Based on a system of metaphysical healing, ayurveda is an Indian science that combines herbs, minerals and animal products to help balance the fluids in one's body, or what the Greeks used to refer to as humours.

Ayurveda is a way of life, and patients are advised, for example, on the balance required in their diet to make up for certain shortages, and to wean away from an interdependence on certain foods. Obviously, it calls for a certain amount of discipline.

While ayurvedic treatments can be administered for short-term treatment of ailments, its intention is to remove, over a longer period of time, chronic discomfort, and in those who are healthy, to maintain that measure of health.