1/16/11 Heavy Metals in Ayurvedic medicines

Yesterday in a New York Times article from 2008 I read that heavy metals, including arsenic were found in many Ayurvedic medicines.  I had actually read about the use of these toxic metals in Ayurveda while doing my teacher training.  The vaidyas (Ayurvedic doctors) proclaim that these metals and other poisons are necessary for treatment and do not do any harm to the body if prepared/processed correctly.  The "processing" method is to boil the toxic substance in cow urine and then in cow milk, then again in the urine and again in the milk.  So weird.  These processed metals were tested on mice and were found to be non-toxic after the processing; (here is the link: http://www.boloji.com/ayurveda/av053.htm) but still, it is kind of scary to think about ingesting these metals that we in America have deemed completely toxic to the body, and to think cow urine is supposed to save me from being poisoned....?....maybe?  I can't deny the fact that I feel less pain than I did when I started seeing the doctor and taking all of these supplements.  And I still plan on following her regimen completely.  But I will definitely be asking my Ayurvedic doctor about it the next time I see her.  If she gives me a "yes, you are ingesting heavy metals," then I will be certain to follow up her appointment with a trip to my MD for some heavy metal testing.

Notes from the day:

Woke at 8:30.  Went to bed last night by 11:00pm.  Slept really really well after taking half a zanex given to me by a friend.  I know it goes against everything I have been trying to "do" here, but I really wanted a good night's sleep without that crazy tension.  It worked.  No tension! But I don't plan on doing that again soon. 

Did abhyanga and then Shiva's Fire yoga in the morning with Nick.  Cooked myself a hearty french toast breakfast...since I'm going to be giving up all carbs in the week to follow.  :(  It's only for a week....unless it works.:-/

I'm going to try to make an abhyanga video today, or sometime this week.  I'll post it on the blog when I do. 

 Food: Breakfast: 11:30 am.  Full gluten french toast (multigrain bread) with bacon, and decaf coffee with date milk.  So good!  French toast: 2 eggs 1/2 cup whole raw milk, lots of cinnamon, some nutmeg and a hearty pinch of cardamom, a 1/4 tsp sugar and 1/4 tsp vanilla.  It was really really good.  I cooked them in coconut oil.

Put it all in a heavy pot

Dinner: 7:45 pm.  Chicken soup with kale.  Recipe:  I use a whole organic chicken cut up into pieces...put it into a large (heavy) pot and cover it with filtered water.  Add: 1/3 fennel bulb and stem, 1 onion pierced with 5 cloves,4 stalks celery whole, 5 carrots peeled and cut in half, 1 hunk of ginger, 4 garlic cloves whole, 2 bunches rosemary, 1/4 cup leeks, 1/2 tsp turmeric, salt and pepper to taste. 

 Simmer for 2 hours and then remove chicken...cool and remove meat and shred to put back in soup.  If your soup stock is not strong enough, add the bones back in and boil down.

When your stock is tasty add kale, (just enough for the night. When you reheat leftover soup the next day add kale again and at least something will be fresh in the leftovers.) 



The finished soup.  I love the whole carrots, it saves me time in the kitchen and looks pretty.






I'm sorry to follow this pretty soup with such a terrible picture, but have to post. 
10:55:  So incredibly bloated. It is terrible.  I felt really bloated before I ate the chicken soup and it still hasn't gone away. I don't feel gassy...It feels more like my intestines are swollen.

 I'm definitely interested in trying the new diet.