Let food be our medicine
In fact, a light application of lipstick is all that is needed for this ayurvedic consultant from Delhi, India.
“I see many women here in Trinidad spending a lot of money on cosmetics at Pennywise. I have never spent any money on any of that. I put nothing on my skin. I am always so busy. Maybe, when I have a little time I grind a little dal (yellow split peas) and mix with a little water and use it as a face mask,” Arora confided during an interview at Newsday’s head office at Chacon Street, Port-of-Spain, on Tuesday.
Now, Arora’s booklet, Kitchen Clinic, her second instalment of a series, is available to the public and features amazingly simple remedies for every day ailments, beauty tips or even chronic diseases. And believe it or not, many of the ingredients can be found in your kitchen cupboards or in your very own backyard gardens.
Arora launched her first booklet in Trinidad in 2009, when she was visiting as a member of an Indian trade show. Due to the success of the first booklet, Arora said she was encouraged to impart more of her home remedies with her local readers.
Ayurveda stresses the use of plant-based medicines and treatments.
“That’s why I say ‘Let food be our medicine and kitchen be our clinic’,”Arora said.
Ayurvedic medicine has been around for several thousand years, especially in the eastern parts of the world, and is a system of traditional medicine native to India. In Sanskrit, ayus means longevity and veda means related to knowledge or science.
“Natural home remedies are always better with respect to their effectiveness, not having any side effects, ease of availability and even economical. Nature has provided cure for all ailments, but we are not aware of this,” Arora said.
Western medicine has ayurveda classified as a system of complementary and alternative medicine that is used to complement, rather than replace the treatment regimen and relationship that exists between a patient and their existing physician.
Arora earned her Bachelor of Ayurveda, Medicine and Surgery (BAMS ) 15 years ago and has been treating her patients through this procedure successfully over the years.
A vegetarian all her life, Arora was quick to stress that while most of us tended to want to make the outside of our bodies look good, it was equally important that our insides were treated and cared for in order to necessitate a healthier lifestyle.
“Health is a state of complete physical, mental and social well-being, and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity.
“Everything we eat has two aspects – it either nourishes us or poisons us. Food that has been over- processed and contains preservatives acts like a slow poison,” she said.
Arora said in order to keep the body healthy, it is important to follow a wholesome diet which includes lots of fresh fruit and green vegetables, pulses and fresh juices.
Complementing these healthy choices would be sufficient sleep, fresh air and proper physical exercise such as yoga and prannayam (extension and control of the breath).
Giving examples of how everyday items could cure persons, she said just a pinch of baking soda in a glass of water could bring relief from acidity in the stomach, while chewing a small piece of fresh ginger with salt before meals helps to stimulate digestion, she said.
A fretful, colicky baby could be soothed by adding the liquid from fennel seeds boiled in water to the baby’s milk, while sipping coconut water or simply sucking on a piece of ice helps to control vomiting and nausea.
Spices used on a daily basis, such as turmeric (haldi), cloves (laung), cumin seeds (geera), fennel seeds (saunf), ginger, cinnamon (dal chini), black pepper and coriander seeds, mixed with other ingredients, can help with cholesterol, loss of appetite and lactation, she explained.
Arora said the western world was now openly embracing ayurvedic medicine and its holistic healing powers.
“You don’t have to go to the doctor for everything because that costs money. If you have a little fever, or upset stomach or an ache, there are things you can use at home to heal yourself,” she said.
Arora was quick to note, however, that the remedies she recommended were not trumped up or experiments, but were well researched.
“We do research on each ingredient, each herb, to find out what are their healing qualities. There are some herbs that may have healing qualities and bad qualities. We have to take the healing qualities out.
“The more serious an illness becomes, the more expensive the treatment, because more herbs and ingredients are needed. There is one medicine that has 56 ingredients in it,” she said.
And while she said she does not tell people what to eat, she did endorse vegetarianism.
“We can tell when a fruit is diseased or a tree is diseased, but we cannot tell with an animal. We don’t know if the animal was ill, or had been vaccinated and then you eat the flesh of that animal,” Arora said.
She said dependence on medicines had become “such an evil nowadays”, with everyone running to doctors even for the common cold.
http://www.newsday.co.tt/features/0,142911.html