As per Ayurveda, your tendency of putting or not putting on body weight can be attributed to the imbalance in five important body elements, apart from the constitution of Kapha, Pitta and Vata, the three doshas.
Although physical inactivity and poor diet are known to be the main culprits for obesity, you cannot completely eliminate obesity by tackling diet and physical activity alone. Weight management would become very difficult if you don’t address the underlying cause of dosha imbalances. And this is where Panchakarma treatment for weight loss comes into the picture.
In Ayurveda, weight management is more about the manner in which food is processed by our digestive system and the liver’s impact on anabolic metabolism. These can lead to accumulation of toxins from drinks and food items (ama and kapha) over a period of time. While weight gain is caused due to an imbalance in kapha, excessive build-up of ama causes a person to become underweight.
Some of the Panchakarma treatments that are used for weight loss purposes are:
- Swedana – This helps in the release of toxins from the body using herbal steam therapy
- Kizhi – This one’s a hot fermentation therapy with the help of medicated pouches
- Udvarthanam – This Panchakarma therapy aids removal of excessive cellulite deposits from the body through dry powder massage
- Abhyanga – This treatment involves warm oil massage that causes body rejuvenation
- Pizhichil – In Pizhichil, the person is given an oil bath for muscle tone balancing
- Elakizhi – In this treatment warm pouches consisting of herbs are used for therapeutic massaging
Please note, not all of the treatments may be necessary in every overweight person. The type and duration of the treatment is decided after an assessment carried out by the Ayurvedic doctors, wherein they factor-in the person’s age, dosha imbalance and his/her current medical condition.