Weight Balancing

By John Douillard, DC, PhD

Natural Weight Balancing through Ayurveda

Several years ago an eye opening study told us that about 80% of all disease is caused by stress. This, I am sure, is one of those studies that makes you wonder how they could not have known that till now.

Ayurveda, on the other hand, is a system of medicine that is premised on the fact that disease is caused by stress. Ayurvedic doctors knew that stress would lodge toxins deep in the tissues, and the body would hold on to this stress for life. The stress creates tension which reduces blood supply and isolates stressed areas of the body from the intelligence and nutrition of the whole. Cells under such stress begin to act in the name of survival, where anything goes just to stay alive.

A great book called The Molecules of Emotion, written by Candice Pert, Ph.D, from the National Institutes of Health, talks about how the emotions of fear, worry, anger and others have a form and lodge themselves deep in our tissues as toxins, predisposing us to illness. Ayurveda knew this 5000 years ago and designed therapies to reverse this condition, called panchakarma.

A few years ago I had a patient who was very overweight. I helped her with lifestyle, diet and exercise, and although we had success it was slower than we had hoped.

We decided to try Ayurveda's heavy artillery, and she went through seven days of panchakarma. After that first week of panchakarma she told me that she felt that the memory to hold onto the fat was in her cells. "My cells," she said, "don't know how to do anything else but be fat." During the treatments she felt this memory begin to soften, and the stress that held the fat cells steadfast was slowly letting go. She did two more rounds of panchakarma, and by the end of that year she had lost 125 pounds. She says that the weight just fell off, and it was one of the easiest things she ever did. This dramatic weight loss came about after years of conventional dieting, exercise and, of course, starvation.

Stress, be it mental, physical or emotional will have its own unique impact on us. Some people get heartburn or become constipated, tired or depressed, while others get a more stern wake-up call with cancer, MS or diabetes. In Ayurvedic medicine the therapies are designed to replace the impact of stress in the body with silence. The same serenity we find in nature belongs inside of us, but stress strips it away from us.

Special therapies were designed in Ayurveda to disarm the nervous system and access the deep tissues where all the emotional and constrictive stress is stored. The program starts with seven days of preparation therapy to soften the tissues and begin relaxing the nervous system. This is followed by a series of panchakarma treatments, where for 2 1/2 hours a day, therapies are administered, often with two therapists, that are designed to lower the metabolism, access the deep tissues, pull toxic and emotional stress out, and replace it with a deep experience of calm created by the therapies day after day for seven days. Research on these therapies done at Ohio State University found that the benefits of the treatments continued for 4-6 weeks after the therapies were completed.

Probably the best part of these treatments is that they were originally designed for Kings and Queens, which means that they will take you way beyond your current definition of luxury.

Further Information

http://www.lifespa.com/article.asp?art_id=45

Viral Hepatitis

By John Douillard, DC, PhD

Viral hepatitis is an inflammation of the liver as a result of a viral infection. This is more common with a pitta body type or one with a severe pitta imbalance in the ranjaka subdosha. This disorder because it is an inflammatory disease in the seat of pitta, it is almost always a pitta concern. When the liver becomes depleted enough to become infected then specific therapies must be directed at the liver itself.

There can very often be underlying causative factors from the apana vata in the intestinal tract that must be dealt with to take the stress of the liver. The enteric cycle will direct the impure blood ama from the intestines into the portal system and shunt it directly to the liver. If this kind of bio-chemical stress is long standing then the liver prana can be depleted making for the susceptibility of a viral type hepatitis.

Contributing factors like excessive stress, hot, spicy, salty, or sour foods, and alcohol over an extended period of time can weaken the liver making it susceptible.

Turmeric - studies show it very beneficial in viral hepatitis (I can send references if you need them) 1/2 tsp. 5x/day . Mahasudarshan and gudduchi (1/2 tsp. 3x/day) Avoid any oily and greasy foods and decrease the amount of red meat. Neem tea 5x/ day

Further Information

http://www.lifespa.com/article.asp?art_id=42

Toxic Chemical in Skin Care

By John Douillard, DC, PhD

Here’s a list of some of the more common carcinogens and suspected carcinogens you’re likely to encounter in traditional skin care product formulas:

MUST AVOID!!!

Benzyl Acetate
Butylated Hydroxyanisole (BHA)
Butylated Hyroxytoluene (BHT)B
utyl Benzylphthalate
Coal Tar Dyes (or dyes labeled “Lakes”)
D&C Red Dyes Numbers 2, 3, 4, 8, 9, 10, 17, 19 & 33
D&C Green 5
D&C Orange 17
FD & C Blue 1 & 2
FD & C Green 3
FD & C Red 4 & 40
FD & C Blue 1, 2 & 4
Diaminophenol
Disperse Blue 1
Disperse Yellow 3
Nitrophenylenediamine
Crystalline Silica
Diethanolamine (DEA)
Dioctyl Adipate
Formaldehyde
Glutaral
Hydroquinone
Methylene Chloridep-Phenylenediamine
Phenyl-p-phenylenediamine
Polyvinyl Pyrrolidone
Pyrocatechol
Saccharin
Talc
Titanium Dioxide

This list includes chemicals that are not carcinogenic in and of themselves, but may exhibit carcinogenic properties under certain conditions; hazardous materials that are often found “hiding” in other listed ingredients; and chemicals that easily combine with other common substances to create carcinogens:
SHOULD AVOID!!!

Aflatoxin (found in peanut oil and flour)
Arsenic and Lead (found in coal tar dyes, polyvinyl acetate, PEGs or polyethylene glycols)Chloroaniline (found in chlorhexidine)
Crystalline Silica (found in amorphous silicates)
DDT, Dieldrin, Endrin and other organochlorine pesticides (found in lanolin, hydrogenated cottonseed oil, and quarternium-26)
DEA or diethanolamine (found in DEA-cocamide/lauramide condensates, quarternium-26)
1,4-Dioxan (found in ethoxylated alcohols, including PEGs, oleths, choleth-24, ceteareth-3, laureths, polysorbate 60 & 80, and nonoxynol)
Ethylhexylacrylate (found in acrylate and methacrylate polymers)
Ethylene Oxide (found in PEGs, oleths, ceteareth-3, laureths, polysorbate 60 & 80, and nonoxynol)
Formaldehyde (found in polyoxymethylene urea)
Bromonitrodioxane
Bronopol or 2-bromo-2-nitropropane-1,3-diol)
DEA or Diethanolamine
DEA-Cocamide, Lauramide & OleamideMetheneamine
Morpholine
Padimate-O or octyldimethyl para-amino benzoic acid)
Pyroglutamic Acid
Triethanolamine (TEA)
TEA-Sodium Lauryl Sulfate
Bronopol
Diazolidinyl Urea
DMDM-Hydantoin
Imidazolidinyl Urea Metheneamine
Quarternium-15
Sodium/Hydroxymethylglycinate
(Source: Unreasonable Risk, How to Avoid Cancer from Cosmetics and Personal Care Products, by Dr. Samuel Epstein, 2001)

Further Information

http://www.lifespa.com/article.asp?art_id=61

Three Square Meals a Day

Yoga Journal (April 08, 2006 )

If Ayurvedic doc John Douillard could give you a basic prescription for health, if might look something like this:
Take three meals a day (no snacking)
And call me in the morning.
Oh, and don't stress.

Everyone knows that stress is not a favorable feeling in the body, but Douillard describes why: Stress --> toxic hormones --> free radicals --> disease.

And why three meals?
When Douillard was diagnosed with high blood pressure at the age of 27, his Ayurvedic doc prescribed him a hot lunch, every day. It worked. It seems that all Douillard needed what a constant stream of energy reserve -- something he wasn't getting by skipping lunch or eating on the run.

Douillard described how most of us are caught in a rollercoaster pattern with the energy levels and eating patterns in our life. If we tend to snack constantly, rather than eating conscious meals, the body will produce cravings -- whether it be for coffee, sugar, or something else. By stretching the time between meals, you give your body time to digest, rest and use existing energy.

After getting the body to go through the entire day without cravings, we'll leave at the end of the day with the same energy we had at the beginning of the day, Douillard says. Therefore, we no longer live life in an emergency state all the time. Being more relaxed will help the lymphatic system cleanse the body of toxins.

Yoga also helps to move the waste out with subtle energy.

Focusing on depression, Douillard attributed the affliction in part to the cultural isolation in American society. In addition, we allow our state of being to be determined by what happened that day. Drop the drama, says Douillard.

"Live life in the eye of the hurricane, where you're not affected by the storm," he said. When this happens, "you're no longer glued to the rollercoaster ride."

Further Information

http://www.lifespa.com/article.asp?art_id=62

Spring Cleaning

By John Douillard, DC, PhD

When I started the LifeSpa after co-directing Deepak Chopra's Clinic and teaching physicians Ayurveda for eight years, I was convinced that the experience of Ayurvedic rejuvenation and purification had to be made available to the masses and not only for the wealthy. I decided to make our panchakarma two-therapist treatments twice as long as before for the same price and offer the existing panchakarma therapies as affordable Day Spa treatments where, depending on your budget and time, there was a means for everyone to reap the benefits of Ayurveda's Panchakarma. Ayurveda recognizes that stress, which is now known to be the cause of eighty percent of disease, lodges its toxins deeply in the tissues of the body. These toxins are often sealed by mental or emotional traumas that eventually manifest as the symptoms of disease. Accessing these deeply seated toxins requires the nervous system to let down its guard so the therapies can rejuvenate the body on a cellular level. As the body's metabolic rate is slowed with each Ayurvedic treatment, a deeper level of calm is established, the body gets cleansed and stress centers are accessed. The experience of fear, stress and anxiety, which we all carry with us, is replaced with a deep sense of calm. This calm is your own consciousness. The awareness of it is the first step in treating the cause of disease and taking the stress out of your life. Imagine carrying the serenity of a beautiful forest with you every moment of your life. LifeSpa's Panchakarma treatments can help you to find it!

Further Information

http://www.lifespa.com/article.asp?art_id=41

Spring Ahead

By John Douillard, DC, PhD

When spring is right around the corner there are a few precautions we can take to insure a healthy and symptom free spring and summer. You may have noticed the birds are back scouting out where on your home they will lease nest space. The crocuses which are nature's cue to start spring are just a few weeks away and the squirrels are running out of nuts anxiously waiting for the first greens to sprout so they can finally eat a salad. Nature seems to have everything under control when it comes to adjusting for each seasonal change while we don't seem to do much. Maybe we take a sweater off or put one on but in nature survival depends on living in harmony with these cycles.After a long, cold and dry winter our bodies accumulate dryness and cold which is why many of us dream about Hawaii and the Caribbean this time of year. Nature did however, provide nuts and grains for us to eat all winter to help combat the cold and dry weather but many of us just ate the same as always not recognizing that in nature the seasons dictate what foods we should eat, not a RDA.With spring coming so do the rains, the snow melts and it gets muddy. The earth holds onto more water in the spring making congestion a problem for many. This is why we call spring, allergy season. If the earth is holding on to more water, then so shall we. The best part is, that nature provides the perfect antidote to the accumulation of water and congestion. The only food nature is making available this time of year is light green vegetables, a few berries and that is about it. These foods are mucus free, fat free, and aimed at cleansing the body of all the excess fats we ate all winter.

Again, spring provides the perfect relief for the heaviness of winter. The Ayurvedic list of foods, however, are drawn from foods grown from all over the world and give us the freedom to eat certain grains and fruits which are not harvested locally but still have the mucous free properties we need in the spring. For example grains which are harvested in the fall to be eaten in the winter can also be eaten in the spring if properly selected. Barley, corn, millet, buckwheat and rye are okay because they have less gluten and reduce Kapha. Fruits which are typically eaten in the summer can also be beneficial in the spring if they are light and dry. For example dried fruits like figs, prunes and apricots are light like apples and pears. In the spring you want to avoid heavier foods like dairy, nuts, red meats and shell fish. Most all vegetables are good and so are beans, which are not so good in the winter but very balancing in the spring. The spring is weight loss season in Ayurveda. It is a fat free and mucus free diet used by all the weight loss gurus like Jenny Craig and Weight Watchers. The difference is that Weight Watchers wants us to stay on this diet for the rest of our lives, which no one can do. Ayurveda changes with the seasons; we eat the Kapha balancing diet only in the spring and change with each season. When you go with the flow of nature, you will see it's effortless and yes, this is true for all body types. When the seasons change it is the natural time to cleanse the body. The Native Americans always did their vision quests and fasting in the spring. It was a natural time to purify them selves from all the heavy winter meats, nuts and grains. There are many Ayurvedic approaches to seasonal cleansing. For optimum health do not let the seasons change without some sort of cleansing effort. Here are some suggestions, in addition to eating what nature has harvested:

- Cleanse the liver with my herbal formulation, Liver Repair: http://www.lifespa.com/product.asp?prod_id=224

- Eat from this grocery list of foods: http://www.lifespa.com/article.asp?art_id=55

- Do a short-home cleanse (http://www.lifespa.com/article.asp?art_id=59) or come to my clinic and get Panchakarma (ayurvedic detox and rejuvenative treatments: http://www.lifespa.com/article.asp?art_id=24)


Happy Spring!

Dr. Douillard

Further Information

http://www.lifespa.com/article.asp?art_id=40

Short Home Cleanse

By John Douillard, DC, PhD

As September winds down we should all be asking the health question, am I ready for winter? As summer ends and the leaves turn red we must do our job and remove any excess heat out of our body. If we do not – the heat will turn to dryness and the dryness of winter will accumulate and irritate our sinuses. When the sinuses dry out the mucus membranes react and product reactive mucus which acts a breeding ground for an opportunistic bacterial or viral infection. To prevent this we must follow nature’s lead. For starters, how about eating apples lots of them because nature is harvesting lots of them. They are cooling and cleansing and a great end of summer seasonal detoxer. Eat 2-4 per day till Halloween along with more pomegranates, other ripe seasonal fruit and veggies. After that we want to start eating a more warm insulating winter diet. Go to www.LifeSpa.com in the library to print out the seasonal grocery lists.

In many cases eating apples is just not enough or we just cant quite eat our fair share od seasonal foods. In this case perhaps a home detox may help you. One of the best end of summer cleanses is the pre-cleanse we use for our panchakarma treatments. It is a 4-7 day cleanse where you drink ghee each morning which forces fat metabolism along with a no fat diet. You can eat kitcheree (also in the library or The 3-Season Diet), veggies, hot cereal, fruit, crackers, or flat bread, rice and beans – but remember no added fat or fatty foods. During these days of no fatty foods and ghee first thing in the morning – the body will begin to burn its own fat. Fat is a stable – non-emergency fuel plus it is a detox fuel.

Ghee Cleanse (Not indicated if you have gallbladder trouble or difficulty digesting fat)

First AM

Day One

2 tspns. ghee


Day Two

4 tspns. ghee


Day Three

6 tspns. ghee


Day Four

8 tspns. ghee

Each day of the cleanse use the LifeSpa Body Mask mixed with the LifeSpa Aloe gel. After a shower mix the mud and aloe gel together into a paste and apply it evenly all over the body. Let dry and in about 10-15 minutes you can rinse. This will mobilize the toxins in the deep tissues to be removed via the skin.

Eve of Day Four
Take a hot bath.
Mix 4 tspns. castor oil with the juice of and orange and hot water. Hold your nose and drink castor mix and quickly suck on the orange. 1-4 hours later you should experience a laxative effect.

During the cleanse take 1-2 Liver Repair 2x/day. This will cool and clean the blood and dissipate any remaining heat in the body. Take 1 or 2 per dose depending on tolerance. The Liver Repair will gently purge the liver and at a higher dose can trigger a laxative effect. This effect is not necessary so take a comfortable amount.

For those who want a more deep cleansing and want to begin to address the underlying patterns of behavior that keep us tortured in our body and prisoners of our minds than consider a few panchakarma treatments after your ghee cleanse. We offer 3, 5 and 7 day panchakarma retreat programs that are designed to break those old physical, mental and emotional patterns of behavior. For more information call us at: 303 516 4848

Further Information

http://www.lifespa.com/article.asp?art_id=59