| ayurveda@quackwatch.com 2004-10-06, 11:09 am |
| Since being stung by a specific rebuke of a claim about ayurveda being
used by many doctors, jay stevens,aka dr. jai etc., has been on a course
to reclaim some face. Consider this information about ayurveda and
consider the value of a "degree" relating to it:
http://www.quackwatch.org/04Consume...ion/chopra.html
in part:
"Proponents state that ayurvedic medicine originated in ancient time,
but much of it was lost until reconstituted in the early 1980s by the
Maharishi Mahesh Yogi. Its origin is traced to four Sanskrit books
called the Vedas-the oldest and most important scriptures of India,
shaped sometime before 200 B.C.E. These books attributed most disease
and bad luck to demons, devils, and the influence of stars and
planets. Ayurveda's basic theory states that the body's functions are
regulated by three "irreducible physiological principles" called
doshas, whose Sanskrit names are vata, pitta, and kapha. Like
astrologic "signs," these terms are used to designate body types as
well as the traits that typify them.
Like astrologic writings, ayurvedic writings contain long lists of
supposed physical and mental characteristics of each constitutional
type. Vata, for example, is said to "govern all bodily functions
concerning movement" and to accumulate during cold, dry, windy
weather. According to Chopra's Time/Life Video guidebook: vata
individuals are "usually lightly built with excellent agility" and
"love excitement and change"; balanced vata produces mental clarity
and alertness; and unbalanced vata can produce anxiety, weight loss,
constipation, high blood pressure, arthritis, weakness and
restlessness."
|