Obesity is the excessive accumulation of fat in the body . In ayurveda, this condition is called medoroga. There are many places in the body where excessive fat accumulates. The most common areas are abdomen, breast and buttock region. The body gets fats from oils, ghees and other fatty substances consumed through food  and drinks. Normally, this fat during the process of metabolism produces energy and heat. Fat also enters into the composition of some tissue cells in the  human body. For example, the covering materials over nerve fibre also contains fat. The tissue cells of the brain and the muscle also contain fat. Nature has provided fat accumulate in some of the joints to avoid friction during movement.

Fat in the body also synthesized from the starchy material  taken along with food. Intake of excess fatty or starchy ingredients of food , causes excess fat of the body to deposit in the various part of the body. The body consumes this fat during any disease or starvation, when the body doesn’t get its normal fat requirement. If such occasion doesn’t arise, then the excessive fat deposits in the body.

Fat and Cholesterol

Cholesterol is the byproduct of fat which circulates in the blood vessels and deposits in the wall of blood vessels resulting in high blood pressure. Excessive fat may impair the function of the vital organs like heart, liver and the kidneys. It may also result in diabetes. The most common difficulty the patient experiences because of excessive fat is breathlessness on even slight exertion. Such type of patient may even get affected by serious type of asthma.

Causative factors Of Obesity

Intake of fats and carbohydrates in excess results in obesity. Less exercise also helps in the accumulation of fat in the body. Those who sleep in excess especially during daytime are likely to get obesity. Similarly sedentary life style and excessive intake of junk and can food also causes obesity.

Ayurveda Treatment For Obesity

The patient should increase physical as well as mental exercise and  give up sedentary habits. Person working in offices should have a little walk after taking their food. Gugglu (Commiphora mukul) is the drug of choice for the treatment of this condition. The gum resin extracted from this plant is used in medicine. Guggulu is purified  by a special process before it is administered internally. For the purification, this gum is boiled with the decoction of triphala or cow’s  urine and then strained through the cloth.  Purification through the cow’s urine makes gugglu more absorbable  and it works better for the reduction of fat in the body. This is given in a dose of 15 grains four times a day followed by a cup of hot water.

There are many compound prepared from the gugglu, making guggulu as a major ingredient. The most important are nava guggulu and triphala guggulu. They are available in a tablet of two grains each. Four tablets of this compound preparation is to be given to the patient four times a day( total of 16 tablets a day). After the intake of this medicine, some hot drinks should be giveb to the patient. Guggulu is regarded as the best drug for obesity in ayurveda for the treatment of obesity.

According to ayurveda, the body is composed of seven types of tissue elements. They are rasa(plasma), rakta(red blood corpuscles), mamsa(muscle tissue), meda(fat), asthi(bone), majja(marrow) and sukra(sperm). Each type of these elements has its own enzyme(agni) for the synthesis and also for the metabolism. If there is impairment in these agni, then that particular tissue element increases in the body. In obesity, the agni responsible for the metabolism of fat is impaired. While treating such cases, attention is always given to improve the power of  the agni involved. Therefore, along with gugglu, some other medicines like sunthi(Zingiber officinale), pippali(Piper longum) and marica( Piper nigrum) are added.

Diet

The patient should avoid sweet and fatty things. Rice and potato which contain a lot of carbohydrate be avoided. Among the cereals, wheat is better and the patient can be given barley and maize also. Bitter and pungent things are good. Vegetables like bitter gourd, bitter variety of drumstick, patola (trichosanthes dioica) are useful for the patient. The patient can be given tea and coffee in good quantity. Intake of tobacco for person who are not habituated with it , helps in the reduction of fat. This should be given to the patients only in small quantity as a medicine because it has many adverse effect on the body. Fruits normally contain more of carbohydrate and fructose. Therefore, they should be avoided as far as possible.

Harataki (Terminalia chebula fruit) are very useful in this condition. They help in the clearance of the bowels and work as a tonic for the body. Simultaneously, they help in the reduction of the fat in the body. The pulp of this fruit should be made to a powder and given to the patient in a dose of one teaspoonful at bed time with a cup of hot water. This should be given daily. In the beginning, the patient may have loose motion. But after sometime, his body gets habituated and it no longer has purgative effect. Murabba prepared from this fruit can be given to the patient everyday in place of powder.

Other regimens
The patient should resort to physical and mental exercise  and he shouldnot sleep during day time. Sleeping late at night and getting up early in the morning is very useful.