(In case you’ve missed them: Nutrition1 and Nutrition 2)
The body’s internal digestive fire is called our agni. When agni funtions properly, whatever we have eaten gets digested and absorbed by the body. Then the body eliminates waste. Pretty simple. However, when doshas are imbalanced due to lifestyle, diet, negative emotions, etc., agni becomes weakened or disturbed and therefore cannot digest food properly. In Ayurveda, “You are what you digest.” If you can’t digest it, you’ll get imbalanced!
This undigested food (and emotions) turns into ama, which is a toxic, sticky, cloudy, smelly substance that can spread from the gastrointestinal tract to other parts of the body. From there it can lodge itself into crevices (sometimes large crevices) causing clogs in channels, blood vessels and cell membranes. Yeah, eu. It’s gross.
It sounds complicated and difficult to get ama, but it’s kind of easy if you’re not paying attention. How many times have you eaten on the go, while working, during an intense conversation or while nervous? How many times have you gone back for seconds even though you were full? Even ending a nice warm meal with a cold beverage can cause ama. Let’s start learning to use the great elements and knowledge of our own dosha(s) to our healthy advantage. Keep these in your buddhi (wisdom)! As we learn and practice, we will find ourselves evolving into new and healthier habits. If our mind is not in our eating, we won’t digest much of anything.
For tips on avoiding ama, see Nutritional Guidelines.
Some signs of ama.
• Check your tongue – if it’s got a white coating, that’s ama. If it’s pink, you’re doing great.
• If your energy level is low, sluggish, sleepy, or weak
• If you feel “cloudy” in the mind
• If you feel blockage in the body (constipation, congestion, breathing)
• Indigestion
• Not hungry or no taste for food
What do I do if I have ama?
• Fasting – skip a meal or eat fruit until you are hungry and your tongue is pink
• Drink warm water
• Have ginger tea (ginger is a digestive spice)
• Eat light, warm, liquid foods like soups
• Use digesting spices like garlic, cumin seeds, ginger, black pepper
• Say a mini prayer of thanks before your meal, so your intention is on your food
• The best way to rid chronic ama is to do an extensive cleanse called panchakarma, which means “five actions.” It’s a cleansing and rejeuvenating process which gathers all vitiated doshas (and ama) and purges them from the body. It’s a total renewal of the system!
11 responses so far ↓
1 holliemctiernan // Dec 12, 2008 at 2:45 pm
Oh my gosh! I was just telling my coworker that I’ve felt sluggish and drained all week but didn’t know why because I’ve been getting enough sleep, exercising, and eating well. NOW I get it. My tongue is white… thank you for the suggestions.
2 Monica // Dec 14, 2008 at 9:55 pm
Yay, cool! I hope my tips help. Let me know if the tips work and you get your energy back – and if your tongue turns pink again.
3 LyricNocturne // Jan 14, 2009 at 8:43 pm
Thanks for the suggestions on dealing with ama! I’ll start following them right away.
4 Brittany // Oct 19, 2010 at 7:46 pm
How do we do the panchakarma? I’m thinking ama is why I’m feeling out of balance in several aspects.
5 Monica // Oct 19, 2010 at 9:19 pm
Panchakarma is very intense and requires supervision of a reputable practitioner(s). You can do something like a kitchari cleanse on your own or do a fruit/juice fast with ccf tea for a few days to help rid ama. PK is definitely a time and money commitment – not to scare you off – I’m just saying you have to be ready for it. If you are really serious, do some research where you live (or close to) and see if anyone offers it.
Also remember health does not improve over night. Start incorporating these Ayurvedic tools as habits and you will start to notice a difference. If you are interested in a consultation, I would be happy to help you individually. I fear giving too much advice without knowing the full story – the very BEST thing about Ayurveda is that it looks at YOU. And because of that, I use caution with too much detailed advice without knowing someone :)
6 Brittany // Oct 20, 2010 at 10:59 am
I definitely understand that you don’t want to get too detailed. I’m just trying to make sure I understand all of the concepts in order to get the full benefits :). I just need to slow down some more, I guess. I have been trying other methods for 5-6 months, and I’ve definitely gained some will power, but still have issues. I’m boiling me some of that ccf tea right now! I’ve also decided that I need to focus on balancing kapha right now, since what remains of my congestion is related to ama.
I will definitely give the Ayurveda some time to do its balancing, and I will consider a consultation if I still feel I’m missing something! As a college kid, I don’t have a lot of money…especially after the doctors drained me of a bunch!
You’re a tremendous help and an amazing person, and I look forward to getting to know myself and Ayurveda even better :)
7 Monica // Oct 21, 2010 at 10:19 am
:) It’s all good my friend. How was the tea!? Sounds a little gnarly but I actually love the taste – it tastes clean & healing :) Namaste!!
8 Lora Loring // Nov 30, 2010 at 12:09 pm
If you were to do a kitchari cleanse, how many days do you recommend? Also, do you eat the kitchari for all 3 meals or how? I am kapha and terribly inbalanced. Thank you. I really like your site.
9 Monica // Nov 30, 2010 at 9:35 pm
Lorna, duration of kitchari cleanse will depend on the person. I recommend for a safe (unsupervised) bet is to do 3-4 days. And then yes, you eat a mono diet of kitchari. If you get snackie you can have an apple or pear for a snack. And sip an herbal tea like ccf (see seasonal bloom vata for recipe) first thing in the morning and between meals. You can also have herbal teas between kitchari as well. Kitchari REALLY tames our jacked up taste buds. It is a delicious whole food, but it’s not going to knock your socks off. Embrace the whole-ness of the foods and when you are eating, envision the kitchari nourishing and cleansing your whole body. A soft, lovely food. Great for the mind and body. Helps us make the right choices :)
10 Sarah // Mar 10, 2011 at 9:49 am
Wow! No wonder I feel sluggish today.
My tongue is practically always white and I am constipated most days (sorry if that grosses anyone out).
I need to get my health back on track. Thanks for the info, Monica.
11 hereIam // Apr 18, 2011 at 2:57 pm
does whole tongue should be white or pink ?
because mine fore part of tongue is pink but other half at back is white coated . is this also considered as ama?
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