Monday, May 14, 2007

Ayurveda Home Remedy Pomegranate

For cough and wheezing, ginger juice and pomegranate juice mixed with honey taken every 3 hours (3 -5 teaspoonful) brings about rapid relief.

Juice of pomegranate flower and tender grass (cynodon dactylon) (arugampul in Tamil) taken in equal quantity (10 ml) 3 times a day can stop nosebleeds.

Powder of dried pomegranate flowers taken with sugar candy of palm tree brings down cough.

Pomegranate taken first thing in the morning (empty stomach) every alternate day can strengthen your bones.

Pomegranate taken every night (for 14 days) before going to bed can cure impotence.

Pomegranate juice is an excellent natural ayurvedic remedy for ulcers in stomach.

Decoction of pomegranate flowers cures stomach pain.

Crushed pomegranate flowers taken with honey stops blood in stool.

Pomegranate juice taken with sugar candy (kalkandu in Tamil) cools down your body.


Disclaimer: Please consult your physician for medical advice regarding any medical condition and do not use any of the historical information on this site without your physician’s approval.


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Friday, May 11, 2007

Ayurveda and Digestion

Ayurveda considers digestion a key indicator of good health. If your digestive fires (agnis) are functioning effectively, the food you eat gets completely digested, absorbed and assimilated by your body, with the wastes regularly flushed out.

An efficient digestion, absorption, assimilation cycle leads to enhanced ojas. Ojas is the biochemical essence formed at the end of the chain of transformation that takes place with the raw materials we take in. Building ojas is crucial for the enhancing the quality of physical, mental, emotional and spiritual aspects of an individual.

On the other hand, imperfect digestion leaves behind a residue that ayurveda calls ama. Ama, if left to accumulate in the physiology, eventually turns toxic, and difficult to flush out. Ama in the physiology offers fertile soil for disorders to take root and flourish. Little wonder, then, that assessing the strength of your digestive fire is an important part of an ayurveda health evaluation.


If your digestion feels sluggish, here are some simple dietary recommendations to help it function more efficiently:

1. Each morning, have a glass of warm water to which a tablespoon of lemon juice has been added. Lemon juice is a purifier and cuts ama in the digestive tract.

2. Have a glass of digestive sweetened yoghurt at lunch. Lassi helps enhance the digestive flora without clogging the microcirculatory channels of the body. Lassi should not be taken after sundown.

3. A slice of fresh ginger with a little lemon juice is recommended by ayurveda as a way to stoke the digestive fires and appetite before a main meal.

4. Cook with digestion-stimulating spices. Ayurvedic spices such as dried ginger, turmeric, cumin, coriander and ajwain not only enhance digestion, they also help flush toxins out of the body and help improve absorption and assimilation of nutrients.

5. Replace caffeinated and carbonated beverages with herb-spice teas. A cup of fragrant fennel tea after lunch helps aid digestion. If you enjoy the taste of fennel, you can chew on a few seeds after lunch or dinner.

6. Eat heavier foods, such a paneer, at lunch. Your digestive fires peak around the middle of the day, and are less bright in the evening at dinner time.

7. Buy fresh whole foods, and prepare and eat food fresh. According to ayurveda, foods that have been sitting around and processed foods are taxing on the digestion and more likely to create ama.




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Wednesday, May 9, 2007

Ayurveda Home Remedies for Constipation

SYMPTOMS

Following signs and symptoms indicate constipation:

No bowel movement at least once a day, gas formation, drowsiness, pain in the abdomen, heaviness in stomach, mucus coated tongue, headache, loss of appetite, nausea, vertigo, palpitation.

CAUSES

The aggravation of vata causes constipation. Improper eating habits including eating food which is difficult to digest (such as meat) and not eating enough fibrous foods like vegetables and salads lead to constipation.

Irregular sleeping habits or emotional disturbances (stress, grief, fear or worry) are other causes for the obstruction of the passage of stool, accumulation of toxins in the colon or excessive stimulation of the nervous system.

Smoking, consuming too much tea and coffee, intake of prescription or illicit drugs can also cause constipation.

REMEDY
Take 5-6 dry grapes preferably black.
Soak them in a glass of water and keep it overnight.
Next day first thing in the morning after performing your brushing etc. eat the swollen grapes and also drink the grape soaked water.
Do this for a week and constipation will be a thing of the past.

OTHER PRECAUTIONS

Easily digestible food should be taken. Also take plenty of fruits, vegetables and salads. Whole grain bread and cereals will certainly help in lightening the digestive pressure. Regular physical exercise is important for maintaining proper bowel movement. Sleeping hours should be regulated.

Disclaimer: Please consult your physician for medical advice regarding any medical condition and do not use any of the historical information on this site without your physicians approval.



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Tuesday, May 8, 2007

Ayurveda Home Remedies for Hair Growth

Curry leaves are ground to a fine paste and then shaped to a solid cake. 500ml coconut oil is heated and when it reaches boiling point, add this cake to the oil. The oil is let to cool after adding a pinch of camphor. The oil is then stored in a bottle. Regular application of this oil clears premature graying of hair.

For baldness of the young (below 18 years) garlic is ground in honey and rubbed in the bald areas frequently (3-4 times a day).

Paste of henna leaves 100 ml, cow milk 1 litre, sesame oil 500 ml are mixed and boiled together. Allow this to cool and store in a bottle. Regular application of this oil helps in healthy hair growth.

Acalypha Indica (common name Indian copperleaf, or Indian nettle) (kuppaimeni in Tamil) 300 ml, its root and its bark 10 gm each are ground together, mixed in 350 ml coconut oil and boiled and cooled. Application of this on the scalp is an excellent ayurvedic home remedy for hair loss.

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Sunday, May 6, 2007

Ayurvedic Herbal Cure for Mouth Ulcers

The saliva in the mouth is there to protect the tongue, palate, throat, gums from ulcers. Hot substances like chillies, hot fluids and solids etc gets moderated by the action of saliva.

During the summer season, just as water in the atmosphere gets depleted, so too the water content in the body gets depleted. To overcome the effects of such depletion, following procedures can be followed.
  • Gargle your mouth with water many times during the day.
  • Fill your mouth with water and then wash your face.
  • Dab a little amount of butter or ghee on the tongue 3-4 times a day.
  • Gargle your mouth with coconut milk.
  • Chew a few grains of linseed.
  • Chew palm candy, raisins, bananas, seeds of cucumber, almond, etc for some time.
  • Milk of adhimadhuram (licorice), turmeric etc mixed in milk and taken 3-4 times a day.

All the above can soften the aggression of a nasty mouth ulcer.Also taking a decoction made of masikkai (nut-gall) can cure mouth ulcers.Water mixed with honey and gargled can assuage mouth irritation and heal mouth ulcers.

Similarly gargling with coconut oil also heals mouth ulcers.Manathakali keerai (Black Nightshade – Solanum Nigrum) is an excellent remedy for mouth ulcer. This green can be chewed raw to heal mouth ulcers quickly.

A sort of white thick milk will ooze out of a tender papaya when it is pierced. This milk when applied on the mouth ulcers can cure them.Junk food, bad oral practices, taking high dose drugs without consulting doctors etc can cause mouth ulcers.

Triphala choornam 3 gm, adhimadhuram 2 gm, honey and ghee all these are mixed to form a paste. This paste when applied on the ulcers heals them. This is to be done before going to bed.

Also “Mahathiktham” taken morning and evening on empty stomach helps cure mouth ulcers.

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Tuesday, May 1, 2007

Weight Loss

An excellent book that teaches you how to lose weight and then maintain it. A revolutionary natural way.

It talks about the natural way (as expounded by Ayurveda) of losing weight.

Know more about it here.

Monday, April 30, 2007

Ayurveda Philosophy in Brief

Ayurveda is an intricate system of healing that originated in India thousands of years ago. It is a holistic system of medicine that uses a constitutional model. Ayurveda is not only a system of medicine but also a way of healthy living, aiming to provide guidance regarding food and lifestyle so that healthy people can stay healthy and folks with health challenges can improve their health.

Ayurveda understands that there are energetic forces that influence nature and human beings. These forces are called the Tridoshas. In Ayurveda every person is considered a unique individual made up of five primary elements. The elements are ether (space), air, fire, water, and earth. Just as in nature, we too have these five elements in us. When any of these elements are present in the environment, they will in turn have an influence on us. The food we eat and the weather are just two examples of the presence of these elements.

While we are a composite of these five primary elements, certain elements are seen to have an ability to combine to create various physiological functions. Ether and air combine to form what is known in Ayurveda as the Vata dosha. Vata governs the principle of movement and therefore can be seen as the force which directs nerve impulses, circulation, respiration, and elimination. Vata is dry, cold and light and correspond to the element air. Fire and water are the elements that combine to form the Pitta dosha. The Pitta dosha is the process of transformation or metabolism. The transformation of foods into nutrients that our bodies can assimilate is an example of a pitta function. Pitta is also responsible for metabolism in the organ and tissue systems as well as cellular metabolism. Pitta is oily, hot and light and correspond to the element fire.

Finally, it is predominantly the water and earth elements which combine to form the Kapha dosha. Kapha is what is responsible for growth, adding structure unit by unit. Another function of the Kapha dosha is to offer protection. Cerebro-spinal fluid protects the brain and spinal column and is a type of Kapha found in the body. Also, the mucousal lining of the stomach is another example of the Kapha dosha protecting the tissues. Kapha is wet, cold and heavy and corresponds to the element water.

More on Ayurveda and homeremedies will follow.

That's all for now.