Home remedies for Acidity

There are various age old remedies that one can undertake to combat acidity. It was infact a major ailment of one of our team members who is now fine thanks to one of these remedies. Here are mentioned some of the commonly used ones.

Warm Water:

This is a very simple solution to fight acidity. One would thing that something hot cannot reduce   the heat in the body that is already causing the acidity but ironically it works! The fact is that cold items are harder to digest than warm or hot foods. One glass of warm water first thing

 in the morning daily does a lot to reduce acidity.

Basil Leaves:

Chewing on a few basil leaves (tulsi) helps fight burning (heart burn), nausea and gas which are common symptoms that can be felt in acidity.

Fruits:

A banana everyday goees a long way to fight acidity. It also helps in proper bowel movements. Also, apple and watermelon are good for the digestive process.

Buttermilk:

Buttermilk is considered to be a very good appetizer as well as a very good digestive. When prepared with some curry leaves and some cumin powder, it aids digestion even more. Ayurveda has not put any limit to the consumption of buttermilk. It can be drunk before meals, during meals and also after meals, allbeit in a limited quantity because one must avoid too many liquids soon after the meal to avoid "damping" the digestive fire.

How to prepare buttermilk:

Take one part of curd and add about 3 parts of water (in a mixer/blender). This can vary according to how thick or thin you want to make it. It is preferable to make it thin though. Add a pinch of salt. Mix for sbout 2-3 minutes. (even though buttermilk is made from curd, which is heavy to digest, it has the complete opposite effect because of its water content.)

Seasoning (optional)

Add a pinch of cumin seed powder along with 2-3 curry leaves to taste.

Avoiding the causes:

This of course can also be preventive. 

Avoid eating prior to the completion of digestion of the previous meal. The fact is that a person gets into such a routine in life that he or she eats only out of habit. Very rarely does one consider or assess their hunger before eating. The habit is to eat everyday at a certain time and people live their lives in this manner irrespective of their body's real wishes. Ayurveda says that when getting up from the dining table, a slight little hunger must always remain. Never must one fill the stomach to the brim. This a very common cause of acidity and many other major ailments.

There are many food items also that must be avoided, like spicy foods, ginger, dry foods and snacks (with a lot of sugar and preservatives), fried food items etc. 

Do not lie down or sleep soon after eating because it hampers digestion.

JALANETI

Jalaneti, in essence, is a procedure of nasal cleansing or irrigation of the sinuses. It is done using a Neti pot. This is a yoga practice which is advised by many doctors to relieve a clogged nose, for sinus problems and also problems related to stress. It can be done every morning and is not complicated. 

Take luke warm water and add a bit of salt, preferably himalayan pink salt (in the ratio of 1 teaspoon for half a litre of water). The water must not be too hot nor too cold, it should be comfortably warm. Take care to add the right amount of salt.

Now, bend down (at the waist) over a sink and tilt your head slightly downwards and to the side  of the nostril that will be irrigated first. Breath through the mouth and keep its slightly open.

Then, put the nozzle of the neti-pot on the nostril in such a way that it seals it. Now slightly tilt your head and tilt the pot upwards to slowly empty its contents into the nostril. Take care that water doesn't leak from between the nozzle of the pot and the nostril. If the nose is clogged, the water may take a few more seconds than expected but it will eventually flow out the other nostril. Remember, throughout the procedure, one must breath through the mouth. One must be calm and not laugh while doing jalaneti.

Once the pot has been emptied, blow the nose through both the nostrils so as to remove any remaining water. Do not block the other nostril while doing this because this can cause an increase in pressure in the sinuses and can be harmful. Repeat this again with the second nostril.

There are many benefits of Jalaneti. It is indicated by many physicians for 

sinusitis

nasal blockages

insomnia (it improves sleep)

asthma

olfactory disfunction (loss of sense of smell)

ear problems (improves vision and also demarcates dark part and light part of the eye)

chronic mucus and nasal catarrh 

clarity in the functioning of the sense organs.

Here is a demonstration.

Click on the following link to do a test to find out what body type you are.

http://www.holisticonline.com/ayurveda/w_ayurveda-dtest1.htm

The various body constitutions

DEHA PRAKRUTI

The word "Deha" means "body" and "Prakruti" means constitution. Depending on the state of the three doshas in the mother & father and other factors such as the time, age, strength of both sperm and ovum during conception and also the food habits and activities of the pregnant mother, the bodily constitution is formed. There are seven types depending upon the dosha involvement.
3 that are from one dosha each i.e;
Vataj
Pittaj
Kaphaj
3 that are from two doshas each i.e;
Vata Pittaj
Vata Kaphaj
Pitta Kaphaj
and 1 is from all the three doshas put together.

The above types denote the predominance of the doshas in an individual, although all the three doshas are present in every person.
There are various factors that help determine the prakruti of a person. Following are some factors that help to determine one's body type.

VATAJ PRAKRUTI (Nervous Temperament)

People of this body type are lean and tall with rough, dry, lustreless skin and prominent visible vein structure on the body. They have aversion towards cold things and cold weather.
They have unsteady memory, strength, mind (restless and continuous thought process) and gait.
They have less bodily strength and life span. They talk fast, unsteady and in an interrupted manner. They like sweet, sour & hot foods.
Their dreams most frequently are of the sky, open spaces, mountains etc.

PITTAJ PRAKRUTI (Bilious Temperament)

People of this body type are usually of pale complexion, warm in body, coppery red palms, soles and face, have less hair. They tend to sweat profusely and thus emit foul body smell. Their eyes are small, unsteady and with few eye lashes. They are of medium body build, strength, life span.
They are highly intelligent, very courageous, very passionate and emotional persons. They have a short temper.
They like sweet, astringent, bitter and cold foods.
They dream mostly of forest fires, thunderstorms, bright sunrays.

KAPHAJ PRAKRUTI (Phlegmatic Temperament)

People of this body type usually are more heavily built, with long arms, broad chested, broad fore-head, thick hair, well defined body parts. Eyes are red at their outer angles, wide, long with well defined sclera and cornea.
They are highly intellignet, truthfull, righteous. They have good sexual power, great vigour and life span.
They speak sweet words and kindly. Usually are very friendly people. Their gait is like that of an elephant, their voice is prominent, they have good memory.
They like dry, pungent, astringent, bitter foods.
They dream mostly of lotus filled ponds, flying birds, clouds etc.

The Tridosha Theory

Ayurveda states that the human body is governed by three humors. They can be considered to be three entities. These are Vata, Pitta and Kapha.

The basic principle is that if the three doshas are in a balanced state then health is obtained. Any derangement of this balance will lead to disease or disharmony in the body.  There are various factors like eating habits or daily activities in one's life that can cause for abnormal increase or decrease of these three humors.

To get an idea as to the functions of the tridoshas, one must know their elementary composition.

Ayurveda mentions that the whole world (animate & inanimate) is composed of 5 basic elements viz,

Prithvi - Earth

Ap/Jala - Water

Teja - Fire

Vayu/Vata - Air

Akash - Space

VATA

Vata is composed primarily of Air & Space. It is dry, light, cool,hard,coarse and clear (as in clarity). If you take the body as a whole, it is situated in the lower one third meaning to say from the waist (lower abdomen) down. It is considered to be the most important among the 3 doshas. Its most important function is that it is responsible for movement. Thus, it helps in the proper functioning of all the three of the doshas.

                                  

PITTA

Pitta is primarily composed of Fire & Water. It is oily, penetrating, hot, light, bad smelling, liquid and has a spreading nature. Its main site is between the abdomen and the neck. It controls the heat of the body and aids in metabolism. It also helps in digestion.

KAPHA

Kapha is primarily composed of Earth & Water. It is unctuous, heavy, cold stable, slow & slimy. It is responsible, among other things, for good vision, bodily complexion, strenght & stamina. Its also responsible for a good memory. Its general site is the area of the head & neck.

Only the predominant basic elements for each dosha have been mentioned although each dosha is composed of all the 5 elements. This was a brief intrduction to the tridosha theory. They will be discussed more in detail where and when necessary.

Introduction

Hello everyone,

This blog is dedicated to everything and anything related to health through natural means, particularly through Ayurveda. These can range from home remedies to news and any other information that we find to be interesting which aids one in how to lead a healthy life.

Since this is our first post, we think it is natural for us to start with a brief introduction as to what Ayurveda is all about.

It is an ancient Indian traditional system of medicine that deals with the curing of diseases through natural means.

The word Ayurveda consists of two words, "Ayu" and "Veda".

"Ayu" in Sanskrit means "Life" and "Veda" is a holy Indian scripture. There are totally four main vedas viz; Rigveda, Yajurveda, Saamaveda and Atharvaveda. Ayurveda is a subtype of Atharvaveda.

The word "Veda" can be understood to mean "science". So, "Ayurveda" in the most basic sense of the word means "The science of Life".

The basic concept in this system of medicine is the "Tridosha Concept". This will be explained in detail in the following days.

Ayurveda not only deals with cure but also has to do with "prevention of diseases". This is done by following an "Ayurvedic lifestyle" that consists of various cleansing procedures etc that one can follow on a daily basis. These too will be mentioned in following posts....

We are hoping that this blog will be of help to anyone interested in living a healthy life the natural way.

Do feel free to comment and give us your feedback.