| Corn has diuretic properties which relieve water stagnation; ayurvedic medicine suggests corn stimulates metabolism and oxidation.
Millet and roasted buckwheat groats (kasha) are the only alkaline-forming grains. Since carcinogenic and degenerative diseases frequently arise from the over-consumption of acid-forming foods, these two grains are particularly recommended. Both are also rich sources of fiber and silica, which detoxify the intestines and form butyrate. |
Phyllis A. Balch, CNC
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 EVIDENCE OF BENEFIT
Gotu kola has been used for thousands of years in ayurvedic medicine to revitalize the nerves and brain cells and to treat leprosy, skin ulcers, and other skin problems. Research shows that it has anti-inflammatory effects and improves the flow of blood throughout the body by strengthening the veins and capillaries. One of its active ingredients, asiaticoside, works to stimulate skin repair and to strengthen skin, hair, nails, and connective tissue.
Benefits of gotu kola for specific health conditions include the following:
• Alzheimer's disease and memory loss. |
| CONSIDERATIONS FOR USE
Elecampane is available in capsules, tinctures, and teas; as an ayurvedic medicine called a rasayana; and in combination with other ayurvedic herbs in a commercial preparation known as Lipistat. The herb is on the U.S. Food and Drug Administration's list of generally recognized as safe (GRAS) herbs, and is approved as an over-the-counter drug in Canada.
Repeated use of elecampane may cause allergic sensitivity. Symptoms of overdose are cramps, diarrhea, and vomiting. |
| Chanca Piedra
Latin names: Phyllanthus niruri, also known as Phyllanthus amarus (Euphorbiaceae [spurge] family)
Other common names: phyllanthus (in ayurvedic medicine), quebra pedra
GENERAL DESCRIPTION
Chanca piedra is a tropical plant that bears graceful branches of densely packed, alternating leaves growing from a central stem. Although chanca piedra is sometimes called "kidney stone tree," it is not a tree but rather a small herb. The aerial (aboveground) parts of the plant are used in herbal medicine. |
| In ayurvedic medicine, brahmi is used as a rasayana, a traditional formulation that includes spices and honey to make a palatable mixture. The effectiveness of brahmi is increased by simultaneous supplementation with inositol and/or a B-vitamin complex. For best results, adults should take 3,000 milligrams one or twice daily. It may take four weeks to see an improvement. Brahmi is best taken at the beginning of the day and again in mid to late afternoon, or before doing meditation or yoga.
The herb is often combined with the circulatory boosters ginkgo and lecithin. |
| An important herb in ayurvedic medicine, brahmi is closely related to an herb with similar medicinal properties, gotu kola. (See gotu kola under The Herbs in Part One.)
EVIDENCE OF BENEFIT
Of all Indian herbal therapies, brahmi has been established as a powerful nerve and brain tonic. It is the main revitalizing herb for the nerves and the brain cells. It has a reputation for increasing intelligence, longevity, and circulation in the brain, improving both short-term and long-term memory, and decreasing senility and aging. |
| EVIDENCE OF BENEFIT
According to ayurvedic medicine, asafoetida is a valuable spice and remedy for nervous disorders, colic, bowel spasms, and for spasmodic coughing due to whooping cough, pneumonia, and bronchitis. It is also regarded as an effective remedy for worms and other intestinal parasites. There have also been reports of people who have noticed benefits for flatulence, digestive weakness, candidiasis, and chronic fatigue.
Benefits of asafoetida for specific health conditions include the following:
• Colic. |
Dr. Gary Null
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 All of that came from ayurvedic medicine. I could have probably died of toxic shock from all the things that were suggested to me by combinations of internists and other American specialists. This is an all natural way of returning to health. I sent many people there. I don't believe that I would be where I am now if I had not done this.
Hot News
Recent research has thrown some light on possible underlying causes of chronic fatigue syndrome. One study found a link between acylcarnitine deficiencies and the symptoms of chronic fatigue syndrome. |
| LINDA DESCRIBES HER EXPERIENCE TREATING ENDOMETRIOSIS WITH AYURVEDIC MEDICINE: I had constant abdominal pain from the endometriosis for twenty-one days out of every month. For many years, I took eight to ten aspirin a day and sometimes stronger painkillers. In four years, I had been to three gynecologists, two internists, and a gastroenterologist. I had laparascopic surgery and then was given Lupron injections. Lupron is a drug that blocks estrogen and causes the endometrial tissue to shrink. |
Barrie R Cassileth, Ph.D.
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 Often these are the body spots identified as meridians in traditional Chinese medicine (see Chapter 3) and known as chakras in ancient India's ayurvedic medicine (see Chapter 2).
New Agers also believe that different colors have particular therapeutic value. Red-orange agate, for example, is thought to energize, amethyst is said to calm the conscious and subconscious mind (Figure 32), and bloodstone (or heliotrope) is believed to purify the blood.
Figure 32 The violet amethyst is said to calm the mind.
Furthermore, the type of crystals used plays a role in the healing performed. |
Earl Mindell, R.Ph., Ph.D.
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 The traditional Chinese system of medicine, as well as much of the medicine practiced by Hippocrates, known as the father of modern medicine, has its roots in ayurvedic medicine.
The underlying philosophy behind Ayurveda is that it is not enough to treat the symptoms of disease—treatment must encompass the entire body. For example, an Ayurvedic healer would not simply prescribe an herb to treat the illness but would develop an entire program for the patient, including a food plan and lifestyle changes. |
Ralph Golan, M.D.
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 In what seemed to be an effort to broaden the perspectives of conventionally practicing physicians, the Journal of the American Medical Association published in 1991 an article on one of the world's oldest systems of holistic health care, ayurvedic medicine.2 However, a subsequent issue harshly criticized the article and one wonders if, in the end, physicians were only further prejudiced against alternative medicine. |
Gale Maleskey
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 Ayurvedic medicine in Allentown, Pennsylvania. "There also are some claims that saw palmetto can be used for infertility when the problem is the absence of ovulation," he says.
Perhaps that is where the herb got a reputation as an aphrodisiac and a tonic to increase sexual energy and revive low libido in both sexes. Some research demonstrates that a compound in saw palmetto has aphrodisiac effects. Ironically, some herbalists have been known to use saw palmetto to treat honeymoon cystitis, bladder irritation that results from excessive sexual activity. |
Christopher Hobbs
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 A prospective uncontrolled, non-randomized study was undertaken at the ayurvedic medicine Center of New York (Gerson, 1994). Eleven volunteers with documented essential hypertension were given three 500 mg caplets of maitake mushroom extract (Grifron™) two times daily in the morning and evening. Blood pressure (BP) was measured weekly for an average of six weeks. There was a mean decrease in systolic BP of 14 mm Hg and 8 mm Hg in diastolic BP, which was about a 7% and 9.4% average drop respectively. The drop was steady and consistent. |
Alan Keith Tillotson, Ph.D., A.H.G., D.Ay.
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 RATING: Gold
SAFETY ISSUES: None known
STARTING DOSAGE:
• Dried powder: 2 grams two to three times per day
• 4:1 concentrated powder extract: 1 gram two times per day
• 1:2 tincture: 20-40 drops two to three times per day
Arjuna bark is one of the most important heart tonics in ayurvedic medicine, used to treat all forms of heart disease. It reduces the heart-damaging culprits of inflammation (Pitta) and mucus (Kapha) and is strong enough to protect against scorpion stings. |
Kathi Keville
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 Practitioners of ayurvedic medicine have been recommending it for at least a thousand years to treat opium addiction.) A 1971 study on this herb showed that a tincture made from fresh oats can indeed help people stop smoking.
In a 1994 study, researchers tried an Ayurvedic remedy on people who had recendy quit smoking—they had them sniff the essential oil of black pepper (you can also just sniff raw peppercorns—if they don't make you sneeze). This treatment alleviated the anxiety and other symptoms that usually accompany nicotine withdrawal. |
Larry Trivieri, Jr.
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 Among the options they make use of are detoxification therapy, diet and nutrition, herbal medicine, traditional Chinese medicine, and ayurvedic medicine. ijpfllJBj Before beginning any parasite elimination program, consult a qualified health-care professional. This is especially important if you are pregnant.
Detoxification
Like other toxins, parasites can make it harder for the liver, kidneys, and intestines to detoxify and eliminate wastes from the body. If testing reveals that you have a parasitic infection, you may want to consider a detoxification program, says W. Lee Cowden, M.D. |
Kathi Keville
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| You might also turn to traditional Indian ayurvedic medicine to help your heart. The efficiency of a blend called abana to reduce the frequency and severity of angina attacks and improve heart function was reported in 1990. The herbs in this formula have long been used as heart tonics and are now establishing a reputation for themselves in the United States as well.
You may see yet another interesting plant making herbal headlines in the future. |
| It's no wonder that India's ancient ayurvedic medicine considered this vegetable a heart tonic.
The Ayurvedic herb guggul can also be used to slow cholesterol buildup. In studies conducted in India, more than 100 people who took guggul saw their cholesterol go down almost as much as it did in people taking the cholesterol-lowering drug clofibrate. Both the herb and the drug began taking effect about three to four weeks after the people started taking them, but only guggul increased HDL (the good cholesterol) in more than half of the people. |
| Tamalaki, another herb from India, has been used by practitioners of ayurvedic medicine for more than 2,000 years to treat liver disfunction. Recently, it has come to be used to treat hepatitis B. One study showed that even those who still had the virus had less chance of developing liver cancer if they continued to take tamalaki.
Of course, one of the best things you can do for your liver—and your general health—is to go easy on alcohol consumption. If you do overindulge, however, there are herbs that seem to help the liver. |
| In India, hot oil hair treatments are done with sesame oil, the oil of choice in traditional Indian ayurvedic medicine, and freshly grated ginger. An easy way to add ginger to hot oil is as an essential oil. I like to use Tibetan cedarwood oil for the cedar essential oil.
OILY HAIR
As is true with skin, having too much oil on your hair can be a problem. A little oil makes hair shiny because it smoothes out hair shafts by filling in minute abrasions. |
Dorothea Hover-Kramer, EdD, RN
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 Another sign of change within medical thinking is the tremendous public response that Deepak Chopra, MD, has received in speaking about ayurvedic medicine based on age-old Indian traditions. In a time of highly developed medical technologies, Chopra found his spirit hungry despite high achievements as an endocrinologist and as chief of staff at a New England hospital. He turned to learning from the inner wisdom of the body, "the organizing power that flows from its deep source in the self and coordinates every aspect of the physical system" (1991, p. 202). |
Jean Carper
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 Ginger has been used for thousands of years in ayurvedic medicine, India's system of traditional medicine, to treat various rheumatic and musculoskeletal diseases. After mapping out theoretically how the spice works, Dr. Srivastava tested small daily doses on a group of arthritis patients for three months. Most had less pain, swelling and morning stiffness and more mobility.
He tells of one fifty-year-old Asian auto mechanic who started taking ginger within a month of being diagnosed with rheumatoid arthritis. |
Rudolph M. Ballentine, M.D.
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 Perhaps that's because they were operating in the context of a culture that put a high premium on simplicity and on freeing oneself from attachment to the material things of the world; or perhaps it was because the method used by the developers of ayurvedic medicine was to look inside themselves, opening up a different realm of information.
When I was a postgraduate fellow at an Ayurvedic medical college in north India, my preceptor, who was also the president of the college, paid me a compliment. "You are learning Ayurveda in the way it's supposed to be learned," he commented. |
Earl Mindell, R.Ph., Ph.D.
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| Ayurveda is a Sanskrit word derived from two words, ayur, which means "life," and veda, which means "knowledge." ayurvedic medicine has been dubbed the "mother of all healing" because of the profound influence it has had on nearly every other medical system practiced in both hemispheres. Early writings show that Ayurvedic practitioners were light-years ahead of their time in their knowledge of the powerful healing properties of plants. In this respect, they are the founders of modern pharmacology. |
Gale Maleskey
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| In Chinese and ayurvedic medicine, the rhizome has a long-standing reputation as a digestive aid. It is ground up and used in numerous Chinese herbal prescriptions. Ayurvedic practitioners refer to ginger as the universal medicine because it aids the body's digestive function by relieving gas, bloating, and cramps, says Joseph Selvester, an Ayurvedic herbalist in Gainesville, Florida.
Western herbalists classify ginger as a carminative, an anti-inflammatory, and a diaphoretic, among other things. |
Earl Mindell, R.Ph., Ph.D.
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| More than 2000 different preparations are used in ayurvedic medicine. Many include some of the most popular herbs in the world, such as garlic, aloe, ginger, and turmeric. Others are more exotic. The following is a description of some of the most widely used Ayurvedic herbal preparations that are available in natural food stores. Several have already been listed in the Hot 100, but here I will describe their traditional uses as opposed to how these herbs are being marketed for Western consumption. |
| Chinese Supplements
Similar to ayurvedic medicine, traditional Chinese medicine does not focus on individual symptoms but views the human body as an entire system that needs careful management. At the core of Chinese medicine is the fundamental belief in yin and yang, or balance of energy within the body. According to traditional Chinese medicine, there are two opposing forces in the universe: yin, which is negative, and yang, which is positive. Everything (including all herbs) and everybody is characterized as either yin or yang. Yin types tend to be cool, calm, and quiet. |
| Triphala
Triphala, the combination of dried fruits from three different plants (amalaki, bibtaki, and haritaki), is the most widely used herbal preparation in ayurvedic medicine. It can be taken alone or in combination with other herbs. Ayurvedic practitioners have dubbed Triphala "good manager of the house" because it helps to harmonize the different bodily functions. In particular, triphala is reputed to normalize digestion, enhance nutrient absorption, and regulate metabolism. In one recent Indian study, triphala was successfully used to promote weight loss. |
Gale Maleskey
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| The herb has traditionally been used in India's ayurvedic medicine to treat pain and inflammation.
The effect of turmeric has been compared to that of cortisone, the pharmaceutical sometimes used to treat CTS symptoms. Although turmeric's pain-fighting power is not as strong as cortisone's, the herb is a lot easier on your system, says Dr. Kruzel.
Turmeric's action is similar to that of bromelain. For some relief, opt for capsules of the standardized extract. Unlike the turmeric on your spice shelf, the capsules contain 95 percent pure curcumin.
Dr. |
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