Kevin David

An ayurvedic opthalmologist in India told me tharpanam should get rid of my 20 year old floater. Haven't tried yet. You can see him—as well as tarpanam being performed—in the film Ayurveda The Art Of Being. He is Dr. Gokulan. He said standard tarpanam should work, no need to visit him.

Thanks for the greeting Nathanael. I feel the same about the health benefits. Specifically, I feel that “cultivating”, as you put it, is where the greatest benefits begin—as opposed to harvesting and eating the food. In other words, I believe growing my own food will be more beneficial than actually eating my own food. Not to say that eating it won’t be good too.

I’m Kevin, currently in Michigan but spending a lot of time in India. I’ve studied Ayurveda and yoga both in America and India. I also went to a Chinese medicine school for massage over a decade ago in California. I’ve used these forms of medicine to manage Crohn’s disease for years. By no means have I found a cure. I gave up on these forms of medicine several times, but I always came back when symptoms worsened. In my opinion, nothing is better than traditional eastern medicine for symptomatic relief of IBD.

I have no experience farming, gardening, etc.. I’m a complete newbie. I’ve listened to maybe 150-200 podcasts and read through countless posts on permies over the past several years. I’ve contemplated being a boot since the program began, but I have concerns. I have a weird diet, take herbs from India which are not organic, and need to spend time taking care of myself with cooking, breathing exercises, yoga etc. When my health suffers I become fatigued. And that’s no situation to be handling, say, a chainsaw.

I’d love to “Proenneke” a cabin, as Paul might say. I have no interest in power tools. A medicinal food forest is also of great interest to me. There are some grains from India which I find much easier to digest and I wonder if some could be grown here. My goal is to buy land in 2 years. Hopefully I’ll have finished all the podcasts by then and also gained some hands on experience. I’m not interested in getting experience on a conventional farm, nor do I care to spend time on a permaculture site that is run in a way other than the Sepp/Paul way. If visiting Wheaton labs doesn’t work, then maybe I’ll try to do PEP thing by video.

Although I initially took interest in permies and the podcast to expand my knowledge of permaculture, I’ve been influenced by Paul’s knowledge of residual income. I’m starting a blog on Ayurveda and yoga(the topic is more specific, but I don’t want to get into that now). I have ideas for a few ebooks to sell there, and other potential expansions down the road. I had planned to start a YouTube channel in India similar to Karl Rock back before Karl had the large following he does now, but I’m stuck in America for a few reasons(not just coronavirus). I did start filming before I left though. For one project I interviewed several doctors featured in the film ‘Ayurveda: The Art of Being’ to celebrate the film’s 20th anniversary. I haven’t edited and uploaded the interviews yet. That was a really cool experience getting to meet several doctors from my favorite film.

Right now I’m living in my parent’s basement and focusing on my health. The past year and a half has been a challenge because I got bit by a dog in Bangalore and had to get anti-rabies injections that caused a terrible and astonishingly persistent flare up of Crohn’s. Thankfully, things have improved in the past month or two with the addition of a few supplements. Oddly enough, I met a guy in Sri Lanka a few months after the dog bite who also had been bitten by a dog in India and the injections messed him up too. I feel like I got off easy after hearing about his reaction to the injections.

Thanks for reading my introduction. I look forward to getting to know some of you.

I remember reading a Chris Kresser article years ago where he mentioned milk reduces the influence of tannins. I did a quick search and I couldn’t find the article. Interesting you mentioned black tea and daily use, Anne. It’s been my experience that most parts of the world that drink black tea  daily will add milk. In South Asia adding milk is standard. I don’t have much experience in the Middle East, but they seem to add milk to their black tea in the evening if they feel they are sensitive to it. Whereas Chinese-style teas, which are common in most of East Asia, will be consumed without milk even late at night. These tea varieties are lower in tannins and caffeine. The exception being those sugar filled milk teas with boba(tapioca pearls) that kids in those countries love—plenty of milk in there.

Moroccan mint and spearmint seem to be the sweeter mints in my opinion. The quantity needed isn’t much and brewing should only be for a few minutes or it could go bitter. Also, whatever kind of mint they commonly use in India. Cinnamon and licorice added a nice sweetness when I was on a keto diet. Someone mentioned astringents, honey is considered a good astringent according to Ayurveda.

If you want, I could talk to one of my former Ayurveda teachers about your case. My two year education is not enough to deal with this. They are all doctors of Ayurveda, trained in India. Maybe one would do a Skype consultation even.

The plan would probably be something like this:
1) herbal formulations to address the root of the problem
2) anti-inflammatory herbal formulas
3) herb infused oil to be warmed and applied topically
4) herb infused oil nose drops
5) diet and lifestyle tips
6) breathing exercises

All formulations can be purchased from American companies.
If you haven't seen the documentary 'Ayurveda: The Art of Being', I highly recommend it.

What about taking a curcumin supplement to replace the turmeric? It shouldn't cause a reaction, and it will be more powerful. I take Meriva by Thorne to reduce the inflammation caused by Crohn's disease. My CRP(inflammatory marker) reduced significantly with just half a dose. They used it in a study of osteoarthritis patients with good results. It's important to use a prodcut like Meriva because many curcumin supplements lose their effectiveness quickly. I used to have a business as an Ayurveda practitioner, so I like using whole herbs too. However, I find supplements to be more powerful for pain relief. I know Chinese medicine practitioners who feel the same way. Sometimes you need a concentrated substance beyond what whole plants can offer. For me, fish oil has been the best for pain relief. I know some people take large amounts of fish oil when they are injured, but I've never tried it myself. Feel better.