Dr G G Gangadharan

THE modern urban lifestyle with its excessive industrialisation and pollution has increased the percentage of asthma patients in the world. Ayurveda not only helps to treat the disease without side effects but also aims at its prevention.

Asthma is one of the ‘Shwasa Rogas’ and in its aggravated stage is called Tamakaswam. The ‘pranavayu’ located in the chest gets aggravated due to various causes and vitiates ‘Kapha’, causing asthma.

Exposure to dust, smoke and wind, residing in a cold place, use of cold water; habitual intake of dry food and food deficient or excessive in quantity, fasting in excess, use of mutually contradictory food like fish with milk/curd; intake of curd and unboiled milk, intake of meat of aquatic and marshy animals; intake of oily food; excessive exercise; consuming pastry, bakery products, etc. are some of the common causes of asthma.

A common feature of asthma is that the patient feels difficulty in breathing and gets pain in the sides of the chest and in the cardiac region. In the severe form of asthma called ‘tamaka shwasa’ an asthmatic patient will have murmuring sounds and dyspnoea of exceedingly deep velocity which is immensely injurious to life. Due to acute spasms the patient gets tremors along with cough and becomes motionless. The attack gets aggravated when the sky is cloudy and when the patient is exposed to water.

Importance of diet in asthma: Improper diet is one of the main causes of asthma. One should be careful to digest food properly as poor digestion produces toxins that can trigger an asthmatic attack. To combat asthma it is necessary to follow a proper diet.

Foods to be avoided are: ● New cereals, black gram, peas ● Fruits like oranges, banana, guava, watermelon ● Milk – sheep’s milk, curd, bakery and dairy products ● Fish has to be avoided ● Groundnut oil and coconut oil ● Fried and processed food ● Avoid cold water, drinks, other cold beverages and refrigerated and reheated food.

Beneficial diet for asthma: ● Old rice, yava (barley), wheat, mung (green gram), kulattha (horse gram), chana and Bengal gram are good ●Vegetables like palak, ambatchuka (green sorrel/gongaru), surana (yam), tender radish and snake gourd are good ● Fruits such as jamun, chikoo, apple can be taken ● Cow’s milk diluted and warm can be used ● Honey can be taken.

USEFUL RECIPES:

Soups: Leaves of Matulunga (Maphala/Citrus medica) and nimba (neem), very little, should be mixed with green gram and boiled by adding water. To this salt, hingu, curry leaf and black pepper should be added in appropriate quantity and cooked properly. Intake of this soup is helpful in asthma.

Soup prepared with drumstick leaves and radish is also beneficial when cooked with ginger, pepper, long pepper, salt to taste and a little ghee. Diet: The juice of Sauvarcala (common sunflower), milk or ghee should be mixed with the powder of ginger, long pepper and black pepper. Intake of this as a post prandial drink (anupana) after taking boiled red rice is useful for patients suffering from asthma.

Home remedies: Take a teaspoon of fresh ginger juice mixed with a cup of fenugreek decoction and honey to taste. This improves digestion and fights asthma

Grind to a powder form - two gms each of Nagar Motha (Nut grass, Cyperus rotundus) and Bharangi (Clerodendrum siphonanthus) and mix in water to prepare a paste which should be taken with warm lukewarm water twice daily.

Mix one teaspoon honey with one teaspoon of Indian bay leaf (Cinnamomum tamala) powder and have it before going to bed at night.This will help prevent an attack of asthma at night.

Apart from diet one can practice breathing exercises or switch to yoga which will help in fighting asthma. Brisk exercises such as taking a long walk and regular exercise is also important, since the stimulus created by it can clear any blockages in chest and lung areas.

By following these habits one can prevent and fight an attack of asthma.

E-mail: vaidya.ganga@frlht.org. Dr GG is a senior physician with FRLHT, Bangalore.

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