Fire in the belly…
It is not what you eat, but what you digest that matters.
If it is possible to summarize Ayurveda’s way of understanding the operations of the body we must start with the actions of Agni. As usual, relating the concept of Agni in a way that will seem sensible to western, linear-thinking, English-speaking people is a challenge.
We can say that the action of Agni is equivalent to digestive capacity; some people say it is the same as digestive enzymes. Functionally Agni can be considered as the action that transforms or catalyzes one substance into another. Metaphorically Agni is represented by the element of Fire & its qualities as seen in the body: hot/ushna, sharp/tikshna, light/laghu, penetrating/tikshna, variable/vishama, subtle/sukshma, luminous/tejas, fluid/drava & clear/vishada.
Agni’s home is mainly in the gut, but it suffuses each & every living cell, governing what nourishment the cell takes in, what wastes are released, & what energy is produced.
Agni determines the quality of each of these (nourishment, waste products & energy) that our body creates. Agni operates in each & every level of digestion & assimilation in a ‘holographic’ manner. But the entry level story that is told in Ayurveda is that agni is the ‘cooking fire’ that burns just under our ‘rice-pot’ (aka stomach). This agni is referred to as Jathar Agni & is the ‘king’ of agnis; the health of jathar agni is reflected in the health of all other levels of agni that operate throughout the body. Healthy jathar agni will ‘cook’ the foods we eat perfectly, making available all the nutrients, separating out the waste products, & leaving no ama/toxins behind.
Like any fire, Agni must be tended so that it is stable & strong. Here are the ways that we tend our agni so that it serves us well:
Let yourself get hungry before you eat; but not too hungry. Hunger (actual hunger) is a sign that your agni is ready to digest. Eating when you are not hungry can cause long-term agni dis-regulation. But going too long without eating will also diminish your agni as it adjusts to lack of nourishment. Remember to respect your urges!
Eat food that matches the capacity of your digestion. Food that is too ‘heavy’, dense, oily or refined (or just eating too much!) is like putting a giant hardwood log onto a small campfire. The tiny fire will struggle to process the meal. Regularly stressing your agni like this will cause you long-term issues.
Feeling a little sleepy after eating is normal; needing to take a nap is a sign you need to work on your agni.
Is that quinoa in your poo?! If you do eat something & later smell like that thing or see parts of it in your BM you can rest assured that you did not digest that thing ie. your agni didn't do its job (or you ate food that was not digestible for you. What to do? Give those ingredients a skip until your agni is stronger. Persisting in eating things that you can’t digest will cause ama. No one wants ama.
Herbs & spices are like kindling to your agni. Have a cup of hot herbal tea if you over-did a meal. Adding herbs like thyme, basil, garlic, fennel are a good way to support healthy agni. If you can tolerate a bit more heat in your food this will give your agni a boost.
Love the food you eat! Your emotional state is soooo important to digestion. If you can’t feel good about it and enjoy it when you are are eating don’t eat it!