The use of oils, internally and externally, is a complete care system in Ayurveda. Doing it right, with herbal synergies and different blends, and doing it consistently, can be key to longevity and total health. Ayurvedically speaking, oil, with its unctuous, slimy, and nourishing properties, primarily pacifies vata dosha, the king of all doshas. We have learnt that when vata dosha is in check, all else follows!

Getting your oil on, at SVA, is thus naturally a highly prized daily ritual: we cook with butter oil (ghee);  massage our limbs (and scalp) with herbalized oils before shower; apply a drop or two into our ear and nasal cavities for daily maintenance; and now, Vaidya Mishra will help us maintain the health of our oral cavity with his latest formulation: an oil-pulling Sneh Gandush for daily oral swishing to support the health our oral cavity, gums, and teeth. You might have already tried it yourself, or at least have heard about someone who has, or wants to… As it’s the latest of health fads currently featured on cover pages and magazine.

Ayurveda calls oil pulling (holding and swishing oil in the mouth) gaṇḍūṣa. The Carak Samhita, in the dinacharya (daily routine) section, elaborates on all the benefits of gaṇḍūṣa – and they are many:

• gaṇḍūṣa, or gandush, pulls and binds toxins from the oral cavity, and can thus have preventive action on the teeth, gums, and overall oral cavity, in addition to the the tongue, mucus membranes, upper throat and sinus cavity, and jaw;
• Gandusha hones  the taste buds. This is the natural effect of “detoxing oral cavity” from build-up (ama, amavisha, and garavisha.)
• Daily morning oil pulling preps the appetite, clearing any fogs covering the digestive fire of the stomach;
• Gandush can help ward off throat inflammation when used regularly and with an herbal synergy formula;
• Gandush nurtures and supports lip health;
• Gandush can help prevent tooth decay as it facilitates the daily evacuation of food debris left in the teeth crevices;
• it can strengthen the roots of the teeth;
• it can help prevent toothache as the oil balances and nourishes the nerve tissue and nerve endings;
• depending on whether the oil mixture is fresh and non-rancid, and well balanced with herbs, swishing with it can balance the pH of the oral cavity;
• gandush supports the vocal chords – oil lubricates, reduces toxic load, and grounds the vocal chords.

Water or Lipid Soluble?

So you’ve heard of oil-pulling, but you probably did not know that there can be 2 distinct categories of oil pulling products, with different effects, based on the contents of your gandush mixture? Did you know that your gandush formula can be either water-soluble or lipid-soluble? What does this mean?

• Kashaya gandusha – kashaya means herbal decoction
• Sneha gandusha  – sneha means oil

Most, if not all, oil-pulling products use primarily lipid-soluble ingredients. This means that only toxins that are absorbed in and through the fat medium are addressed and eliminated. In SVADANTA, with the expert SVA approach, we use both water-soluble and lipid-soluble ingredients in the gandush formulas, to provide a total, tridoshic and holistic approach to oral care.

The water-soluble formulations have been on the market for a couple of years already and many happy satisfied customers use the water-soluble oral mists – Mukh Shudhi – in peppermint or fennel organic flavors.

Vaidya Mishra’s  Mukh Shudhi is a modern version of the kashaya gandush category of oral care preparation.  The Mukh Shudhi formula is based on Carak’s original formula, but presented today as an oral mist for convenience and ease of application to the oral cavity.

 Peppermint or Fennel?

 VS 

Vaidya’s Mukh Shudhi comes in peppermint and fennel flavors.  Peppermint can be used by all body types and people; fennel is best for pitta body types, or is for those who tend to have high pitta aggravation.  No matter which flavor you choose, the water-based gandush will pull out all water soluble toxins from your mouth.  Sugar molecule residues in the mouth are water soluble.  These molecules are the main food source for oral bacteria.  Due to its herbal syerngy content, Mukh Shudhi neutralizes sugar residues immediately, thereby cutting off the food supply needed by the bacteria to survive and multiply.  It addresses bacteria-based oral problems and helps also address oral inflammation.  

Modern science supports our SVA understanding, namely, that oral bacteria contributes to tooth decay, gingivitis, and other oral cavity diseases. Here’s how it works, ingredient-wise.

 Water-based Gandush

Here are SVA Mukh Shudhi Oral Mist ingredients according to their actions on oral health:

• Gymnema (gymnema sylvestre): neutralizes residue of sugar and carbohydrate

 • Cinnamon (cinnamonum zeylonica): supports oral immunity and fights bad breath

 • Black pepper (piper nigrum): burns ama of oral cavity and balance bodhaka kapha (enhances the ability to taste better)

 • Triphala: helps to neutralize and eliminate toxins of oral cavity

• Clove (syzygium aromaticum): burns Ama and opens channels of oral cavity

• Neem (azadirachta indica): leaf creates good environment for good bacteria and bad environment for bad bacteria on mucus membrane of the oral mucosa

 • Babul (acacia arabica): bark is called danta dardhyakar means – strengthens teeth  and stops bleeding gums.

• Ajwain (trachyspermum copticum): burns ama and refreshes mouth

• Holy basil (ocimum sanctum): supports immunity and refreshes mouth

 • Nutmeg (myristica fragrans): calming for mind and channel opening for brain

 • Peppermint (mentha piperata): refreshing and channel opening

 • Tea tree oil (melaleuca alternifolia): supports oral immunity and channel opening

 • Camphor leaf oil (cinnamomum camphora): channel opening and relaxing for jaw

• Sweet orange and grapefruit essential oil as preservatives and to help fight against bacterial infection

 Lipid or Sneh Gandush 

Through SVA we study that the fat tissue holds endogenous (amavisha) as well as numerous types of exogenous toxins (garvisha) entering the body through the food we eat, the air we breathe, and personal care materials applied on the skin.  Whether from heavy metals, pesticides, home cleaning chemicals, etc. these lipid-based toxins gradually accumulate and lodge in the oral cavity.  Sneha Gandush gives use a powerful way to address and handle the lipid-soluble toxins in the oral region with oils that draw them out and bind them for safe removal.

Vaidya Mishra’ new Sneh Gandush formula (based on the ingredients and methods of Carak’s original formula) accomplishes lipid oral detox with a mixture of sesame and coconut oils into which different ingredients have been synergistically infused to address the different needs of the oral cavity.   This tridoshic gandush oil is good for all body types, even though vata dosha gets primarily pacified by it.

When you are shopping for the best oral oil-pulling product, you must keep in mind the rancidity factor. To make a bottle of gandush oil, in general, herbs are cooked in a sesame oil base; this has many problems. Cooking the herbs thus gives the mixture a bad flavor; and 2) this will initiate the aging process such that the final product can actually go rancid in as little as ten days.

If it so happens that your sneh gandush product is rancid, every time you rinse your mouth, you will absorb oxidized free radical molecules into your system. We all know what that does to us!

Vaidya Mishra’s process of making gandush oil, inherited from his ancestors, uses a secret pranic preservation method that stops all oxidization and adds a slightly sweet, pleasant flavor.  In addition, Vaidya adds fractionated coconut oil, clove leaf, camphor leaf, and sweet orange to his formula.   This stops free-radical formation and makes the oil very palatable.

Let us now see what the Carak says about sneha gandush:

Ingredient wise he gives us (with vs. 5-77 & 5-78:) nutmeg, kutki, supari, clove, kankol (type of fruit), tambula (paan leaf or betel leaf), camphor extract (edible), green cardamom (small variety);

Here Carak elaborates on the benefits of this formula:

• Gives bala (stamina & strength) to the jaw;
• Gives bala to the vocal chords;
• Gives bala to the chin area;
• Burns ama in the oral cavity (increases agni in oral cavity)

• rasajñānamanne – enhances the ability to recognize all tastes;
• ruciruttamā – enhances the appetite;
• na cāsya kaṇṭhaśoṣaḥ – prevents (stops) inflammation of the throat;
• syānnauṣṭhayoḥ sphuṭanādbhayam – prevents cracking of the lips;

• na ca dantāḥ kṣayaṁ – means teeth never decay;
• dṛḍhamūlā bhavanti – makes the roots of the teeth firm;
• na śūlyante – no teeth pain;
• na cāmlena hṛṣyante bhakṣayanti – takes away acidity in the mouth so the teeth are not extra sensitive (to heat, cold, etc);
• parānapi kharān bhakṣyāṁstailagaṇḍūṣadhāraṇāt – after doing gandush (eventually) all dryness of mouth, throat, and esophagus will go away.

Modern scientific research on oil pulling

There’s been much written about this of late. The Indian Journal of Dental Research (http://www.ijdr.in/), for example, supports the ancient ayurvedic knowledge of gandush connecting it directly to the improvement of conditions of plaque induced gingivitis. There’s currently increased and developing interest in further researching the overall benefits of oil-pulling in general. The article in the Huffington Post gives a good round-up of existing findings and opinions: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/03/12/oil-pulling_n_4943808.html

 Your SVA Daily Oral Care Routine

Do this mornings upon waking up (and before brushing – optional), and nighttime before bed and after brushing:

1) Brush and floss teeth

2) Rinse mouth well with cool water

3) Spray Mukh Shudhi (your choice of flavors)

4) Swish Sneha Gandusha Oil in Mouth.  Use approximately 2 TBSP.  Swish 3 – 5 minutes. Spit the oil out after 5 minutes.  You want to have mouth full – but not too full of a mouth.  Leave room to comfortably hold and swish the oil.  (Unlike plain oils, this herbal formula quickly pulls toxins).  Do not exceed 5 minutes or you may reabsorb toxins.  You can, if you want, repeat the process again but with fresh oil. Do not keep swishing for more than 5 minutes with the same oil, and definitely not for 20 minutes!

5) In the morning, you may lightly rinse your mouth afterwards.  At night, do not rinse your mouth.  This allows the oil to bind and evacuate more toxins overnight, further nourishing and protecting the oral cavity.

 Ingredient-wise action: 

Sesame oil:  Sesame oil is used as medium to pull out lipid-soluble fractions of the herbs. Sesame oil also has the pharmacodynamic properties to absorb the prabhavas (ultimate effects) of the herbs without altering them.  It has as a high smoke point (tolerance of heat) around 400 F.  This gives higher boiling temperature to pull out lipid-soluble fraction of herbs and spices.  Finally, because sesame is agneya (more agni) it works as yogavahi (activates and carries  the properties of the herbs into the tissues).

Fractionated coconut oil:  Sesame is agneya and lot of agneya herbs and spices are in the formula (konkol, clove, camphor leaf.)   Sesame alone may be a little heating for overall Western mucosa and for pitta or pitta/vata types, who won’t be able to handle the sesame oil unless it is mixed in with coconut oil, which balances sesame and the heating herbs. Coconut oil on its own can clog the channels because of its ‘condensing’ molecules.   Fractionated coconut oil however does not clog the channels, as it contains only the medium chain triglycerides.

Nutmeg:  Very good to nourish gums and pull out toxins from them.   Also has shamaka (pacifying) effect on the nerves.  Calms down prana vata and the mind.

Kutki:  Very bitter used alone.  Works very well with the combination of all the yogavahis in the formula.  The yogavahis allow kutki to quickly penetrates beyond gums (even going to jaw and roots of teeth) to pull out amavisha and garvisha from deep tissues.

Kankol:   A smoother but more powerful yogavahi, helping deliver effects of kutki faster.  Also gives nice aroma.

Clove:  Traditionally in almost all countries in the world for toothache.  Whole clove is used for extract.  Opens the channels; burns ama in oral mucosa; gives nice fragrance. Initially warm but ultimately cool in its effect. Pacifies pitta.

Green cardamom:  Adds wonderful fragrance.  According to Ayurveda, the seeds help burn ama of the protein molecules.  The cardamom skin binds ama of protein molecules.

Triphala:  Supports the overall formula to keep pH of oral mucosa neutral.  Triphala is neutral (little pro alkaline).  Unique property of pulling out toxins (shodhana.)  Due to amla and bibhitaki, it also acts has a rasayana that nourishes and firms the gums.  Best rasayana for the mouth.

Clove leaf oil:  Cooler than clove and adds even more value of clove.

Camphor leaf: Camphor itself is very aromatic and penetrating; so it may burn oral mucosa.  Camphor leaf will not do so.  Opens channels of oral mucosa and the brain, acting as a refreshing yogavahi.

Sweet Orange:  Adds pleasant orange flavor and neutralizes bitter tastes of herbal ingredients.  Very nurturing.

Here’s to your oral health!

Starting March 31, 2016, SVA Marma for Blissful Beauty Full Sessions – for men and women – at The Prana Center, Chatsworth, CA. Call 1.818.219.5499 or email: svahealth@prana-center.com to set up your appointment.

Lie back, close your eyes, and get transported to a world of inner, outer, and everlasting beauty!  At Vaidya Mishra’s tranquil Prana Center, you will experience the Ayurvedic definition of beauty – Shubhang Karanam: beauty as the  auspicious transformation of every single body part. In SVA terms, beauty is not a state, it is the action of imbuing our total self – mind, body, and heart – with prana; it is the action of allowing satwa (the light of the soul), to radiate into every single body part, transforming us from the  inside-out. In the expert hands of SVA Marma Therapist, James Pace, come-on over to witness your own transformation within minutes!

ALL TREATMENTS EXCLUSIVELY USE Lalita’s Line of Intelligence Skin Care –  No Synthetics, No Harsh Chemicals, No Preservatives, pranically charged herbal synergies.auspicious transformation of every single body part.

·        Lalita’s Facial Cream Clay – Deeply cleansing and moisturizing, this cream balances the friendly bacteria of the facial skin and restores the soma burnt off by EMF/EMR.

·         Lalita’s Facial Cleanser – Deeply cleans the skin without over drying.  Makes the skin ready to drink up the nutrients of Lalita’s Facial Creams!

·         Lalita’s Facial Toner – Resets your skin pores to their optimum state to hydrate, nourish, and firm up your skin again after cleansing.

·         ALA Aroma-Free Cream (Alpha Lipoic Acid) – Relaxes the eyes, making them brighter and open. ALA on eye marma also relaxes the mind, supplying relief from strain to the eyes caused by EMF (electro-magnetic fields) and overuse.

·         Lalita’s Age Defying Lip Balm – Naturally tinted lip-care with Ayurvedic flowers, plants, and tree barks. Makes lips moist, sensitive, and more beautiful while shielding them against damage from the environment.

·         Blissful Awakening Mist – Pure Sandalwood and flower essences fill the air around you creating a cool, serene environment to help you settle deep within yourself.

·         Marma Samadhi Set – Three herbalized creams (or roll-ons) are applied on specific marma points to open the heart to support and coordinate the functioning between mind, heart and soul.

·         SuperSport Roll-on –  Support Sport opens the nadis (vibrational channels.)  We apply SuperSport on certain marmas of the neck to immediatelydeliver more prana to the facial nerves and muscles relaxing the face and expanding the facial aura.

·         Maha Marma Oil – Opens the Adhipati (Maha Marma) on top of head to deliver more prana to the entire physiology and all facial marmas.

       ·         Lalita’s Age-Defying Facial Creams:  Lalita’s Age-Defying creams all contain the intelligence of 18 Ayurvedic herbs to hydrate, nourish, and combat biological and  psychological aging.  Your Lalita’s Facial Cream will depend on your package.

        Choose from 3 Blissful Beauty Packages                 

  1) SVA Ultimate Celestial Marma Experience (Ninety minutes)$155

This Ultimate package uses the entire repertoire of Lalita’s Skin and Beauty Care, starting with the soothing fragrances and properties of pure sandalwood, rose, and jasmine.   Super Sport Roll-On is applied on the neck to instantly increase pranic reception to the facial nerves and facial muscles, relaxing your face and supporting the full flow of physical and vibrational energies.  Next, we gently cleanse the face with Lalita’s Facial Cream Clay (or facial cleanser) followed by the firming/toning properties of Lalita’s Facial Toner.  Next, we initiate an inner grounding through Vaidya Mishra’s Samadhi Set, supporting and coordinating the functioning between mind, heart and light of the soul.  Eyes tired and strained?  This package includes application of ALA Aroma-Free Cream on select eye marmas for making the eyes brighter and stress-free.  Time now to vibrationally cleanse and enliven twelve important facial marmas using the powerful yet gentle touch of SVA Sparsh Vigyan (touch therapy.)  Your face is now completely prepared to drink up the rich botanicals of Lalita’s Facial Creams applied on the entire face and neck using your selection of Lalita’s Age Defying Facial Creams: Navratna Celestial Radiance, Abhrak Bhasma Facial Cream, or Pearl Facial Cream.

LALITA’S PRODUCTS USED IN THE OUR ULTIMATE PACKAGE

Lalita’s Facial Cream Clay  (Lalita’s Facial Cleanser may be used for more sensitive skin)

   Lalita’s Facial Toner

   Samadhi Set & Super Sport Roll-On

   Maha Marma Oil

   ALA Aroma-Free on Eye Marmas

   Lalita’s Age Defying Lip Balm

   Choice of Navratna Celestial Radiance, Abhrak Bhasma Facial Cream, or Pearl Facial Cream. Each of these creams are available with extra Jasmine or extra Rose.  Sensitive to essential oils?  Chose one of our Aroma-Free Creams.  Find out more about the different exquisite formulations from Vaidya Mishra here:

Lalita’s SVA Formulations

2) SVA Deluxe Marma for Blissful Beauty (Sixty minutes): $90

The SVA Deluxe Marma is your next best choice for Total Beauty.  This package incorporates the steps and products used in the Ultimate Package, with certain exceptions:  Because the time (and pricing) is less, the eye marmas are not targeted.  The Ultimate Package uses your choice of our very best custom-made facial creams on the facial marma and the face overall.   The Deluxe package uses the Navratna Celestial Radiance Cream on the facial marma and the original Lalita’s Age-Defying Facial Cream on the overall face.  A great bargain with great transformational results

LALITA’S PRODUCTS USED IN THE DELUXE MARMA FOR BLISSFUL BEAUTY

   Lalita’s Facial Cream Clay   (Facial Cleanser may be used for more sensitive skin)

   Lalita’s Facial Toner

   Samadhi Set & Super Sport Roll-On

   Maha Marma Oil

   Navratna Celestial Radiance Facial Cream  (Applied on twelve select facial marmas)

   Lalita’s Age Defying Lip Balm

   Lalita’s Age Defying Facial Cream (with our without aroma) applied to entire face

  

3) SVA Marma for Blissful Beauty On-the-Go! (thirty minutes): $60 

 

SVA Marma Facial On-The-Go is the best choice for those who want a quick rejuvenation without the full treatment. Don’t be fooled by the name – in just thirty minutes, you will definitely feel and see the transformation!

LALITA’S PRODUCTS USED FOR SVA MARMA ON-THE-GO

   Lalita’s Facial Cleanser  

   Samadhi Set & Super-Sport Roll-On

   Maha Marma Oil

   Lalita’s Age Defying Cream  (Applied on twelve facial marmas and entire face)

Read more about Vaidya’s Blissful Beauty Protocols and Formulations HERE

 or call 1.818.219.5499 to find out more

Last week we were happy to announce the long-awaited return of Soma Shakti – a complex synergy of rare and much sought after herbs, processed according to ancient SVA guidelines.  Last week, we highlighted how SVA Soma Shakti formula is a highly balanced formula for deep tissue nurturing and detoxifying for women, as it fully awakens the intelligence of the feminine hormonal and detox systems. This week, we discover how Soma Shakti is also beneficial for the male physiology.

Soma – the nurturing, nourishing, and cooling vibrational power of Nature – is needed just as much by men, especially in this day. We are daily bombarded with Soma-reducing factors, from low pH diets, stress-inducing daily work rhythms, dependence on EMF devices that alter our bodies’ vibrational balance, as well as many other environmental factors that reduce and burn-up Soma in the body.

We asked Vaidya Mishra to share with us why Soma Shakti, as described to him by his Father, Vaidya Kameshwar Mishra, is a daily supplement essential for modern-day healthy living?

He said:

“Before discussing the properties of Soma Shakti, let me say how grateful I am that after a one-year absence this formula is now back in www.chandika.com’s  inventory.  Soma Shakti is a complex formula replete with a wide range of health benefits.  It took months to source and secure a reliable supply of the pure, raw materials that met my SVA standards.  Not only that, the manufacturing process itself is quite lengthy as the raw materials and multiple ingredients must go through several individual and collective processes.  That being said we are pleased and fortunate to have it back in stock at Chandi.  Dr. Marianne Teitelbaum, who most of you already know, is especially pleased to offer Soma Shakti again to her existing patients, who have benefited so much from it, as well as to her new patients.

A rasayana, but also much more! 

Soma Shakti was also a favorite product of my father’s, Kameshwar Mishra, for many reasons. But primarily because it carries the unique ability to enhance ojas in the physiology, along with its other therapeutic properties.  Since interning with him long ago, I have tried to gain greater insight into why Soma Shakti was his favorite rasayana. Ayurveda carries many single and in-combination rasayana formulations. But my father always favored Soma Shakti.  Over the years, in my practice, research, and teaching, I have gained a greater understanding of Soma Shakti at different levels and depth as my knowledge has grown on the ingredients, my patients’ physiology, and the numerous experiential therapeutic uses of this formula.

As mentioned, Ayurveda has a treasure house of different rasayanas (rejuvenators) and each one impacts the physiology in a distinct way. Soma Shakti is no exception.  Many ingredients have rare, specific actions by their own nature, by combination, or the way they have been processed or infused into the formulation.

Because my father used Soma Shakti in over 50% of his patients and was making this formula himself, I learned exactly the quality of raw materials needed to make it, the samyog (combination of herbs) and the samskar (process) required to manufacture this powerful formula.  Making this product has several complex steps, and many ingredients are involved.  Many ingredients must first be detoxified and then infused in very specific ways in different formats at different points of the preparation.

To help you understand the astounding benefits of Soma Shakti, I am trying to recall as many questions as possible that I asked my father during my internship.

1)      “What is the difference between the classical rasayana, Chyawanprash, and Soma Shakti?”  My father said: “Chyawanprash is truly a great rasaysana; but to get full benefit a person needs great, or at least moderate, agni, or cellular metabolic power. Soma Shakti, on the other hand, is Sarva Agni Vardhini.  It has the power to increase and sharpen all 13 agnis of the body as well as dehagni, cellular digestive power. I often use both formulas together for a patient to boost their immunity.”

2)      “Who should take this formula?” He said:  “Almost all our patients need it to boost their immunity, and keep their metabolic fires running well.  In addition, I often give Soma Shakti to people with chronic skin conditions (auto-immune problems) where immuno-corrective (vs immuno-boosting) herbs like manjishta and daruharidra are typically prescribed.   The reason is that Soma Shakti can simultaneously boost immunity even while correcting it, because it contains chiretta, guduchi, turmeric and daruharidra (immuno-correctors) and coriander (removes toxins via the urinary system.)  Triphala in the formula will soothe the cellular system from auto-immune response.  The yava kshara (barley ash) is pro-diuretic, sweeping out toxins through the urinary system.  Cassia fistula and guggulu provide deeper detox power to the formula.  Soma Shakti also contains pure shilajit – a powerful rejuvenator for men and women.  This formula is the best way to take shilajit, as shilajit taken alone may be too heating.  Not only that, you have to be extremely cautious about where your shilajit comes from.  All too often, what is passed off as shilajit is nothing more than odorized tar.  My shilajit is 100% pure from the Himalayas.  All in all, Soma Shakti is a very balanced formula able to modulate the immune system and provide deep detox without overwhelming the immune system.

3)      “How – and Why – can one formula increases all agnis, yet keeps them totally under control (not going too high)?”  For that, let us look at specific ingredients.

·         Camphor root: sharpens the flame in a balanced way.  Very aromatic but unlike camphor crystals, the root has more soma.  It increases all agnis in a slow, balanced, sustained way.

·         Cyperus:  This will sharpen the agni of apana vata.  Apana agni supports the intelligent absorption of nutrients in the colon.

·         Chiretta and turmeric: Support the bhutagni, or 5 flames of the liver, in a balanced way.

·         Guduchi: provides perfect intelligence to all agni-s (flames) by supporting the transformational intelligence of the gaps.

·         Long Pepper, gajpiper, ginger, black pepper: These support all agni-s but primarily the dhatu agni-s of rasa, rakta, mamsa, and medha.  This is very important because these dhatu-s accumulate the most toxins.

4)      What are its other therapeutic uses?  Soma Shakti has the best broad-spectrum sothara, anti-inflammatory action through samyog (combination) of guggulu, shilajit, and guduchi.   A high content of shilajit also gives it a shukrala property – able to instantly increase the quantity of shukra (reproductive tissue).  I also use this formula to treat osteo- and rheumatoid arthritis.  Not many formulas can manage both: For osteo- (bone depletion) I use it with praval pishti (found in my Soma Cal formula.)  Soma Shakti is ideal for nearly everyone because it is a highly balanced and pro-alkaline formula.  It is so rich in soma, along with the high concentration of nutrients from the ingredients, that it transforms that soma into ojas readily. Ojas is the primary element in our bodies that boosts our immunity.

5)      What organs and organ-systems does Soma Shakti support? Soma Shakti balances high ranjaka pitta in the liver while concurrently modulating (normalizing) the flame of the bhutagni-s.  It also works on the pachakagni of the stomach, increasing the flame by cleaning the burner (gap) which controls the flame, thus, balancing and normalizing digestion.  Furthermore, it rejuvenates the ovaries, uterus, testicles, prostate gland, and the entire genito-urinary tract of men and women through its unique combination of shilajit, guggulu, and bambusa bambos.  The kidneys also receive great supportive effect by the yava kshara and Saji Khar.

6)      A physical body rejuvenator, or more?  Because Soma Shakti is a great formula that enhances the production of ojas, there are two additional immediate benefits:

a) it supports the immune system; and b) helps manufacture neuro-transmitters. One supports the body; the other supports mental energy, creative thinking, and clarity.  In this day and age we are surrounded by several hetu-s (etiological factors) that rapidly deplete our ojas.  According to Carak, the central textbook of our lineage, four things in particular ‘burn’ ojas.

·         Stress (chinta):  We have to handle stress by minimizing it where possible even as we increase our capacity to handle it.  Meditation, we know, helps us immensely. (Vaidya adds here: you can use ayurvedic formulation such as my SVA Stress-Free Oral Mist to help calm the mind and increase stamina to handle stress; you can also increase the flow of prana to the body by swiping Flex ‘N Flow Cream top to bottom on your spine, or at least on your lower back, several times per day).

·         Over exertion (ativayam):  Too much exercise or physical labor to the point of exhaustion (atisram) rapidly depletes ojas.  Exercise to only fifty percent of your capacity.

·         Improper fasting (atilanghan): Ayurveda recommends fasting be done only by certain people, in certain seasons, following specific protocols.  When done improperly, ojas and immunity may be depleted.  The concept of atilanghan also includes skipping or delaying meals.  Advise your patients to eat their meals on time.

·         Excessive sexual intercourse (atimithun):  Like everything else in Ayurveda, sex has a right time, place, and frequency.  Soma Shakti can be very useful to help replenish the ojas lost through over- or improper indulgences.

7)      Who Should Not Take Soma Shakti?  My first precaution is that kids under the age of ten, and pregnant women should NOT use Soma Shakti.  Everybody else can use it, and, in fact, should use Soma Shakti, especially to help fight infectious elements in the environment, flu season etc. It is also good to take if you dealing with a pre-existing infection (cold, sinus, etc).  Bacteria and viruses ‘eat’ ojas: they get life from our life. They target and lower our immunity. 

However, if you are already taking anti-biotics, do NOT use Soma Shakti during the course of treatment to avoid potential herb/drug interaction.  Once you finish your cycle of antibiotics, Soma Shakti is great to help you rebuild you immunity and set you back on track. As we know,  anti-biotics also kill the yoginis (friendly bacteria) in our gut, and disturb our agni, resulting in loss of appetite.  Soma Shakti creates an alkaline environment in the colon to help re-establish friendly bacteria and it supports all the agni-s of the tissues and metabolic systems. This is key, specially because we need more ojas after infectious diseases. The regular use of Soma Shakti will help rebuild and maintain our ojas.

For most people, take one tablet after breakfast and one after lunch.  Do Not take in evening, as it may energize and keep one from gaining proper sleep.

Instructions: 1 Tablet after breakfast and 1 tablet after lunch daily. Do not take after 4pm

Precautions:

When using Soma Shakti, it is important to comply with a proper diet – ideally the alkaline SVA diet – and eating sufficient amount of easy-to-digest protein (fresh paneer, lentils, etc). It is also ideal to maintain a good rest and activity routine. Soma Shakti re-awakens and supports all metabolic and detox systems, sharpening the physiology on all tissue levels. If you are not sure whether it is good for you, please consult with your SVA expert and use under their supervision.

Hello, my name is Dr. Marianne Teitelbaum.  I have a very busy Ayurvedic practice in Cinnaminson, New Jersey, about 15 minutes from Philadelphia.

We are successfully treating every ailment that walks into our door, from MS to autism to food allergies, auto-immune diseases and more.

On the first visit I check the patient to see what is out of balance and write up a detailed protocol for them to follow over the course of the next several months.

On the second visit we sit and discuss dietary guidelines in very great detail.  As I have sat with so many thousands of patients through the years, I see that everyone is afraid to eat ghee (or clarified butter) because it contains cholesterol and they are trying to keep their cholesterol down.

So in this article I would like to educate the public on the importance of eating ghee in the diet and discuss the common misconceptions about the whole cholesterol issue.

In general, ghee is made from simmering butter, leaving behind the casein (the protein in the milk), whey and lactose (the sugar in the milk). Thus, people who are allergic to dairy can usually digest ghee since the most allergenic components, the casein and the lactose, are now missing.

But there actually are two ways to make ghee:  one way is simmering the butter for about a half hour, skimming off the foam that comes to the top until you can see through the melted butter and it starts to crackle.  This is then strained and kept in a glass container.

The second way, and this is the traditional recommended way, is where you take heavy cream and make yogurt out of it using a good yogurt starter culture.  You then churn this yogurt cream into butter and make ghee from that cultured butter.

We will talk about the benefits of ghee in both of these forms, however the friendly bacteria in the yogurt culture breaks the fat down into smaller particles so the second type of ghee can be more readily absorbed across the cell walls.  There are also some other benefits to this yogurt ghee which we will discuss later.

Ghee is considered to be one of the most health-promoting of all foods.

It pacifies all 3 doshas, strengthens the body, improves memory and mental functions, and promotes longevity and fertility.

The brain is made of cholesterol and the reproductive hormones which keep us young are both made of cholesterol, which is why the ancient doctors who wrote the textbooks on Ayurveda said that children who ate ghee would be highly intelligent and women would be very fertile if they ate ghee.

Also, the cholesterol residing in the various layers of the skin is converted into Vitamin D when the sun hits the skin.

Vitamin D prevents auto-immune diseases, like MS, prevents colds and flus, aids in the absorption of calcium from the intestines.  Thyroid hormones cannot work inside the cell unless there is adequate levels of Vitamin D there.  This is why many people I see have normal thyroid hormone production, but present with all thyroid symptoms, such as hair loss, arrhythmias, weight gain, poor circulation and fatigue.

Ghee has numerous medical applications:  it is useful applied topically on burns, it is helpful to the eyes, it is used in many herbal mixtures, such as Chyawan Prash since it serves as a vehicle that carries the nutrients across the lipid-permeable cell membranes and into our cells.  All the cell walls in our bodies are made of cholesterol.

It has one of the highest flash points (485 degrees fahrenheit) of any cooking oil, thus the creation of free radicals and oxidized molecules from high temperature cooking is prevented.

Butter got its name from butyric acid and ghee, which is concentrated butter, is the highest known food source of butyric acid (a short-chain fatty acid).

So let’s take a deeper look at butyric acid and see why it is so good for us:

Butyric acid is the primary fuel for cells of the colon, it feeds the friendly bacteria which helps to boost our immunity and blocks the growth of bad bacteria in the gut.

It is a monounsaturated fatty acid that reduces inflammatory conditions, not only in the gut,  such as found in Crohn’s Disease and Ulcerative Colitis, but also in the lining of the arteries, thus preventing damage to the artery and consequent plaque formation.  It not only reduces inflammation, but aids in repair of the mucous layer in the gut.

It reduces leakage of undigested food particles, otherwise known as leaky gut, which is epidemic in our modern society from pharmaceuticals, such as antibiotics, birth control pills, steroids and immunizations.  These medications damage the friendly bacteria, thus creating the leaky gut scenario.

Let’s take a further look now at the chemical makeup of fats and oils:

Fats fall into two categories:  saturated and unsaturated.  Up until now, modern medicine has taught us that saturated is bad and unsaturated is better for us.  Actually, this is not entirely true.

While it may be that some saturated fats are bad, such as the fat in red meat or hard cheeses, which are channel-clogging and can clog the arteries and other physical channels in the body, it does not mean that ALL saturated fats are bad.  In fact the opposite is true.  Some are extremely good for your health.

There are two types of saturated fats:  long-chain and short-chain fatty acids.  Short-chain fatty acids are easily digested, absorbed and then metabolized so they release energy.  Most of ghee’s saturated fats are short chain.

Long chain fatty acids are very difficult to digest and are thus not completely metabolized and can damage the lining of the arteries, cause cancer and auto-immune diseases and diabetes as they damage the liver.  Everything we swallow has to go through the liver, and these fats are extremely toxic to the liver and create a fatty liver.  In this case, the liver can no longer perform all of its many functions well.

Every oil contains a strand of carbon atoms.  These atoms like to attach to hydrogen.

In the case of ghee, there are only 4 carbon atoms, which is the shortest chain of all (many fats and oils have long chains of carbon, sometimes up to 18 or 25 carbons long.  The longer the carbon chain, the harder it is for the liver and gall bladder to digest).  In fact, the chain of carbons is so short in ghee that it gets absorbed as soon as it enters the body – it does not even have to be processed by the gall bladder!

If all the carbon chains are holding onto hydrogen, this is called saturated, meaning that each carbon in the chain is holding onto the maximum amount of hydrogens it can possibly hold onto.  This is the case of ghee.  Each of the 4 carbons is saturated with hydrogen.  This means that when you cook with it, it is highly stable and can’t take on more hydrogens, which is called hydrogenation.

Olive oil is monounsaturated.  This means that one of the carbons is not holding onto a hydrogen.  Thus, it creates just a little instability, meaning that it can take on a hydrogen if you cook with it.  Thus, in Mediterranean countries, olive oil is mainly used for finishing the dish – pouring the oil on at the end of the cooking process.  If you do want to cook with it, put a little water in with it during the cooking process and cook only on a light heat to prevent the hydrogenation process.

All the other vegetable oils, such as canola, sunflower, safflower, and corn oil are polyunsaturated.  These long carbon chains, which are hard for the liver to digest in the first place, have many carbons which have NOT attached to hydrogens, thus creating the potential for these oils to hydrogenate, or accept hydrogen onto the empty carbons.  Hydrogenated fats are extremely bad for us.  They create trans fats, are highly damaging, not only to the liver, but to the walls of the arteries.  They damage the lining of the artery, creating severe inflammation there, then calcium will deposit, creating plaque formation, which could lead to a heart attack or stroke.

The generation of free radicals caused by the cooking of these oils can also cause cancer and other serious diseases.

I see many patients who were either raised in India or are still living in India.  When we sit down to discuss the diet, I ask them what they are eating:  they usually tell me they are vegetarian and are cooking their food at home – they make chapatis, dahls, vegetables and home-made yogurt.

This is a wonderful diet, yet India has the highest rate of diabetes of any country in the world.  And many of the Indians I see have suffered heart attacks and strokes or have clogged arteries.

When I ask them what type of fats and oils they are eating they always tell me they are eating vegetable oils and stay away from ghee because they know ghee has cholesterol in it.  Or, in many cases, the ghee that they are using has been made in ghee factories in India from hydrogenated vegetable oils and margarine.

So just this one mistake in their diet is wreaking havoc in their health.  I mention this because most Americans are eating vegetable oils high in polyunsaturates as well.

So now, modern medicine is saying that they have in fact, made a mistake, that saturated fat is good for you.  The only fat we know in America that is saturated is coconut oil – so now there is a big push for everyone to eat coconut oil.  This fat is too cold and heavy and hard to digest.  Unless you have a strong digestive fire you probably cannot digest this oil well.

Ghee is saturated and much easier to digest.

Another health benefit of ghee is that it contains conjugated linoleic acid (or CLA), an omega 6 fatty acid important to our health.  We get CLA from our diets, primarily in milk and butter in a vegetarian diet and in beef and lamb in a meat-eating diet.  However, we do not recommend eating beef, since it is too heavy to digest and channel-clogging.

So what does CLA do?  It prevents inflammation in the walls of the arteries and hardening of the arteries.  Don’t forget, the arteries get hard as the calcium deposits into the artery wall after the bad oils inflame it as they course through.

CLA increases the metabolic rate, enhances muscle growth and since muscle burns fat it contributes to weight loss.  This explains why many of the patients told me they lost weight after introducing ghee into their diet.

CLA lowers cholesterol and triglycerides.  This was another interesting thing I took note of through the years – that after introducing ghee into our patients’ diets, their cholesterol and triglycerides went down!

CLA lowers insulin resistance, therefore preventing diabetes.  Don’t forget, diabetes comes when the liver function is poor, usually from eating the bad fats.

CLA improves lean mass to body fat ratio and decreases fat deposition, especially on the abdomen and enhances muscle growth.  This is why body builders take CLA in supplement form.  However, synthetically made CLA is made by chemically altering safflower and sunflower oils, forming a CLA which is not found in nature and does not have the same health benefits as CLA from ghee.  CLA supplements can therefore cause a fatty liver and the resulting problems associated with that, such as diabetes and heart disease.

Now – cows have to be grass fed for optimal CLA production.  CLA from grass-fed cows contains 300-500% more CLA than grain fed cows.  Contemporary Americans are deficient in CLA due to changes that have occurred in feeding cattle grains rather than grass.

And listen very carefully to this:  ghee made from yogurt produces almost twice as much CLA as ghee made from melting butter and removing the water and dairy solids!

In closing, I would like to tell you about Dr. Weston Price.  He was a dentist, who, in the 1930’s decided to search the world to examine societies that were living to a very old age with excellent health.

His studies took him to isolated so-called primitive groups of people, living entirely on indigenous foods.  He traveled to remote Swiss villages, windswept islands off the coast of Scotland and idyllic South Sea islands.  He visited Eskimos in Alaska, traditional American Indians, African tribes and Australian Aborigines.

He found that these groups of people had excellent health due to eating their home made foods.  Once family members moved away to the cities and began eating processed foods, their health declined.  He wrote a book showing pictures of family members who lived off the land, versus their siblings who had moved away.  In the pictures you can see the poor health that resulted in those who began eating foods out of cans and boxes.

But one of the most important things he found was that many of these cultures were eating what he called, “butter oil” from grass-fed cows.  This so-called butter oil was made from removing the whey, curds and water from the original butter.

He had teams of researchers try to see what was in this life-promoting butter oil.  He wanted to know why it contributed to a long healthy life.

He could see that there were fat soluble vitamins, such as Vitamin A, which is good for vision, Vitamin E, which is good for arterial health.

But there was another fat, which he thought was Vitamin D that gave great health benefits.  He researched it, but found that the butter oil did contain Vitamin D, but there was another Vitamin in there and he did not know what it was.

He called this other vitamin, Factor X.  Years later, future researchers named this Factor X  “Vitamin K2.”

It turns out this Vitamin K2 plays an important factor in our health.

Vitamin K2 is made by the friendly bacteria that line the GI tract.  K2 goes straight to your blood vessel walls, bones and soft tissues.

Vitamin K2 helps move calcium into the proper areas in your body, such as your bones and teeth.  It also helps remove calcium from areas where it shouldn’t be, such as in your arteries and soft tissues.

Now, take note of this as it is extremely important to your health:  it is important to maintain the proper balance between calcium, Vitamin K2, Vitamin D and calcium.  Lack of balance between these nutrients is why calcium supplements have become associated with increased risk of heart attacks and strokes.

As we always say, do not take the synthetically produced vitamins, such as Vitamin D, Vitamin K2, or calcium.  These are lacking the prana and thus the intelligence of nature.  When they come into the body they have an unintelligent undesirable effect.

Taking Vitamin D dumps too much fat into the liver, creating a fatty liver and sludge in the gall bladder.  It also creates a greater need for Vitamin K2.  Synthetically made calcium gets stuck in the channels thus clogging the arteries and depositing in the lining of the arteries.

So in closing, you can see that it is of utmost importance to obtain these (and other) nutrients the way nature intended – get your Vitamin D from sunlight, get your calcium from good milk from grass-fed cows.

And above all, don’t be afraid to eat ghee – it is nature’s gift to us – it keeps the liver healthy, helps the gut maintain the delicate balance of friendly bacteria, keeps the heart healthy and provides a natural source of all the 4 fat-soluble Vitamins – Vitamin A, D, E and K.

And, Ayurvedically speaking, it cools the flames of pitta, even as it sharpens agni, or metabolism, and lubricates the dryness of Vata.  And ghee made from yogurt is good if you are a kapha type, as it is lighter and easier to digest and doesn’t create excess weight gain.

So I hope this article takes away any lingering confusion about the importance of ghee in the diet and why we need to avoid the polyunsaturated vegetable oils.

Thank you.

Dr. Marianne Teitelbaum

Cinnaminson, New Jersey

856-787-3330

There are so many reasons we are prone to catching colds and developing coughs, particularly at the seasonal junctions (you can read more about this in my article: “Why do you get sick in “ritu sandhi” – when the season shifts from Summer to Autumn?” on my blog https://www.svayurveda.com/?s=ritu+sandhi). There are 11 SVA things you can do to prevent catching a cold anytime of the year. But if it’s already here, if you already caught one, what can you do?

To help you manage and gain relief from this common disorder, I formulated a new powerful herbal syrup:  SVA Kantakari Cough & Cold Syrup, fortified with Abhrak Sahasra Puti Bhasma.  The main ingredient in this syrup is kantakari (Solanum xanthocarpum), used in ayurvedic India for centuries to manage many types of ailemnts, and particularly coughs and colds.  One synonym for kantakari is “Vyaghri,” which means “makes you roar like a tiger” – as  Kantakari strengthens the voice and the lungs. You can even just repeat the name, kantakari, and pay attention to the vibrational charge you release from your throat area, to experience the power it carries!

In the cough syrup, along with kantakari, I have included eight other powerful herbs, spices, and minerals, in order to deliver a safe, natural, and effective herbal remedy for the common cough and cold.  Please note, unlike over-the-counter medications, this herbal formula is not a cough suppressant.  Rather, it naturally addresses the etiological factors associated with coughs and colds and the resulting physiological imbalances.

But why do you get a cough or a cold?  In the SVA tradition, we never manage any condition  without first understanding the etiological factors, as the Charak Samhita teaches us to. 

Hetu means etiological factor; Lingam means symptom; Aushadhi means remedy or treatment; Gyanam means the knowledge of these factors.  Swastha Atur Paranayam says that Hetu Lingam Aushada are in the protocol of the wise physician to give health back to the sick and maintain the well-being of the healthy.  This sutra comes to us from non-other than Lord Brahma himself, the original author of the entire ayurvedic science!  My family tradition of Ayurveda never engages in any protocol without first addressing the hetu as prescribed by this sutra.

As we’ve learnt, we tend to be more prone to catching a cold when the season is changing, in the early Fall or Spring seasons. During seasonal transitions when temperatures shift, the agni, or digestive fire, is known to fluctuate, making the body prone to ama or toxic build-up.  Ama, as we know, is the breeding ground for all illnesses.  In the early spring there is yet another factor that can induce cough and colds. But we can gain even more insight into this through SVA, and understanding how the 3 primordial energies of Soma, Agni, and Marut, interact with our bodies and nature.

During the cold of winter, in SVA terms a Soma predominant season, kapha dosha naturally increases in the physiology.  Soma, as we know, is the raw material for kapha. Kapha itself can be found predominately in the chest area.  So the natural accumulation of kapha, especially shleshaka kapha in the chest, starts happening in winter.  By the time spring arrives, this heavy, channel blocking shleshaka kapha becomes further provoked and ‘melts.’ Much like the accumulated snows of winter melt and flow during Spring. The accumulated shleshaka kapha flows and floods the micro-channels of the lungs. But there is even more.

SVA teaches us that in order to transform Soma into “ojas” and kapha dosha, we need sufficient Agni (metabolic fire.)  In some regions of the country Soma is so predominant that Agni can’t keep up with this transformation process.  Instead of ojas and kapha, the Soma gets partially digested and transformed into a mixture of kapha and ama (physical toxins) called shleshma. This toxic mixture also melts and flows in the Spring but does so – if at all — more like molasses than water, slowing down and muting out all metabolic cellular processes in the body overall.

Besides seasonal accumulation of shleshaka and shleshma, several other etiological factors (see article on “Eleven Tips To Ward Off Your Seasonal Colds“) either directly or indirectly make conditions fertile for cough & cold.  In general, these factors alone, or in combination with the impact of ritu (season), involve a combination of several sub-doshas taking center stage in the drama of cough and cold.

Ayurvedically speaking, udana vata subdosha governs the throat, lungs and speech. The overall bodily structure, on the other hand, is governed by shleshaka kapha, providing lubrication.  The whole chest is the seat of avalambaka kapha, which governs the functions of the chest, heart, lungs, and lower back.  Avalambaka in particular supports the structure and function of the lungs, and it also stabilizes and supports the connection between udana and prana vata, which governs the chest and respiration (as well as the brain, head, and mind). Prana Vata is the governing force for udana vata. This connection comes directly into play when, due to digestive imbalances, ama starts circulating through the lungs, and in a later stage mixes with shleshaka kapha to form shleshma. When udana is out of balance, it has a drying effect on shleshma, causing it to dry up and clog the lungs. When the crusty molecules of shleshma plug up the tiny, micro-sized channels of the lungs, then elasticity is impaired and circulation is diminished. This is the condition often found in dry, unproductive severe coughing.  The body reacts (sometimes with great force) to expel shleshma from the lungs and respiratory pathways but is unable to do so.

So, when you have contracted a cold, and have a cough, you can try my ayurvedic formula to help correct things. The SVA Kantakari Cough & Cold Syrup, fortified with Abhrak Sahasra Puti Bhasma, will help address your doshic imbalances in several ways. Here’s how:

 

·         the herbal synergy will dilate the srotas (physical channels) of the respiratory system to ease breathing and evacuation of accumulated shleshma;

·         it will enhance coordination between the physical and vibrational channels carrying Prana in the form of oxygen to support breathing;

·         it will moisten and lubricate the dry (yet sticky) bronchial channels, to give relief from dry hacking coughs;

·         it will bind and flush out the shleshma and amavisha (reactive toxins) from the lungs;

·         it will restore the intelligence of the respiratory channels – making them pro-active once more in deciding what material to keep and what to evacuate;

·         it will supply deep nourishment and support for the delicate tissues and overall structure of the lungs;

·         it will boost your immunity naturally and provide support for the optimal functioning of the lungs and the entire respiratory area.

 

Ingredients and their actions:

·         Kantakari (Solanum xanthocarpum)  – a beneficial plant from the nightshade family, that helps open the physical bronchial channels and enhances coordination of the vibrational channels between the lungs and mind;

 

·         Vasa (Adhatoda vasica) – known as phphus shleshma hari (phphus is Sanskrit for lungs)  Shleshma (ama & shleshaka mix) is the main factor congesting the micro channels of the lungs.  “Hari” means to take away.

 

·         Indian Sarsaparilla (Hemidesmus indicus)  – Lubricates the bronchial channels without clogging them;

 

·         Marshmallow root (Althea officinalis)  – moistens the channels of the lungs, binding amavisha and garvisha to evacuate them out of the respiratory tract;

 

·         Sweet Basil (Ocimum basilicum) – A mildly thermogenic channel opener, supports immunity of the lungs and the blood tissue. It also supports the intelligent functioning of the channels.

 

·         Pushkarmool (Inula racemosa) – Aromatic root that opens channels and removes toxic mucous molecules;

 

·         Abhrak Sahasra Puti Bhasma – A supremely rejuvenating substance that requires years to make through the controlled process of the repeated ‘burnings’ of mica – a shiny silicate mineral with a layered structure, found as minute scales in granite and other rocks, or as crystals. In Ayurveda, we favor black mica (krishnabhra).  This thousand times ‘burnt’ Abhrak is a potent yogavahi – carries the medicinal properties of herbs and spices deep into the cellular system. Abhrak Bhasma is a Maha Rasayana (rejuvenator) for the whole body but specifically for the lungs.

 

·         Black Pepper (Piper nigrum) – Opens the physical channels with its penetrating thermogenic properties, burning ama along the way;

 

·         Ginger (Zingiber officinale) – amongst its many wondrous properties, is a potent physical channel opener;

 

·         Sweet Orange (Citrus sinensis) – nurtures the lungs and provides sweet flavor for palatability;

 

·         White Grapefruit Extract (Citrus paradise) – a natural preservative with nurturing properties;

Directions: Do not consume without mixing with water. For young adults ages 10 to 20 years: use ½ tsp. mixed in 2 ounces of warm water. For adults ages 20 & above: use 1 tsp. mixed in 2 ounces of warm water. Use no more than 2 – 3 times daily. Sip the mixture slowly, allowing the syrup to coat the throat. This formula is great for symptoms of congestion, cough, or a cold.

Precautions: This is a highly concentrated powerful formula. Do not administer to children under the age of ten. Do Not use if pregnant or lactating. Do Not consume as-is without mixing in warm water. If cough/cold persists – with or without fever – consult your medical physician. If already using any other medicines for an existing condition, consult with your physician before adding this herbal formula to your regimen.

Disclaimer: This product and statements have not been evaluated by the FDA (Food and Drug Administration) and are not intended to be used to diagnose, treat, or cure any disease. All of the information above is intended to be used for educational purposes only, and may not be used to replace, or compliment medical advice.

With Ayurveda we can learn to be more savvy on how to avoid additional “hetu” factors (root causes) that can bring about seasonal coughs and colds. Here are 11 pointers for you to consider warding off that seasonal congestion.

1)   When we expose our bodies to extreme fluctuations in temperature (too hot & too cold) on the same or even alternate days, it places great strain on the body to cope up with extreme conditions in very little time.  Ease your body into temperatures by exposing it to moderate heat and cold or doing so gradually, and/or at least protecting it properly when entering and exiting.

2)   Not maintaining our body temperature warm in colder/cooler climates – not dressing warmly enough for the environment, and exposing the body to cold temperatures, or getting damp by walking in the rain without adequate protection – all these create a good condition for a cold. When the early Spring rays of sunshine start coming in, we tend to get a little adventurous and impatient about shedding our extra layers. It is best to maintain the same amount of caution in the Spring, until the end of May when things do finally start to warm up inside out.

3)   Consuming processed protein (“dumb” or “dead” food) – as in processed cheese in pizza, pasta, or eating other highly processed foods such as cold cuts, etc. “Dumb” or “dead” foods  put greater strain on the digestive system, as they are harder to process and metabolize, and result in greater toxic bi-products when they pass through the different stages of the digestive system. This lowers the body’s immunity, and can cause inflammation, and results in chronic colds and infections.

4)   Eating very heavy, cold, fatty, or fried foods. Specially in cold weather. Heavy foods result in the production of toxic build-up, ama. Ama mixes with one of the bodily humors, shleshaka kapha, clogging the channels and putting out the digestive fires. In such an environment, bacterial infections thrive, causing body aches, fever, and the common cold and cough conditions.

5)   Not following a healthy daily and seasonal routines – going to bed by 10 pm, and not skipping or delaying your meals are key to great health. Following an erratic rest and nourishment routine puts undue stress on the physiology, impacts immunity, making it more prone to generate ama, toxic build-up even out of healthy food, and thus making the body prone to catch seasonal colds.

6)   Frequently eating nightshades: tomatoes, potatoes, egg plants, large peppers – these vegetables are inflammatory by nature, that’s how they are chemically made-up, and they clog the circulatory channels, muting the digestive fire, and making it easier for the body to catch a cold, especially in the winter time.

7)   Consuming cold food (salads, sandwiches, etc) with cold/frozen drinks – pop drinks, malts, shakes, fruit and vegetables smoothies, specially in the Winter or the Fall. It’s all about maintaining the digestive and metabolic fire in top shape, and cold foods and drinks put it out, creating an environment prone to viral or bacterial infections. Alternately, if you consume too pungent foods (with red chili powder, vinegar, garlic, onion, etc) making you crave cold icy drinks to put off the fire, you make your body prone to the same kind of extreme conditions that reduce its immunity and make it prone to catching a cold;

8)   Cold milk: milk should never be consumed cold. Always boil/warm first, and ideally add warming spices such as ginger, or cinnamon, or cardamom. Never drink milk with your salty meals.

9)   In the winter time especially, do not eat yogurt at night, or early in the morning. Ideally, at lunch time, make a thin yogurt drink (80% water 20% yogurt). Add a pinch of Mum’s Masala, Soma salt, mix and enjoy. Having yogurt daily is necessary to maintain our gut’s friendly bacteria. The yogurt drink (water, yogurt and spices) will not clog channels, is easy to digest, and a healthy daily habit.

10)   Excessive daily exposure to EMF from computers, TV or smartphone screens brings down the body’s immunity making it prone to infections and inflammation.

11)   Stress, in the big picture, is the constant immunity-lowering factor. You can lead the ideal ayurvedic lifestyle, but if your days run high on stress, nothing will help! It is key to make time to de-stress through yoga, or meditation, or a walk in nature. You will increase your productivity and joy at work!

Disclaimer: This product and statements have not been evaluated by the FDA (Food and Drug Administration) and are not intended to be used to diagnose, treat, or cure any disease.All of the information above is intended to be used for educational purposes only, and may not be used to replace, or compliment medical advice.