Changes

That fasting and CR (calorie restriction) makes an organism’s metabolic process more efficient, enhancing the organism’s age, is a well-researched subject. Clive McCay at Cornell had published, in 1937, that a 33% caloric restriction resulted in a 50% increase in the maximum lifespan of a rat. Similar experiments were done on organisms such as yeasts, mosquitoes, flies, protozoa, roundworms, fish, etc. Many decades later, the National Institute of Aging (NIA) and the universities of Maryland and Wisconsin tried to study the impact of CR on aging using primates (squirrel and rhesus monkeys). The NIA Primate CR study indicated that CR monkeys “demonstrated an improved metabolic profile”, though they also concluded that the effects of CR in long-lived animals are complex and depend on a variety of factors besides caloric restriction<ref> Mattison et al Impact of caloric restriction on health and survival in rhesus monkeys: the NIA study. Nature 2012 Sep 13: 489(7415):10.1038 </ref>.

That fasting and CR (calorie restriction) makes an organism’s metabolic process more efficient, enhancing the organism’s age, is a well-researched subject. Clive McCay at Cornell had published, in 1937, that a 33% caloric restriction resulted in a 50% increase in the maximum lifespan of a rat. Similar experiments were done on organisms such as yeasts, mosquitoes, flies, protozoa, roundworms, fish, etc. Many decades later, the National Institute of Aging (NIA) and the universities of Maryland and Wisconsin tried to study the impact of CR on aging using primates (squirrel and rhesus monkeys). The NIA Primate CR study indicated that CR monkeys “demonstrated an improved metabolic profile”, though they also concluded that the effects of CR in long-lived animals are complex and depend on a variety of factors besides caloric restriction<ref> Mattison et al Impact of caloric restriction on health and survival in rhesus monkeys: the NIA study. Nature 2012 Sep 13: 489(7415):10.1038 </ref>.

===== Herbs used in management of ''santarpanajanya'' diseases =====

==== Herbs used in management of ''santarpanajanya'' diseases ====

While treating ''santarpanajanya vyadhis'' like ''sthulata'' (obesity) and ''madhumeha'' (diabetes), consumption of ''dravyas'' that have ''guru'' and ''ruksha'' properties is advised. Along with medicines, the diet must also be ''ruksha''. For skin ailments, applying powders of medicinal plants all over the body which can provide relief from ''kandu'' (itching) and ''kotha'' (pre-gangrenous condition) are advised. So the food must be ''guru'' and ''apatarpaka'', i.e., it should induce catabolic activities. Applying these powders on the lesions may improve blood circulation which may consequently improve the increased hydroxylysine and glucose disaccharide content, decrease in proteoglycan and heparin sulfate and decrease in lysine content towards the lesion. The effects of honey, a food rich in antioxidants, on diseases such as cancer, coronary diseases, inflammatory disorders, and aging, has helped it gain lot of attention among nutritionists<ref> Jaganathan et al. Antiproliferative Effects of Honey and of Its Polyphenols: A Review. 2009 Journal of Biomedicine and Biotechnology. Article ID 830616</ref>.  Properties of honey are ''ruksha, guru,'' and ''kashaya''. Food and medicine having these properties enhance ''akasha'' and ''vayu mahabhuta'' which tends the person towards ''apatarpana''.  

While treating ''santarpanajanya vyadhis'' like ''sthulata'' (obesity) and ''madhumeha'' (diabetes), consumption of ''dravyas'' that have ''guru'' and ''ruksha'' properties is advised. Along with medicines, the diet must also be ''ruksha''. For skin ailments, applying powders of medicinal plants all over the body which can provide relief from ''kandu'' (itching) and ''kotha'' (pre-gangrenous condition) are advised. So the food must be ''guru'' and ''apatarpaka'', i.e., it should induce catabolic activities. Applying these powders on the lesions may improve blood circulation which may consequently improve the increased hydroxylysine and glucose disaccharide content, decrease in proteoglycan and heparin sulfate and decrease in lysine content towards the lesion. The effects of honey, a food rich in antioxidants, on diseases such as cancer, coronary diseases, inflammatory disorders, and aging, has helped it gain lot of attention among nutritionists<ref> Jaganathan et al. Antiproliferative Effects of Honey and of Its Polyphenols: A Review. 2009 Journal of Biomedicine and Biotechnology. Article ID 830616</ref>.  Properties of honey are ''ruksha, guru,'' and ''kashaya''. Food and medicine having these properties enhance ''akasha'' and ''vayu mahabhuta'' which tends the person towards ''apatarpana''.