Great Gooseberry-A Gift of Nature!

The humble gooseberry (amla in Hindi) has so many great properties!

To begin, a 100 gm.dried gooseberry has as many as 3000 mg (approx.) vitamin C. Whenever you need this vitamin, just eat a gooseberry with some common salt. It is that simple. Vitamin C so obtained gets absorbed in our body quickly. Pickles and sherbet made form gooseberry are tasty. Ayurveda advises us to eat gooseberry everyday for our well being.

 Gooseberry tree is grown all over India and many other parts of the world except in extreme climates. A normal gooseberry is round shaped ( nearly 2 cm. in diameter) and solid. The  6 lines on its surface are equally placed. It comes in yellow, green or copper colour.

Gooseberry in combating many ailments such as breathing problems, diabetes, arthritis, heart problems and so on. It is useful in hair growth too. a cup of fresh gooseberries has fiber, vitamin C and potassium and i=has cancer fighting qualities. But processed gooseberry powder, now available, has only half the quantity of vitamin C. Such powder has 180 calories while a cup of fresh gooseberries has just 65 calories.

Disease resistant properties of gooseberry are utilised in a number of medicines. Its good qualities improve working of all organs in our body. A spoon of gooseberry juice woth honey helps in digestion and passing urine. A spoon of this juice added to a cup of bitter- gourd (karela in Hindi) juice and taken daily, helps in regenerating insulin in our body and in reducing sugar content in blood. This medicine taken along with rigorous practice of diet as recommended by doctors will control diabetes. Again a spoon of gooseberry juice mixed with jaggery ( gur in Hindi) taken twice a day regularly, alleviates arthritis pain, over a period.
                                      
No wonder then, that gooseberry is an essential component in the age old ayurvedic tonic Chyavan Prash!

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Leafy Spice-To Add Taste To Your Food

CURRY LEAVES

The curry leaves tree is grown widely and wildly, all over India. Many a south Indian home has this tree in the backyard. The tree grows sometimes to a height of 3 metres too. There are many varieties of the curry tree.

But the leaves of all varieties are used in traditional Indian cooking, everyday.When cooked, they give out an agreeable odour and impart beneficial qualities to food cooked.

Curry leaves have anti-oxidant properties, besides being high on Vitamin C. they help cleaning your blood and add glow to your skin, bring luster to your hair.By adding curry leaves to the food you cook, will increase your calcium and iron intake. This will help your eyesight.

Pregnant women can ease their ‘morning sickness’ by adding curry leaves to lemon juice. Add organic jiggery to the drink. This is a healthy, harmless, herbal drink.For an upset stomach, take buttermilk by adding curry leaves.

Triphala helps curing constipation and much more

Ayurveda, the ancient Indian herbal medicinal science lays great emphasis on the uses and benefits of Triphala. The main benefits are for acidity, loss of appetite, abdominal pain, constipation, irritable bowel syndrome, digestive disturbances and liver problems. Triphala  is also beneficial for people who are suffering from high cholesterol and high blood pressure problems. It is also curative for atherosclerosis and anemic conditions.

Triphala is a mixture of three main ingredients, the emblica officinalis (Indian gooseberry, amalaki), terminalia belerica (beleric myroblans, bibhitaki) and terminalia chebula (chebulic myroblans, haritaki). The Indian gooseberry itself has a host of benefits for the human system, including curative properties for renal diseases, colon cleansing, diabetes, inflammations and cancers. Amalaki is also the richest source of vitamin C, which makes it a powerful antioxidant.

Mixtures of Triphala have to be made very cautiously, because the ratios in which amalaki, bibhitaki and haritaki are used are very important to the overall curative properties of the mixture. It is not just the ratio; even the manner, in which the individual components have to be dried and then mixed together, is quite important. Amateurishly made Triphala has little or no effects on the human system. But Indian ayurvedic professionals have great expertise in making the mixture to the right amount.

In addition to being an all-purpose stimulant or tonic, Triphala is a mild laxative, serves as a nourishing substance for the eye, skin and liver and is also a common detoxifying agent that cleanses the body of all toxins.It helps in controlling Diabetes,eye disorders,high blood pressure and cleanses colon.

USING TRIPHALA :

Add 1/2 to 1 teaspoon Triphala powder to about a cup of boiling water. Stir well and wait till the solution is cool enough to drink. Ignore the residue in the cup.You may not like the taste at first as it may taste quite bitter.but regular usage will benefit you and eventually taste becomes less unpleasant.But if you really cannot stand the taste, add honey to the powder and take it that way.

Take Triphala at least one hour after your night meals. Those people who are diuretic may be disturbed in sleep. Such persons may take Triphala with their morning tea.