daily massage with oil or at least application of sesame oil to the head and feet; warm baths adding valerian extract to quiet nerve pain and improve insomnia. When working at the computer or sitting long hours apply a warming massage rub or heating pad to ease lower back pains. Slow walking and deep-breathing can be used as a meditation to reduce stress. Inhale to the count of five and exhale slowly from the abdomen to the count of ten.

On the mental/emotional level, the problem with Vata nervous-exhaustion depression is not so much a lack of mental clarity as it is anxiety that causes mental shut-down. Fear stops thought and increases “fight or flight” panic. In extreme cases, nervous hysteria, senseless chatter or disorientation may reflect a fear of death or fear that life has passed them by. Unable to cope with their environment or life situation, they need reassurance that they are not alone and will be able to survive current stressful circumstances.

Saraswat Churna, a combination of warming, digestive, and stimulating herbs and spices: ashwagandha, cumin, caraway, ginger, pippli, black pepper, and brain-soothing calamus root, named for Saraswati, the goddess of culture and purity, is recommended to improve concentration, memory and sleep patterns. These are important issues for Vata and anxiety-depression. Saraswat churna can be added (¼ tsp. per cup) to warm vegetable soups, teas or warm water during the afternoon.
Ashwagandha has been tested for its anticancer activity (Anticarcinogenic activity of Withania somnifera Dunal against Dalton’s Ascitic Lymphoma) by A. J. M. Christina, , D. Gladwin Joseph, M. Packialakshmi, R. Kothai, S. Jerry Heison Robert, N. Chidambaranathan and M. Ramasamy from Division of Pharmacology, K.M. College of Pharmacy, Uthangudi, Melur Road, Madurai 625 107, Tamil Nadu; Received 2 April 2003; available online 15 June 2004. “In Swiss albino mice, a significant increase in the life span and a decrease in the cancer cell number and tumour weight were noted in the tumour-induced mice after treatment.”
Ashwagandha has been studied for its memory-enhancing properties in mice.
It has nootropic effects. Nootropics popularly called “smart drugs” and “brain enhancers”, are a class of drugs or nutrients that improve impaired human cognitive abilities. The word nootropic is derived from the Greek words noos, or “mind,” and tropein meaning “to bend/turn”. Typically, nootropics work by altering the availability of the brain’s supply of neurochemicals ( neurotransmitters, enzymes, and hormones) by improving the brain’s oxygen supply or by stimulating nerve growth. I use ashwagandha powder for fatigue, low back ache, weak muscle strength, nervous insomnia, and poor memory –1/4 tsp. in a cup of water daily until I can feel improvements.