Ayurveda at Home.

The grasp of Ayurveda in today’s world is silent, unassuming but very significant. With simple store cupboard ingredients or small lifestyle changes to complex medical procedures; the scope of Ayurveda is unending. Here is a small collection of first aid using Ayurvedic principals. Please consult a qualified physician in case of any clarifications.

Simple home remedies for arthritis.

Arthritis simply means inflammation of the joints. There are several types of arthritis, general osteo arthritis, infective arthritis, rheumatic or other type of degenerative arthritis. Please always get a diagnosis before starting the line of treatment.

General tips to relive pain with osteo arthritis:

1. Castor oil -7ml. to be taken with 100 ml. cow’s milk once a day preferably at night.

2. Decoction of equal part of Guduci (Tinospora cordifolia) 20ml and Turmeric (Curcuma longa) 1/2tspn, to be taken twice a day.

3. Fenugreek (Trigonella foenum-graecum) leaves is too used for swelling and stiffness.

4. Apply the warm paste of cinnamon or dry ginger powder on the swelling joints and remove after it is completely dry (1-2 hours).

5. Moderate fasting also show positive impacts on pain.

· Heat 1 cup of mustard oil/Seasame oil

· Add 10 g of camphor

· Heat till camphor dissolves completely

· Massage with the oil when lukewarm

6. Alternately you could use ayurvedic oils like Narayana Tailam or Karpooradi tailam.

7. Try guggulu preparations like Maha Yoga raja guggulu (1-0-1) or lakshadi guggulu (2-0-2).

8. You could warm medicated oil dip a piece of cotton, and lace over the affected joint and keep it tied for round two hours.

9. Tie up some sea salt or sand into a poultice, warm on a stove top and apply heat to the affected joint.

10. Stick to warm water baths, stay warm and also consume light, warm, nutritive food. Avoid any form of indigestion, flatulence or constipation. Adopt ragi(finger millet), wheat instead of rice as your main carbohydrate.

In case of rheumatoid arthritis:

1. Ama must be digested and Vata should be balanced in the body.

2. Digestion should be improved and fasting for one day is beneficial for digesting Ama.

3. Fresh juice of Guduchi (tinospora Cordifolia) 15-20 ml twice a day is very beneficial.

4. Guggulu (an Ayurveda herb) is very helpful in Amavata. If available, take 2 tablets of purified Guggul twice a day after meals with warm water. Simhananda guggulu is also a properitry medicine useful (2-0-2)

5. Pinda taila, is also a good ayurvedic oil specific to rheumatoid arthritis ( but please always be extra careful some oils might increase pain so consult a physician before using

6. 5 ml of castor oil in 100 ml milk every night is very useful or a teaspoon full of Triphala choorna at bedtime with warm water.

7. Paste of 1 teaspoon red chilies and fresh ginger mixed in half a cup of castor oil and strain. Gently rub this oil on the affected joints.

8. Half a teaspoon of turmeric powder with warm water helps in this type of arthritis. Dosage: Taken twice a day

9. One raw clove of garlic every day is very beneficial. This clove can be fried in ghee (clarified butter) or castor oil. Dosage: Once daily for two to three months.

Remedies for cough cold and fever:

1. The body should be kept warm – especially the feet, chest, throat and head. Sweating is very helpful.

2. Take half a teaspoon of ginger juice with half a teaspoon of honey, three times a day (morning, noon and night). In winter, warm the mixture by mixing a teaspoon of warm water in it.

3. Mix half a cup of warm water with one teaspoon of lemon juice and one teaspoon of honey. Dosage: Take several times a day.

4. In cases of dry cough (especially during the night), peel a small piece of fresh ginger. Sprinkle some salt on it and chew.

5. Take equal amounts of cardamom, ginger powder, black pepper and cinnamon (1 teaspoon each). Add sugar equal to the total amount of mixture and grind to make a fine powder. Dosage: Take half a teaspoon twice daily, with honey or warm water after meals.

6. In cases of sore throat, a clove or two cardamoms or a few raisins can be chewed. Gargling with warm salty water two to three times a day is also beneficial.

7. For cough, sitophaladi chooranam, Taleesadi patra choornam, or talisa vatakam , can be sonsumed several times a day, whenever throat itches .

8. In case of Chronic, dry cough Dashamoola rasyanam is very effective, ¼ th spoon often or when throat itches.

9. For recurrent allergic rhinitis, 1 tspn turmeric powder mixed in warm milk or honey twice a day. You could also try drug Haridra Khandam (1 tsp. twice a day).

10. Tulasi kashayam : For acute colds take 200ml water, boil a handful of tulasi (ocimum sanctum/holy basil) leaves, 3 grams of ajwain(carom seeds) , and 3 cubes of sugar candy. Boil for twenty minutes; strain and take consume warm 50 ml twice a day.

11. If you have a dry cough, mix half a teaspoon of hing (asafetida) powder with half a teaspoon of fresh ginger juice and one tablespoon of honey. Mix all three ingredients well. Have one spoon three times a day.

12. Panikoorka is the herb with the name “Plectranthus amboinicus”. It is known as Pathar choor (in hindi), Navara (in Malayalam), karpooravalli (in Tamil) or Indian borage. Juice of the leaves of this plant with honey is very effective for cold in children as well as adults

Stay warm well protected from cold, consume easily digestible warm and nutritive foods, follow daily steam inhalation and get sufficient rest.

(Each one of these recipies are effective, choose which is right and most efficacious for you if you are diabetic kindly avoid the remdies with sugar candy in it and opt for other methods f he fever persisits for more than 3 days or couldfor more than 10 days despite these measures, contact the physician)

Home remedies for symptoms related to menopause:

In an ideally healthy menopause process, a woman of the age of forty five or over will begin skipping menstrual periods. It can be classified into three main categories, and treated accordingly.

Vata Type: Prone to Nervousness: anxiety, panic, mood swings, vaginal dryness, loss of skin tone, feeling cold, irregular periods, insomnia, mild or variable hot flashes, constipation, palpitations, bloating and joints aches and pains.

Ayurvedic Tips: Increase warm food and drinks, regular meals, early bedtime, oil massage, meditation, yoga, walking and spices such as fennel and cumin. Decrease caffeine and other stimulants, refined sugar, cold drinks, salads.

Pitta Type: Prone to Hot Temper: anger, irritability, feeling hot, hot flashes, night sweats, heavy periods, excessive bleeding, urinary tract infections, skin rashes and acne.

Ayurvedic Tips: Increase cooling foods, water intake, sweet juicy fruits (grapes, pears, plums, mango, melons, apples,) zucchini, yellow squash, cucumber, organic foods. Go to bed before 10 PM and try to wind down earlier in the evening. Decrease excessive sun and overheating, hot spicy foods, hot drinks and alcohol.

Kapha Type: Prone to Weight Gain: sluggishness, lethargy, weight gain for no reason, fluid retention, yeast infections, lazy, depressed, lacking motivation, slow digestion

Ayurvedic Tips: Increase exercise, fruits, whole grains, legumes, vegetables, and spices such as black pepper, turmeric and ginger. Get up early (by 6AM). Decrease meat, cheese, sugar, cold foods and drinks

Few generalized home remedies are listed below; contact a physician to get detail individual diagnosis:

1. Herbs such as shatavari (asparagus racemosa), black cohosh (Cimicifuga racemosa), wild yam (Dioscorea villosa), Motherwort (Leonurus cardiaca) and chaste tree (Vitex agnus-castus) are known to help alleviate menopausal symptoms. Himalaya Drug Company and other ayurvedic pharmacies will sell the above. Menosan and evecare (Himalaya drugs) are easily available and make menopause much easier for women. Shatahavari kalpa (1 tablespoon twice a day) is also a medicine that can be bought over the counter with lot of benefits

2. Take foods high in plant estrogens such as soy beans,lima beans, nuts, seeds, fennel, celery, parsley and flaxseed oil

3. Daily or weekly massages using CHANDANA BALA LAKSHADI tailam is very beneficial.

4. ARAVINDASAVAM,and Ashokarishtam are beneficial (20 ml twice a day after food)

5. Drink lots of cold water boiled with Sariva (Indian sarsapilla) close to 2 liters a day.

6. Dhanyaka Hima is a simple preparation which has a lot of beneficial effects during menopause. Soak chopped coriander leaves (1 tablespoon) in 100 ml of water overnight, strain and consume water in morning.

7. In case of vaginal dryness, apply medicated ghee, or plain ghee in the local area. (Shatavari gritha) is the best if available

8. Tulasi (Ocimum sanctum) , Brahmi (Bacopa moneri), and Hibiscus tea is also very beneficial

9. Arjuna (Terminalia arjuna) bark powder in milk, is very good for both the menopausal symptoms and will also maintain bone and heart health.

Choose the right combination with the help of your physician.

Few remedies for Acidity (Amlapitta).

“Agni is deranged by fasting, eating during indigestion, over-eating, irregular eating, intake of unsuitable food…faulty adaptation to place, time and seasons and suppression of natural urges. Agni thus deranged becomes unable to digest even light food and the food being undigested gets acidified and toxic.” (1).

In this article we will specifically discuss urdvaga amlapitta or upward moving acidity, which leads to symptoms of heartburn, acid reflux, headaches, nausea and loss of appetite (2). It may, in association with kapha, also give rise to post-nasal drip, sinusitis and asthma.

1. It is clear from the above the cause, which should be avoided as much as possible to prevent acidity.

2. Avoid salt, oil, pickles, curd, fried foods, sour foods like tamarind, etc., all of which heat the body.

3. Take pitta pacifying diet. It should contain bitter and astringent tastes, which are usually supplied mainly through salads and legumes. These two tastes curb the appetite, dry up excessive moisture and keep the palate sharp.

4. Take two teaspoonful of ghee( clarified butter) in a glass of warm milk. This also acts as a laxative, which helps flush excess pitta from the system. Ayurveda recommends this laxation (virechana karma) to be the best therapy to correct the aggravated pitta. Have your ghee and milk instead of dinner, or two hours after a very light dinner. You can also have it in place of breakfast (do not take ghee, however, if you have a problem with high cholesterol).

5. Avipattikara choorna relieves all the agonising symptoms caused by acidity. It moves the bowels and flushes them. It also maintains your appetite. This powder can be taken in a dose of 3 to 6 grams with water before and during the meal.

6. Sukumaara ghritam is specific for this condition and may be taken in doses of one to two teaspoonful mixed with a cup of milk in the morning.

7. Amla (Emblica officinalis) in powdered form is also helpful. The standard dose is two teaspoonful three times a day.

8. Chandhanasava decoction of sandal (chandan) consumed thrice daily, gives good relief from hyperacidity. Kamadudharas (with pearls) is a drug of choice for hyperacidity in the dose of 1 tablet thrice daily.

Your Ayurvedic First Aid Kit:

External bleeding remedies:

Applying a paste of sandalwood powder is helpful in the cases of external bleeding. It stops the bleeding and also heals the wound. Drinking a cup of warm milk with half teaspoonful turmeric powder and a pinch of saffron or alum, added to it is also very good healing drink. It also acts as pain reliever.

Effective Remedies for Burns

Make a paste of fresh gel of aloe-vera with a pinch of turmeric powder. Adding one 1-2 grams of ghee or coconut oil to this paste makes it more effective. This paste can be applied to the burnt area.

Effective Remedies for Diarrhea

Add one teaspoon of fresh grated ginger and one gram of nutmeg powder to half a cup of water. Blend them together for few minutes into a mixture. Drinking this twice or thrice a day helps to stop diarrhea.

Effective Remedies for Earache

Take 2-3 cloves of garlic. Peel off the skin and cut them into small pieces. Add 100 ml. of sesame or mustard oil and boil on a slow fire for about five minutes. Strain and when it becomes cool, drop two drops in the aching ear. This can be used two times a day.( Please do not follow in case of chronic ear infections or history of perforation or tear of the ear drum)

Effective Remedies for Sore eyes:

Put 2-3 drops of pure rose water into the affected eye. This can be used two or three times a day. It also helps in itchy eyes and reduces the redness in the eyes.

Effective Remedies for Boils:

Apply cooked onion as a poultice on the boil. A paste of ginger powder (one teaspoonful) and turmeric powder (one teaspoonful) is also good to apply on the boil. Either the boil will be suppressed or a head will appear so that the pus can be drained out easily.

Effective Remedies for Exhaution (Heat)

Drink one glass (250 ml.) of coconut water or grape juice. Take 3-4 pieces of dates and cook them with one glass of milk or water. Eat the dates and drink the milk or water. It is also good to blend them in a mixture before taking. This drink is very good and gives instant energy.

Effective Remedies for Gum Bleeding

Squeeze the juice of half lemon into a cup of water and add one teaspoonful of honey. This drink should be taken every morning.

Massaging the gums gently with coconut oil also helps.

Effective Remedies for Menstrual Cramps:

Take one tablespoon of aloe-vera gel and mix in half a gram of black pepper powder. Such a mixture can be taken 2-3 times during the day or until the cramps disappear.

These are the few store cupboard ingredients that can come to your rescue.

A few basic Ayurvedic medicines that will come to rescue are:

· Amritharishtam: Fever, cold, mild indigestion(avoid if diabetic)

· Talisapatradi choornam/vatakam: For all coughs and colds.

· Avipathikara coornam: for acidity and mild constipation.

· Hingvasthaka choornam: for indigestion, stomach cramps.

· Karpooradhi tailam: Most suitable oil for all aches and pains.

With these basic drugs and your kitchen, Ayurveda should help you breeze past most common ailments.