Chapter 17

Ten Herbs for Maintaining Health

In This Chapter

Identifying ten commonly used herbs in Ayurveda

Using herbs to support good health

Ayurveda has a wonderful medicine chest available that covers every possible need. This chapter lists some easily available herbs which are safe for you to use on your own. However, for full benefits, consult a registered Ayurveda practitioner.

The way that Ayurveda perceives the action of herbs is through the six flavours. These individual flavours have an effect on you as they pass through your body, starting with the taste in your mouth, which is a short-term effect, followed by the longer-term influence known as the potency, or virya, whether heating or cooling to your system. Finally comes the result of the essence of the substance at tissue level, which is more long term; this is referred to as vipaka, or the post-digestive effect. To learn more about this fascinating subject, which is unique to Ayurveda, see Chapter 10.

You can use herbs externally by applying a paste to your skin, or internally as a decoction:

To make a herbal paste (known as kalka), simply crush a fresh plant until a paste forms, and apply externally. If fresh material is unavailable, use the powdered version of the herb with a small amount of water.

A hot infusion or decoction is known as phanta. To make one, use one part plant to eight parts cold water and leave to infuse overnight. Alternatively, simply place a half to one teaspoonful of dried herb in one cup of warm water and drink.

Ashwaghanda (Withania somnifera) Winter Cherry

Ashwaghanda, or winter cherry as it’s commonly called, is the big herb in Ayurveda healing. Its power comes primarily from the fact that it helps to produce ojas, the fine energy guarding your immune system. Ashwaghanda’s specific action is to rejuvenate and promote strength, including boosting sperm production (the name means ‘vitality of a horse’), which makes it a popular addition to many aphrodisiac formulas. Ashwaghanda is related to ginseng, which is widely used in Chinese medicine (thankfully, ashwaghanda is much cheaper to buy).

Ashwaghanda works to pacify vata, which connects to the wind element in the body, and kapha, which is the heavier moist quality in your system. It has a calming effect on your body and mind. This herb contains somniferin, a bitter alkaloid with a hypnotic action that makes it helpful in promoting sleep.

Ashwaghanda benefits bone, muscle, fat, the nervous system and the reproductive system. It’s said to inhibit ageing by preventing tissue degeneration, and is a great tonic herb when you’re feeling overworked and exhausted. It also has expectorant qualities, which are helpful if you have respiratory conditions like coughs and asthma. However, if you think you have a lot of toxins in your body or have severe congestion, using ashwaghanda is not advisable.

You can massage ashwaghanda as an oil (which you can purchase from the suppliers listed in Appendix C) into your body to give strength and warmth to your muscles.

Ashwaghanda’s primary tastes are bitter and astringent, and its potency is hot. (This means that it produces warmth in the body when you first take it.) Its post-digestive effect is pungent, meaning that after it’s been digested, heat is still produced. Those of you with high pitta or with heat in the body should use it with caution. To gain more of an insight into this aspect of tastes, see Chapter 13.

Put between 250 milligrams to 1 gram of ashwaghanda in some cold or warm milk with either ghee or honey. The powder can also be added to basmati rice cooked in milk. Start with a low dose first and increase it gradually over a week.

Ashwaghanda has been shown to help stabilise pregnancy, especially if the mother is weak or fatigued. Combine 5 grams of the powered herb along with 10 grams of ghee and 250 milligrams of milk and a little natural sugar for a good tonic, which also helps ease pre- and post-delivery backaches.

Ashwaghanda is a member of the nightshade family, so if you’re unable to digest tomatoes, potatoes and peppers, you’ll probably want to avoid it.

Bala (Sida cordifolia) Country Mallow

In Sanskrit, bala means ‘providing strength’, which is what this herb does to your body. Its major component, which is found in the seeds, is an alkaloid containing ephedrine, which is a central nervous system stimulant similar to amphetamine without the side effects. So its specific action is to promote vigour, enhance the complexion and alleviate vata dosha, which has the attributes of dryness, lightness, mobility and coldness. Bala promotes healing of wounds, is anti-inflammatory and encourages cell growth. It’s a stimulant, soothes and promotes the action of your nervous system, and functions as an aphrodisiac. Bala is what’s known as a rasayana, which means that it’s a rejuvenating tonic, especially if you have general debility.

Besides working on all the tissue elements in your body, bala rejuvenates and maintains nerve tissue and bone marrow, keeping them in a healthy state. This makes it particularly useful for the common nervous impairments such as sciatica (radiating pain from the low back to the leg) and neuralgia (nerve pain).

Bala is helpful as a heart tonic and aids lung function in cases of bronchiectasis (an obstructive lung disease) or impaired breathing. It acts as a diuretic and can be useful in alleviating painful urination.

Bala’s potency is cooling to the system, and both its taste in your mouth and its post-digestive effects are sweet, which means that it can be used to soothe both vata and pitta conditions of your body.

To take bala internally, add from 250 milligrams up to 1 gram to a glass of milk.

Externally, you can use bala as a paste to alleviate swelling, numbness and pain. Bala oil is available for the same purpose.

Vacha (Calamus) Sweet Flag

The word vacha comes from the Latin root vox and means ‘speaking’. It’s appropriate then that this herb is said to help with talking, because it stimulates and nourishes the speech centres of your brain. It has an affinity to all of the seven tissues in the body except blood.

Vacha was held in high esteem by the Vedic seers because of its ability to revitalise the nervous system and stimulate brain function. Put a half teaspoon of vacha in one teaspoon of honey and give it to your children every day to give them a brain boost.

Vacha is used in the treatment of anaemia and blood disorders. It can also be used to improve the digestion by alleviating flatulence and indigestion, as well as for clearing your mouth of any coatings on the teeth and tongue.

This herb is pungent, bitter and astringent to the taste, with a heating potency. Because of its pungent effect, it can help alleviate problems related to vata and kapha doshas and clear your channels of subtly occurring blockages. (Chapter 2 tells you about the subtle pathways of your body, which are subject to obstruction by toxins.)

Vacha promotes lactation, so breastfeeding mothers can mix a half teaspoon with one strand of saffron and a quarter teaspoon of long pepper in a glass of milk.

When in need of its benefits, take 250 milligrams of the powder in warm milk twice a day. You can also use it as a paste by adding a little water or oil to ease the pain of an arthritic joint.

Don’t take more than the recommended dose, because it can cause vomiting. And don’t use vacha if you’re prone to bleeding disorders such as piles or nosebleeds.

Pippali (Piper longum) Long Pepper

This herb is an excellent delivery vehicle, moving whatever it’s taken with to the tissues of your reproductive, muscular, nervous and circulatory systems, as well as to your fat stores.

Pippali contains a volatile oil and resin called piperine, which is pungent to the taste, and this makes it invaluable against kapha and vata situations.

Pippali acts as a decongestant, expectorant, carminative (meaning it relieves gas and distension) and analgesic. It’s strongly heating, which makes it very useful for promoting good digestion and getting rid of toxic build-up in your body, and is useful if you have constipation.

Pippali can be used to treat anaemia and blood disorders and helps regulate spleen and liver function. Commonly used to treat coughs, pippali can also be used to strengthen your lungs.

To prepare pippali, boil the peppercorns in a cup of milk then drink the milk. Start with one peppercorn the first day and add one peppercorn each day until you reach 20 peppercorns. Over the next 20 days, reduce the number of peppercorns by one each day until you’re down to just one peppercorn, and then stop the treatment. Complete this process at least 40 days before the onset of winter.

You can also apply the medicated oil externally when your circulation is sluggish. Boil 250 to 500 milligrams of powdered pippali in half a pint of water, or take up to three peppercorns with a little honey in the morning to remove excess mucus in your system – a great treatment for winter chills.

Don’t use pippali when your tissues are inflamed or when your pitta is high. High pitta translates to the qualities of heat, oiliness and sharpness in your constitution. (See Chapter 4 to determine your constitution.) Don’t take more than the recommended dose, because it can aggravate all the doshas.

Haritaki (Chebulic myrobalan) Indian Gall Nut

Haritaki is a special medicine connected to the god Shiva. Its name means ‘that which carries all disease away’. It contains five of the six tastes – all but salty – and pacifies all three doshas, which makes it a very powerful and useful force in Ayurveda. Its potency in your body is heating and it has a sweet post-digestive effect.

Haritaki can serve as a laxative, aphrodisiac and general rejuvenating tonic. It stimulates digestion and has the special property of being able to work on all tissue elements in your body. Therapeutically it can be used to relieve coughs, piles, skin disorders, vomiting, colic and spleen disorders. In its capacity as a rejuvenator, it works by clearing various waste products from your system.

If you take it after eating, it can help alleviate all doshas aggravated as a result of unwholesome food and drink.

Externally, you can use it as an anti-inflammatory. As a decoction to cleanse wounds, mix one teaspoon of ground haritaki with one cup of cooled boiled water before applying it to the affected area. Take 3 to 5 grams once a day as a gargle for problems in the throat and mouth. Take a 1-gram dose when you want to use it as a rasayana, or tonic.

Because of its rough qualities, don’t use haritaki if you’re pregnant, debilitated or malnourished in any way. If your pitta is increased, use haritaki with caution.

Amalaki (Emblic myrobalan) Indian Gooseberry

Amalaki is like a nurse when it comes to its healing capacity. The Indian gooseberry is said to have been the first tree in the universe, and so is found on the top of towers in north Indian temples. Amalaki is said to produce sattwa, or calmness of mind.

Amalaki is an excellent source of vitamin C, carotene, nicotinic acid (a form of vitamin B3) and riboflavin, in combination with many other compounds.

Amalaki serves as a diuretic and laxative. It’s cooling, calming and is good for your stomach. It works on all your tissues. It’s said to stop hair from greying as well as prevent hair loss (hot heads usually lose their hair very early!). It can be very useful in the case of anaemia, because it helps in the absorption of iron. Amalaki’s predominant tastes are astringent, sour and sweet. Its potency is cooling and its post-digestive effect is sweet.

Therapeutically, it’s very close to haritaki in its uses (see the preceding section), but amalaki is especially helpful for pitta situations.

Take one teaspoon or 1 gram per day in the form of herbal jelly known as chyavanprash as a tonic in the winter to ward off colds. A general dose for daily use to ward off illness is 250 milligrams to 1 gram per day.

Guduchi (Tinospora cordifolia) Moonseed

Another very special plant with a multiplicity of uses, this climbing shrub, widely available in India, has an Ayurvedic name that reflects its therapeutic properties: ‘one who protects the body’. Guduchi contains, among many things, tinosporin and berberine, which are terrific tonics for the body and your liver in particular.

Guduchi’s tastes are predominantly bitter and astringent, its potency is hot and its digestive effect is sweet to the tissues.

Guduchi acts as a digestive stimulant and nourishes and rejuvenates your body. It helps with blood circulatory problems and improves reproductive tissue; specifically it alleviates pitta dosha but soothes all your doshas. Guduchi is also an aphrodisiac, which seems like a great side benefit to me.

Externally, you can use guduchi oil for dermatological conditions, rheumatoid arthritis and gout. Internally, you can use it as antacid, to relieve abdominal pain, to stop vomiting and to improve your appetite.

The dosage as a decoction is 60 to 100 millilitres a day in a cup of water, or 1 to 3 grams of the powder in a cup of water.

Shatavari (Asparagus racemosus) Wild Asparagus

Meaning ‘one who possesses a hundred husbands’, the translation of this plant’s name refers to the fact that shatavari has very many rootlets. Its taste is sweet and bitter in the mouth, and post-digestively it’s sweet. It acts to cool things down. Shatavari is a wonderful tonic for pitta, the blood and the female reproductive system. Shatavari pacifies both vata and pitta doshas and works on all seven tissues in the body.

Shatavari is absolutely invaluable if you’re a woman having issues with your reproductive system, because it acts as a foetal tonic, milk producer and aphrodisiac. It can aid in the treatment of painful periods and is useful to men who suffer from a low sperm count.

Be aware that if your system is toxic (you feel heavy and unable to digest your food) and has a lot of mucus, shatavari may produce even more.

Add a quarter of a teaspoon of powder to a cup of warm milk with one teaspoon of ghee and a little honey. Taken as a powder, it’s safe to use three to six grams a day. If you have pippali available (mentioned earlier in this chapter), add a pinch of that as well and drink this tonic once a day. Externally, you can use shatavari as a cream, massaging it in to stiff and painful muscles.

Brahmi (Hydrocotyl asiatica/Bacopa monnieri) Indian Pennywort

This attractive creeper is commonly found tracing its way across the ground in India. One of its names in Sanskrit is Saraswati, who is the goddess of knowledge. Brahmi is said to give you knowledge of Brahman, or the supreme. Yogis use brahmi as a brain tonic to enhance meditation practice, because it’s said to balance both hemispheres of the brain and opens the crown chakra.

Brahmi balances all three doshas by virtue of its bitter and astringent taste in the mouth, sweet digestive effect and a cooling potency.

Brahmi operates mainly on your blood and the tissues of your nervous system. It’s very useful for dealing with mental upheavals.

Take half a teaspoon of powder in a cup of water and drink as a tea with honey. Use it with milk as a nerve tonic or prepare it with ghee (clarified butter) to use as a rejuvenative. Make a paste with a little water to apply to skin conditions, or you can buy it as oil and use it for anxious tension in the body.

Kumari (Aloe vera indica) Indian Aloe

Kumari means . . . wait for it . . . ‘to impart youthful vitality on you and bring forth the expression of the feminine nature’. This name is borne out, because kumari is a great tonic for your liver, blood, spleen and for the female reproductive system. It calms all the doshas of your body when used in its liquid form. Be careful with the powder form, because it can aggravate vata dosha. Kumari is both bitter and sweet to the taste with a pungent post-digestive effect, while its action is cooling to your body, which makes it great for burns.

Because kumari works on all of the tissues of your body, you can use it widely for many conditions. It can even act as an antidote to poison, although I hope you’ll never need to use it for this purpose!

To mention a few external uses: kumari treats inflammatory skin conditions; applied as a poultice to your forehead, it eases headaches; the juice soothes red eyes. In your digestive system, kumari is invaluable, because it promotes good bowel health and bowel movements and increases secretions in the small intestine. You can use kumari juice as a general tonic, because it helps ignite all the fires of your body at tissue level.

Externally, use the fresh plant by stripping the outer skin off and applying the sticky contents to the skin. Internally, use in doses of 500 milligrams to 1 gram of powder as a decoction in half a cup of water. If you purchase it freshly prepared as juice, follow the manufacturer’s directions.