Hazards of Dry Cat Food: An Ayurvedic Analysis

• It provokes vata because it is dry and rough (ruksha khara)

• It provokes pitta due to content of toxic chemicals such as ethoxyquin (used to harden rubber) and BTA. These lead to aggressive behavior and fighting. Even high-quality dry cat food such as Avoderm contains corn, a pitta-provoking allergen. Feeding of a mono-diet also causes food allergies and other pitta reactions, leading to diarrhea and ulcerative colitis.

• It provokes kapha because it is high in carbohydrates, an unnatural food for cats. Due to its unnatural dryness, dry cat food disturbs uddakavaha srotas (the water carrying channels) leading to diabetes, dehydration and thirst.

• Because the mouth of uddakavaha srotas in the renal glomeruli is the root of mutravahasrotas (urine carrying channels), cats fed on a diet of commercial dry cat food readily develop urinary stones, cystitis, or even glomerulorephritis (kidney disease).

• Commercial dry cat foods are extremely tamasic, often containing such items as rendered cats and dogs, cancerous parts of cows, meat from diseased animals (all so-called meat by-products) as well as sweepings from granary floors. Such foods can lead to prion-caused diseases such as mad-cow disease, as well as impeding the cat’s spiritual progress. (Companion animals live with humans in order to progress spiritually from human association.)

• Commercial wet cat foods also contain dangerous meat by-products. Use a good quality wet food such as Avoderm, Innora, Wellness or Wysong.

Healing the Damage Caused by Alcoholism: A Case Study

by Jacob Griscom, C.A.S.

Howie came for a consultation in January2003. Howie is a 52-year-old male working as an estate grounds-keeper. He came to me concerned about the damage he had caused to his liver during his years of alcohol abuse. He had high liver readings, as well as high cholesterol, and he has a history of cirrhosis in his family.

He has really turned his life around. He quit smoking, has been sober for two years, and is on a spiritual path with a regular yoga, pranayama, and mantra practice. He’s the type of client I feel honored to work with because of his enthusiasm and commitment to healing.

Howie had seen a western MD with an alternative approach. He was taking a lot of different herbs and supplements—over thirty—that his doctor had prescribed to try to reduce the high levels of liver enzymes and cholesterol. From an Ayurvedic perspective, some of these herbs and supplements could be classified as brimhana, or tonifying, others, langhana, reducing. Altogether, I’ve found that it takes a strong agni to digest and effectively utilize so many supplements.

Howie’s diet was fairly wholesome. However, there were some items very dear to him that he knew were not contributing to his well-being; those delightful caffeine-rich substances, coffee and chocolate often visited his palate!

In addition to the high liver readings, Howie was experiencing a subtle discomfort in the liver area of the abdomen. He had some bloating after eating, and occasional constipation, as well as burning arthritic pain in his joints that would flare up from time to time. Due to the stress being unable to reduce his liver readings, he was experiencing a full range of emotions from worry, anxiety and depression to anger and irritability. He noted that the irritability was foremost in his daily life.

A full history revealed a Pitta-Vata prakruti with a dominance of Pitta and secondary Vata in his vikruti. He is tall and thin with good muscle development but prominent bones, angular features, deep-set eyes, rosy complexion, and dry rough skin with wrinkles. Heat and dryness dominated his symptoms and systemic patterns. His tongue was long and pointed, red in color, with a midline crackvand a thick yellow coating in the small intestine and colon regions. His superficial and deep pulses on his right wriwt were strong, bounding, and wiry.

Howie had fairly strong ojas and significant ama, so langhana (purification) was called for. However, it was winter, so I decided to wait until the seasons began to change to really emphasize purification. The warmth of Spring naturally facilitates the removal of ama.

He was started on a Pitta-Vata pacifying diet with a preliminary emphasis on reducing coffee and chocolate. For this difficult assignment I used a formula that Caraka has given us:

On the first day one should give up a quarter of the unwholesome practice...and correspondingly adopt a quarter of wholesome practice ...on the second day give up half....on the fourth day, .... (1)

Each day he replaced some coffee with the coffee substitute, and did not experience any withdrawal symptoms. I also had him put all of his supplements and herbs on hold until the ama cleared, and I recommended a specific herbal formula for his digestion and another formula for his mind.

Digestive Formula (ratio):
2 Cumin(Cuminum cyminum)
1 Bhringaraj (Eclipta alba)
1 Triphala (Emblica officinalis, Terminalia belerica, Terminalia chebula)
3 caps 3x/day at meals with one half cup aloe juice

Cumin is a wonderful digestive herb, being tridoshic and very effective for digesting pitta-type ama. Bhringaraj and triphala are also very good in their abilities to clear ama and simultaneously act as rejuvenatives. Aloe juice is a terrific anupana to use for liver conditions because it is a liver tonic, tonifies the agni, and at the same time clears pitta.

Mind Formula (ratio):
3 Gotu Kola (Centella asiatica)
2 Skullcap (Scutellaria spp.)
2 Jatamamsi (Nardostachys jatamansi)
2 Shanka Pushpi (Evoluvus alsinodes)
1 Ashwagandha (Withania somnifera)
3 caps 2x/day morning and night with warm water.

Gotu kola is an alterative and a nervine tonic for pitta. At the same time is calms vata, and reduces ama. Skullcap has similar properties, but is bitterer and can aggravate vata. Ashwagandha is a nervine tonic specific for vata. Shanka pushpi is warm and jatamamsi is cool. Both are tridoshic tonic nervines and sedatives. This formula addressed his combination of emotional concerns, and supported the cleansing of the liver and blood.