How To Optimize Your Health With Ayurveda

Introduction to Ayurveda 0:00

Hello and welcome back to our reversing mast cell activation syndrome and histamine intolerance summit. I'm your host, Dr. Meg Mill And today I'm joined by my esteemed colleague, Dr. Monisha Bhanote She is a board certified physician, and her well cover system combines ancient wisdom with modern mind body science. She underscores her dedication to the holistic health that nurtures our mind, body and spirit. And today, we're going to talk all about ayurveda and how you can use this as a technique to bring your body back into balance.

I am so excited to jump into this today. Thank you so much for joining us, Dr. Monisha. Thank you for having me. Looking forward to our conversation. Me too. Well, I am just so excited to get into all of this. Before we dive into all of the connections with histamine and mast cells and everything else. Can we just start by talking about ayurveda and kind of what it is for a general explanation? Yeah, absolutely. So ayurveda is it's an ancient, almost 5000 year old whole body system. Okay. So when it comes to health and what it does is it bases your health off of three, there are called doshas, ayurvedic doshas which is kind of like refers to your, let's say you're like bio element.

So what make up of your constitution, what make you up. And those elements are things like space, air, fire, water and earth. And you are born with a certain dosha. And the three doshas that people might be familiar with are pitta vata and kapha So those are your three doshas, and, they're each of those three doshas is a combination of those five elements. So for example, somebody who has a pitta dosha is fire and water. So I'm a pitta dosha. somebody who has a vata dosha is ether and air.

The Three Doshas and Balance 2:25

Somebody who has a kapha dosha is water and earth. So based off of. And most people have two doshas. So when we're looking at health and well-being from air perspective, it's when you get out of balance of those doshas And that's where disease and problems start developing. And you can utilize this knowledge of understanding what is it that you are born with to kind of optimize your health? any health problem really? because all in ayurveda we believe that, these health problems stem from imbalances in these energies.

And there's another word it's called prakriti. And that is your unique constitution. So what your unique constitution would be. I have a feeling that I, from talking to you, I think you are also a pitta vata. I am a pitta vata. But sometimes I can be a pitta kapha. So it just depends on, what I'm creating imbalance from. But when I'm balanced, I'm like a very strong pitched, focused, productive. but when a pitta gets out of balance, they can become very irritable and very short tempered, have digestive issues, get heartburn, all these kinds of things.

So you want to think of ayurveda as this ancient whole body medical system, looking at the body through the, the, the five elements. That's really what it is. That's great. I have maybe a silly question, but when we're born with them, how is that determined? so that is just predetermined by, you know, the genes, your parents, your gene, basically your genes. It's a predetermined factor. Okay, of what you are. So you have these and then you're really trying to focus on keeping yourself in balance.

Correct? Yes. Okay. The goal is to stay in balance throughout life. And this pertains to, physical, mental, emotional, all the balances. Okay. And could you tell us the, the what the characteristics of the, the different doshas are. Yeah, absolutely. So somebody who is let's do pitta for example. Right. So a pitta individual would be somebody who is hot, sharp, has very strong digestion and metabolism. Like you give them something to eat, they can digest it. Right. they are often very fiery in nature.

So, you know, kind of our firecracker people, entrepreneurs are usually pittas, right? they're very intelligent individuals. They have a strong appetite, but when they are imbalanced, they are quick to anger, they are irritated. they can experience inflammation sometimes inflammation in a pit, shows up as skin issues. So acne in your teens, maybe eczema. when we, we further discuss, histamine and mast cell, that is a pitta imbalance. So this is why I'm starting with pitta. So so we can kind of understand it.

and then we have vata. So what, is our earth, mental space and air. And these are the people who are very, they are always cold, right? So they're like, oh, I feel cold. They might, have a problem focusing like, there are kind of. How would I describe it in a, there are a best friend who wants to hang out with us, but that never shows up on time. makes plans, and it's like, oh, I forgot about it because I was doing this. Right. because what does vata control. vata control the mind. Right. So it's, it's really that, that focus and stuff.

So when you don't have your vata in balance, you kind of become like. Not focused. so you can have increased anxiety as a vata dosha you can have sleep issues. Your mind is always racing and boxers can also have digestive issues. And now ayurveda We believe all health stems from the gut, right? So any of these individuals can have gut issues. They just have different different types of gut issues. And then you have the coffee person which is your water and earth. Now kaphas are usually they're heavy on the heavier sets side, slower metabolism.

but there are there are friends that we want as friends because we know that they're always there for us. They're grounded. But to get them to get up and do any activity and to go go places, they're like, no, let's just stay home.

Ayurveda, Gut Health, and Histamine 7:50

they also have a slower metabolism, slower digestion. So when they eat, they put on weight. Right. So a kapha is, it's linked to your, body's growth. It's linked to fluid balance. Right. So when a kapha is out of balance, they might experience swelling, like, you know, pitting edema. Right? So when, somebody has congestive heart failure from our medical world, right? They usually have fluid in their, their legs and their lower limbs. That's that's kapha imbalance, right? They're pitting edema. so that's kind of the, the different characteristics.

And there is a number of quizzes that are available for you to go online and try and to put like, oh, this is what I am, this is what I am, you know, and but do realize that sometimes when you're answering these quizzes, you're looking at what you are right now, at this moment in time. And if you're imbalanced, you're getting your dosha perspective from an imbalance. So you really want to work with somebody who understands what your Constitution is in balance with your diseases, so you can bring it back into balance now.

Yeah, that's very important. That's enlightening. Thank you so much for explaining those. So can we talk a little bit then bring it in to gut health and how ayurveda views the connection with gut health and histamine. Yeah absolutely. So we already know the the three doshas right. Vata pitta kapha. And these are the principles that are going to, regulate what's going on in the body. Now, when I agree to look at gut health and histamine, it's looking at it through the lens of two things, okay? One is agni and the other is, Agni is a the word for digestion.

We want to have strong digestion. When when we don't have strong digestion, what happens? We build up toxins. Ama is toxins. All right, so you can imagine an individual even without using these ayurvedic, terminologies, an individual who does not have bowel movements every day and does not have good bowel movements every day, and maybe they're constipated, right. And when we think of constipation, we're like, oh, we don't feel well, you know, and we're building up toxins in our body. Same thing in your body. That right.

Except I ran a new this a long time ago. Whereas when you have strong digestion or whatever you eat, you absorb the nutrients. Everything else comes out as waste, right? It doesn't get constipated or backed up. So. And I, Arata, when you are experiencing a, gut health issue with histamine release, you're getting backed up with these toxins or asthma. And, so and asthma is the byproduct of incomplete digestion. Right. So at the end of the day, you didn't digest your food. Now I can bring it back to conventional or functional care, where when we look at undigested food, what happens in our gut, right.

Our gut lining, our nice entero sites, get their tight junctions, get a little leaky, and these toxins enter same thing. Isn't that interesting? How it's, like, exactly the same thing. And now it's being seen as in the lens of I invader, which already existed. And then functional medicine, which is now, you know, the one of the more common, whole body systems that people is looking at. So therefore, from a diabetic perspective, managing gut health and histamine levels really is achieved through balancing your doses and that might include dietary adjustments that might include herbal remedies that might include detoxification and cleansing of that excess.

or toxins, stress management and then lifestyle practices. Yeah. And I do you but it is a huge point that some of these more like ancient practices are still when we go back to them and look at them from this perspective, we have, you know, looking at the connections. It's a good it's a really good point to bring up because we often are looking at the advancements and going really back to practices that have been around forever. So can you tell us a little bit about some of the, dietary recommendations that are like that we can use through this perspective?

Yeah. Yeah, absolutely. So when it comes to incorporate and and the way I see

Dietary Guidance for Each Dosha 12:40

health is you want to use the best of all the practices. You don't need to just be like, okay, I'm just using functional medicine. I'm just using conventional medicine. I'm just using traditional Chinese medicine. You want to incorporate everything, and by understanding how your body works, you can then take the tools from all these different places. Right. So when we're looking at the different diets because histamine overload is linked to a pitta imbalance, we want to look at what are some of the things that are interventions to, to pacify or kind of calm this, this imbalance.

And when it comes to dietary things like for example, a pitta person usually craves, they have strong digestion. So what do they crave? They crave hot, spicy, oily foods that just like, you know, taste good, right? But what does a person with a pitta imbalance or histamine imbalance need? They need cooling foods. So they need things like cucumbers, watermelon, things that are going to quiet down that excess heat and toxins in their body. Right. So really you want to avoid spicy foods. one of the things that might be surprising is to avoid fermented foods, because we often think of fermented foods as really good for our gut health, which they absolutely are, depending on what imbalances and issues you're dealing with.

But both from an erotic perspective and from just a conventional histamine perspective. You want to avoid fermenting fermented foods while you are going through your healing process and really healing your gut lining. and then you want to avoid heavily acidic foods. Okay. So things that are very acidic, all of these can aggravate the pitted area and then aggravate histamine release as well. Right. So, incorporate the cooling foods, cooling herbs like fennel, mint like mint tea. Great. Great for you.

Coriander. so now that's from the pitcher perspective. Now, if you have a vata dosha and you have vata overload, there's an other things you're going to want to do. So with a vata overload you're gonna want to have. Remember, the bottles are the more airy type. So what do we need to to get that air balanced? We need more grounding. So what does a person who is tall, thin, kind of just always on the go? Do they love eating salads? All right. So think of you are like, let me let me pick a celebrity for you.

I did this at another conference and I picked the other, conference speaker. So. So since we don't have conference speakers here, let me pick a celebrity. Think of Cameron Diaz. She is your classic vata, like, kind of just bubbly, airy, kind of like on the guru. What is she doing? Probably eating lots of salad. Same thing with Gwyneth Paltrow, right? Eating lots of salad. That is not the ideal diet for somebody with that dosha to eat too many of those, if that's all you're eating. What they need is more root vegetables, more grounded cooked foods, not raw foods.

Cooked foods to really optimize your health. and then, so warm foods, moist foods, can help balance, that histamine level. And then, from a cough, perspective of histamine overload, because these are the people who are slower to, digest, these are the individuals that can actually benefit from some spice because coffees already have slow digestion. Right. So if you're a kapha individual and who can I think of as a kapha and individual? Oprah Winfrey, kapha individual, very grounded person. Everybody wants to be Oprah's best friend.

Right? And this is where she help her digestion and metabolism by having more spicy, warm foods. But they need to be lighter. They can't be like heavily oiled or things like that. Still like lighter. So, and that person should avoid sweet foods. They should avoid whole foods, oily foods. So it really depends on the individual and looking at it where I know, like when we look at it from a conventional standpoint, we have a list of, oh, these are your low histamine foods. Is your high histamine foods.

There's a little bit more nuance to it when you incorporate the, I your Vedic perspective. And I think that can be very valuable, especially for somebody who's like, oh, I've already done this. And it didn't resolve my issues. Right. Then you have a new tool in your tool belt to look at. Yeah. And I think a lot of like you're saying you can the test that you can do online, I know I've done them like years ago, I did one that I just found, and they did even give you some lists of foods that could be helpful for you from from that perspective, we've been talking the whole time about and you brought the fermented foods up because I think that's a big point, with this, because a lot of people that are hearing all this talk about gut health and gut healing and fermented foods and I everyone has to eat fermented foods.

And and while that can work for some people when you're having histamine issues, that's not that is not your friend. So really looking at yourself and the way that you need to do healing and the steps you need to take individually is, is so important. Would you be able to give us some herbs specifically that we use through the Arab aid perspective? Oh yes, I love herbs. I'm like doing herbs all day, every day. So the herbs once again are going to depend on your dosha. Okay. So when we are thinking of the pitta dosha, the fiery dosha, there's three herbs that I recommend there.

One is amla. Amla is also known as Indian gooseberry. It's a sour tasting fruit. very high in vitamin C. Okay, so, really, where can you find amla? You can find amla in supplement form. You can actually find amla in some, Indian grocers in the, in the freezer section. They have frozen amla berries that you can make, like a dish with. so all, all the waste food first, then supplementation. Right. So you can do that. the next one is going to be neem. Okay. So neem is a plant that it's really beneficial due to its anti-inflammatory properties and bacterial properties.

We use neem you can grow neem,

Herbs and Remedies by Dosha 19:45

you know, the name plant, you can eat the neem. Liz. we use neem and a lot of, body soaps, face creams, face lotions. because it can help with calming down acne, eczema, kind of all the skin rashes that you might experience with a histamine response. Right. So neem can be very beneficial. You can also take neem supplementation. I don't have it on my desk right now. But I do have a neem supplementation that sometimes I will utilize so that so amla neem and then the other one is galore. We also known as good to cheese.

So this is another, your Vedic or herb. It's considered to be an adaptogen, helping the body calm down. Release of stress. Because we know that when we are stressed out, more itchiness, more histamine release, it's a cycle that we can't break, right? So always incorporating an adaptogen. My mom also grows this plant. Go away. She's like, oh, did you have your Galloway today? Like, yes mom, I had it right. So, so yeah, she grows all these plants. So it's like we just go out and eat some, eat some leaves.

but that one also is important. Not just as an adaptogen, but supporting the immune system overall and as, so some of you guys may or may not know, you know, 70 to 80% of your immune system lives in your gut. Right? So by supporting your immune system, you're supporting your gut, then therefore supporting the histamine response. so that will be my three for the pitta dosha. Okay. So then for the Doctor Dosha, right. For our Gwyneth Paltrow Paltrow's and our Carmen Diaz is right. So now we have different herbs.

Ashwagandha okay, everyone sort of Gonda by now. Right. So ashwagandha is another adaptogen, right. So helps lower cortisol levels, can improve sleep and cognition. So remember vata is what controls the mind, right? The vata dosha. Right. So you can imagine if you're in balance there, you want something to help improve cognition and focus right. So ashwagandha can help I mean, to me it's like it makes complete sense when I look at it from from this perspective. Another one is, Qatari. That's another plant.

And this one is known as a queen of herbs. It's great for women. Okay. Like any, hormonal imbalances. So whether you're a young woman with hormonal balances or a perimenopausal postmenopausal, you know, all of that, it really promotes healthy, levels of, hormones because it has phyto estrogenic properties. So, shatavari, you can have shatavari as a tea. You can have it as a supplement. You can, you know, so many ways to incorporate it. I do like shatavari a lot, even for fertility. Right. So you can imagine, like these women who are just like, having a hard time conceiving, having a hard time focusing, having that brain fog.

Right. And they're experiencing that imbalance. Well, I guarantee their guts not doing well. Right. Because we know about the gut brain connection. But incorporating this might also help. Okay. And then the last one I like to use for vata is licorice. Okay. So not your licorice. That is. I don't remember what that brand that's called it in the grocery store, not Twizzlers. Twizzlers. Twizzlers. Yeah. Not. It's fine. but really, high quality, licorice. Possibly in a supplement form. What I like about that is it's it kind of goes in the family, repairing the GI tract lining, remember?

So those entero sites that are lined up that, that get a little leaky and stuff that, the licorice can help that mucin, lining there and kind of be more protective for that. So those are my three for there. And from a cough, a perspective cough, those are usually the individuals that experience histamine intolerance. But if they do there are some supplements or herbals that we can use for them. And that would be holy basil. Right. So everybody knows a basil is. But then there's something called holy basil, also known as tulsi, which I absolutely love.

I grow tulsi, right. So another one that where it's like if you if you came and had a salad at my house, we'd be like picking moringa leaves, Tulsi, like we'd have all these leaves in our salad and be like, where's the lettuce? Yeah. but, I like Tulsi because it's also an adaptogen and immune support. Right. So and also it's great for detoxifying because remember, the buildup of toxins or asthma contributes to more histamine release. Right. So we want something to release these toxins. And then the other one we can incorporate from for a kapha dosha would be something called trikuti which is actually a blend of three, three spices.

It's a blend of, black pepper, long pepper and ginger. Now, remember, cough us don't have strong digestion to begin with. All right? So we need something to help their digestion along. Otherwise they just are easily are prone to build up more toxins. So all of these I mean, that's where really understanding your body's constitution and what you need. Because a person who goes, oh, ashwagandha is great for many and they're like can create further imbalance or it doesn't work for them. And working with somebody who actually understands what each of these things do

Where to Find Dr. Bhanote 25:45

and the properties that they hold and what your body does. That's helpful. That's a great point because you can take something, you know when you've worked with so many people you start to see that pattern of okay well I always ask people like have you taken this. And has it, how has it made you feel. Because some things are like magic for people. They can say like, I can't even believe that just changed my life. Where has it been all my life? I can't believe the difference. And then another person could take it and it's like, okay, I can't really tell the difference.

And and you're exactly right based on your unique bodies and balance. And so that's really important to to really know and then have guidance as to what you can do specifically for you. Well, this has been so informative. And thank you so much for giving us all this information. Can you tell everyone where they can find you? And I'm going to join you. now I need to come to your house to have your salad versus myself. And because yours is, filled with what, so much better things, right? Like. Yes. Yeah.

Yeah, absolutely. So, I, my website is drbhanote.com on social media. I'm @drbhanote on Instagram, Facebook. YouTube. Pinterest everywhere. Dr. Bhanote Super easy to find. and. Yeah. Yeah. So thank you so much. Check out check her stuff out. And thank you so much for joining us. Monisha Absolutely. Thank you. Have a good day everyone.