A good and strong digestive system is a signifier of good health. Good digestion allows our body to build strong and healthy tissues. Through good digestion we maximize within our body the potency of all food consumed. Thus,

Digestion is the foundation of equilibrium or the foundation of disease. 

Digestion of food is of utmost importance to maintaining good health, but it is also irrefutable that the same good could be the source of disease when weakened. The power behind digestion is, agni. Agni, is the Sanskrit word and Hindu deity of fire. The fire that lives within us and transforms the food we eat into nutrients for our cells. In turn, the fire within our cells transforms those nutrients into tissue. 

It is not enough to simply eat the broccoli. If your digestive fire is weak, then your body will not absorb the nutrients that the broccoli has to offer. In fact, that very broccoli could cause impressive harm. 

 So, it is not what you eat, but the current state and strength of your agni that determines health and wellness. 

Agni is the power that our body uses to digest everything  from food, images, ideas, emotions, and feelings. If agni is overworked, be it with too much food to process, or with food and other stimulation, then agni will be compromised and not work optimally. 

Our bodies are a perfect science. They know exactly what to do, when and how, to provide us with the best possible health. We must do our part to support this perfect science and not dwindle it. 

Agni is responsible for extracting the elements of the food we eat to create the dosha, the tissues, and the waste products to purify the body. Having a compromised agni leads to a deranged dosha, the inability to create vital tissue, and the accumulation of waste that is not being eliminated. 

A compromised agni can be seen on the surface of the body in the form of acne, white coating on the tongue, foul b/o and gas, bloating, diarrhea, constipation etc.  

More serious issues arise if the compromised agni is not corrected over long periods of time. Health and balance can only be achieved if agni is corrected and the waste products are eliminated at the proper time and quantity from the body.