- "Ayurveda is an alternative medicine system with historical roots in the Indian subcontinent." - "The theory and practice of Ayurveda is pseudoscientific." - "Ayurveda therapies have varied and evolved over more than two millennia."
Explore the role of herbs and herbal remedies in Ayurvedic medicine, including common herbs and their uses, as well as how to prepare and use herbal formulations.
Botany and Plant Identification: This includes learning about the types of plants used in herbal medicine, their growth patterns, and characteristics.
Traditional Herbalism: This topic covers the traditional systems of herbal medicine from different cultures around the world.
Ayurvedic Medicine: Ayurveda is an ancient Indian medical system that focuses on herbs and other natural remedies to bring balance and wellness to the body.
Phytochemistry: Understanding the chemical composition of plants and how it affects their medicinal properties.
Herbal Preparation: This involves learning how to prepare herbs in various ways such as teas, tinctures, powders, and capsules.
Dosages and Contraindications: Understanding the appropriate dosages of herbs and potential safety concerns when using them.
Herbal Pharmacology: Understanding how herbs interact with the body and how they can influence different systems.
Herbal Therapeutics: This involves learning about specific herbs and their uses for different health conditions.
Herbal Medicine Making: This involves gaining practical skills in making herbal preparations such as tinctures, salves, and creams.
Herbal Garden Design and Management: This topic covers the specifics of growing and caring for herbs and creating a garden specifically for herbal medicine.
Herbal Safety and Quality Control: This involves learning how to identify high-quality herbs and ensure their safety before using them.
Herb-Drug Interactions: Understanding how herbs can interact with pharmaceutical drugs and how to avoid potential negative interactions.
Herbal First Aid: This topic covers using herbs in emergency situations and basic first-aid techniques.
Aromatherapy: This involves learning about the therapeutic uses of essential oils extracted from plants.
Herbal Cosmetics and Personal Care: This includes learning about the use of herbs for skin and hair care, and creating natural cosmetics using herbal ingredients.
Ashwagandha: A root herb that is often used to reduce stress and anxiety, boost energy and improve brain function.
Brahmi: This herb is traditionally used to improve concentration, memory, and cognitive function.
Turmeric: A powerful anti-inflammatory herb that has been used for centuries to treat a variety of conditions, including arthritis, liver disorders, and skin problems.
Triphala: It is a combination of three different herbs (amalaki, bibhitaki, and haritaki) and is often used to support the digestive system, balance blood sugars, and improve skin health.
Guggul: This tree resin is used in Ayurveda to promote healthy cholesterol levels and to relieve joint pain.
Shatavari: A root herb that is traditionally used to balance hormones and improve reproductive health in women.
Brahmi Rasayana: An herbal formulation that combines brahmi with several other herbs to promote cognitive function and overall vitality.
Chyawanprash: A jam-like mixture that is made from a blend of herbs, spices, and honey, and is used as a general health tonic.
Milk Thistle: Used to promote liver health and detoxification, and to improve immune function.
Trikatu: It is a combination of three potent herbs such as black pepper, long pepper, and ginger that help in digestion, weight loss, and boosting metabolism.
- "It is heavily practiced in India and Nepal, where around 80% of the population report using Ayurveda."
- "Therapies include herbal medicines, special diets, meditation, yoga, massage, laxatives, enemas, and medical oils."
- "Ayurvedic preparations are typically based on complex herbal compounds, minerals, and metal substances."
- "Ancient Ayurveda texts also taught surgical techniques, including rhinoplasty, kidney stone extractions, sutures, and the extraction of foreign objects."
- "The main classical Ayurveda texts begin with accounts of the transmission of medical knowledge from the gods to sages, and then to human physicians." - "The Sushruta Samhita (Sushruta's Compendium) frames the work as the teachings of Dhanvantari, Hindu god of Ayurveda, incarnated as King Divodāsa of Varanasi, to a group of physicians, including Sushruta."
- "Through well-understood processes of modernization and globalization, Ayurveda has been adapted for Western consumption, notably by Baba Hari Dass in the 1970s and Maharishi Ayurveda in the 1980s."
- "Historical evidence for Ayurvedic texts, terminology and concepts appears from the middle of the first millennium BCE onwards."
- "In Ayurveda texts, Dosha balance is emphasized, and suppressing natural urges is considered unhealthy and claimed to lead to illness." - "Ayurveda treatises describe three elemental doshas viz. vāta, pitta and kapha, and state that balance of the doshas results in health, while imbalance results in disease."
- "Ayurveda treatises divide medicine into eight canonical components."
- "Some Ayurvedic preparations have been found to contain lead, mercury, and arsenic, substances known to be harmful to humans."
- "A 2008 study found the three substances [lead, mercury, and arsenic] in close to 21% of U.S. and Indian-manufactured patent Ayurvedic medicines sold through the Internet."
- "The public health implications of such metallic contaminants in India are unknown."