Āyurveda, the Science of Life
VERILY, THE FOOD WE EAT IS WHAT WE BECOME. YES, THIS IS A TIME-PROVEN FACT. “THE FOOD WE EAT IS WHAT WE BECOME.” It is also a time-proven fact that we live and we are healthy because of what we eat. No need to inject medicines to adjust the symptoms when we can eat the foods that adjust the causes. Food, the ṛishis of old wrote, is the best medicine.§
There is no greater kitchen than the Amma nilayam, which is the real healing center of the home and the community. Amma, mother, is the supreme nurse, the only one in the home that keeps her family healthy by serving what they look forward to, the delicious meals they savor and enjoy. Her kitchen is the only clinic that needs to be entered for the well or ill, unless an arm is broken or other kinds of injuries incurred which need professional expertise. We have here for you the healing center of the New Age. How did we come by it? Well, we transported it from the Old Age to now. It is a precious collection of Asian ingredients that must be in every Hindu home, stored on kitchen shelves in beautiful jars, well labeled, like a shrine to nature’s life-giving gifts. It is most pleasing to our Loving Gaṇeśa to see all these items on the shelves. It is His great joy to see them growing in the garden, available to be freshly picked (fifteen square feet of land can help feed an entire family). We must remember that the sun and soil are the best “refrigerator,” and that cooling what has been picked diminishes its vitality; freezing even more so. Also, each Amma’s garden (her refrigerator out-of-doors and under the sun) must grow the foods that bugs and snails don’t like to eat, or grow enough for them to eat, too. They live with us on planet Earth and have the same right to eat as do we. When we grow human food that they don’t want to eat, we need no pesticides or other chemicals, which are harmful to our bodies. Amma’s garden has within it the foods that grow in the natural soil of the area in which her family lives and the foods that are not bothered by other creatures who live with us that are not human. In the list and explanations below Amma turns her kitchen into a virtual hospital, giving her family what they need in delicious curries. She puts into the menu what is needed to correct the sniffles when kapha season comes along. In the summer she cooks with the heat-removing spices. Yes, Amma knows, inspired by Loving Gaṇeśa, whom she worships before preparing each and every meal. She does. Read on. §
Five Simple Remedies:
a Must for Every Home
By Dr. Virender Sodhi, M.D. (Āyurveda), N.D.
Published in Hinduism Today, July 1994
Āyurvedic medicine emphasizes that a person must take an active role in his or her own healing process. Natural remedies that harmonize with the body and promote the body’s own healing abilities are central to the ancient practice of āyurveda. Happily, many of these remedies are easily and inexpensively made at home. These preparations are so simple and so effective that they would be of great benefit to every household any time of the year. The five most important herbs and foods to have on hand year-round are ginger, garlic/onion, black pepper, trifal and turmeric. With these, you can create quick and effective remedies for a variety of ailments. A cautionary note: it is important to remember that if you suffer from a serious ailment you should seek the advice of a trained physician. §
BLACK PEPPER, Piper nigrum
Āyurvedic properties: light, dry; taste: pungent, bitter; diuretic; post-digestive taste: bitter; liver stimulant; energy: hot; dosha action: decreases vāta and kapha, increases pitta. Pharmacological actions: anti-parasitic; digestive; diuretic; liver stimulant; nervine. [Dosha is an āyurvedic term for the humors which comprise and govern the body, mind and emotions. Vāta, cand kapha are the three doshas.]§
Black pepper is an excellent herb for sparking the digestive fire, increasing appetite, and cleansing the liver. It promotes hydrochloric acid secretions (which help digest proteins), stimulates the nervous system, and increases circulation to all parts of the body. It also increases sweating (to burn out fevers) and helps expel parasites.§
Black pepper helps relieve anorexia, bronchial asthma, bronchitis, cholera, common cold, diarrhea, eye diseases, fevers, frost bite, fungal infections, nervous disorders, painful menstruations, poor circulation, rheumatic conditions, ring worms, skin abscesses, sluggish liver, syphilis, toothaches, and upper respiratory infections. Black pepper provides a quick and easy remedy for the ailments mentioned above. A standard dosage is 500–1,000 mg (approximately ½-1 teaspoon) eaten two to three times a day. This can be boiled in one cup of water, covered to steep, and taken as a tea sweetened with a taste of raw honey. This tea helps relieve the symptoms of cold, flu and painful menstruations. Black pepper powder can be sprinkled on food or mixed with a teaspoon of raw honey and eaten from the spoon. Pitta people and those with ulcers should be careful of taking black pepper. It can aggravate ulcers, inflammation and other pitta conditions.§
GARLIC, Allium sativum; ONION, Allium cepa
Āyurvedic properties: heavy, oily; taste: sweet, pungent, bitter, sour, astringent; post-digestive taste: pungent, sweet; energy: heating; dosha effects: decreases vāta, increases pitta and kapha. Pharmacological actions: analgesic, antibacterial, antiviral, antifungal, anti-inflammatory, antispasmodic, carminative, cholesterol lowering, diuretic, expectorant.§
Onions and garlic have been used for centuries as both food and medicine. They help increase digestive secretions, promote proper fat metabolism and aid in liver detoxification. Garlic and onion help relieve: abscesses, asthma, atherosclerosis, coughs, diabetes, digestive disorders, dysentery, earaches, hemorrhoids, high blood pressure, high cholesterol, hysteria, inflammation, and parasitic conditions.§
Onion and garlic have much the same action, but garlic is much more potent that onion. They can both be eaten either raw or cooked for the conditions mentioned above. Dosage depends upon the form. For taking raw, a medium-sized onion can be chopped and eaten as a salad with lemon juice. As a juice, 10–30 cc (a few ounces) of raw onion juice can be mixed with honey. This is an especially helpful remedy for asthma. As onion powder, ½ teaspoon is taken twice a day. Onions can be used in cooking and stir frying for their many therapeutic effects. Cooked onion is particularly good for vāta-type people. The dosage for raw garlic is 1-2 cloves eaten once or twice a day. As a dry powder, 500 mg is taken one to three times a day. As garlic oil, 1-2 drops are taken three times a day. Garlic can be used in cooking or stir frying for its therapeutic effects. Neither onions nor garlic should be consumed by those with gallbladder problems or kidney stones. These foods have a contracting action and could increase the pain caused by such conditions. Also, pittas should be very cautious when consuming garlic, as it can aggravate gastritis and other pitta disorders.§
Ginger, Zingiber officinale
Āyurvedic properties: light, oily; taste: pungent; post-digestive taste: pungent; energy: hot; dosha action: decreases vāta and kapha, increases pitta. Pharmacological actions: anti-inflammatory, antimicrobial, aromatic, carminative, cholesterol lowering, free radical scavenger.§
In āyurvedic medicine, ginger is used to increase the digestive fire—the key to radiant health. It contains enzymes and encourages the body to produce enzymes that help digest fats, carbohydrates, and proteins. Ginger helps relieve: chest pain, cholera, common cold, diarrhea, dizziness, headaches, joint aches and pains, motion sickness, nausea, rheumatism, stomachaches, and vomiting.§
Ginger decreases discomfort during pregnancy, including nausea and vomiting, and is also wonderful for postpartum care. In general, it helps alleviate nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, and indigestion. Taken orally, ginger provides an excellent treatment for colds and fever, indigestion, water retention, nausea, elevated cholesterol, liver damage, and many other ailments. Ginger is especially useful for stimulating kapha and for aiding vāta’s poor digestion, aches, and pains. For dosage try ¼ teaspoon dried ginger root powder or ½ to 1 teaspoon freshly grated ginger root in warm water as a tea. This tea can be consumed up to three times per day. You can also sprinkle the above amount of ginger directly onto your food to aid digestion.§
Externally, ginger powder can be mixed with water and used as a poultice to stimulate circulation, relieve muscle and joint aches and pains, eliminate headaches and chest pain, and regulate bowel movements. To make a poultice, simply mix ½ to 1 teaspoon of dried ginger root powder with enough warm water to form a paste. This can be spread onto the affected area. When using a poultice, take care to avoid the eyes and mucous membranes. The poultice, as well as any ginger residue left on your hands from making a poultice or a tea, can burn these sensitive areas. Other than this, ginger has no dangerous side effects.§
TRIFAL, Terminalia chebula, Terminalia bellinica and Phyllanthus emblica
Āyurvedic properties: light, dry; taste: sweet, sour, astringent, bitter, pungent; post-digestive taste: bitter; energy: warm; dosha action: balancing for vāta, pitta and kapha. Pharmacological actions: adaptogenic, antibacterial, antivirial, antifungal, antiyeast, antihistaminic, anti-inflammatory, antioxidant, antitumor, blood pressure lowering, cholesterol lowering, digestive, diuretic, laxative. Trifal (Hindi), known in Sanskṛit as triphala, is an ancient āyurvedic herbal combination revered for its many therapeutic effects. It is a rasāyana, or formula which constantly rejuvenates and balances the body. Trifal helps relieve: anemia, bowel toxicity and irregularity, carbohydrate intolerance, chronic lung diseases, constipation, diabetes, eye diseases, high cholesterol, hypertension, indigestion, skin disorders, and yeast infections. Trifal is a wonderful preventive remedy that can be taken daily. It is a wonderful intestinal cleanser which gently promotes regularity without irritating the bowels. It first helps digest food, then aids in elimination. As a dry powder, 3,000–6,000 mg (1-2 teaspoons) of trifal may be taken one to three times per day. As an extract 500 mg is taken one to three times per day. Trifal has no known harmful side effects.§
TURMERIC, Curcuma longa
Āyurvedic properties: light, dry; taste: bitter, astringent; post-digestive taste: bitter; energy: hot; dosha action: balances vāta, pitta, and kapha. Pharmacological actions: anti-allergenic, antibacterial, antiviral (anti-HIV), antifungal, anti-inflammatory, antioxidant, antiparasitic, antispasmodic, antitumor, carminative, diuretic.§
Turmeric is known as the King of the Spices in āyurvedic medicine. A bitter spice, it helps cleanse the liver, purify the blood, and promote good digestion and elimination. It also has a powerful anti-inflammatory action without the unpleasant side effects of anti-inflammatory drugs.§
Turmeric helps relieve: acne, allergies, ascites, auto-immune disorders, burns, chicken pox, diabetes, digestive disorders, gallbladder problems, liver damage due to toxic chemical exposure and drug use, liver disorders, skin rashes, tumors and ulcers.§
Turmeric is very helpful for all doshas. In India, it has been used for thousands of years for its many healing and cleansing properties. It is a wonderful skin cleanser, color enhancer, and food preservative and is widely used for ritual purification. Also, recent studies show that turmeric is effective against cancerous tumors and HIV.§
As a dry powder ½–1½ teaspoons of turmeric may be taken two to three times per day. As an extract (8:1) 250 mg is taken three times per day. Turmeric has no known harmful side effects and is safe for everyday use.§