Obesity has become common, with people avoiding meals, not eating according to need and engaging in little physical and mental activity. Overweight leads to many diseases, and is also a major cause of death.
The reason for weight gain is accumulation of fat in the body. In women, around 30 % fat in the body is normal, but for men, if the content exceeds 25 %, the person is considered overweight.
The major cause of overweight is lack of exercise and excess food intake. Other reasons include oversleeping, especially during daytime, sitting at one place for long hours, food that creates phlegm, and eating sweet and fatty food items in plenty. Some people have the tendency to sleep immediately after a meal, which also contributes to obesity.
Very few people engage in physical work nowadays. Technological advance has ensured that people can carry out all jobs sitting at a place. Use of electronic gadgets at home also keeps everyone indoors. All this reduces physical tasks, for work as well as recreation. Moreover, everyone depends on vehicles to commute, avoiding walking – another good exercise.
However, some people become fat due to hereditary causes. Hormonal imbalance and surgical removal of uterus in women also leads to obesity. It also accompanies many diseases like hypothyroidism, Cushing’s syndrome, dysfunction of hypothalamus, tumors in pituitary gland, adrenal gland and pancreas. In such cases, when the disease is treated, obesity too can be reduced by medical intervention. Some people put on weight as a side effect of certain drugs.
In obese people, only the fat content in their body increases, which is not a sign of being healthy. Such people would face disorders like abnormal craving for food, excessive thirst, too much sweat, breathing trouble, body odour, drowsiness and oversleeping, tiredness and stammering. A gradual slump in sexual functions is also noticed in overweight persons.
According to Ashtangahridaya (a fundamental text of Ayurveda), it is better to have a thin body than an overweight one. The reason is that there is no complete cure for obesity.
Ayuveda suggests many remedies for obesity. They include, regular exercise, reduction of fat and sugar in dishes, taking balanced food in the required quantity only, using medicines, engaging in panchkarma and other treatment methods suggested by Ayurveda and sticking to a healthy daily routine.
How to reduce 3-5 kg in a week
For a quick reduction of weight, Ayurveda suggests treatment lasting a week. The main part of which is a particular diet. Studies have shown that people shed 3-5 kg in seven days. But excessively overweight individuals may need a 14-day treatment.
Day One: Eat various fruits with plenty of water. For example, watermelon, citrus fruit etc. But avoid plantain.
Day Two: For breakfast, take three pieces of boiled tapioca. At other meal times, consume various kinds of vegetables. They can be boiled or eaten raw. Pepper powder and a little salt can be added. Avoid oil during cooking.
Day Three: The food during the three meals should be fruits and vegetables – both raw and boiled. But plantain and tapioca have to be kept away.
Day Four: Only six plantains and three glasses of milk constitute the food for the entire day.
Day Five: Chappatts and salad are the day’s meals. The salad should have at least six tomatoes, onion, squeezed lemon and coriander leaves. Drink a minimum of 13 glasses of water.
Day Six: Eat three chappatis in total for lunch and supper, as well as vegetables – boiled and raw. Include tomatoes.
Day Seven: Fruit juice and vegetables are the day’s meals. Three chappatis can also be eaten.
Another important factor to keep in mind is the need for a daily intake of 8-10 glasses of water. Tea and coffee can be had without sugar. Lemon can be used in black tea. Lemon can be added to drinking water as well. Vegetable soup can be included in the diet everyday.
Vegetables to be used: Carrot, salad cucumber, ordinary cucumber, cabbage, onion, beetroot, tomato, horse gram, radish, gourd, green gram and cluster beans.
Fruits: Water melon, papaya, mango, apple, orange, citrus, pomegranate, mangosteen, guava, grapes and pineapple.
Soup: Boil finely chopped tomatoes, carrots, onion and garlic with water. Add a little pepper powder and salt.
Treatment method
Ashtangahridya recommends special therapeutic deep tissue massage (udhwarthanam) and steam therapy (swedanam) with medicinal bundle (kizhi) for tackling overweight. In udhwarthanam, the massage is done upwards from lower part of the body. Certain medicinal powders are used for the massage and oils avoided. But for people with dry skin, a little oil is added to the powder. The oil preferred is eladikeram, which does not cause weight gain.
Deep tissue massage has to be done on at least seven days. Powders like kolukulathathi choornam which dissolve fat are used for the purpose. The message can continue for 14 days. Alongside, swedanam is done.
For extremely obese people, kizhi is applied during deep tissue message also. Normally, lemon kizhi is resorted to. This procedure takes 45 minutes to one hour and done every day. After the massage, the persons undergo body steaming also.
In some cases, medicines like kashavasti are inserted through the anus and removed. Loose motion is also induced for others.
Medicines
Apart from the above procedures, certain medicines also need to be taken to reduce weight. Medicinal decoction (kashayam) or powders of native herbs and produce such as kudakappalayari, konnathaili, devataram, turmeric, maramanjal, muthanga, padakizhangu, karingalikathal, thriphalathodu and meppiltholi are among them. A bath with water which was heated adding these items is also ideal.
Obesity can be controlled by taking other decoctions like varadi kashayam, maranadi kashayam and gulguluthiktham kashayam along with pathyam (a strict diet regime) also.
Other medicines include derivatives of horse gram, chama rice, barley malt, green gram, water residue in curd, buttermilk, thriphala, chittamrithu, kadukka (gall nut), muthanga, gulgulu, garlic, pot tamarind and kanmadam (rock fluid).
Every night, add a spoon of honey to a mixture of equal amounts of powdered barley malt, thuvarchilayuppu, dried ginger, vizhalari and gooseberry, and consume. Drink warm water after this.
Also, take thriphala kashayam every night. These medicines have been seen to be effective.
What to eat and not
To prevent obesity, several food items should avoided. They include, meat, eggs, curd, ghee, milk, large varieties of fish, ice-cream, fried food and soft drinks. In other words, intake of fat and starch has to be at the minimum.
Include more leafy vegetables, carrot, cabbage, tomato, beetroot, bitter gourd, ash gourd, bottle gourd, onion, ridge gourd, lady’s fingers, drumsticks, salad cucumber, shallots, lemon and pot tamarind in dishes.
Fruits like grapes, orange, papaya, apple, mangosteen, gooseberries, citrus and pomegranate are to be chosen.
Exercise
Daily exercise is a must to reduce weight as it burns fat. As a result, the body becomes trim and healthy-looking. Apart from walking, running, swimming, yoga is also beneficial.
(The author is superintendent, Oushadhi Panchakarma Hospital & Research Centre, Thrissur. E-mail: rajithanks@ gmail.com)
