Curated Paper 1- Ashley Rice

Ashley Rice

Biol 4500-01

Dr. Karpel

Curated Paper 1

            In class, we were introduced to the concept of Ayurveda, and how balance is incredibly important to one’s health and lifestyle. An interesting part of Ayurveda is that there are three energies, and that the proper combination of these can help us achieve balance. One part of this is internal factors, such as the mind and spirituality. This led to an interesting discussion on what the difference is between the mind and the spirit. I think that to everyone this difference is unique. It will be special to each person, depending on how they perceive the mind, and also how their own belief system of spirituality works. To me, the mind is how we think. It is our own thoughts and thought processes. The mind to me is that little voice in your head that makes internal comments while making connections or listening to a discussion. It is our conscious and how we reason. Then there is our spirit, or as I like to think, our souls. I am a religious person, so I do believe in an afterlife and that I have a soul. I believe in ghosts and angels and that there is a God. This is what spirit is to me. For others that may not be religious, spirit may be the way we are in touch with a greater being or with nature. I think that culture can also play a role in the different ways individuals can describe spirit. I also think that the mind and spirit can go hand in hand or influence each other. They can also make up for what the other cannot do. Take religion for instance. To me, having faith that God is real and there is an afterlife where we can reside forever is spiritual. The mind cannot really grasp how long forever really is.

            The balance of mind and body is not the only part of Ayurveda, but so is mind and body. I was reading the section of the Ayurveda article about “Ayurveda as a Complementary System of Healing” and found the part where it talked about minimal stress and the flow of energy interesting. The paragraph says that with a low level of stress and the flow of energy in balance, then the body is at its strongest to fight off disease and illness. I wondered then, is that why people that are stressed all the time get sick easier? I have heard that when someone is stressed, it is more likely for the person to get sick and to get sick more often. With the immune system suppressed because of the stress, the body is not at its strongest, and cannot fight illness as well as it would if there was minimal stress and the balance in flow of energy. Another part in that same paragraph in the article mentions how sometimes we just do not feel right, but we go to the doctor and are told nothing is wrong. This is an imbalance of Ayurveda. There may be nothing physically or visibly wrong, but we can feel something is off and that we are not at one hundred percent health. I have experiences like this, and they happen often. With me, it is mostly in the form of headaches. Sometimes during the summer while I am working, or many times during the school year, I start to get headaches. The first time I had these rounds of headaches, I did not realize why. After going to the doctor and finding out nothing was wrong, we came to the conclusion that it was stress. I get stressed very easily and tend to hold it all in, and I think that is why I get such bad headaches. After reading that paragraph, I felt better that I had a connection and a sort of explanation. The stress throws off the balance of my three energies, resulting in discomfort and tension headaches.

            After learning more about the three energies in Ayurveda, I have come to the conclusion that I am a Kapha type, which is the energy of lubrication. After reading the section, I was kind of in shock how well it described me. There are a few examples that helped me realize my predominant energy of Ayurveda. Kapha types have sweet and lovely dispositions according to the article. They also have oily and smooth skin, and tend to gain weight easily. It also says they tend to shun exercise, and shun exercise I do. To stay in balance, however, I am supposed to stay active and exercise often. Kapha people are tolerant and forgiving, but the article says we can become lethargic. Kapha types are also more likely to have diseases like the flu, sinus infections, and other mucous diseases. These are the only types of sick that I get. It amazes me how many connections I can make with my own life and energy with Ayurveda. It provides an explanation for certain things when I cannot seem to find one. It is interesting to me to read how one little thing can throw everything off balance, and to force the mind, conscious, and body to not work properly. Everything is connected.

            We have related Ayurveda to our own lives and made all of these connections. Examples include a balanced diet, a balance between exercise and rest, etc. There are so many examples of Ayurveda with human processes, such as the immune system, mental illness, metabolism, etc. They are the connection with balance and disease. Being off balance in any one of these things can lead to disease or illness. I was just thinking about the diets that are suggested with the article. I had never heard of Ayurveda until the other day, and most certainly not Ayurveda diets. Reading through the three energies and their diets, they all seem to be healthy foods, or food categories that do not really involve processed foods. We have all learned that there is supposed to be a certain balance in our diets, and a certain percentage of lipids, carbohydrates, and proteins that we are supposed to eat. This is usually different for each person or varies somewhat. These dosha energy diets should provide that. After figuring out what energy type a person is, I wonder how much of a difference incorporating the respective diet into their daily lives will change their lifestyle itself. It would be interesting if these diets could also be used for weight loss or as a weight loss program, or if they are just meant to maintain weight and health.

            A good example of the importance of balance in life and how it relates to disease is diabetes. With diabetes, there is an excessive amount of glucose in the blood. This can be because of lack of insulin to regulate glucose levels because beta-cells are attacked, which would be type 1 diabetes. This can also be because of increased insulin resistance, which would be type 2 diabetes. The uncontrolled amounts of glucose leads to hyperglycemia. This can lead to glycation end products (AGEs). I looked up a little bit more about these AGEs and found that they are proteins or lipids that become glycated after being exposed to sugars. They can lead to aging, but in this case they worsen the disease or can lead to the development of it. This is a disease I am very familiar with and have had personal experiences with. My great grandma had diabetes. She had type 2 diabetes and was very overweight. She suffered from the nerve damage part of the glycation end products. She lost feeling in them more often than not. Also, her feet were usually swollen, but more-so when she stood for long periods of time. I wonder if this is because she was so overweight, that the extra adipose tissue led to inflammation, and that is what led to her feet being swollen all the time.

            There are physical factors that can worsen because of diabetes as mentioned above, but there are also certain social factors that contribute to diabetes. Some of these factors include the influence of a person’s physical and social environment, such as low income or education. Another factor is the conditions a person is raised in or works in. I want to look at being unable to afford healthy foods can lead to obesity and diabetes. It is always common to hear that it is too expensive to eat for some people. In some cases this is true, especially for organic foods. Many people will argue that it is much cheaper to get fast food than to buy healthy foods. I do not think this is true, as over time the cost of going out will outweigh the cost of buying healthy food for the week. Also, a lot of healthy produce is not very expensive. An exception to this would be someone that lives alone. Buying the produce could eventually go to waste, which would end up being more expensive in the end. However, I think for most people it is the convenience of unhealthy options rather than the cost of healthy options that leads them to having an unhealthy diet. Whether it be getting take-out, or buying a few boxes of Mac-N-Cheese, these things are easier and less time consuming to cook than to put together a healthy home cooked meal. Many people probably really cannot afford healthier options for the ones that eat fast food every day because it is “cheaper” should be able to change their lifestyle. This is the kind of mentality that leads to obesity and eventually diabetes. This unhealthy and imbalanced lifestyle opens the door for something more on the mental side of Ayurveda; depression.

            I read an article on how chronic illnesses can lead to depression. I found this super interesting, and after reading the article it makes sense. Whether it be from being diagnosed with a disease, or living a lifestyle that you did not originally want, this sadness or mentality of those with chronic disease leaves them perfectly susceptible to getting depression. While reading the article I began to think about how it would be to get diagnosed with type 2 diabetes. If it were me, I would be devastated. I absolutely love sugar and sweets, so this would be a very hard thing for me. I could indeed see myself becoming sad or being put at a higher risk to getting depression with that lifestyle change. I think for those that contract type 2 diabetes and get depression, it is harder to treat them. I think this because exercise is a huge part for treating type 2 diabetes, and it has also been shown that it can be very helpful in treating diabetes as well. With a person who has type 2 diabetes and depression, I imagine they do not want to exercise. Assuming a person develops diabetes because they have a very unhealthy diet and do not exercise, they will not want to exercise if they do not think they need to. Add the symptoms of depression, such as sadness and no motivation, then it can become extremely hard to treat a person. The depression can be worse if they drink alcohol.

            I have always known that alcohol is damaging to the body, but it seems to be more so with those that have a disease or illness. I also knew that alcohol negatively affects the liver and should not be consumed when taking certain medications. After reading the article Diabetes, Alcohol, and Social Drinking, I learned a few more things. It has always been a no-brainer that one should not drink alcohol while taking medications. With diabetic medications, this is because it can mess with glucose levels in the blood and cause someone to suffer from hypoglycemia, which is very dangerous. There was something else in the article that was very interesting. I have never thought to put these things together. Alcohol damages the liver, as it works to remove alcohol from the blood. Well because of this, it cannot do its normal function, which is assisting in regulating blood glucose. This can also be very dangerous. It makes me wonder how people with diabetes will still drink a lot of alcohol, knowing their body cannot handle it. I have known a couple people in my life that have done this. I think their mentality is that their body does not function properly anyway, and so what would drinking alcohol do? Obviously, it can cause more damage. I feel that many people do not see that, or they are just not educated about it. I think that having diabetes and trying to control it would be very difficult, as I am sure controlling blood sugar levels can be finicky, so why add alcohol to the mix?

            Ayurveda is an important concept to remember. It is important to understand how imbalance in our lives can really affect our health or the way we live. Diabetes is a good example. It shows how the imbalance of the mind, body, and spirit need to work together to maintain a healthy and fulfilling life. Without it, many problems occur, and a chain reaction of these negative problems can take place.