Ayurveda
or ayurvedic medicine is a form of alternative medicine
in use primarily in the Indian subcontinent. The word
"Ayurveda" is a tatpurusha compound of a-yus "life"
and veda "knowledge", and would roughly translate as
the "Science of Life". Ayurveda deals with the measures
of healthy living, along with therapeutic measures that
relate to physical, mental, social and spiritual harmony.
Ayurveda is also one among the few traditional systems
of medicine involving surgery. It is very important
to note that the mainstream scientific community has
produced almost no support for the claims of Ayurvedic
practitioners, while they have found strong evidence
that using Ayurvedic medicine involves potentially serious
risks.
Ayurveda is a wholistic system of medicine from India
that uses a constitutional model. Its aim is to provide
guidance regarding food and lifestyle so that healthy
people can stay healthy and folks with health challenges
can improve their health.
According to Ayurveda, every person contains some of
the universe's five basic elements: earth, air, fire,
water, and ether (or space). The combination of these
elements in each individual breaks down into three metabolic
body types, or doshas. The doshas are known as vata,
pitta, and kapha. Vata consists of ether and air, and
is associated with lightness and movement. Pitta is
made of fire and is associated with transformative metabolic
processes--the digestion of food to produce energy,
for example. Kapha consists of earth and water and is
associated with structure and stability. Although each
type of energy resides in every individual, one is usually
dominant.
