AYURVEDIC PERSPECTIVE ON OILY
In Ayurveda, oily refers to anything moistening. More specifically, oily refers to building substances that increases fat, or are themselves fatty. For example, sugar is Oily.
Oils are used throughout Ayurveda to restore strength. Massage with oil prevents premature aging and bestows a healthy, glistening sheen to the skin. Even body builders oil their skin to appear healthy and strong. Oil repels water, preventing evaporation of fluids through the skin much as a film of oil over a simmering soup prevents loss of steam. It moisturizes while it stimulates secretions, helping replenish and rebuild bodily fluids.
Types of Oils
There are four types of
oils in Ayurveda: ghee, vegetable oil, muscle fat, and bone marrow.
Ghee is an important medicine for building strength in Ayurveda because it is the fat that is lightest and easiest to digest. Marrow is the heaviest and most difficult to digest.
The Best Oils for Each Dosha
| Vata | olive, sunflower, sesame, ghee |
| Pitta | sunflower, coconut, ghee |
| Kapha | corn, safflower, olive, mustard |
Sticky Oil, Sticky Blood
Pathological oiliness aggravates Kapha and Pitta. It overwhelms the liver's storage and processing capacity, causing high cholesterol, stagnant, dense blood, and lymphatic obstruction. Oil clogs fluid vessels. Whereas blood stagnation from sweets and carbohydrates creates pure Kapha mucous, blood stagnation from oil creates gall bladder stagnation and skin rash. When lymphatic obstruction blocks release of cellular waste products, the surface of the skin turns red and flushed. Oil makes the blood sticky, causing plaque formation.
Excess oleation causes water retention in the abdomen, teary eyes, a coating on the tongue, and soft, buttery stools. Oily foods decrease gastric secretion but increase bile production. As it suppresses hydrochloric acids, fat specifically inhibits protein digestion.
Internal Oleation
Oily foods are generally bland. They facilitate easy elimination of wastes, soften dry and hard tissues, lubricate joint spaces, and increase strength wherever there is debility. A teaspoon of ghee with meals helps build
ojas, weight, and strength. Internal oleation is a process used in panchakarma cleansing therapies to pull fat soluble toxins from peripheral tissues and soften them.
Oily Personality Traits
Fats nourish and soften the liver, creating relaxation, vigor, and stabilizing emotions, all highly important for Vata. Oil promotes compassion, kindness, tenderness, and affection. Properly oiled individuals have a "smooth" personality. Oil is cooling and can help a person "chill out." Like water off a duck's back, the stable quality of well-oiled individuals makes them thick skinned and impervious to insult. Healthy oiliness is steadfast, but pathological oiliness creates greed and attachment.
Treatments - Reducing Fat, Cholesterol, & Oil
Bitter tasting foods aid fat metabolism, release liver heat, clear plaque from blood vessels, and reduce weight. Bitters cholagogues, such as dandelion root, help scrape fats from tissues.
Punarnava and
amalaki stimulate microcirculation and metabolism at the cellular level. Blood thinners like
turmeric counteract the dense stickiness of oil, invigorating the blood and burning off fats. Mild laxatives like
triphala help eliminate fats through the GI tract.
Triphala Guggulu is famous for reducing cholesterol. Mild exercise and breathing techniques like pranayama help metabolize unwanted fats. Disclaimer: The herbs that you select depend on the season and your unique imbalances.
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