Herbal Remedies Blog

At that time most applicable for immediate effect is concentrated aniseed oil, it should be taken ten drops straight in half a teaspoonful of dry sugar. The aniseed are most effective remedy because of its essential oils which are stoma chic, digestive and curative. The vomiting will gradually stop. whether it is better then thrown out all the toxins or whether the aniseed oil. It is  this simple home remedy seemed to sort out the sudden occurring problems.

To set the system right coconut water and green plantation curry for two days is applicable. Through Indian in general have greater resistance to intestinal infection because of natural immunity – developed from young age- valuable lives have been lost in epidemics of summer gastroenteritis and cholera. Binders and astringents decreases discharge and harden stools. These are given with hope that in mild attacks they check the number of stools. In the  meantime the body immunity mechanism overcome the infection and the diarrhea is fully controlled. In diarrhea due to die tic indiscretion or due to mild intestinal infection home remedies are all that is needed. Powerful modern antibiotics are unnecessary.

Traditional home remedies often include mild intestinal antiseptics which are very useful in chronic dysentery and diarrhea. Modern antibiotics are powerful and efficient but the disease causing organism are quick to develop resistance to them. This is the great drawback of antibiotic therapy. Home remedies greatly emphasize on die tic restriction and oral hydration, i.e. the administering of liquids to replenish the loss of fluids from the body. What fluids are given orally depends on the region to which one belongs.

Coconut water which is rich in potassium is very useful to maintain the salt balance. Buttermilk, arrowroot water, barley water, whey water are all commonly used for oral hydration all over India. The Indian housewife uses curry leaves to add flavor to her dishes. Grind a bunch of these leaves into fine paste mix in buttermilk and drink on an empty stomach to set right an upset stomach.In the south, rice gruel is popularly given to control diarrhea.

Different forms f starchy liquids like barley water, arrowroot gruel, rice gruel or thin sago porridge not only replace the fluid lost but also bind the stools. When you have one or two loose stools a glass of dilute buttermilk to which turmeric and salt are added may be helpful. Place a cooking vessel on the fire and put half teaspoonful of turmeric and add buttermilk and pinch of salt. Warm till the buttermilk froth. Take this turmeric rich buttermilk three to four times a day.

Chewing down of few tender bael leaves every morning. Try this treatment, it has been know at least half a dozen acquaintances suffering from stomach problem who are benefited by this treatment. Bael leaves are soaked in water is taken to get an infusion. The next morning the strained water is taken as a drink. This treatment is continued daily for a few weeks. relief from pain and discomfort is certain. Bael  leaves are rich in tannins. The bael fruit taken in the form of beverage or as such has great healing properties due to mucilage contents which forms a coating on stomach mucosa and helps in the healing of ulcers. Tannins in addition decrease inflammation and help healing.

In many parts of South India there is a belief that cabbage is very helpful to cure stomach ulcers. cabbage is boiled in water. The water that is drained is taken cold twice a day as a cure.

Kalyana murungkai (drumsticks) is a variety of drumsticks freely found in south India. The leaves of this tree are popularly used for the healing of stomach ulcers. The leaves are grinde into the paste, mixed in curd and taken daily.

Manattakkali or makoi grows wild over India. The berries and leaves are sold in bazaar. The leaves, cooked and eaten help in healing ulcers in any part of the alimentary tract, from mouth to anus. The dry berries, a tablespoonful, fried in ghee and taken mixed with rice in a popular home recipe for treating ulcer in most part of south India. Mannattakkali berries and leaves are rich source of Vitamin C, Which further aids ulcer healing.

Liquorice is popular all over India for coughs and other respiratory problems. It is also very useful for removing pain due to stomach ulcers. The demulcent action of liquorice decreases the irritation due to acids.Pieces of the dry root soaked overnight in water and the inflation taken with rice gruel ( Kanji ) helps in the cure of ulcer. Manattakkali berries and leaves are rich source of Vitamin C, Which further aids ulcer healing.

Even in modern medicine liquorice has become a recognized drug for treating ulcer patients. Continuous, uninterrupted treatment is however not advisable as it may cause increase in weight and puffiness of body. Hence best avoided in pregnancy and heart and kidney conditions.There are several herbal remedies hidden in the depth of south side of India.

Little infants are very prone to it due to milk indigestion. The Indian mother has stock of home remedies for helping an infants suffering from colic. How often we have seen the mother-in-law or grandmother run into the kitchen to get asafoetida and Castor oil. She warms a little piece of asafoetida in Castor oil, powders the piece and mixes it well in a little warm Castor oil. She applies this medicated oil all around the suffering infant”s navel and gently massages the abdomen.

Some mothers use a combination of Bach, ‘harir’ and nutmeg ground to a paste as a carminative, antispasmodic medicine. Goar Bach is the rhizome of sweet flag, a popularly known semi aquatic plant. It is antispasmodic and digestive in small doses. The slight warmth on the abdomen brings on peristaltic movements of the intestines which help to expel any caught-up gas. A speck of asafoetida is a well known anti flatulent medicine.

In larger doses it produces vomiting due to the essential oils in it. The usefulness of goarbach in controlling diarrhea and dysentery us due to the large amount of tannin present in the rhizome.A more experienced mother rubs a piece of ‘gorbach’ just once or twice on a grinding stone and applies a bit of paste on the baby’s tongue to cure colic. By experience she knows how much will needed to relieve the colic.

The seeds of mint are very useful to relieve abdominal gripe due to indigestion in older children. After a heavy meal or indiscriminate eating if a child complains of fullness of belly and pain, the child may be given a quarter teaspoonful of seed to chew and swallow with water. Even chewing a few leaves of mint has carminative effect. Mint is rich in menthol and is a source of peppermint oil. Commonly used as a spice in cooking, It has valuable digestive properties.

For grown-ups warm mustard oil doubled be used to massage the abdomen. The counter irritants action of mustard decreases pain inside the abdomen. The warmth produced by massaging expels any wind caught up in the intestines.
Some suffer from pain in the abdomen due to over irritation of stomach. For such people my maternal aunt had a demulcent or soothing drink. She would take a tumbler of pain starch water obtained from cooked parboiled rice, and add a teaspoonful of cow’s ghee to it. Even for those suffering from an onset of dysentery she would use this home remedy for quick relief of abdominal discomfort.Among South Indians there is an interesting prescription for quick relief of abdominal pain. A teaspoonful of fenugreek seeds is powdered, mixed in buttermilk and taken internally to relieve pain and help digestion.
For frequent gripes in the belly many north Indians take Isabgol. Isabgol seeds with husk are soaked in water or milk for a few hours. The liquid is strained and taken at night. The high mucilaginous content in isabgol forms a covering inside the intestinal wall which protect the lining mucosa and helps in the healing of ulcers. Irritation and gripe thus decreases.

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.

If people are allergic to certain products and certain ingredients then it is best to avoid them. In such circumstances natural products are better alternatives. The natural products are for pretty, gentle and problem free skin. It is thought that natural skin products are more pure and they do not contain any harmful ingredients prepared in the lab. However it is not always true.

There are some chemicals in the beauty or skin care products like phthalates, petrochemicals and preservatives like parabens are just like hormones in the body and can cause cancer in higher concentrations. But the council for Personal Care Products has passed these products as safe but the Environmental Working Group say that people should avoid them.

There are some problems with the natural products. The tern natural is not defined properly therefore the product may not contain any ingredients one is looking for them in it.

Reading the labels on the products is very important. If they contain ingredients like parabens as preservatives, petrochemicals and their products, all these are found in skin care products. Other harmful ingredients in cosmetics include lead in lipsticks, mercury in mascara and eye drops, dioxane in shampoos and body washes and phthalates in hair sprays and nail polishes.

It is important to know that natural ingredients also cause allergies.  A study published in a leading journal has found that many people are allergic or sensitive to the most popular natural ingredients like jasmine, tea tree oil, lavender and feverfew.  To check for the natural ingredients “sniff test” is good. Smelling the product for the smell of the ingredient which it is claiming to contain helps in checking for its presence. If the smell is like the natural one then the product contains that particular ingredient in natural form. If it has a smell like artificial flavor then it contains only the flavor and not the natural ingredient.

In another study various brands of baby care products were tested fir cancer causing chemicals formaldehyde and 1,4 dioxane and it was found that most of the products contain one of these chemicals.

According to many experts the minute quantities of chemicals do not harm the body but others say that such minute quantities from many such products can be harmful to body and such study to find the collective effect has not been carried out.

The answer to this dilemma of skin care products is the use of home remedies. So instead of using Aloe Vera cream Aloe Vera preparation prepared at home is better. Instead of cold cream coconut oil or “Kokam oil” is better for winter skin care. Less use of soap is also a better option to prevent drying of skin in winter. Use of milk products instead of creams, use of coarse turmeric or sandal powder is better than scrub. Turmeric paste in milk can be used for fair skin instead of fairness creams.

Thus finding a home remedy for skin problem and skin care is better than solving the controversies and finding which product is better.