Herbal Remedies Blog

Most chooran powders and pills are various combination of common spices used daily in cooking to add flavor and taste to food. We have already noted the composition of the popularly known ashtachooran.

One or two tiny pieces of Asafoetida dissolved in half a cup of water makes a useful drink to decrease gas. Asafoetida is a well recognized carminative, antispasmodic and anti-flatulent. It is commonly used spice that is added to heavy, rich lentils, or chutney to help digestion. Just as some are averse to the smell and taste of garlic there are others who cannot stand the pungent flavor and taste of Asafoetida . For such people a preparation of cumin will do as well. Take a teaspoonful of cumin, put it in a pan and roast till red. Then added about two cups of water and boil the water for five to ten minutes till the essence of cumin blends into the water and the boiling water is reduced to one cup. This decoction taken once a day decreases flatulence without over irritating the stomach. It is easy to make try it instead of swallowing enzyme tablets.

Ajwain is also used for its anti-flatulent properties. Like the cumin decoction , a decoction could be taken as such or to it could e added a dew pieces of pineapple if easily available. Let the pieces soak overnight in the decoction. In morning squeeze the pineapple pieces and extract all its essence into the decoction. Filter and take the drink as a remedy for excessive gas. The tipe pineapple contains the digestive ferment bromelin which is closely related to the enzyme trypsin naturally occurring in the stomach. This ferment helps in indigestion and reduces flatulence. As pineapple has abortifacient properties, pregnant women should avoid the mentioned home remedy.

For those who are lazy to prepare elaborate home remedies here is a quick recipe crush a few grains of fenugreek seeds and lick it with a pinch or two of sonchal which is a pink variety of naturally occurring rock salt. This salt is popular all over Maharashtra, Gujarat, U.P and Punjab.. A quarter teaspoonful of this salt dissolved in glass of water and taken on an empty stomach in the morning acts as a carminative and decreases wind formation. For those suffering from heaviness and frequently belching here is a popular Gujarati recipe. Boil in dilute milk two small pieces of dry ginger. To it add a pinch of rock salt and take the drink warm at bedtime. In the morning one feels lights and hungry.

There are many who frequently complain of gaseous distention of the abdomen. They may take home remedies not only for quick relief but also as a long term treatment to improve poor digestion and decrease gas formation.

A pithy slogan “ A garlic a day to keep gas away” Every morning on an empty stomach he religiously takes two garlic cloves crushed in ‘ Bengal gram’ water  to keep flatulence under control.

Garlic soup is one of the best remedies to decrease intestinal gas and to increase digestive power. It is a recognized home remedy for flatulence due to any cause overheating, poor digestive capacity, lack of appetite and excess of gas after prolonged illness, in  the post delivery period or when suffering from chronic intestinal problems.

Here is an easy way to make garlic soup. Grind a few garlic with a little cumin, a few black pepper seeds and some coriander seeds. Mix in about six ounces of water and bring to boil. Take this in two doses. If you are one who does not like the smell of garlic, there are various other alternatives.

Digestive powders and pills are very popular in many Indian homes. Even young children who have over eaten are given chooran pills to digest what has gone in. This practice is more common especially among the north Indians who take plenty of fried food as a matter of routine. There is a common fear among most Indians that a heavy stomach could lead to various other problem frequent headaches, biliousness, chest pain and stiffness of the joints. Hence this excessive concern about keeping the stomach light with digestive choorans.

Digestion

“Guava is a very nutritious fruit. When eaten with seeds it gives roughage to the diet, it is good for digestion and regular bowel action. Eat it straight with its skin on, chew thoroughly without spitting out seeds for maximum benefit. Your digestion will become so strong that you can digest pebbles”

It helps in the normal evacuation of the bowels. The fruit improves overall resistance. Even to this day a deco cation made from its leaves is used in many Indian home remedy to check vomiting and diarrhea.

the leaves which are rich in the essential oil eugenol and tannins are highly astringents.They check vomiting and loose stools. The bark of the root od the guava tree is also very helpful for diarrhoeal complains. It is slightly roasted and powdered. A pinch of this in buttermilk checks diarrhoea,  a particularly useful remedy in infants and children.

It is interesting to note, while the fruit is a laxative and digestive the leaves and roots bark arrest diarrhoea and bind the stomach. In practically every Indian house-hold astachooran is a familiar name, This is an ayurvedic powder – administered in all types of digestive disorders and to increase appetite, to digest a heavy meal, to remove mouth  bitterness, to decrease flatulence and biliousness. It is not commonly made home. It is available ready made in the market and kept as a convenient home remedy to use when the need arises. It can cause heart burns due to the influx of stomach acids.

Ashtachoornam, as the name indicates has the following eight ingredients asafoetida,rock salt,dry ginger, black pepper, white cumin, black cumin, pipli (long pepper) and ajwain in equal proportion. They are separately roast es over a gentle fire, powdered fine and blended. A pinch to half teaspoonful of this powdered in honey or curd is ideal for indigestion in children and adults. A tiny speck of the powder in honey improves digestion and increases appetite infants.
Adults could take half to one teaspoonful in water, curd or honey in dyspeptic conditions. Stomach ulcer is only contraindication. Avoid tea and coffee which will over burn

Even nowadays many mothers prefer aniseed water sweetened with a piece of palm candy to administering ready made gripe mixtures for their infants. When cumin and aniseed are bi-led too long they lose their essential oils and thymol. Avoid over boiling so that their digestive properties are retained. However, the water that remains when concentrated has other medicinal values.