ACIDITY - Yogika Chikitsa

Symptoms:

Physical weakness, acidic or watery belching, dizziness, burning stomach, heartburn, etc.

Causes:

Oxygen inhaled in breathing enters the body and eventually turns into carbon dioxide. Through the influence of this carbon dioxide, the digestive fluid‑secreting glands are activated. If food is taken irregularly and excessively day after day, or if food is forced down with little or no appetite, or if eating rich food becomes a steady habit, it becomes impossible for the digestive fluid to digest the food properly. then, just as one the one hand the undigested or partially‑ digested food turns into poisonous gas, so on the other hand the secreted digestive fluid gradually turns into harmful acid.

The digestive fluids are themselves acidic, but under normal conditions when they digest food they themselves are digested. When, however, as a result of the aforesaid irregularities, they are unable to digest the food, the fluids themselves also remain undigested.

The cause of acidity, therefore, is the poisonous gas being produced by the decomposed food, together with the putrid acid produced by the deterioration of the undigested fluids.

The putrid acidic gas and fluids cause a burning sensation in the stomach. When they rise up to the chest they cause heartburn; when they reach the throat, burning is felt in the throat; when they rise further they cause dizziness.

Due to this excessive acidity, the blood becomes acid‑ dominated. Being overworked, the blood‑purifying organs of the body also become weak, and the patient feels weak.

This over‑acidity of the blood also causes swelling and consequent pain in different parts of the body, especially the joints. The name of this condition is 'rheumatism.'

When a strong and continuous effort is being made by the body's organs to purify the over‑acid blood, this condition is called 'colic' or 'shooting pain.'

Treatment:

Morning -- Utks’epa Mudra, Mayurasana, Padahastasana, Uddayana Mudra, Agnisara Mudra and Agneyii Pranayama.

Evening -- Agnisara Mudra, Utkata Pashimottanasana Sarvaungasana and Agneyii Mudra or Agneyii Pranayama.

Diet:

In acidity boiled old rice (grains a few years old), soup of green vegetables (no vegetables fried, parched, or taken in large quantity), juicy sweet or sour fruits, and curd‑water are especially useful. Curd (yogurt) alone is not particularly beneficial for acidity patients.

Do’s and Don’ts:

For patients of acidity it is particularly important to walk in the open air, to eat less food than the appetite demands, and to drink plenty of water, in small amounts, at intervals throughout the day. Coconut and coconut foods and medicines are especially useful in this disease. Patients should refrain from eating breakfast and snacks. If the hunger is unbearable, the patient may eat a little bit of juicy fruit. A frequent symptom of this disease is that, due to old habits, the digestive glands discharge an excessive quantity of fluids, as a result of which the patient suddenly feels an extreme hunger at odd times, which is called 'demon hunger.' That is why we find that a patient who is often in a depressed mood about his/her disease or goes around talking about the disease to everyone, when he/she sits down to eat, eats excessively. This symptom is the result of the secretion of digestive fluids at a particular time in accordance with the old habits of the patient. It is therefore desirable to be cautious about this 'demon,' detrimental hunger. An acidity patient should never violate these do's and don'ts.

If due to the over‑secretion of digestive fluids the patient suffers from 'demon hunger,' it can be relieved by drinking a large glass of water. When the acidity patient feels pain, it is advisable to drink orange or tangerine juice mixed in tepid water. After the pain has subsided, lemon juice in cold water should be taken. As with dyspepsia, during mealtime and for an hour thereafter breath should be flowing through the patient's right nostril.

At the time of severe colic pain, the dominant flow of breath should be changed from the nostril through which it was flowing at the time the pain started to the other nostril. allowing the bile to accumulate by not taking something when one is hungry should never be permitted, because in that even the undigested bile itself will become the cause of acidity.

Some remedies:

1. Eat some shredded dry coconut along with a prepared betel (Piper betle Linn.) leaf, or some flesh of mature coconut along with aniseed.

2. To get immediate relief from a distressing colic pain, equal quantities of chalk and atapa rice powder should be ground together, and 1/2 tola of the mixture should be taken.

3. Take with cold water 1/16 of the white portion of the ashes of the tamarind (Tamarindus indica Linn) pod.

4. Take 1/16 tola of the ashes of white akanda leaf and rock salt after burning them together in equal quantities in an enclosed earthen pot.

5. As with dyspepsia, it is desirable for acidity patients to observe fasting on Ekadashii days and regulation of diet on Purnima and Amavasya.