The Ayurveda Experience Blog
The Classical Ayurveda perspective on Heart Disease or Hrud Rog is based on understanding the nature of the heart as an organ within Ayurvedic physiology. Diagnosis of Hrud Rog may or may not map onto western medical diagnosis of heart disease. There are several other Ayurvedic diseases that are seen to cause heart pains and other sensations in the region including palpitations, tingling, swelling, etc.
Preventing Hrud Rog, Heart Disease
When thinking about protecting your heart it is important to know that the heart is:
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Home to Ojas (the essence of the body) and Prana which connects us to the outside world.
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Seat of the Mind and all intellectual and emotional senses.
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Home of Rasa Dhatu or the first tissue produced when food is digested. Poor digestion immediately affects Rasa Dhatu and thus the heart and can lead to heart palpitations, burning, and pain long before it damages the organ itself.
Primary causes for Hrud Rog include things that aggravate Vata (especially prana) and disturb Rasa and Rakta (blood), and directly weaken the heart like stress and late nights.
For A Healthy Heart, Avoid These 9 Factors
1. Potatoes (Solanum tuberosum), chick peas and other drying, astringent, and heavy to digest foods. Sweet potatoes or yams are fine.
2. Poor eating practices: exercising after eating, eating when you are not hungry or haven’t digested your previous meal, eating foods that are excessively heating (i.e. salty, sour, or spicy) or Kleda (mucous-like accumulation) forming.
3. Long term indigestion. This can put pressure on the heart and weaken it.
4. Resisting or forcing the body’s natural urges.
5. Staying up late at night.
6. Ongoing stress.
7. Excessive travel.
8. Lack of good quality oils.
9. Fasting for too long (including the affects of anorexia).
Your heart’s in your hands. Avoiding these factors can preserve the health of your heart for a long and vital life!
