Drumstick leaves

Eating drum stick leaves in any kind of recipe on a regular basis increases the appetite and improves the digestion.

moringa oleifera - image in the public domain.source : wiki

For excessive thirst

Chewing on a fresh piece of amla (Indian gooseberry, usurikai, nellikai) will decrease the symptoms.

Tips for bed-wetting in children

These tips are for slightly older children.
Tip 1:

Pound equal quantities of:

popped sorghum (jowar)
dried coconut
til seeds powder from which the oil has been extracted
jaggery

Eating 5 gm of this mixture twice a day will alleviate the symptoms.This can be done for a week.

Tip 2:
dry roast mustard seeds and powder and store in a clean dry jar.

2 pinches of this powder is mixed along with a spoon of rice and ghee and given to the child just  before dinner.

A tip for people who cannot tolerate cold drinks or cold food

Some people develop wheezing and cold like symptoms after drinking or eating something cold.
Drinking this decoction will reduce the symptoms.

ingredients needed:

10 Tulsi leaves - washed
10 peppercorns
1 small piece of ginger   2gm

Pound the ingredients and mix  in 2 glasses of water and boil well it it reduces to half the amount.Cool till warm and drink. A little rock sugar is also added.
This must be done on an empty stomach.One should not eat or drink anything for an hour after taking this. Taking a bath also is avoided.
This can be done for a week till symptoms improve.

A simple tip for mouth ulcers

Gargling the mouth with a decoction of coriander seeds reduces the symptoms of mouth ulcers.This can be done thrice a day.

a tip for aiding digestion of beans...

Beans are difficult to digest and are also infamous for causing flatulence.
Adding a teaspoon of ajwain seeds (carom seeds)* for every 2 cups of beans while boiling them will reduce the problem.The same amount can be added to 4 cups of wheat flour and used for making rotis.
 This will enhance the digestion power.

* for image:
http://simpleayurvedichealthtips.blogspot.in/2010/02/for-eliminating-gas-problems.html

A tip for pigmentation

Pigmentation near the cheekbones and under the eyes can be stubborn to get rid of.There are various underlying factors of this problem where medical attention is needed.

This simple tip can reduce the pigmentation to a great extent.

The area is massaged with a little butter( made from Buffalo's milk) at bedtime.It is washed off well in the morning with a soapnut based cleanser.It can be continued for 3-4 weeks.
Care must be taken to avoid extreme emotions like violent anger, hatred and jealousy.


A link for more information on soapnuts:
http://simpleayurvedichealthtips.blogspot.in/2010/09/note-on-soapnuts.html

A simple remedy for joint pains

Extract 2 spoons of ginger juice.
Mix a pinch of rock salt and asafoetida* in the juice.
Massaging this mixture on the painful areas on the joints will reduce the pain.

* hing in Hindi and many Indian languages.
  inguva in Telugu
  perungayam in Tamil.
  kaayam in Malayalam.

2 tips for uterine fibroids

Mix:
1 tablespoon of aloevera gel
1 pinch of roasted cumin powder
1 pinch of turmeric powder
and
a little rock sugar in half a cup of water.
Drinking this juice for a month in the mornings on an empty stomach will definitely heal the fibroid.

Fresh Aloe gel is preferred.The gel is washed well with water ( 7 times ) as recommended.


2nd tip with Neem:

Neem leaves are washed well and made into a paste with water. One spoon of  Turmeric powder is added to the paste.This is applied as a thick pack on the area below the navel for half an hour.Doing this on a regular basis will help solve the problem.

A few may be allergic to Aloe- caution is recommended.Aloe gel must be pure and from the middle section of the leaf.Pregnant women,diabetics,people with kidney problems and intestinal disorders may avoid the aloe.


(As recommended by Dr.Elchuri.)

A simple tip for improving eyesight

A few drops of ghee is rubbed on the soles of the feet before bedtime.Cow ghee gives best results.This remarkably improves the eyesight of a person.

Ajwain water recipe for many ailments...

Ajwain aka :Thymol seeds,Vaamu,Omam,Trachyspermum ammi
Method of preparation:
A teaspoon or ~ 8 gms of ajwain is washed well.It is added to 1 liter of clean boiling water.The water should be reduced to half its original volume.The decoction is cooled and filtered.
Drinking this will reduce gas problems, increase the digestive power, decrease general lethargy, helps in indigestion problems, the common cold and diabetes.
This can be done for a few days.
Ajwain is said to increase the internal heat of the body according to Ayurveda.So it is used less in summers.

A juice for dry skin

image source:wiki-individual images combined are  in the public domain.

Mix the juice of :

1 cucumber

3 small pieces of ginger and

2 oranges.

Drinking this on a regular basis will improve the complexion and reduce dryness of the skin in a person.

Portia tree leaves for skin rashes

image source:wiki:image in public domain-Thespesia populnea

aka :gangaraavi,poovarasu,paraspipal,porush,plaksa in Indian languages.
The leaves are washed well and made into a paste.When the paste is applied on skin rashes,they heal faster.It works for many skin ailments.

Pongamia oil as Biodiesel

Pongamia pinnata -pictures released into the public domain by author Madhavi

Pongamia seeds used for Biodiesel.

Common names are :Indian Beech tree,Karanj in Hindi and Sanskrit.
The seeds are used to make Pongamia oil which is a well known alternate fuel.It is a bio diesel and little modification is required to make generators run with this relatively inexpensive oil. Further research is being done to find cheaper extraction methods.

A tip for eating mangoes in the summer

picture released into the public domain by author Madhavi

Mangoes are supposed to be 'heat producing' for the body. They are also not easily digestible. It is a good idea to soak them in clean water for an hour after pinching away the stalk. This will remove the heat producing property of the mangoes and will also wash away the pesticide residues.

Honey from the flowers of Neem

I found a 'swadeshi ' brand Neem flower honey in a supermarket in India.I've never come across this kind of honey before.
It claims  to improve eyesight and the complexion of a person and also helps diabetic patients.It is also said to be a good blood purifier.
The honey is not heavy and quite free flowing with a delicious bitter aftertaste.

Tulsi for weight problems

Drinking a glass of buttermilk with 2 leaves of Tulsi  helps in reducing weight and makes a person thinner and feel energetic all day long.

Coriander help in summers

Some people suffer from headaches during summers because of the heat.This tip reduces the head pain to a great extent.
Coriander seeds (dhaniya) are made into a paste and the paste is applied on the forehead.
If fresh green coriander is available,then the leaves are made into a fine paste and rubbed on the forehead.
This relieves the pain.

Jack fruit leaves for heat boils

The heat boils lose their size and intensity when jack fruit leaves paste is applied on them.

Neti kriya

The neti pot -picture released into the public domain by author Madhavi

Neti kriya is also known as nasal irrigation, where the nasal passages are washed with lukewarm salt water .
The technique is tricky and must be learnt from an expert. The ideal temperature and amount of salt in the water varies with each guru. Each person may have to work out the ratio on their own.
Benefits of Jal neti:

• reduces the symptoms of sinus problems
• cures nasal congestion
• reduces the symptoms of most problems associated with nasal passages.

(This kriya is to be learnt from an expert)

(The picture above is a copper neti pot. It is quite difficult to clean )

A simple aid for rectal prolapse with onions

Onion pieces are fried in a small amount of  ghee.A little sugar is sprinkled on it as garnish.Eating this mixture for 21 days improves the symptoms faced by people suffering from rectal prolapse.

The steel soap oxymoron

A steel soap -image released into the public domain by author Madhavi.

I bought this cute little stainless steel soap to check whether it really works in removing unpleasant smells from the hands.I rubbed this soap well on my palms after crushing and peeling a lot of garlic, amazingly the garlicky odor disappeared.
More water and scrubbing was needed to wash off the smell without the soap.
I am not sure about the chemistry behind this-I heard that the steel faucet would work just fine instead of the soap-but I like this shiny soap with this glinting arc sitting pretty in my kitchen.

Dried dates for the heart

50 gm of dried dates * are washed well and soaked in 250 ml of drinking water.In the mornings the dates are made into a paste and the paste is diluted with the water which was used for soaking.The seeds are discarded.Drinking this in the mornings for 2 months on an empty stomach strengthens the heart.

* dried dates also known as chuhara in Hindi ,Endu karjuram in Telugu.

(as read in the magazine Rishi prasad in the ayurveda section)

A good tip for dandruff with Neem seeds.

Ingredients needed:
25 gm of crushed Neem seeds.
100 gm of mustard oil.
The oil is heated in a vessel and the pounded seeds are added to the oil and stirred till the seeds become black.The heat is turned off and the mixture is cooled and filtered.
The dandruff slowly disappears when this oil is massaged well into the scalp.The oil is better absorbed if it is lukewarm.

A tip to reduce belly fat

image released into the public domain by author Madhavi Madhurakavi

Take equal quantities of :
sont (dry ginger)
long pepper (pippalu,pippali,java pepper)
black pepper corns(miriyalu,kali mirch,mizhagu)
thymol seeds(vaamu,omam,ajwain)
cumin seeds(jeera,jeeragam,jeelakarra)
rock salt
Powder the ingredients.Store in a dry glass jar.
A big pinch of this powder is mixed in a glass of cow's buttermilk.Drinking this twice a day will reduce the tummy.

A simple tip for skin rashes from urtricaria

Urticaria is a condition where the person suffers from from itchy raised bumps or swellings on any part of the body.Sometimes it is because of various allergies.This tip is for skin rashes due to hives or urticaria.
Pound equal quantities of ajwain (thymol seeds) and jaggery together.Make 5 gm golis and store them in a clean jar.
Eating 2 lozenges a day (one in the morning and the other in the evening)helps in relieving the symptoms of the skin rash in a weeks time.

A simple tip for kidney stones

Drinking a cup of thin rice porridge along with a few pinches of turmeric powder and a little jaggery is very beneficial for people suffering from kidney stones.