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Cure for Diseases

Appendicitis

APPENDICITIS: NO NEED OF SURGERY

Even when appendicitis is causing severe pain and the only treatment recommended by doctors is surgery, do not go for surgery. The following measure gives complete relief in just 7 days. Take a diet of only cow’s milk for 7 days. At night take 5 grams Trifala powder with lukewarm water. There should be a gap of 2 hrs between the consumption of milk and Trifala. Practise padapaschimottanasana daily.

This is a tried and tested measure. Many people have had complete relief through this measure. Other than in summer season, and if it does not give rise to any heat in the body, take 25 -30 grams of Gaujharan ark mixed with a little water on an empty stomach provides relief from appendicitis.

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Health Care according to Seasons

Season From To
Dewy(Shishir) 22 Dec'07 18 Feb'08
Spring(Vasant) 19 Feb'08 18 April'08
Summer (Grishma) 19 April'08 19 June'08
Rainy(Varsha) 20 June'08 21 Aug'08
Autumn (Sharad) 22 Aug'08 22 Oct'08
Winter (Hemant) 23 Oct'08 20 Dec'08
Dewy (Shishir) 21 Dec'08 18 Feb'09

Health Care in the Winter (Hemant) & Dewy (Shishir) Season

Recommended Diet:One should take sour, salty and sweet foods. Heavy diet, nutritious and rich in calories, made from ghee and oil, should be consumed more. Seasonal fruits and vegetables, milk, ghee, butter, jaggery, dates, sesame, dried coconut, dry fruits. One should take rich invigorating and nutritious preparations like Uradpaak, Salampaak, Saunthpaak, Chyawanpraash, etc.

Insalubrious diet: One should avoid foods that are dry, bitter, astringent, stale and light.

Health Care After Uttarayana: The Sun starts moving northwards after the day of Makar Sankranti. The sunrays become more intense. This causes the Kapha accumulated in the body to melt. The aggravated Kapha slowly weakens the strong appetite experienced during the winter months. Therefore, it becomes necessary to modify your diet according to the seasonal changes.

One should discontinue the heavy nourishing diet recommended for the winter months and start taking simple and easily digestible food. According to Ayurveda, consumption of heavy, oily, sweet and sour foods, and sleeping during daytime should be avoided in this season. Now the diet should comprise of easily digestible foods -sharp, bitter or astringent in taste like Lai, grams, ginger, dried ginger, garlic, turmeric, black pepper, barley, old wheat, moong, horse grams, sahjan (saragva), papaya and sesame or mustard oil.

It is advisable to fast once a week or fortnight. This pacifies the Kapha and helps increase the appetite. Abstain from Kapha-aggravating foods like yogurt, sweet and sour fruits (especially banana, guava and custard-apple) and sweets. A regular dose of Madhvarishta, Draksharishta, or Dashmoolarishta, etc. after meals is considered beneficial for people with low appetite. Breathe out (bahya kumbhak) and contract your stomach inwards then move it to and fro in quick succession in the same kumbhak state while chanting rum , the Beeja Mantra of the Element of fire. This has a wonderful stimulating effect on the digestive fire. His Divine Holiness Bapuji makes the participants of Dhyana Yoga Shibirs practise this technique very often.

People with a Kapha-dominated constitution, are especially prone to Kapha-disorders during this period. Even if you do happen to suffer an attack of cough, cold, fever, tonsillitis or such illnesses, there is no need to consume allopathic medicines which dry up the Kapha. The toxic chemical contents of these medicines and the dried Kapha later give rise to terminal diseases like cancer. Fast for a day or so when suffering from such disorders. Drink only water boiled with dried ginger while fasting. The next day, take water boiled with moong or horse gram. Gradually, return to your regular diet. Follow the health rules meticulously and the afflictions will disappear.

Things to be remembered during the change of season:

  • Take 3 gms of harad powder mixed with honey in the morning

  • Drink fresh cow urine or Gojharan Ark prepared by the ashram.

  • Rather than using commercial cough syrups, use Tulsi Ark prepared by the ashram to combat cough- related disorders. Make it a routine to chew 5 to 7 Tulsi leaves every morning. This will improve your immunity. (One should not pluck Tulsi-leaves on Sunday, Full Moon Day, New Moon day or the 12th lunar day.)

  • Do Suryabhedi pranayam. Procedure : Take a deep breath through the right nostril. Hold it within as long as you can, preferably for 45 to 60 seconds. Release the breath slowly through the left nostril. This activates the Suryanaadi that helps pacify the kapha.

  • Perform Gajakarani, an ayurvedic method of body purification. Procedure: It is practised early in the morning on an empty stomach. Add 20gms of salt (rock salt is preferable) to two litres of lukewarm water. Then sit on your heels and take as much of this drink as possible. When you cannot drink any more and the water inside your body seems would come out any moment, put the two big fingers of your right hand into the cavity of the throat and vomit the water out completely. When the stomach feels empty and relaxed, take rest for about five minutes.
    Take semiliquid khichri after an hour of doing Gajakarani. Do not drink water, sleep or take a bath with cold water upto three hours of taking your meal. At first take some luke warm water after three hours of your meal. Gajakarani protects one from many afflictions.

If the Kapha related problems still persist, one may take recourse to the following specific remedies.

For Cough and Cold

  • Take Sant Kripa Churna with honey twice daily.

  • Take 5 gms each of camphor, nutmeg and mace, 10 gms cloves, 15 gms Cobra's Saffron, 20 gms black pepper, 25 gms peeper and 30 gms dried ginger. Grind all these into a powder. Take one or two gms of this mixture along with honey in the morning and evening.

  • Take 15 to 20 Aldusa leaves with an equal number of tulsi leaves and half a tablespoon of ajwain and boil them into a concoction. Take 30 to 40 ml of this mixture with honey in the morning and evening. Even inhaling the steam of this concoction provides relief from Kapha.

Cough Problems in Small Children.

  • Boil a ladies finger in one glass of water till half the water evaporates. Add a pinch each of clove and ajwain powder to this and administer it to the child. The Kapha will be cleared out either through vomiting or stool.

Tonsillitis

  • Take dried ginger, black pepper, peeper one part each along with 8 parts of turmeric and grind them into a mixture. Take 1 to 2 gms of this mixture 2 to 3 times a day with honey.

  • Take Triphala Guggal tablets (500mgs) three times with lukewarm water.

  • Take Yashtimadhu, ghanavati or khadiradivati by letting them dissolve in the mouth.

  • Tie a scarf around your neck.

Asthma

  • People suffering from asthma should consult an expert vaid and go through a special Ayurvedic vomiting course under his guidance during vasant ritu. This keeps one free from asthma-related problems throughout the year.

  • Alternatively, pick up the fallen leaves of the holy fig tree and let them dry well. Then incinerate them and filter the resultant ash. Take 6 gms of this filtered ash with honey twice daily. This annihilates asthma in due course of time. People, who are unable to get any lasting relief even after spending lakhs of rupees on medicines, have attained tremendous benefits from this technique which takes only a months time to cure asthma completely... Forever.

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Health Care in the Spring (Vasant) Season

Recommended Diet: Seasoned barley, wheat, green grams, sesame oil, Trichosanthes Dioica, amorphophallus, horse radish, fennel, fenugreek, eggplant (aubergine), fresh and tender radish, ginger are good in this season.

Insalubrious diet: One should avoid foods that are difficult to digest, cold, sour, unctuous and sweet substances like jaggery, curd, tomato, spinach, great pumpkin, cucumber, musk-melon, water melon, banana, plums, dates, coconut, jackfruit, figs, Bael (Bengal vaince), sugarcane juice, almond, cashewnuts and other dry fruits, sweets, milk products (like kheer, sweets, ice-cream, milk-shakes etc.).

Note: Spring is the transitional season between winter and summer.It is commonly observed that days, nights and the seasons have their respective influence on everything in this world including the physical structure and strength of human beings. The main reason behind this influence is the subtle movements of the sun and the moon vis-a-vis the earth and the consequent changes in the wind.

When the sun moves north of the equator, the period is referred to as Uttarayana. This period takes away the soft and smooth qualities of the earth and the strength of animals, that is why it is also known as Adaan Kal. The scorching sun and the dry winds remove moisture from the body. As a result physical weakness ensues. Immediately after winter, the body is robust but by the middle of it, that is during spring, strength slowly diminishes and towards the end, that is summer, strength is depleted.

During spring, the strong sunrays melt the kapha, that reduces the digestive fire. This gives rise to many illnesses in this season. This aggravated kapha and reduced appetite are the main causes of illnesses in this season.At this time, the appetite becomes poor and the physical strength is average. As the sun rays become more intense kapha accumulated during winter becomes aggravated thus weakening the appetite. That is why one should consume foods that are dry, easy to digest and neither too cold nor too hot.

But people, unaware of this fact become scared of minor illnesses and take expensive and harmful medicines, which are rather more detrimental than beneficial to health. We can easily take care of our health by adhering to the health tips recommended for different seasons and by using the safe herbal medicines.

Method to suppress kapha and improve digestion:
Grind together 200 gm tulsi leaves, 200 gm ginger and 200 gm fresh turmeric. Mix it with 100 gm each of powdered Amla and Harad. Add honey to taste and make small pea-sized tablets. Chew 5 to 7 of these tablets two to three times a day. This household medicine will protect you from innumerable kapha-inflicted diseases and thus one need not take chemical expectorants.

This tested try-out also helps control blood pressure and blood sugar levels. It purifies the blood and increases haemoglobin. It removes toxins accumulated in the body and makes the body energetic, strong and full of vigour.

Here are some beneficial health tips recommended for the spring season:

  1. Take honey or water mixed with honey in the morning, and Drakshasava or Panchakolasava (Ayurvedic medicines) after meals to increase appetite. It stimulates the digestive system and prevents fevers and a number of kapha related sicknesses like asthma etc.

  2. Rice that has been stored for 1 year, and cooked after thoroughly cleaning with water, is light to digest and does not increase kapha.

  3. In the Spring, exercise (walking, jogging, Suryanamaskar etc.), applying sandal wood and aloe wood paste and instilling two drops of sesame oil into the nose every morning help eliminate kapha.

  4. Sleeping during the day in the spring is extremely harmful to one’s health.

  5. Drinking 30 to 40 ml. of fresh cow urine or 10 to 30 ml of gau-jharan ark (available in the ashram) mixed with the required amount of water on an empty stomach in the morning protects one from illnesses caused by excessive kapha.

  6. Consume 10 ml of tulsi (basil) extract mixed with an equal proportion each of ginger extract and honey to get quick relief from cough, cold and fever arising from kapha (influenza). This also helps clear the respiratory tract.

  7. Harad powder, taken with honey early in the morning on an empty stomach, removes kapha.

  8. Kapha is also alleviated by drinking water boiled with Nagarmoth (cyperus) or sonth (dried ginger).

  9. The Neem (Margosa) tree is laden with fresh tender leaves in Chaitra (Mid February to Mid March). Thoroughly chew 15 to 20 tender neem leaves with 2 to 3 pieces of black pepper. This practice, when continued for 15 to 20 days, prevents skin diseases, blood related disorders and general fever for the whole year.

  10. Consume 30 to 40 ml juice of the bitter Neem flowers for 7 to 15 days to protect yourself against skin diseases and even diseases like malaria.

  11. Taking a salt free diet throughout the month of Chaitra tones-up the immune system. One is protected against diseases of the skin, heart and kidneys.

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Health Care in the Summer (Grishma) Season

Recommended Diet: The recommended diet during this season comprises khir made from milk and rice, fresh fruit juice, shikanji, lemon sherbet, thandai and other fluids that are unctuous and sweet. These provide strength along with a pleasing satisfaction. Sherbet made with roasted mango tamarind or wild mangosteen along with jaggery and cumin seeds protects one against physical disorders common to this season. Shrikhand, though normally insalubrious, can be consumed during these days.

Consumption of old sathi rice, wheat, milk, butter and cow ghee is recommended during summers to keep the body cool, strong and agile. Amongst vegetables, gourds, pumpkins, nenua, pointed gourd, bitter gourd, flower of banana, chaulayi, green cucumber, green coriander, mint and amongst fruits, watermelon, muskmelon, coconut, sweetlemon, mango, apple, pomegranate and grapes are considered beneficial.

Insalubrious diet: Salty, dry, stale, hot, spicy, fried, sharp, sour, pungent, bitter foods like amchur, pickles and tamarind, etc. should be avoided. Never consume cold drinks, ice cream, ice fruit and canned fruit juices to alleviate the effects of heat. They induce acidity and therefore increases internal heat. They give rise to hemorrhagic disorders, itching, skin diseases and irritability.

Note: With the onset of summer, the pleasant atmosphere of spring disappears and the hot winds hold sway. Just as water reservoirs and lakes run dry on account of the scorching Sun rays, living beings also suffer from dehydration and become prone to diseases resulting from the dry and hot weather of the season. To protect the body against the harmful effects of this changing environment, it is very necessary to adopt certain changes in food habits as well as in the mode of living.

If you make it a habit to drink a glass of water before going out in the Sun, you substantially reduce the risk of suffering a heat stroke. Morning hydrotherapy is considered to be extremely beneficial during these days.

Staying awake at night should be totally avoided during the summer. It increases pitta. If, for some reason one has to stay awake, one should drink a glass of water every hour.

It is not good for health to drink water or wash one's hands, feet and head with cold water immediately after coming in from the hot weather outside. Take rest for a while and drink water only after the sweat is completely evaporated and the body has cooled down.

Your life-force is adversely affected when you move about in the sun bare-headed. So do make it a point to put on a cap or a piece of cloth on your head before going out in the Sun. During the summer months, getting up early in the morning before the sunrise and taking a morning stroll cheers up the mind and invigorates the body.

To prevent weakness and restlessness, that are natural consequences of the summer season, try any of these healthful drinks :

1. Coriander Drink: Powder equal amounts of coriander seeds, cumin seeds and aniseeds. Then take black grapes and candied sugar twice the amount of the above mixture and intermix them thoroughly.

Usage: Soak one teaspoonful of the above mixture in 200 ml of water. After 2 hours, squeeze it thoroughly with your hands and drink the sieved liquid. This helps reduce internal body heat, burning in the palms and soles, burning sensation in the eyes and urinary tract, acidity, headache caused by aggravated pitta, etc.

Use of Gulkand also alleviates the problems of burning sensation in the eyes, disorders of pitta and ill effects of excessive heat.

2. Thandai: Two spoonfuls each of cumin seeds and aniseeds, four spoonfuls of poppy seeds, four spoonfuls of watermelon seeds, 15 to 20 pieces of black pepper and 20 to25 number of almonds should be soaked overnight. Remove the outer skin of the almonds in the morning and grind all the ingredients together. Add 1 kg of sugar or candied sugar to 4 litres of water and bring it to a boil. Add a little milk and skim the liquid. Now add the above-pulverised mixture, one bowl of rose petals and the powder of 10 to 15 cardamoms to the syrup and let it simmer over a low flame. Let the syrup become thick enough (tested by taking one spoon of syrup from the container. If while removing the spoon three strands of liquid connect the liquid in the spoon to the container, the syrup is ready). Then sieve the syrup, let it cool and store it in a glass jar.

Usage: One can take this syrup during daytime or at least two hours before going to bed by adding it to cold milk or water. Apart from being aromatic, it is nourishing as well. It removes the accumulated heat from the body, soothes the brain and induces sound sleep at night.

3. Mango Pana: Boil raw mangoes in water. After cooling, crush the pulp of the mango in cold water and make a syrup. One may add jaggery, cumin seeds, mint and salt for taste. A glass of Pana is especially recommended in the afternoon. This is a traditional recipe of our country to maintain good health during the summer. This protects one from sunstroke as well.

4. Rose sherbet: A sherbet concentrate made by mixing one and a half kilogram of sugar with 100 grams of desi roses (not the red ones) is definitely more effective than the sherbets sold in the market. Saccharine, colours and advertisements add to the cost of the sherbets sold in the market. It is much better to prepare such sherbet at home. It gives relief in burning sensation of the eyes and feet. It is a soothing cold drink. If possible, boil a piece of wood from the Pipal (Bunyan) tree in the sherbet. Its cooling effect would be beneficial.

Soft drinks available in the market, such as Pepsi, Coca-cola, etc. are made from impious substances and contain a number of harmful chemicals. They may provide temporary relief but actually increase the internal heat immensely. They are but colourful poisons in attractive bottles. Therefore beware of such drinks.

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Health Care in the Rainy (Varsha) Season

Recommended Diet: Those desirous of safeguarding their digestive system in this season should use old barley, wheat and rice. Saragwa, suran, parval and white gourd among vegetables along with a weekly intake of bitter gourd and vishkhapra (saati) are also recommended. Kulthi and moong among pulses sesame seeds oil among edible oils can be consumed in this season.

Insalubrious diet: Potatoes, cauliflower, cluster beans, ladies' finger among vegetables, pigeon pea, kidney beans, urad and sprouted grains should not be consumed. One should not consume milk and green leafy vegetables in shravana, while avoiding buttermilk and white gourd in bhadrapada.

Note: Rainy season marked by a rampant spread of diseases. The ailments that crop up during this period flare up in autumn. The reasons for such wide-spread proliferation of diseases during this time of the year are as follows:

  1. In this season, the sky is predominantly overcast, whereupon the flow of vital energy from the Sun to the earth is diminished and harmful pathogens are not destroyed. thus diseases proliferate. It also takes more time to recover from an ailment in this season due to the deficiency of vital energy.

  2. Stagnant water accumulated in pits and low-lying areas is a breeding place for mosquitoes that spread Malaria, etc.

  3. The low vital energy impairs digestion and even a little over-indulgence in eating leads to diseases like indigestion, gastric disorders, cholera and typhoid. When such patients defecate in open places, flies swarm the excreta and carry the harmful bacteria on to the food items that they then sit on, thus causing rapid spread of diseases.

According to Naturopathy and Ayurveda, we should enhance our vital energy to safeguard ourselves from such diseases.

Measures for boosting the vital energy:

  1. In rainy season digestion is generally weak. Therefore one should eat less. It is essential to fast once in a week or fortnight.

  2. In rainy season fruits and vegetables like jamun, and apples (of the Kashmiri variety) are available in abundance and one should consume them judiciously.

  3. It is highly beneficial to walk barefoot on green grass. This allows a kind of give-and-take between the grass and the nerves at the soles of our feet, which is extremely good for health.

  4. In rainy season organs of the excretory system, viz. the intestines, kidneys and lungs become overloaded. Therefore one should take deep breaths during a morning walk and at the time of taking a bath in the morning as well as in the evening. It is highly beneficial to have a bath twice in rainy season. One should take a bath using normal tap water. In this season one should go to bed around 10:00 P.M.

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Health Care in the Autumn (Sharad) Season

Recommended Diet: Foods that are cold in potency, easily digestible, astringent, bitter and sweet . Butter, candied sugar, sathi, wheat, barley, moong, Trichosanthes Dioica, Parval, great pumpkin, sweet (white) gourd (petha), Ribbel Luffa (Torai), Amaranthus (Chaulai), petha i.e.white gourd-melon (Benincasa Cerifera), Lauki, spinach, carrots, amla, figs, ripe bananas, rose apple, sweet lemon, apple, sugarcane, cumin, coriander and aniseeds are salubrious foods.
Cow's milk, ghee, kheer, raisins and black grapes are especially recommended foods in this season.

Insalubrious diet: Fried, spicy, sour (yoghurt, buttermilk, etc.), salty, foods hot in potency, and heavy to digest, asafoetida, red-chillies, sesame seed-oil and mustard oil, millet, corn, ginger, garlic, onion, tamarind, mint leaves, cucumber, fenugreek seeds, ladies fingers, brinjals, urad dal, groundnuts are insalubrious foods in this season.
One can have fresh buttermilk mixed with cumin, coriander, aniseeds and candied sugar.
Over eating, sleeping during daytime, ice, oil and fried stuff, are especially prohibited.

Note: Sharad Ritu is considered to be the breeding period for all diseases. The digestive system becomes weak and there is a natural aggravation of pitta and decrease of vata.

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