Dinacharya- A Schedule for Health (4)

DOSHA: KAPHA

TIME SEGMENT:

6 p.m. - 10 p.m.

FUNCTIONS:

Calming and slowing down of bodily processes. This is the ‘winding down’ phase to prepare you mentally and physically for sleep.

ACTIVITIES:

• People rest and relax in different ways. Some prefer to be with friends or family. Others prefer time to themselves for hobbies, listening to music, practicing yoga, watching T.V. etc.

• Other ways to calm down and relax the mind are to engage in spiritual activities such as prayers, meditation, spiritual reading or reflecting on things to be thankful for that day.
  
  Engage in activities that make you feel happy, contented and satisfied so as to put you in a positive frame of mind. These feelings and attitude invoke the parasympathetic system, which is ***anabolic.

• Do not eat supper because your body will divert part of its energy for digestion instead of concentrating fully on repair and detoxification in the next Pitta phase. However, it is alright to drink beverages high in ‘tryptophan’ (an essential amino acid found in food), which aids sleep and makes you feel relaxed and happy. (Check out HAPPY FOODS for foods high in ‘tryptophan’.)

The Pericardium meridian is strongest at 8 p.m. Although the pericardium is not considered an organ in Western physiology, TCM view it as the protector of the heart both physically and energetically. Its fire-energy shields the heart against strong, negative emotional fluctuations in the body that may disrupt the healthy functioning of the heart. According to Chinese medical theory, different emotions can generate energy. Strong emotions can generate high levels of energies. The Pericardium keeps energy flow to the heart stable.

• Before retiring, unclutter your mind.

• Brush your teeth. Wash and clean yourself.

• Some find a massage very relaxing before bedtime. You can do the same massage as you had performed in the morning. Alternatively, have a warm footbath or massage the soles of your feet with warm oil.

• Just before bedtime, sit on your bed and do slow, deep breathing. You may play relaxing, soft music or chants in the background.  Pleasant scents also aid sleep. See Scent Of Sleep- Lavender, Jasmine for more scents that relaxes you.
  
  All these activities help calm your mind and keep energy flow steady, which is good for your heart.

• Sleep by 10 p.m. For the next nighttime Pitta phase, refer to RHYTHMS OF SLEEP 1B.

***Anabolic – Processes that occur when the body heals wounds, restores energy and creates new cells.

USEFUL LINK: Go to TIBBIT 1C- THE CIRCADIAN RHYTHM IN AYURVEDA AND TCM and scroll down to TIME CHART OF THE BIOLOGICAL CLOCK for circadian rhythm schedule according to Ayurveda and TCM.

Dinacharya- A Schedule for Health (3)

DOSHA: VATA 

TIME SEGMENT:

2 p.m. - 6 p.m.

Functions:

See first article in this series.

Activities:

Afternoon is the creative energy phase according to Ayurveda. Your body is using its energy to create nutrients from the food you had eaten earlier. Use the time to engage in less demanding tasks.

• Heat of the afternoon saps the cold energy of Vata. Vata individuals may feel sleepy or tired and need to rest. Take a 15 – 20 minutes power nap.
  
  According to TCM, the Small Intestines Meridian is strongest at 2 p.m. Doing less demanding tasks allow your body to devote more of its energy towards digestion and transportation of nutrients to the spleen for transformation.
  
  Your bladder starts to get increasingly full and by 4 p.m., the Bladder meridian is most powerful. The organ is responsible for storing and excreting urine passed down from the kidneys. However, the bladder meridian is more than a storage and waste removal system. This meridian is closely related to the functioning of the *autonomous nervous system, which modulates vital functions in your body. A Portion of its pathway runs along both sides of your spine, enters the brain and resurfaces above the eyes and down the front of the body.
  
  The two branches of the autonomous nervous system counterbalance each other. The sympathetic branch promotes activity, alertness, shuts down or reduces digestive activities.
  
  The parasympathetic branch promotes rest, sleep and good digestion and waste elimination. Therefore, when you feel sleepy after a meal, your parasympathetic system is very active.

• By 5 p.m., the **Kidney meridian starts to assert itself. It is strongest at 6 p.m.
  
  If you hold a sedentary job, take a walk or do light exercise before dinner.

• Eat a light dinner before 6pm or transitional Vata-Kapha phase to allow enough time for digestion before bed.

• Do not sleep immediately after dinner as this may interfere with proper digestion leading to accumulation of ama. Allow at least 3 hours for digestion before going to bed.

*The autonomic system mainly controls functions over which we have less conscious control.  These include the digestion of food, blood pressure, respiration, heart rate, chemicals secreted by the body etc. 

**For more information on the kidney meridian, refer to TIBBIT 1C- TCM hair health.

USEFUL LINK: Go to TIBBIT 1C- THE CIRCADIAN RHYTHM IN AYURVEDA AND TCM and scroll down to TIME CHART OF THE BIOLOGICAL CLOCK for circadian rhythm schedule  according to Ayurveda and TCM.

In the next installment, we shall discuss the activities in the Kapha time segment. 

DAILY DOSHA SCHEDULE

Vata is active between 2 a.m. - 6 a.m. and 2 p.m. - 6 p.m.

Kapha is active between 6 a.m. - 10 a.m. and 6 p.m. - 10 p.m.

Pitta is active between 10 a.m. - 2 a.m. and 10 p.m. - 2 p.m.

USEFUL LINK: Go to TIBBIT 1C- THE CIRCADIAN RHYTHM IN AYURVEDA AND TCM and scroll down to TIME CHART OF THE BIOLOGICAL CLOCK for circadian rhythm schedule  according to Ayurveda and TCM.

 

http://jumblebox.webs.com/healthF/health12F/tidbit1clock.html

Dinacharya- A Schedule for Health (2)

DOSHA: PITTA

PIX: While people in the North are bundled up against cold winter, those in the Southern Hemisphere are frolicking on the beach.

Summer and the searing heat of noon that makes us sweat and aggressively burns our skin is reflective of the characteristics of Pitta.

Ayurveda advises eating the biggest meal of the day in this time segment as metabolism and digestion are strong. The meridians that are strong at this time also support this sagely Ayurveda advice.

TIME SEGMENT:

10 a.m. - 2 p.m.

Elemental characteristics:

Fire and water: hot, fluid, liquid, sharp and aggressive.

(Heat, metabolism, transformation)

Functions:

Pitta governs bodily processes that produces or needs heat to occur such as metabolism and energy production. Its scope includes the digestive process, transforming nutrients into useful substances such as    red blood cells and formation of various secretions and excretions that are either the means or the ends of tissue combustion.

ACTIVITIES:

• By the time Pitta takes over from Kapha, the Spleen meridian is at its strongest. Some people may feel the need to snack at mid morning to fuel Pitta’s energy demand. If you want to lose fat, STOP YOURSELF FROM SNACKING!

When your body has used up its horde of sugar (glycogen) from your breakfast, it starts to use your store of fat and glycogen for energy. Your body's fat burning processes are controlled by your sympathetic nervous system (SNS). Your SNS is activated by both exercise and lack of food. That is why in the previous article exercise is scheduled before breakfast. Experts found that exercising on an empty stomach helps you to burn up your fat reserve stored in the muscles. Eating carbohydrates interrupts the process of metabolizing fat for about six hours afterward.

Peter Hespel, a professor of exercise physiology at the University of Leuven in Belgium suggested, “Exercising without eating produces muscles that are better at absorbing glucose — which is important for preventing diabetes.”

• By 11 a.m., the Heart meridian asserts itself to transport nutrient rich blood to all parts of the body. With nutrients pouring in, you get another energy boost to continue working or studying.
  
  
• Have lunch at around 12 – 1 p.m. According to Ayurveda, this is the peak period for digestion. Eat your biggest meal at this time to take advantage of the strong digestion.

You can eat cool, raw food such as salad if you have good digestion (strong digestive fire). Those with weak digestion, stick to warm, easily digestible food. You can take small amounts of fermented food with your lunch to aid digestion. Examples of beneficial fermented foods are miso, temper, kin chi and sauerkraut.

Concentrate on your meal and chew your food well. Do not do other activities while you eat such as reading, watching a show or work in between each bite.

• Wash your face, ears, eyes, hands and feet just before and after each main meal. Rinse your mouth as well. Brush your teeth after the meal.

• Drink water an hour before and an hour after each meal. People with Vata constitution should drink warm water. Kaphas and Pitas can drink tepid water.

• Stroll around after your meal for a few minutes to help the food to go down for digestion. Moreover, walking assist the pumping action of the heart to carry blood and lymph throughout the body.

The Small Intestines meridian is active from 1 p.m. to 3 p.m. The function of the small intestine is the digestion of food and absorption of nutrients and minerals found in food.

Hey! Isn’t the food supposed to go to the small intestine first for digestion and absorption before their nutrients are moved to the spleen for transformation? Aha! Western translators (not the Chinese) do all the labeling of meridians in English according to organ names! There is some doubt whether the ‘Spleen meridian’ as named by Westerners was appropriate!

Let us follow the pathway of the Spleen meridian. From the Big Toe, the meridian goes to the Abdomen and enters the Spleen, continues to Stomach then up to root of the Tongue. Another branch continues from the Stomach to the Heart. As you can see, the Spleen meridian goes to a number of organs. The ‘Spleen meridian’ is involved in digestion, transformation, transportation and distribution of nutrients. Digestion starts in your mouth when saliva breaks down starch and continues in the stomach.

Other meridians may go to a number of organs, glands and/or body extremities including toes, fingers, crown of the head etc.

The information I gave about function of specific organs is culled from modern scientific sources, not traditional Chinese ones. As one Zen master once said, a word/name is like a finger pointing to the moon. The word/name is not the moon itself.

Dinacharya provides a skeleton with some recommendations for an ideal routine to harmonize your body’s circadian rhythm to the Master clock in Nature for a healthy lifestyle.  Consider your own constitution and be sensitive to your own biological rhythm when fleshing out your personal Dinacharya.

NOTE: This Dinacharya is for adults. Growing children who are not obese can take healthy snacks for brunch and tea (Tiffin) in addition to their main meals.

THE CIRCADIAN RHYTHM IN AYURVEDA AND TCM

Since the dawn of time, the cycles of nature have directed our internal biological clock called the circadian clock or circadian oscillators. The circadian rhythm governs our body’s daily fluctuations of temperature, blood pressure, muscular strength, levels of circulating hormones, neurotransmitters and numerous other metabolic compounds and physiological processes as well as sleep and wakefulness. These processes are influenced by the natural patterns of day and night. When our circadian rhythm is in tune with that of nature, we can maximize our health, mental capacity, immunity and regenerative powers. Disrupting the timetable set by the master clock may speed up the aging process.

Workers who did not follow the natural rhythm of nature such as shift workers upset the body’s metabolic processes. Research showed that frequent extended sleep deprivation (experienced by workers such as long distance truckers and tour bus drivers) could have very detrimental long-term effects physically and mentally. These people have a much higher chance of developing chronic diseases and mental health problems that can shorten their lifespan.

Besides the daily rhythm, different cultures around the world have also identified weekly, monthly, seasonal and yearly cycles that influence birth, growth and death. Besides that, there are also the 7-year, 8-year cycles (notice the major changes humans go through every 7 years (for female) and 8 years (for male) physiologically and mentally) and the twelve-year cycle.

Some examples of aligning our daily activities with the circadian rhythm are:

•Study or do mental activities when the mind is clearest, most able to absorb and analyze information.

•Eat when the digestion is strongest.

•Sleep and wake at regular times. In the tropics, align the sleep-wake cycle to nature because darkness and daylight trigger very different hormones and bodily processes. As one moves towards the poles, this is not easy, which is why having regular sleep-wake times will help the body to release the necessary chemicals for different body processes.

Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) associates every two hours of the day with an organ system when its energy (chi) flow is strongest and it is functioning optimally. The TCM system shows the peripheral clocks, most of which are in our organs.

In the Indian system, Ayurveda divides the day into four hourly segments. Each segment has its own distinctive bodily functions. Ayurveda uses the tridoshas, Vata, Kapha and Pitta to identify and describe each time segment.

Think of the circadian rhythm as successive waves of intelligent energy. A new wave is very small and steadily increases in size until it peaks. It is biggest and strongest at its peak and then starts to weaken and become smaller and weaker, followed by a new wave.

There is a transitional period with the first wave getting increasingly weaker and the next wave getting stronger until the first wave disappears completely. This process is repeated continuously.

TIME CHART OF THE BIOLOGICAL CLOCK

For a comparison between the two ancient Ayurveda and TCM systems of the daily cyclical rhythms of the body go to:

TIBBIT 1C- THE CIRCADIAN RHYTHM IN AYURVEDA AND TCM

• http://jumblebox.webs.com/healthF/health12F/tidbit1clock.html

Ayurveda uses its time chart to plan an ‘Ideal routine or schedule’ for a healthy lifestyle. The Chinese uses theirs to aid diagnosis for treating diseases or disharmony in the body.

LEPTIN: Appetite Regulator For Weight Watchers

Leptin (Greek leptos meaning thin) is a hormone released by your fat cells. When you are dieting or starving and lose fat, leptin levels drop. When you gain weight, levels rise. This hormone lets your brain know when you have consumed enough food or calories and should stop eating. It gives you a feeling of fullness and satisfaction after a meal.

Adequate sleep helps to maintain optimum levels of Leptin, so that you don't feel hungry before your body actually NEEDS to eat.

During sleep, melatonin interacts with insulin-stimulated leptin and causes a decrease in appetite.

both acute sleep deprivation and chronic partial sleep deprivation has a bad effect on leptin and interfere with your ability to know when to stop eating. Lack of sleep decreases leptin and increases ghrelin levels, (a hormone that stimulates appetite). Consequently, you end up feeling hungrier without really feeling satisfied by what you eat. The result is over eating and weight gain.

Leptin not only regulates your body weight but also blood cell development, white blood cell formation and immune function. It plays a central role in regulating energy intake and energy expenditure through fat metabolism and helps to control appetite and metabolism via the brain's hypothalamus. It also modulates the immune response to atherosclerosis (clogging and hardening of arteries), which is a predisposing factor in overweight people.

Interestingly, while sleep loss contributes to lower leptin levels, which increase appetite and energy levels, obese people have high leptin levels but are insensitive to this hormone [leptin resistance]. Therefore, although obese people have high levels of leptin, this hormone does not suppress their appetite due to insensitivity to the hormone.

Researchers are conducting studies on using leptin to treat type 1 diabetes. A March 2010 study on animals showed that mice with type 1 diabetes treated with leptin alone or in conjunction with insulin did better than a third group of diabetic mice treated with insulin alone. The first two groups of diabetic mice have blood sugar that did not fluctuate as much, their cholesterol levels went down and they did not form as much body fat.

Leptin also plays a role in innate and acquired immunity. Its level increases significantly to protect you when you have infection and inflammation. More important, leptin deficiency makes you more susceptible to infectious and inflammatory stimuli.

Leptin deficiency also causes a defect in maturation of blood cell and production of cytokine (messenger chemicals).

This hormone also plays a role in the Central Nervous System’s control of immune response. When we do not get enough sleep, the number of white blood cells within the body decreases, as does the activity of the remaining white blood cells.

Therefore, get adequate sleep so that you have enough leptin to control your weight better, fight inflammation and diseases as well as regulate metabolism more efficiently.

RHYTHMS OF SLEEP 1B (Ayurveda & TCM Discoveries)

According to Ayurveda, sleep is not merely resting. Many critical tasks occur when we are asleep. proper sleep nourishes and revitalizes every tissue of our body, maintains physical and mental strength and enhances vitality.

When peering into the night sky, we notice the predictable changing phases of the moon each month. Our body also have a predictable daily cycle of changing phases [healthy women, like the moon, have their monthly phases]. each phase have its own unique characteristics and functions. Called doshas in Ayurveda, their names are vata, pitta and kapha. As we lay in slumber land, these three doshas take turns to renew and prepare our body to face a new day both mentally and physically. These unseen servants within our body work in four hourly shifts. The tasks they perform include neutralizing and processing toxins, replenishing energy to our different organ systems, processing memories and assimilating information.

When our routines are aligned with vata, pitta and kapha, our body will hum along smoothly and function properly.

On the other hand, the Chinese identified two hourly phases in our body. according to the Chinese, the natural vital energy [chi] that pervades the universe also courses through our body along channels called meridians. Chi circulates through the main meridians at a specific time of day and spends 2 hours in each one. Many of the meridian relates to internal organs. Therefore, if we wake up at a specific time each night, it probably indicates an organ is not functioning properly; there is imbalance with chi or an obstruction along that meridian.

Ayurveda share similar ideas. Each dosha has its own specific function. For instance, during Pitta time [10pm - 2am] There is repair and renewal of body tissues. Sleeping through Pitta time segment is most rejuvenating. In the next article, you can find out the various metabolic processes going on under ‘Chemistry of sleep’.

If you stay awake at this time, you will have a burst of energy from Pitta’s activities and feel awake until the early hours of the morning. That may sound very good if you are cramming for an exam the next day. However, a study comparing two groups of students with one group studying late into the night and another group waking up early to study found that the group that study late into the night perform more poorly than the group that studied in the early morning in the exam.

Therefore, if you want to perform well mentally, give your brain a good rest and wake up refreshed early next morning to do your cramming. Your brain can retain information and analyze much better when it is fresh and well rested.

According to TCM, the Triple Warmer or Triple Energizer meridian is active from 9 p.n. to 11 p.m. and Liver meridian is strongest at 1 a.m. Both meridians are associated with ‘fire’ or heat. Staying up at this time will cause ‘fire’ or heat to rise upwards to the head. Therefore, the following day you may get heat symptoms such as nagging headache and red tongue. In more severe cases, you may even get fever and sore throat. In Ayurveda, Pitta is associated with the fire element. It is involved in metabolic processes. The meridians active during this Pitta time segment are related to metabolism, digestion and transformation, all of which are warm processes.

unlike Western medicine, in both Ayurveda and TCM, there is no one drug fits all. There are various causes for insomnia. It depends on which organ/meridian is in disharmony. Traditional healers prescribe herbs that treat specific problems and re-establish balance in the body and mind. Other complementary methods such as massage, aromatherapy or acupuncture may form part of the treatment regime.

In TCM, good quality sleep requires *the major organic meridians systems and **the fundamental substances in the body to be healthy and balanced not only according to season, but also by day and night changes as well.

After a good night of high quality sleep, we are fully recharged in mind and body. A good night’s sleep brings many healthful benefits including mental alertness, better problem solving capability, improved immunity and it is believed, longevity. Wow! Sleep can make us live longer? Amazing! The next article will explore the numerous amazing benefits of sleep.

* energy peaked for the following major organic meridians and they are most efficient between 9pm-7am: high triple warmer, gall bladder, liver, lungs, large intestine. * *The major fundamental substances are Chi (vital energy), blood, Yin, Yang, Jing (essences/secretions: hormones, digestive juices, semen etc.) and Shen (spirit). The Triple Warmer is three regions in the body identified by the Chinese with glands and organs that produces chemicals such as hormones and enzymes etc.