The Three Reasons Ayurveda doesn’t Appreciate Eggs.
The Three Reasons Ayurveda doesn’t Appreciate Eggs.
Have you noticed that Ayurvedic cook books do not mention eggs at all? When I travelled to India I lived in a traditional family that didn’t use eggs either. Is it a mistake?
The western diet values eggs as a good source of protein with recommendation to use them consciously because of cholesterol. There is also a potential risk of salmonella poisoning if contaminated eggs are not properly cooked.
Does Ayurveda miss something, or the Westerners do?
[sociallocker]The mystery of completely avoiding of eggs in Ayurveda is understood if we keep in mind that along with the gross physical body both we and other beings have a subtle body. That body also needs to be fed. What we feed it with are subtle energies of food that can be of very different nature.
If food had only energetic component it wouldn’t matter for us from which source to get an energy shot. But we wish for a specific food and are not willing to eat just any source of energy. That means that we are lacking a specific type of emotional energy this concrete food can provide. See: Six Tastes.
A yogi in Himalaya who controls his mind and senses is satisfied with a small amount of the same simple food day after day. On the other hand a person living in the turmoil of a big city needs many different taste combinations to restore the emotions he had used. See also: How Food Affects our Mind.
There is the subtle energy that eggs possess that makes their consumption questionable.
The three reasons Ayurveda doesn’t like eggs:
- Although eggs might be of some benefit for physical body, the energy they provide for our subtle body is arresting man’s willpower.
- In smaller degree than meat and fish eggs still are not completely free of the energy of violence especially considering the way of their commercial production.
- The next and most important problem with eggs is the way a hen produces them. Everything that comes out of a lower center, feces or eggs, is considered profane (impious) according to Ayurveda. One who consumes anything from the lower centers defile himself. It is a big obstacle not only for spiritual growth but for taking righteous choices in everyday life as well.
Milk seems to come from a low center too. Although the udder is situated in the lower part of cow’s body it’s her breasts and represents the heart center full of love and compassion. That’s why Ayurveda considers milk to be very auspicious (sattvic) food. See A-da on Dairy.
As substitute for eggs in baking use the following:
- Flex seeds. 3 Tbsp. Water with 1 Tbsp. ground flex seeds = 1 egg.
- Banana. ½ mashed banana = 1 egg.
- 2 teasp of powdered corn starch + tapioca flour + baking powder beaten with 2 Tbsp of water = 1 egg.
- Baking soda. 2 teasp of baking soda + 2 Tbsp warm water + ½ teasp vegetable oil = 1 egg.
- Soy flour. 1 teasp soy flour + 1 Tbsp water = 1 egg.
- Starch. 2 Tbsp potato or corn starch + 1 Tbsp water=1 egg.
TODAY’S TIP: Ayurveda is strongly against eating animal flesh and eggs. The fact that it recommends specific sorts of meat or eggs for different dosha types, simply means that this science doesn’t ignore anyone and wants us to be as healthy as possible, even if we are not vegetarian yet.[/sociallocker] See also “Why yogis do not eat garlic and onion”.
Sir
Your main objection to eggs is the production methods , which I totally support.
What about free range organic eggs. !
Ayurveda does not exclude animal products. The great medical texts specifically recommend animal products for Vata dosha imbalance and for specific disease . Also in Panchakarma, animal products are used as medicines , eg , cows urine, milk as you said , but meat breaths in basti are used , and specifically Caraka and Vagvata specify the meat of a cock as the best rejuvenative food , especially after illness.
Also, Ayurveda , while recognising its universality, was designed by those primarily from the tropics. Living as I do on the 53rd parallel is a different story, and I really see no problems in eating some ethically produced eggs!
Maybe I’m wrong
Emmett Walsh
Hi Emmett,
Thank you for your comment.
Ayurveda is an auxiliary branch of Vedic knowledge and can be distorted when using the materialistic approach.
My main objection against the eggs is the fact that they come out of the same place as the feces do. This can not be changed by free range farming.
Because they come from the lower center they carry the energy of ignorance (tamas) and nullify the possibility of spiritual progress that is the aim of human incarnation.
The same thing about eating meat. The law of karma will make all meat eaters be born in an animal body in order to be eaten in the same manner. Millions of people are vegetarians all over the world,not only in the tropics, and feel well and are happy.
Quite a few people have DNA defects SNPs, that make being completely vegetarian questionable. There there are vitamins and fatty acids that some people CAN”T convert from plants to the active form. They need animals.
One can use pills to subtitle, but there are more problems with the lab created powders. A lot of people can’t tolerate pills and powders.
Here in the US, people use 23andme and decode their DNA, it’s not the complete science, but a starting place.
Please look up, MTHFR, FADS2 rs1535(G;G) ,
PEMT rs7946(C;T)
Hello Larisa,
Thank you for your explanation in regards eating or not eating the eggs.
Your main reason, why eggs should not be consumed is “My main objection against the eggs is the fact that they come out of the same place as the feces do.”
But then a human child is also coming from the lowest center, is that how Ayurveda looks at the human child?
Thank you,
Best regards,
Ella
Hi Ella,
Thank you for your for your comment.
I have given birth to three daughters and want to assure you that children do not come from the same center what feces do.
Ayurveda looks at a human child as a spirit soul which is immortal and full of wisdom and bliss.
Stay well.
Larisa.
Hello Larisa.
I just saw your website now, and really enjoyed the reading.
On one of my visits to my grandparents farm,I peeped through a window
and saw a sheep being slaughtered for food for a family function. I was just a little
boy then, but what I saw put me off meat for good. No onions,garlic,fish eggs
and intoxicants for me. I’m glad I made this choice as this led me to follow a
pure spiritual journey in life. You are welcome to send any mail to me, as ayurvedic is a science of God for a healthy lifestyle and happiness, Thank you
Hi Jairal,
It is great to read a message of a like minded person.
I totally agree that our diet has a huge impact on our spiritual life along with communication.
Best regards.
Larisa
Hello,
I think that lots, not all, of the information taught in Ayurveda today might not be that original anymore. There are lots of silly things mixed up with it by time hinduism evolved. It doesn´t make sense what you are saying because, considering the lower chakras, the place where a human being comes out is also located at the lower centers. So turning the hole thing around I could also assume, because the egg is supporting a living creature an that with a certain level of intelligence, that the shit of these animals is holy because it comes out the same place as the holy eggs. But we won´t accept that so likely so we defined it like that. There is something much more important and seeming much more natural and original tome from what the yogis and enlightened say. If you consider every profane life on this planet basic to human life, you will know that you can´t live without plants. I heard some yogi saying-and this sounds more obvious and natural to me, that “in yoga we should eat what has less intellectual and emotional properties than us”. That means sou should eat things where no bad emotions or tendencies and other qualities could enter your body. So the more primitive a living being is on these levels the more you will be able to digest it well and create your own body out of it without being too much interfered by similar programs running at he same time. So you should never eat a mammal or similar, except no other way of feeding is available. In a certain way, from these perspective, yes eggs aren´t as good as fish, fish isn´t as good as vegetables and fruits but they are still better than higher creatures.
Hi Saabel,
Children do not come from the same center what feces do.
Feces of all living beings except cows are considered gross and very inauspicious.
Eating some lower enlightened creatures creates karma from the lightest one by consuming fruits to the heaviest from eating domestic animals. Everyone can decide for himself what kind of reactions he wants to attract in his life.
Regards.
Larisa
Although a hen has only one exterior opening (the cloaca or vent) for egg laying and elimination, eggs are not contaminated during the laying process. Two separate channels, the oviduct and the large intestine, open into the cloaca. As the egg nears the end of the oviduct, the intestinal opening is temporarily blocked off. The egg passes through the cloaca without contact with waste matter.
Hi Maneka,
Thank you for your comment.
Have you ever seen eggs right after a hen has laid them? I did. They are covered with waste matter. Even when the other opening is blocked the cloaca is still dirty.
Eggs are laid with what is called a “bloom” which naturally protects it. This is the coating on the egg shell that seals its pores. Also known as the cuticle, it helps to prevent bacteria from getting inside the shell and reduces moisture loss from the egg keeping it fresher longer.
No, Maneka,
Please ask someone who keeps hens to show you and you will see feces, not “bloom”.
Best wishes.
Larisa
You’re right.
Since we can’t see it, it doesn’t exist.
Hi Maneka,
You cannot see the electrical current either, but it exists, and one will experience an electric shock after touching a live wire.
All Ayurveda is about the subtle energies that we do not see but nevertheless are under their influence. You might find more in my post “How food affects our mind”.
We do not see how thousands of animals are slaughtered every day, but the Vedas teach, that the energy of hatred that the animal experienced towards its murderers and eaters does not go away and is circulating around our planet; and that we cannot stop wars, terror and violence amongst people until we stop eating meat.
The subtle energies are much more important when the gross ones since they influence not only the body but the mind as well.
Hi larisa,
Your last reply cover all aspects. It is a complete answer. I used to eat meat many years back but once saw a killed animal on the road and ask if i could eat it without spices or garlic etc. The answer was “no”. So it is not our natural diet.we make it too much tastier and what we like is the taste of spices, garlic or roasty flavour. This is all artificial.
We have a confidence in us that this food is making us healthier so we like it but we don’t know this food is immensely acidic and leeches out calcium from our bones.
Regards,
Manish gupta
Hi Manish gupta,
Thank you very much for your comment.
Yes, for people who “can’t live without meat” the Vedas allow it provided that this person kills the animal by himself, looking in its eyes and saying to it:”Today I am killing you, in the next life you will kill me”. In this manner, the meat lover is aware of the reactions for such a love.
Another reason to stop eating others is that the life is so much funnier when you stop to accumulate the feeling of fear and hatred that is present in meat;and food of grains, fruit, and vegetables is thousand times tastier than one of the dead bodies.
So lets look how a human being is born, since birds don’t have the same anatomy, they have it differently.
Greetings from Toronto.
I still eat fish once a week.
How can it be not ok to eat a trout, or salmon?
I think Jesus ate fish, did he not?
Thank You
Hi Richard,
if we want to be like Jesus we should follow Him not only in eating fish but also in being ready to be crucified. But we want to copy only the advantageous things.
The scriptures say that the holy people might be beyond the rules the material nature, but we are not qualified to follow them. What we should do is to follow the commandments they left. And the commandment is: DO NOT KILL. Kill means not only humans, otherwise, it would say murder.
Fish is a living soul just like us. And even from the materialistic point of view: fish starts to decay the moment it dies.Just smell it when it is natural with no spices and sauces. It smells disgusting to us because fish is unnatural food for humans.
Although I like the third reason, couldn’t it simply be that eggs were rather unknown in India at the time Ayurveda was developing ???
Hi Vishesh,
Thank you for your comment.
Ayurveda was given to the mankind at the time our universe was created. Vedic texts were written down about 3,5 thousand years ago because at the age of Kali people lost the ability to memorize information they heard.
The Vedic knowledge was widespread all over the planet and of course people knew what eggs were. You can tell it from Puranas, where different stories are narrated, including those about eggs.
Hello, I have hens that lay eggs, they do not come out with feces on them, they come out shiny cand clean, the get feces on them when the next hen comes into the nest and steps on them or sometimes they are laid on the floor of the hen house and get feces on them then. But there is no fecal matter on most of my eggs.
Hello,
Thank you for the first hand information. You told us that not all eggs are covered with feces.
My article is based on Vedic knowledge and reflects the nature of the subtle energy all food emanates. That energy may facilitate our progress or degradation.
After learning that eggs, meat, and fish may inhibit our spiritual progress everyone can make a conscious choice
The reference to eggs is available in Charaka Samhita as well as Ashtang
Sangraha in chapters describing meats under the topic of foods. However the
description in Charaka is more detailed. In Ashtang Sangraha it is stated that
eggs are guru i.e heavy to digest/ highly nutritious. In Charaka, it is
mentioned that eggs are madhur (sweet), avidaahi (not causing heat in stomach),
sadyo-balakar (providing instant strength/energy), and are useful in people
suffering from oligospermia (reduced sperm count), cough, heart diseases and
injury/wounds.
This article is not true at all…..i dnt believe it….if u want to prove me wrong…then give me references from aunthentic ayurvrda books like of charak samhita,vaagbhatt,sushruta,madhav nidaan,sharangardhar samhita…etc……..pls dont misguide
Hi Rampal,
Thank you for your comments.
We speak different languages: you are talking about nutritional value of eggs and I am pointing out the fact that eating eggs can destroy our destiny, which is much more valuable.
However a lot of materialistic scientists also agree that eggs are harmful to physical health.
Ayurvedic texts describe the properties of both animal and non animal products. But you will not find an Ayurvedic recipe for a dish with eggs.
Very rare they may mention eggs (and meat) as a part of a medical composition for a short time usage. Sometimes Ayurveda uses even poison for treatments of a disease, but we do not eat poisonous stuff at a daily basis, do we?