Ginger - Benefits in Home Based Remedies
There are two varieties of Ginger (adrak) red and white flowers, as well as with small and big branches.
The leaves, the bark of the root, flowers, juice (i.e. the milk obtained by breaking the buds of the flowers) are all used for medicinal purposes.
It has a particular bitter taste and distinctive odor. It has a laxative effect and is a purifier. It has a fine effect on the heart akin to digitalis. The juice is an irritant and very hot in action, and should be used with care.
The flowers aid in digestion, remove stomach pain and have a tonic effect.
The gigantic swallowwort is a well – known home remedy, and it is not only a favorite in the rural areas but has also found its way to the higher circles. Ayurvedic physicians use it alone or in combination with other well – known drugs.
The leaves of the tree have wide medical application. Take the leaves, apply a little lukewarm castor oil and fix them on the stomach, tied with a string. This will relieve abdominal gas and colic spontaneously.
Take the juice of the leaves 16 parts, powder of turmeric one part and the oil of yellow sarson (musterd) 6 parts. Mix them all. The resultant oil applied on the skin in disorders like scabies and particularly chronic eczema, is found to be beneficial.
The powder of dried leaves sprinkled on wounds helps the healing process.
Five drops of the juice of the leaves mixed with honey, given morning and evening internally, proves beneficial in case of enlargement of the spleen and it removes the feeling of feverishness brought about by weakness.
The problem of dog bite (especially by rabid dogs) is not yet solved. Injections may be tried as a preventive measure but no sure remedy is available. However, there is a well – known formula used in the rural areas. The powder of the bark of the root of gigantic swallowwort, one part; powder of the leaves of the dhatura tree, 1/8 part; and sugar one part; are all mixed together, rubbed in water and pills prepared of 2 grains each.
The victim is first given a purgative (castor oil) and then these pills are started. For adults 3 pills and for youngsters 1-2 pills, according to age, are given early in the morning with a little water and then a little channa can be given, but nothing afterwards for three hours.
This treatment should be continued for 40 days. This medicine is considered to be an effective remedy for dog, fox or cat bite. No trouble is likely to arise later but if any tendency is observed, the juice of the leaves of gigantic swallowwort one part, 1/8 part of the juice of the leaves of the dhatura tree, and til oil one ounce, all mixed together should be given on the spot, and half that quantity on the second and third days.
The juice is used to prepare various bhasmas (oxides of well known ayurvedic metals).
Patients suffering from chronic rheumatic attachs can take the powder of the root of the gigantic swallowwort and ginger in equal quantities mixed together to form 6-12 rattis. It brings on perspiration, removes pain in the joints and is effective for reducing swelling of the joints.
A bhasma, prepared from the ripe leaves of this tree (64 parts) and common salt (4 parts), mixed together, is highly effective in digestive disorders and removes gas.
In cases of elephantiasis and the swelling of the scrotum, the root is ground into a paste with butter milk and applied to the swelling. This has been found efficacious in the preliminary stages.
Another well – known use of this tree is in ear ache, pus coming out of the ear accompanied by pain. The ripe leaves are roasted, the juice taken, and 2- to 5 drops are poured into the ears.
Gigantic swallow wort has effective use in kapha, cough, asthma and breathlessness. Dried flowers, 1-2 rattis, pounded and boiled with molasses, are used as a remedy for breathlessness.
Demuk, the well – known authority suggests: Take 125 flowers, dry them and powder them and mix them with one tola each of cloves, nutmeg, mace, pellitory root and make them into pills of half a tola each, one pill daily to be taken in the morning, dissolved in milk. This medicine is good for virility.
