Abstract:

Digestion as Key to Systemic Wellness: The Maharishi AyurVeda Model, with Validation from Modern Medical Science.

Recent reports in the modern medical literature are validating the time-honored Ayurvedic principle that healthy digestion is key to overall systemic wellness. This presentation will highlight the central features of Ayurveda’s theory of digestion–including digestive power (agni), tridosha balance, enteric toxicity (ama), and bowel dysfunction (grahani)—as well as correlates from recent gastroenterology and integrative medicine research. We will examine causes of impaired digestion (agnimandhya), the brain-gut connection, antigen-immune reactivity, impaired intestinal permeability (leaky gut), and dysbiosis, and the local and systemic inflammatory disorders resulting from these imbalances.