Body Slimming (Weight Loss) Ayurvedic Treatment

The increased amount of fat in body is known as obesity. It may be due to enlargement of fat cell size (hypertrophic obesity) or increased number of fat cells (hyperplastic obesity), or a combination of both. Overweight may not be always obesity, as increased muscle mass or fluid retention can cause the former. Obesity is diagnosed by calculating the BMI (Body Mass Index). The normal range of BMI is 18.5kg/m2-24.9kg/m2. It is calculated by dividing the body weight (in kilogram) with height (in meter2). If it ranges from 24.9-29.9kg/m2, the person is overweight; and if it is above 30kg/m2 it is obesity. Obese people are at risk of developing non-communicable diseases like diabetes, hypertension, cardiac diseases etc. Waist circumference also determines obesity (WC> 102 cm for males, 89 cm for females). The common causes are over-eating, lack of exercise, sedentary habit, hormonal issues, genetics, psychological problems, bad habits like alcoholism or smoking etc.

Signs and Symptoms

Increased body weight, breathing difficulty (especially during physical activity), increased sleep etc are the main symptoms/ signs of obesity.

Body Slimming (Weight Loss) Ayurvedic Analysis

Ayurveda describes sthaulya/ athisthoulya as a condition that is very difficult to manage. It is mainly associated with food. Athisthoola (obese person) is prone to develop diseases. When medas and mamsa (fat and muscle tissue) increases the person becomes obese, and there may be increased fat over abdomen, chest or buttock region. The body is not nourished well as only the meda and mamsa dhatu are developing. The person feels easily fatigued despite of well-built body, increased hunger and thirst and therefore eats more. Other symptoms are excessive sleep, profuse sweating, body odours, snoring, breathing difficulty etc. They have high mortality and chances of developing diseases like prameha (diabetes), jwara (fever/ infections), bhagandara (haemorrhoids/ fissure-in-ano), vataroga (diseases due to increased vata) etc.

Causative Factors (Ayurveda)

Increased kapha and subsequent decrease of vata, along with medodushti (vitiation of medodhatu/ fat tissue) are the causative factor of athisthoulya. The major reasons of athisthoulya are increased intake of food that cause kaphavruddhi (increased kapha dosha), heavy food, alcoholism, sweet food, fresh water fish, oily and cold food, over-eating, lack of physical activity, sedentary habit, day-sleep etc. Drinking water soon after having food also causes this condition. Sometimes, athisthoulya occurs as beejaswabhava (genetic factors).

Possible Complications

The complications of obesity are high risk of developing lifestyle disorders/ non-communicable diseases (eg: diabetes, hypertension, heart diseases, cancer), and increased rate of death.

Other systemic diseases and precautions to be taken

Check whether there is any hormonal imbalance, drug reaction, psychological issues before planning treatment.

Body Slimming (Weight Loss) Management with Ayurveda Treatment

The management of athisthoulya depends on its cause. Treat the underlying health issues like hormonal disorders. Internal medications along with udwarthana (massage with powdered medicines), snehana (internal/ external or both), swedana (mild- eg: steam bath), vamana (emetic therapy), nasya (nasal instillation of medicine), virechana (purgation), vasthi (enema with decoction and oil/ ghee) etc are provided. Along with these, yoga, meditation and pranayama are also given as supportive therapy.

Diet

Include more cereals, pulses, green and leafy vegetables, and fruits in diet. Reduce sweet and oily food, fried items, processed food and those containing artificial colours and flavours. Drink more water. Bitter tasting vegetables (eg: bitter gourd, snake gourd, ash gourd etc), honey and buttermilk are very helpful to lose weight.

Exercise

Indulge in moderate exercise regularly. Focus on more fatty areas. walking is a good exercise to reduce body fat. Yoga, pranayama and meditation are also beneficial.

Preventive Aspects

Exercise regularly. Reduce the consumption of fast/ junk/ processed food and canned/ bottled/ carbonated drinks, oily food, heavy to digest food items (eg: biriyani, porotta etc), coffee/tea, sweets and cold food. Limit the intake of alcohol and quit smoking. Include more fibre-containing food, vegetables and fruits in diet. Avoid day-sleeping and late-night sleep.

Importance of Diet

Wise selection of food is essential to control body weight along with regular exercise. Take low-calorie food.

Lifestyle

Exercise is must to reduce body fat. Eat healthy and nutritious food containing low-energy. Avoid day-sleep, sedentary habit and late-night sleep. Reduce the intake of sweets, oily food, cold and heavy food etc. Quit smoking and limit the alcohol consumption. Drink more water. Avoid stress and over-thinking. Massage body with suitable oil before bath. Include more vegetables and cereals in diet and reduce the consumption of non-vegetarian food, curd etc.