Ayurveda daily regimen practices (Dinacharya): a scientific system model approach suitable as a quaternary prevention strategy for non-communicable diseases

Background:Non-communicable or lifestyle diseases replaced infectious diseases at the end of the 20th century as the primary burden of disease worldwide,marking the epidemiological transition.The industrial revolution and technological advancements,as well as packaged processed foods,have greatly affected lifestyle,causing adverse health effects through chronic,low-level,and systemic inflammation known as“metaflammation”.The main contributors to lifestyle-related diseases are poor eating habits,physical inactivity,poor posture,and a disturbed biological clock.The study on lifestyle changes indicates that comprehensive lifestyle changes can prevent disease and reverse the progression of diseases like diabetes,heart disease,stroke,prostatic cancer and breast cancer.The concept of disease prevention is getting wider acceptability owing credit to early disease detection,better treatment modalities and reduced financial implications.However,the possible harms of over-testing and over-medicalization have led to the propagation of Quaternary prevention strategies.Ayurveda,too propagates the principle of health preservation,promotion,and disease prevention,along with early diagnosis and holistic disease management strategies,incorporating dietary and lifestyle components such as Dinacharya(daily regimen practices),Ritucharya(seasonal regimen practice).This paper critically explores the scientific relevance behind these ascribed daily regimen practices(Dinacharya)and their suitability as a quaternary prevention strategy and presents it for dialogue and research to the scientific community.Method:The classical texts of Ayurveda and the internet search engines were explored with keywords of relevant terms such as“research”“benefit”and“role in health”combined with the Ayurveda daily regimen terms and their English equivalents as provided in brackets and their different combinations and permutations,along with net surfing and hand search.The relevant articles were stored and screened for relevance and the matter is presented systematically for scientific deliberation principal findings–Ayurveda recognized the temporal effects of chronobiological cycles on human health and accordingly devised the daily regimen schedule,delineating the principles for healthy living and harmonization.The daily regimen practices of Ayurveda like timely sleeping,waking up early in the morning,proper defecation,massage,exercise,occupation,social bonding,appropriate dietary practices,etc.adopt a system biology approach with synchronization of chronobiological cycles,mind-body integration,system performance,and epigenetics,apart from other possible approaches and have considerable scientific evidence for the effectiveness as a quaternary prevention strategy.Conclusion:The adoption of these practices in the daily routine may play a crucial role in health preservation and disease prevention at all levels of preventive domains.However,prospective large scale,long-duration randomized controlled trials are yet needed to scientifically further establish the validity of the same.