From book to bedside: Challenges of translating ayurvedic science of food and nutrition for the common benefits

Abstract

Ayurvedic principles of food and nutrition are seemingly based upon strong scientific logics but despite of this universal connotation, this is found very difficult to apply them in a clear and predictable manner in clinical practice where the responses can be pre conceived with a specified application of food. For its intangibility and inherent complexity an observation of food and its related behavior has been a challenge and hence its link with disease or health has not been defined in a clarity as it is defined with many other disease or health promoting factors. This chapter identifies such factors which prove to be crucial to the Ayurvedic fundamental of food and nutrition and at the same time tries to examine the challenges which are supposed to be observed while making any such effort to bring Ayurvedic food science into a clinical reality.