Is Ayurveda magical? Why?

As a practitioner who has been exposed to orthodox Ayurveda for nearly 8 years, I can clearly say that it is definitely not "very miraculous", nor can it cure all diseases as spread on the Internet, but in suitable scenarios, it can indeed solve many minor problems that modern medicine is not so easy to deal with.

Not long ago, I met a girl who works in Internet operations. She had been suffering from reflux esophagitis for almost two years. She was cured by taking omeprazole, but the symptoms started within two weeks after stopping. She had two gastroscopy tests but no organic disease was found. When she came to see me, she still had soda crackers in her bag. She said that eating something and pressing it would make her feel better. I tested her physique and found that she was a typical pitta (fire type). She usually likes to drink iced American drinks, spicy food, and always stays up late to catch up on plans. These habits all add fuel to the already strong fire type. I didn't prescribe anything strange to her, so I asked her to replace the iced American style with warm water boiled with coriander seeds, try to eat soft foods for three meals, abstain from spicy food for a week, and do 5 minutes of cooling breath adjustment before going to bed every day. She was still dubious at the time, saying that it was that simple? As a result, more than three months later, she came to me specifically and said that she had almost no reflux in the past two months, and even the acne on her chin that she always had before was mostly gone. She asked me if I had given her any "magic treatment".

In fact, there is nothing magical about it. It’s just that the logic of Ayurveda is different from that of modern Western medicine. Western medicine prefers to intervene on specific lesions. Ayurveda treats people as a whole body and mind. Stomach acidity and acne are essentially external manifestations of physical imbalance. If the imbalance is restored, the superficial symptoms will naturally disappear. Many people think it is magical, but it actually hits the blind spot of modern people's health: everyone always thinks that "if you are not diagnosed with a disease, you are healthy." However, the "sub-health problems" of being always tired, prone to flatulence, not sleeping well, and having poor skin cannot be solved by taking a few special medicines. Adjusting your diet and rest according to your body type can actually produce results.

However, most of the "miraculous effects" that are marketed now are just gimmicks for cutting leeks. Two months ago, a user came to complain and said that she spent less than 2,000 yuan to buy a "detoxifying pill" imported from Ayurveda. The merchant said that taking it can detoxify the intestinal tract and eliminate thyroid nodules for ten years. However, she took it for half a month and became dehydrated. The nodules were not small at all, and she stayed in the hospital for two days to replenish electrolytes. In fact, the Pachikama detoxification therapy in orthodox Ayurveda requires physical preconditioning one or two weeks in advance, and the entire process is followed by professional doctors. It is impossible to just make balls and sell them to ordinary people, let alone the outrageous propaganda of curing nodules and fighting cancer.

To put it bluntly, Ayurveda is essentially a traditional medical system that originated in ancient India. It is somewhat similar to our traditional Chinese medicine. It has its own scope of application: chronic disease treatment, sub-health state adjustment, and emotional-related physical and mental problems. It does have advantages, but if you encounter acute infection, trauma, or severe illness, expecting it to cure the disease is just a joke with your own life. What I usually tell people who come for consultation the most is, don’t praise it as something magical, and don’t beat it to death by calling it an IQ tax. Just treat it as a supplementary conditioning method. Follow your own physical condition. If you are comfortable, it is useful. If you really encounter problems, you should go to the hospital. The combination of the two is the safest way.