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Depression Treatment With Herbs and Ayurvedic Remedies

Depression is a neurological disorder. When a person is too overcome with negative emotions, it becomes difficult to focus on any other issue. The person may become lethargic and lose interest in what is going on around them. Such a state may occur when a person fails in an examination, loses a job, gets jilted by a lover, gets divorced, loses some dear one, etc. Some people are able to get over their emotions quickly. But in some others, depressions may last for several days, weeks or even months.

In Ayurveda, depression is known as Chittavsada. It is caused by the increase in the tamas and rajas of the mind with a vitiation of the kapha dosha. Sometimes, an imbalanced vata may also be responsible for depression.

Depression needs to be looked after and treated as soon as it is identified. In some people, depression may be very dangerous as they could resort to endangering their own and other people?s lives.

(1) Useful Herbs in the Treatment of Depression

1. Ashwagandha (Withania somnifera)

Ashwagandha has the requisite properties to remove negative thoughts from the mind. The aphrodisiac properties of ashwagandha also help in improving the mind and removing depression.

2. Brahmi (Bacopa monnieri)

Brahmi is prescribed before a yogic session. The reason is that brahmi helps to relax the mind and bring it to a comfortable state. Brahmi is very popularly available in the form of oils. The oil has a cooling and soothing effect on the mind. Regular use of this oil can prevent the person from feeling depressed.

3. Cardamom (Elattaria cardamomum)

Cardamom has a very pleasing odor which can soothe the nerves. When a person is depressed, a tea made by putting cardamom in it can have almost miraculous effects.

4. Guggulu (Commiphora wightii)

Guggulu has become the focus of attention recently due to the presence of special chemicals in it called as guggulsterones. These chemicals improve the nervous coordination and hence are beneficial in the treatment of depression. Guggulu is more effective in depression caused due to seasonal affective disorder.

5. Jatamansi (Nardostachys jatamansi)

Jatamansi brings a calming effect on the mind. By canalizing the energies of the mind in the right direction, jatamansi can remove the depressive thoughts.

6. Turmeric (Curcuma longa)

Turmeric is effective in treating depression that is caused by the change of seasons, i.e. seasonal affective disorder.

(2) Dietary Treatments for Depression

For people with depression a heavy food is not advised. The person must not eat to the full capacity. Hot, spicy and pungent tastes must be avoided as these will aggravate the senses further. Fluids and fresh vegetables (in salads) must become an important part of every meal. The person can have cool sherbets like rose sherbet in the middle of the day, especially in the afternoons and when the evening is beginning. Tea and coffee may be taken occasionally to stimulate the brain.

Most people with depression lose their appetite and desire to eat. For such people, food must not be forced, or it could lead to vomiting. When such a disinterest in food occurs, fruits can be consumed. A diet rich in fruits is beneficial in the treatment of depression.

(3) Ayurvedic Treatment for Depression

Even in Ayurveda, a psychological counseling between the physician and the patient is undertaken. This helps the physician to understand the root cause of the depression. Then they can take the formulated steps to cure the problem. Such counseling is done to increase the sattva of the mind.

Slowly allowing a stream of water to fall in the center of the forehead enables the mind to remove its negativistic thoughts and focus more on a positive outlook. This therapy is known as shirodhara and it is becoming very popular in the western world also. An alternative therapy is shirobasti. The oil massage therapy called as abhyanga is also very useful.

Ayurverdic professionals also advocate the use of yoga in keep the mind restful. Praanayama and yoga must become an important part of a person?s daily routine. This helps to concentrate the mind on positive thoughts and depression will never occur. Yogic asanas that are beneficial to people with depression are bhujangasana, halasana, paschimottasana, sarvangasana, shalabhasana, shavasana and vakrasana. In addition, pranayamas like bhastrika and kapalbhati are very strongly advised.

(4) Home Medications

1. Get someone do a good head massage with a cooling oil like brahmi oil.

2. Improve the regimen of your day. Begin with yoga in the morning and then listen to good soothing music. For some people, visiting their religious places of worship also helps to come out of depression.

3. Focus your mind in other activities and hobbies in order to keep the thoughts causing depression away.

4. You can try eating an apple with milk and honey. This helps to improve the mood.

5. Simple lemon juice (the extract of one lemon in a glass of water, sweetened with sugar) is also good. It releases stress-removing hormones and brings the mind at ease.

Joint Pain – Simple Home Remedies

Joint pains are very disadvantageous because they can interfere in the normal functioning of people. From an Ayurvedic point of view, joint pains occur when there are digestive problems in the body, which leads to the buildup of toxins in the spaces between the joints. Hence, when the joints are moved in the slightest, pain is felt in them.

Some people live with excruciating joint pains that don?t go despite treatment. They look upon these pains as a part of growing up. However, with the right kind of medicine these pains can be totally eliminated.

Treatment with Simple Home Remedies

Remedy # 1

Take the juice of a ginger. Crush some vidanga (Embelia ribes, False Black Pepper) to a fine powder with some rock salt. Mix all of these and take them in quantities of three grams each time with honey. Lick on this thrice a day.

Remedy # 2

Massage the paining joints with the oil extracted from the seeds of the Bishop?s weed. Warm the oil a little before massaging. A similar kind of relief is obtained by massaging with the oil of neem (Azadirachta indica, Indian Margosa).

Remedy # 3

In case of joint pains due to cold weather, add a fistful of Bishop?s weed seeds and one teaspoon of salt in two cups of water and boil it. Keep a sieve on this, and then keep a cloth on the sieve. The cloth will get moistened with the warm fumes of the solution. Use this cloth to foment the painful joints. This will remove the pains.

Remedy # 4

Some joint pains are felt more acutely in the knees, fingers and shoulders when lifting some heavy weight. These are very persistent pains in most cases, and they do not dissipate despite treatments. In such pains, tomatoes are the best solutions due to their rich vitamin C content. Eat four to five raw tomatoes in a day, and eat one bowlful of thick tomato soup twice a day ? in the morning and the evening. This provides great relief within a fortnight of continued use.

Remedy # 5

If there are sharp and sudden joint pains in any part of the body, then grind an amalaki (Emblica officinalis, Indian Gooseberry) in water that is a little warm. Then add a slightly crushed piece of cardamom in the water. Drink this concoction once a day. This will retain the zest and vigor of the body and also prevent all the inexplicable pains that arise suddenly in different parts of the body.

Remedy # 6

Take a petal of the yellow oleander flower, known as kaner in Hindi, and grind it to a paste in groundnut oil. Apply this paste regularly on the regions where the joint pains arise. Continuous use will totally eliminate the pains.

Remedy # 7

You can also grind some cloves of garlic and apply the paste on the affected joints. This will remove the pains in a short while. But the problem with this remedy is that the garlic paste needs to be washed off within a few minutes, or it will lead to boils on the skin.

Remedy # 8

Prepare a paste of mustard seeds with a little water. Apply this oily paste onto the affected joints. The pains will be eliminated in a short while.

Remedy # 9

This is a regimen that will take care of joint pains, but it takes some patience. Every morning after waking up, eat castor seeds in the following manner. On the first day of the routine, eat one peeled castor seed, on the second day two and so on keep increasing the number by one till the seventh day. From the eighth day onwards, begin reducing the number of castor seeds by one. Do this till the number comes down to one. The joint pains will vanish by then.

Remedy # 10

Cook some seeds of Bishop?s weed in water. Let the water boil and the fumes come out. Bring your affected joints in contact with the fumes. This will make the joint pains disappear.

Remedy # 11

Put some bitter oil in a pan. Add some seeds of the Bishop?s weed and some cloves of garlic. Use this oil to massage deep into the regions where you get frequent joint pains. This remedy has the potency to remove any kind of joint pains if done diligently.

Remedy # 12

Crush two cloves of garlic and add them to some sesame oil. Warm the oil and massage it deep into the paining joints. You will find immense benefits from this therapy.

Remedy # 13

If the pains are not that severe, then a simple steam fomentation with a cloth will also help. The cloth must be moistened with the vapors and then pressed deep into the affected areas. Fomentation must be done for at least twenty minutes a day, and preferably at dusk.

Remedy # 14

Prepare a brew of ginger juice in castor oil. Take no more than 10 milliliters of castor oil and a teaspoonful of the juice of ginger. Drink this twice a day ? at dawn and at dusk ? on an empty stomach.

Treatment with Special Ayurvedic Methods

Since joint pains are related to the accumulation of ama, the first step in their treatment is to remove all the toxins. This is done by making the patient fast for a day. After this, fomentation is applied on the swollen joints with dry heat. Castor oil is used extensively in Ayurveda to perform massage in case of joint pains. Herbs prescribed in various potencies are galangal, garlic, guggul and punarnava. Dashamoolarishta is the preparation most commonly prescribed, and treatment is generally carried on for three weeks.

Home Remedies for Acne on Face

As acne can be considered as the skin rashes with no particular reason behind, it can not be looked at as the serious health issue. But sometimes it resulted into scrapes. The acne affected mainly at the areas of face, neck, back, chest, and shoulders. One of the distressing affected areas of Acne is face, which results into a distressed condition from where people became unsociable.

As there is no particular reason behind the occurrence of acne other than hormonal imbalance, the remedy of this skin problem involves mainly the natural therapy. As per medication one can take anti- biotic. There are some home remedies present for curing this skin problem. To name a few they are:

? After Cooking oatmeal one needs to apply this cooked oatmeal on face for fifteen minutes.

? To reduce the acne, one needs to take a warm bath with blanch of nettle and rosemary.

? Applying adequate amount of lemon juice and rose water with a cotton ball also helps to reduce acne problem. After applying this mixture it needs to be left for half an hour and then wash off. This remedy needs to be repeated for 15-20 days.

? Snagging the acne with garlic cloves also helps to reduce acne. This remedy needs to apply several times a day.

? Mixture of avocado paste and water is another home remedy for acne problem.

? ‘Bedouin meds’ is also another home remedy that involves few steps to cure the acne problem. These steps are: Having a medium grated radish with each meal. Drinking of 2 cups of rosemary tea. Drinking of 3 glasses of water with squeezed lemon and honey.

? Mixture of 1 tablespoon of dried or fresh yeast and 2 tablespoons of lemon juice also helps to reduce acne problem. The mixture needs to be applied on face and one needs to wait until it gets hard. After that the mask needs to be peeled off with warm water.

? To avoid and restrict the growth of acne on face one needs to clear the skin on a regular basis with a soaked cotton ball in either lemon juice or apple cider vinegar.

? Mixing of 2-3 tea bags to some basil and then after cooked in boiling water for 10-20 minutes. This mixture needs to be applied on the acne with a cotton ball.

? The water which is saturate with lettuce leaves is worthy to apply on the acne.

? Grinded bay leaves along with blanch in water also helps in reducing acne on face.

? Boiled water with added apple cider vinegar also helpful in reducing the acne problem. The vapor of this mixture is needed to be taken.

? One simple remedy to this problem is to avoid touching the affected area.

? Applying of toothpaste just before going to bed also a useful remedy for acne.

? A paste of fresh fenugreek leaves over the face also helps to reduce the problem.

? Paste of neem leaves along with turmeric is an ayurvedic but home remedy for acne on face.

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Alcoholism Cure – Herbs and Ayurvedic Remedies, Alcoholism Treatment

Alcoholism is defined as an irresistible urge to consume alcohol. People suffering from alcoholism are very well aware of the dangerous effects alcohol could have on their bodies, but still they are unable to resist the urge to consume it. They will usually drink beyond acceptable limits and will be in an inebriated state most often, causing embarrassment and inconvenience to the people with them.

Most people who consume alcohol have more than they can manage. This is seen in alcohol drinkers who lose control of their senses when they have one drink too many. Such an overstepping of limits is called as alcohol abuse. People who abuse alcohol are having more alcohol than their body allows them, but they have not yet come totally under the control of their alcohol habit. However, if they continue drinking for long, then they will not be able to resist alcohol and will become totally addicted to it. This situation is called as alcoholism.

Constant alcoholism will interfere with the functioning of all the vital organs of the body. The major organs affected are the liver, brain, heart and kidneys.

Liver is perhaps the most seriously affected in the long run. With prolonged alcoholism, the liver may develop cirrhosis, which is scarring of the liver tissue. Once cirrhosis sets in, it is very difficult to return the health back to normal.

In the stomach, alcohol can cause several gastric problems which may interfere with digestion. At the same time, each time a person has alcohol, it numbs his/her nervous system. In due course, the person may lose some or all of the fundamental senses.

(1) Useful Herbs in the Treatment of Alcoholism

1. Aloe vera (Aloe vera)

Aloe vera helps to strengthen the liver which is the first organ to be affected by the habit of alcoholism. Aloe vera can improve the functions and strength of the liver, and can prevent cirrhosis which is developed due to continuous intake of alcohol.

2. Ashwagandha (Withania somnifera)

Ashwagandha is an herb that is taken to reduce vata vitiations. This is important since vata plays and important role in strengthening the brain and nervous coordination. Use of ashwagandha can make the alcoholic person stronger.

3. Gotu Kola (Centella asiatica)

The gotu kola herb revitalizes the brain. This is essential in people who want to overcome the withdrawal symptoms accompanied with alcohol.

4. Musk (Nardostachys jatamansi)

Known commonly in Ayurveda as Jatamansi, musk is a nervine for the vata vitiation. Its cooling effect helps the body to fight against then effects of alcoholism.

(2) Ayurvedic Treatment for Alcoholism

Ayurvedic treatments for mada work on various levels. There are different kinds of treatments for people with different degrees of alcoholism. Common therapies employed are cold irrigations on the head, providing a cold diet and applying cold mud packs on the body.

However these therapies work only for people who are not habitual alcoholics. These are the people who are beginners to drinking and hence get intoxicated easily. Ayurvedic medicines like Brihat vata chintamani rasa, Vata Vidhwansa rasa, Brahmi ghritam and Sarvatha choorna can be given to the alcoholics.

But if the person is a habitual alcoholic, then severe treatments are necessary. The medication is done based on the doshic constitution of the person.

1. For people with a vata constitution, the prescribed Ayurvedic treatments are Suvarachala choorna, Shuktapana and Amla Snigdhaadi yoga.

2. For people with a pitta constitution, the prescribed Ayurvedic treatments are Vata Srugadi pana and Kshundramalaki hima.

3. For people with a kapha constitution, the prescribed Ayurvedic treatments are to induce vomiting, fasting and to provide digestive medicines.

(3) Home Medications

Fruit juices are very effective in lowering the effects of alcoholism. For removing the effects of a hangover, the juice of a lemon or orange will be very effective. Eating an apple or banana helps to flush out the toxins from the body which collect due to alcoholism.

Both grapes and dates are very beneficial in reducing the urge to consume alcohol. If alcoholics are kept on a diet of only grapes for a couple of weeks, then most likely the temptation to drink will be totally gone.

Introduce many other drinks in the person?s diets so that the craving for the alcoholic drink is reduced.

When the person feels the urge to consume alcohol, having a glass of carrot juice will help to reduce the temptation.

For an alcoholic, avoiding alcohol could be a very difficult task. The withdrawal symptoms of alcoholism may be very severe. So it is not advisable for a hardcore alcohol to stop drinking entirely. Instead, the alcohol should be carefully phased out.

The following steps can be taken to reduce alcohol intake

1. The person must be made to take interest in constructive hobbies and sports.

2. Love and affection from family members and friends could strengthen the resolve of the person to give up alcoholism.

3. Attending meetings of Alcoholics Anonymous will show the alcoholic how people have managed to kick their boozing habits. This will create a very positive outlook in the alcoholic.

4. Instead of alcohol, other drinks with less alcohol in them can be used, such as wine and cocktails. Eventually even these can be stopped.

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