Anorexia

Anorexia nervosa is an eating disorder marked by an abnormally low body weight, an extreme fear of gaining weight, and a distorted perception of one's own weight.

Controlling one's weight and shape is a top goal for people with anorexia. Hence, patients might go to tremendous measures to limit their calorie intake like vomiting after eating, abusing laxatives, diet supplements, diuretics, or enemas and overexercising.

Remedies for Anorexia

• Digestive herbs: Cardamom, ginger
• To stop vomiting: Red raspberry, ginger
• Tonics: Chyavan prash, ashwagandha
• Herbs supporting nervous system: Gotu kola, sandalwood, jatamanshi, ashwagandha
• Foods: Bland rice and mung dal.
• Massage: Shirodhara and sesame oil application to the feet and head may help.
• Aromas: It may help to apply sandalwood oil applied to the forehead.

Colic

What Causes It ?

• Vata: Excessive exercise, travel, or sexual encounters; lack of sleep at night, drinking very cold water, eating very dry foods, overeating
• Pitta: An excess of hot, sour, pungent, and fermented foods and liquids.
• Kapha: Excessive consumption of animal products, fatty substances, dairy, sugar, nuts, and other Kapha-stimulating foods.

• Tridosha: Tridosha colic is caused by engaging in any of the three doshas' habits.

Remedies for Colic

1. General: Suggested herbs include cardamom, ginger, and fennel for abdominal pain, dispelling gas and digesting food and ama.
2. Vata: Small, light, and warm Vata reducing foods and liquids are recommended. An anti-ama diet for a couple days might also help.
3. Pitta: First one drinks cold water and follows the procedure advised by an Ayurvedic expert. Thereafter cool foods, liquids, and lifestyles may be taken. Bitter herbs such as chirayata, and kakuta are suggested.
4. Kapha: This condition requires drinking an Ayurvedic decoction under guidance of an Ayurvedic practitioner.

Vomiting

What Causes It?

Vomiting is caused by Vata, Pitta, Kapha, Tridosha, and unpleasant sensory experiences. Upward moving Vata becomes aberrant and aggravates all the doshas, leading them to migrate upward.

Remedies for Vomiting

Unless vomiting is associated with a larger complication in the body, it may help to adopt some of these therapies for relief.

• Exercise and sunbathing.
• Haritaki with raw honey or castor oil with boiled milk.
• Vata: Bilwa, barley, cardamom, cloves, coriander, ginger, raspberry, vamsha lochana, pippali, black pepper and garlic.
• Pitta: Neem, chirayata bilwa, coriander, raspberry, vamsha lochana, sugar cane.
• Kapha: Bilwa, cardamom, cloves, ginger, triphla, musta and raspberry mixed with raw honey.

Diarrhea and Dysentery

What Causes It?

Diarrhea can be caused by viruses or parasites, whereas dysentery is caused by bacteria.

• Vata, Pitta, Kapha, Tridosha
• Fear and grief
• Undigested food
• Drinking excessive amounts of water.
• Eating unaccustomed foods.
• Eating at unusual times.
• Improper Snehana therapy.
• Intestinal parasites
• Hemorrhoids

Remedies for Diarrhea and Dysentery

1. Panchakarma
2. Vata and Kapha: Bala, gokshura, bilwa, ginger, coriander, calamus, pippali, chitrak, sour pomegranate, dashmul, amalaki, ghee and rock salt.
3. Pitta: Kutaj, chirayata, katuka bilwa, sandalwood, lotus seeds, ginger, pomegranate, sesame seeds, mango (with raw honey), ghee and rice water.
4. Dehydration: Basmati rice, barley soup, green lentils, sesame seeds, bilwa, kutaj, ishabgol fried in ghee.
5. Thirst: Boiled water with musta and sandalwood.
6. Dysentery: Bilwa, sesame paste, yogurt, amalaki and ghee.

Digestive Disorders

What Causes It?

• Chronic diarrhea
• Ingesting foods and liquids that deplete digestive fire (metabolism).
• Fasting
• Eating too heavy, cold, rough or contaminated food.
• Misuse of panchakarma.
• Excessive Snehana.
• Extreme mental stress.
• Suppression of natural urges.

Remedies for Digestive Disorders

1. Drinking warm water with concoction of pippali and black mustard seeds is suggested.
2. Vata: Asafoetida, ginger, black pepper, rock salt, herbal digestive wines.
3. Pitta: Lodhra, amalaki, nagkeshar, chirayata, vidanga.
4. Kapha: Nutmeg, rock salt, carom seeds, pippali.
5. Intestinal ama (undigested toxins): Castor oil and cardamom.

Indigestion

What Causes It?

• Drinking excessive quantity of water.
• Eating insufficient or excess amounts of food.
• Insomnia and daytime naps.
• Eating disagreeable foods.
• Stress eating.

Remedies for Indigestion

1. Vata: Combination of triphla, yogaraja guggul, hingwastak churna, sitopaladi churna, lashunadi vati and lavana bhaskar.
2. Pitta: Drinking drinking cold water, taking haritaki with raw honey or grapes and ingesting herbs like aloe vera, musta, chirayata and mahasudarshan churna is said to reduce this dosha.
3. Kapha: Herbs like black pepper, chitrak and trikatu are deemed beneficial.
4. Prevention: Taking cardamom, fennel, coriander and turmeric with daily meals may be helpful

Hyper acidity

What Causes It?

• Vata and Kapha: Variable or weak digestion allows generation of ama (undigested toxins). It begins to ferment and causes burning sensations.
• Pitta: Eating excessive hot, spicy, greasy, sweet or incompatible foods.

Remedies for Hyper acidity

1. Vata: Hingwastak, rock salt, lashunadi vati, grapes along with antacids like shankh bhasma, avipattikar churna, fennel and praval pishti.
2. Pitta: Shatavari, licorice, aloe gel, chirayata, with shankh bhasma and avipattikar churna.
3. Kapha: Hingwastak, rock salt, grapes, lashunadi vati with shankh bhasma and avipattikar churna.

Acid Gastritis or Acid Reflux

This is a common condition that in which the stomach and its lining are inflamed.

What Causes It?

Consuming incompatible, spoiled, very sour or acidic foods increases Pitta in the persons with already excessed Pitta. The symptoms are twofold based on the movement of Pitta.

• Upward (Urdhvaga): Thirst, flushing, giddiness, hallucination, diarrhea, nausea, skin, rashes, poor digestion, goosebumps, perspiration, yellowish skin.
• Downward (Adhoga): Vomiting green, yellow, black, blue, red, sour, thin, and sticky materials, followed by mucus After belching, you may notice a bitter or sour taste in your mouth. Fever, circular itching, and abrupt rashes with multiple pimples.

Remedies for Acid Gastritis

The treatments are the same as those for hyper acidity. Milk is advised for Vata and Pitta excesses.

Constipation

What Causes It?

• Eating foods that are difficult to digest or increase Vata.
• Fever or infection
• Oversleeping
• Suppressing the urge to defecate.
• Hectic lifestyle
• Lack of exercise
• Emotions like worry, fear, anxiety, anger, impatience and nervousness.

Remedies for Constipation

1. Taking ½ tsp triphla with 4 times water in the morning and evening or 2 tsp castor oil with 1 cup of boiled before bed may provide relief.
2. For stronger effect it is suggested to mix ginger and 2 times haritaki with triphla.
3. Vata: Taking 2 teaspoon ishabgol with 1 cup of lukewarm water before bed,  a Vata-pacifying diet and herbs like hing and lavan bhaskar churna are said to help.
4. Pitta: Pitta-pacifying foods and liquids are recommended. Taking ½ teaspoon of triphla, aloe vera and fennel before bed is advised.
5. Kapha: Following a Kapha-balancing diet is suggested. Fasting, exercise, mental stimulation, and less sleep may be be beneficial. You may use spices such as dry ginger, black pepper, pippali, and trikatu to reduce fat, mucous, and toxins. 

Hemorrhoids

There are two types of hemorrhoids : Dry and Bleeding piles. They can be internal (inside the anus) or external (closer to anus).

What Causes It?

Simultaneous vitiation of all three doshas weakens the skin, muscles, and fat, blocking the veins in the rectum muscles. The symptoms will be determined by the predominant dosha.

• Vata type: Fasting, consuming strong alcohol, living in a chilly environment, strenuous exercise, mourning, and exposure to the wind. Eating astringent, pungent, bitter, dry, cold, and light foods.
• Pitta type: Eating pungent, hot, salty, burning, and sharp foods. Straining exercise, being exposed to the heat, living in hot climates, drinking alcohol, envy, anger and impatience.
• Kapha type: Consuming foods that are sweet, greasy, chilly, salty, sour, or heavy. Cold weather and mental sluggishness.

Remedies for Hemorrhoids

• Herbs: Neem triphla, guduchi, licorice, chitrak, vidanga and pittapapra are believed to be the most effective.
• Dry hemorrhoids: Smearing the mass with triphla, bilwa, or chitrak medicated oils may help.
• Applying warm or oily compresses of barley, sesame powder or vacha powder and corn flour with ghee and dry radish pulp is also suggested.
• Sitz baths with water and decoctions made from triphla, bilwa, yogurt-water, whey or radish leaves is also recommended.
• Aromatherapy using arka root, vidanga, barley, ashwagandha or pippali mixed with ghee may be beneficial.
• Taking lassi (buttermilk) for Vata and Kapha caused hemorrhoids might be soothing.

 

*Please note: The information on this website is solely for educational purposes and should not be used as a substitute for medical advice. We do not claim to diagnose, treat or cure any diseases. Kindly consult an Ayurvedic expert or licensed health practitioner before following any remedies suggested here.

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