Ama – undigested metabolism toxins and why it is important to focus on them
You might have heard or read the word Ama now several times. But what exactly is Ama? Ama is according to Ayurveda the main reason for all diseases. Why? The philosophy of Ama and Agni are one of the fundamentals in Ayurvedic Health Care. With a strong digestive fire, your body can digest everything in a perfect way. With a weak, digestive fire the trouble starts. Here is the point about having a special diet for our Doshas, our body constitution which is very unique, and keep our bodies balanced!
The beginning of Ama
Imagine a digestion that is poor and weak, all the nutrients you feed your body throughout food can´t get absorbed well and multiply in your digestive tract. They literally ferment – but not in a good way. Toxins develop and can lead to different problems with health. Sickness, allergies – your body is out of balance. These toxins is what we call Ama. This principle is also food for microbes, which are living naturally in our digestive system. Microbes can breed in a morbid way, which is in other health philosophies and sciences also a way to describe the development of diseases. According to Ayurveda we see them more as a symptom, which is caused by toxins.
Ama can make a connection to the Doshas and start to cause diseases. It can connect with weak doshas, stick to tissues and the lymphatic system, clogging the arteries – a way of disease development which is called “Sama.” All sicknesses that are caused like that, need a specific way of detox – and are mostly not easy to heal. They need a cleansing process to get rid off all the Ama in our bodies – this is how we support the immune system and start to heal. But there are also diseases which aren´t caused by Ama – those are easier to heal and we call them “Nirama.” There are many types of toxins and they also have different qualities, most of them are in the beginning easy to eliminate.
The qualities and different types of Ama
The qualities of Ama are similar to Kapha qualities, but we would describe it more sticky, mucous, with a bad smell. Those qualities help to block body functions and clog the metabolic process. In the early stages Ama is on the tongue – as a white to grey coat, it is a heavy and tired feeling in the body and also bad transpiration, bad breath and so on. The connection to the Doshas bring different types of qualities to Ama.
Vata type Ama is for example caused by caffeine, fermentation in the gut (make the connection to bloating!), or a very unsteady lifestyle. This kind of Ama make you feel more hyper, scattered and anxious.
Pitta Type Ama is more hot and fiery (make the connection to infections!), here it is mostly caused by liver excess, fermentation in the gut. You would feel more irritated, itchy, inflamed.
Kapha Type Ama is caused by heavy and oily food, your metabolism is slow. And that is also how you feel – tired, sluggish.
There are factors which are supporting Ama, the most important are food – not compatible to your body and dosha, food that is heavy to digest, eating too much, food that is causing bloating. Eating habits, like eating at night, too much stress and intense emotions. But also moving to a new place and the change of season are developing Ama, because our metabolism get mixed-up and need a time to get used to the new climate, bacterias.
You can also see the first symptoms of Ama and experience them in your life – not just the coated tongue, but what about being bloated after food and tired and feel sluggish? Strong cravings for fast and junk food? Acne, skin breakouts like red points and allergies? Even clouded thoughts, a unsteady feeling or a lack of motivation is a sign for Ama in your body.
Summarized we can say:
To understand the development of diseases it is helpful to understand the principles of Agni, our digestive fire and Ama, the toxins our body can´t digest. (Also emotionally!)
Ama can have different Qualities, according to Doshas and can also connect to the different Doshas and cause diseases.
Habits in our lifestyle and food decisions can feed Ama but we can also see the state of plaque on our tongues, body and feel it too.
We can get red off toxins by balance our diet and also with Detox and cleansing techniques.
The next connection is to understand the Shrotas, which could be translated as the whole metabolism process of our body. From the air we breathe in, to our bones – Ayurveda sees all the small parts and puzzle them together. So that will be the next step on our Ayurvedic journey! Have the most beautiful start into the new week and see you tomorrow with a special guest on Motivational Monday, to keep us inspired and creative! A beautiful male Yoga teacher from Canada will tell you a bit about his way and journey! Namaste!
From Ayurveda With Love 