Kledaka Kapha

Kledaka kapha is present throughout the gastrointestinal tract. It is liquid, soft, slightly oily, and slimy. This subtype creates a protective lining as the gastric mucous membrane, which can be damaged when irritating substances such as cayenne pepper, curry pepper, or alcohol are consumed. Remarkably, within 72 hours kledaka kapha provides a fresh, new mucosal lining to protect the stomach wall.

When food enters the stomach, kledaka kapha plays an essential role in digestion. Food is broken down into smaller pieces and kapha molecules mix with each food molecule. Then hydrochloric acid, digestive enzymes, and pepsin reach the food molecules via the molecules of kledaka kapha. Just as water distributes heat around grains of rice during cooking, kledaka kapha's liquid quality helps digestive enzymes move equally around each food molecule, making molecular digestion possible.

The pyloric valve also has a mucous lining created by kapha's heavy quality, which helps the valve stay tightly shut. After gastric digestion, the hot quality of pitta and the mobile quality of prana and samana vata help open the pyloric valve, allowing foodstuff to flow into the duodenum where bile (ranjaka pitta from the liver) joins the digestive process.

Kledaka kapha is absorbed from the stomach wall into the blood vessels, entering plasma and nourishing the kapha of the entire body. In this way, kledaka kapha is called the mother of all kapha systems. The word kleda means liquefaction or hydration—kledaka kapha maintains hydration of cells and tissues. It also provides energy after eating, as its sweet taste causes blood sugar to rise.

When kledaka kapha is depleted and pachaka pitta becomes excessive in the stomach, gastric irritation develops leading to gastritis (inflammation of the stomach lining). A common example is alcoholic gastritis—drinking hard liquor burns kledaka kapha, and the next day the person experiences nausea, vomiting, and stomach ache, all signs that kledaka kapha is lacking and pachaka pitta is provoked. Drinking milk and eating a bland diet can restore kledaka kapha, as its sweet and slimy qualities create a thin protective film on the stomach wall against hydrochloric acid.

When the protective kapha lining is severely compromised, the digestive fire (hydrochloric acid and enzymes) can begin to digest the stomach wall itself—which is a form of protein—creating a gastric ulcer. If the sharp quality of fire is intense enough, it can penetrate through the gastric mucous membrane and musculature of the stomach, creating a hole or perforation. The stomach's lesser curvature (near the liver, a pitta organ) secretes more hydrochloric acid and digestive juices (pachaka pitta), while the greater curvature (fundus, near the spleen) produces more kledaka kapha.

Kledaka kapha is one of the five subtypes of kapha dosha, located in the stomach. Its job is to liquefy ingested food and to coat and protect the gastric mucous membrane from the corrosive action of digestive acids and enzymes.