PLANET AYURVEDA: ASK DOCTOR AJIT
Q:
My children have been ill for almost the entire winter with runny noses, sore throats and coughs. I have tried to bring them up naturally so have avoided giving them doses of antibiotics but I am desperate for some advice. B. Henderson, Herne Bay
A:
You are certainly not the only parent who faces this predicament. Over the winter I have seen many children with these symptoms and counselled worried parents.
Ayurveda believes that it is important to live our lives in harmony with the seasons by making changes to our diet and lifestyle to keep the body in balance. In winter, the environment is dominated by the qualities of coldness, dampness, heaviness, dullness, slowness and sluggishness. Because we are exposed to these qualities every day, it is natural that they will have an impact, so our bodies start feeling the same. All Ayurvedic treatments are based on the simple principle of introducing lifestyle and diet changes with opposing qualities to bring the body back into balance while avoiding things that can cause further aggravation. Therefore in winter, Ayurveda recommends avoiding the following foods: • Bread, cheese, butter, white sugar, bananas, cold meat, ice cream, yoghurt and smoothies all have heavy, cold, damp and sticky qualities that will accumulate in our bodies. • Deep fried, oily foods like fish and chips and carbonated drinks - these are heavy and when we drink cold carbonated drinks on top of them it makes the oil sticky, causing it to adhere to mucous linings in the throat and lungs, causing sore throat, bronchitis, sinus and hay fever. You might feel panicked by reading this and think there is nothing left to eat. This is not true! With a little effort, we can find many things to nourish us during winter: • Ear more warm cooked foods. • Try porridge for breakfast. Add cinnamon and cardamom as these spices are known for their warming and flushing actions.
The World Belongs to the Dissatisfied
• If eating fruit, make sure it is cooked and not eaten raw. If you must eat raw fruit, make sure it is eaten mid-morning on a warm and sunny day to minimise its adverse impact. • Snack on nuts and raisins. • Roasted peanuts are very good in winter. Also roasted almonds, cashews, walnuts and pinenuts coated with jaggery and lightly baked are delicious. Ayurveda also recommends a number of routines that we should incorporate into our lives during winter to keep the body in balance: • Brush your teeth and scrape your tongue every morning (this removes waste products that accumulate on the tongue overnight and prevents them from being re-absorbed). • Every morning drink a glass of warm water with ½ tsp of fresh ginger, ½ tsp of fenugreek powder, ½ tbs of honey and ½ tbs of lemon juice. This helps counter any sluggishness in the lymphatic system. Give children just ½ a glass. • Apply warm medicated nasal drops to the nose each morning. Your children might not like this but it will help clear any mucous congestion. • A regular self massage with warm sesame oil or kapha oil (available at Planet Ayurveda) helps remove lymphatic stagnation and makes you feel more energetic, light and vibrant at all levels: physical, mental and emotional. I have to say that children love this. • The best Ayurvedic formulations to protect yourself over winter is Chyawanprash, a jam rich in antioxidants and vitamin C that supports the immune system. • For your children’s coughs and colds try Kofnil Syrup, a herbal formulation that will break up mucous congestion and sooth a sore throat. Ayurveda teaches that by incorporating these changes in to our lives we can keep these winter illnesses from occurring by keeping the body in balance. In my 35 years of clinical practice, both here and in India, I have seen the profound benefits of this health science help thousands of people achieve balance in their lives. (DR AJIT) F PN PLANET AYURVEDA, 41 Gillies Avenue, T: 09 522 5390 www.planetayurveda.co.nz
DEADLINE - 20TH OF THE MONTH
PONSONBY NEWS+ August 2014
67