Your Digestive Fire

In Ayurveda, Greek Medicine and Islamic Medicine, your metabolism is known as your digestive fire and is the central home of good health. Your metabolism is responsible for various acids and enzymes that break down foods by heating them up for assimilation. Proper absorption (assimilation) of nutrients and efficient functioning of organs are dependent upon the heat of metabolism.

If your digestive fire is too cold or too hot, an imbalance will arise that will begin manifesting itself as common, often-ignored ailments such as:

• Dry or oily skin, dry hair, dry nails.
• Digestion – bloating, indigestion, belching, abdominal aches, excessive gas, gas with foul odor.
• Intestines and stool – hemorrhoids, intestinal polyps, constipation, diarrhea, foul odor, yellowish stool, loose form of stool.
• Breast tumors, ovarian cysts
• Food allergies
• High cholesterol, high blood pressure
• Fatty liver, IBS, leaky gut
• Cancer, benign tumor growths.

We do not all metabolize foods the same way. Each person’s metabolism is dependent upon his/her body type/body constitution.

The different body types

In Ayurveda, there are three body constitutions known as Pitta, Vata and Kapha.  In Greek Medicine and Islamic Medicine, there are four body types known as Sanguine, Yellow Bile, Phlegmatic and Black Bile. In Traditional Chinese Medicine, there are five body types. It is not possible to list every traditional medicine, and each body type, but I want to clearly illustrate that the notion of body constitutions and metabolism dates back to thousands of years and continues to this day.

Some people can eat horribly and remain thin because their metabolism is so fast. A lot of calories ingested is simply flushed out and very little remains in their body. This does not mean that they are healthy because weight is not the only indicator of health. Likewise, someone can eat a very healthy diet and still struggle to lose weight.

By understanding our body type, we can learn to eat according to our temperament and begin to recognize that our body speaks to us when it is out of balance.

What does Islam say about body constitution?

There is no direct mention of body types/constitutions in the Qur’an or Sunnah, however the Prophet Muhammad did eat foods together that had opposite energetics — which was accepted medicine of that time — as a method of balancing foods. Energetics does not refer directly to types of foods, but rather to their composition and their effect on the moisture, dryness, heat and coldness of the body. It is important to note that the doctor of the Prophet was Al Harith Ibn Kalada. He was a companion and the oldest known Arab physician who was educated in and practiced Greek Medicine. (Body constitutions were part of their medical practice).