Siddha Home Remedies: Medicinal Uses of Karpooravalli

Karpooravalli (Mexican Mint) or Omavalli in Tamil is a herb often used to treat cough and cold.  The botanical name is Coleus aromaticus.

Stuffy nose, body pain, neck pain, headache, cough and cold are some ailments that predominately affect almost everyone during the winter season.  One of the herbs much sought after to treat these conditions is karpooravalli (coleus aromaticus).  It can be grown in the home garden just like the holy basil.

The karpooravalli herb has a hairy stem and thick hairy rugged looking but soft leaves with toothed edges.  The leaf has an astringent taste.  The mature leaves of the herb has good amount of menthol which helps in reducing the inflammation due to phlegm in chest.  It is a herb used in treating all types of cough, as well as an excellent expectorant.  it induces sweat and brings down the temperature in fevers.

Karpooravalli for Children

The medicinal property of the leaf can be utilized in a number of time tested ways.  Thoroughly cleaned karpooravalli leaves can be put in boiled and cooled drinking water and then filtered off after 1-2 hours.  By this time the water would have turned slightly greenish.  This water can be given to children for drinking purposes.  Doing this for a couple of days brings down the intensity of cough and cold in children.

One well known method of treating tough chest phlegm in kids is as follows.  Collect equal quantity of karpooravalli and holy basil leaves.  Saute the leaves slightly and then crush them to collect 5-10ml of juice from the leaves.  This is given twice a day, both morning and evening after food.  Regular intake for a week expels even the toughest of phlegm in a gentle painless way.

Karpooravalli for Adults

Karpooravalli, thoothuvalai, vallarai leaves of equal quantity are collected dried and powdered.  One spoonful of this powder is taken in 150 ml water and boiled and reduced to 75 ml.  A bit of palm jaggery is added to this decoction to taste.  This preparation is taken twice a day to strengthen the lungs.  Asthmatics can experience marked improvement in their  labored breathing with regular intake of this remedy.

Also juice of karpooravalli leaves taken with honey in the mornings can help cure runny nose, phlegm, cough, throat infection etc.

Karpooravalli Herbal Powder

This can be prepared as follows.  Take karpooravalli leaves, adathoda leaves and dry them in shade.  Thippili and sitharathai are taken in equal quantities and fried in small heat.  All these are powdered to a fine consistency.  This powder is taken with honey three to four times a day for a couple of days.  This takes care of cold, cough, and phlegm and clears the airway passage.

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Siddha Home Remedies: Adathoda Vasica Part II

Couple of my earlier posts on cough, cold and asthma contain preparations made using adathoda. Along with thippili (piper longum), chukka (dry ginger), pepper, adathoda, thoothuvalai (tri lobatum)are the common herbs used in treating all conditions related to lungs, airway passage, throat etc. Of this, adathoda holds a vital position in treating asthmatic conditions.

Adathodai kudineer and manappagu are the two time tested Siddha remedies used in treating asthma. Kudineer is tamil word for decoction. Adhatoda kudineer is prepared by boiling adathoda leaves in water and then cooling down the water for consumption.

Now for the ingredients needed to prepare the kudineer or decoction. Adathodai leaves, chukku or dry ginger, and pepper are taken. They are crushed and put in 1 litre of water and allowed to boil. Once it boils for 3-5 minutes, remove from the stove and allow it to cool. When it reaches a lukewarm state, drink this. This is done three times a day for 3-4 days. This is found to be helpful in clearing cough, cold and phlegm in chest.

One other preparation for treating cough is to follow the above-mentioned process using adathoda root and kandankathiri root. Piper longum powder is added to this decoction. This is taken three times a day after food.

In case of chronic wheeze, the following time-tested preparation can be used. Prepare a decoction using adathoda leaves, terminalia chebula (kadukkai), and grapes. Add honey and palm candy to this decoction and take it three times a day after food. Continue this till there is no wheezing.

Another combination is to prepare a decoction of adhathoda root, kandankathiri root, dry ginger, horsegram and adding powder of alli kizhangu (nymphaea rubra) tuber. This is also effective in curing wheezing.

The juice obtained from the leaves can be used to treat bloody stool and mucus in stool.

The dry leaves can be rolled and smoked as a cigar to treat wheezing. The flower of adathoda can be used to treat ailments of eye. For this, the flowers are slightly shown on fire and then placed on the eyelids. Regular application is said to cure eye irritation and other minor ailments.

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Siddha Home Remedies: Adhatoda Vasica

Adhatoda vasica (Adathoda in Tamil and Adalodakam in Malayalam) is a medicinal plant used extensively in treating cough and cold. It is a native of the Asian continent. The flowers, leaves, bark, root are used in preparing Ayurvedic and Siddha medicines to treat various bronchial and lung diseases. It has a bitter taste. It is an expectorant and bronchodilator. Alternative systems use preparations made from this plant to treat asthma.

The general areas of treatment where it would be of use include vata diseases, fevers, stomach diseases, cough, wheeze, vomiting, etc. It improves the tone of your voice.

Juice of the leaves 10-20 drops with honey is found to cure the above mentioned diseases, especially cough, wheeze, fevers.

A decoction made of the leaves plus honey can also do the trick.

Three leaves of adathoda cut to pieces along with a cardamom is soaked in 400 ml hot water. After two hours, filter out the leaves and cardamom.  50 ml of this water is given three times a day for fever and cough due to phlegm.

One time tested preparation for bringing out phlegm in chest as well as treating cough and cold is mentioned below.

Three leaves of the plant are cut into very small pieces.  Using a fresh mud put, fry these finely cut leaves using 2-3 teaspoon honey. Frying will give rise to a nice aroma. Once you get this smell, add finely ground athimathuram 2 gm, thippili 2 gm, thalisapathiri ½ gm, sitrarathai ¼ gm, to the adhathoda leaves along with a litre of water and reduce it to ¼ litre.  This preparation can be given morning and night for a day or two for expelling the phlegm from chest.

More remedies using the adathoda plant to follow.

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Siddha Home Remedies for Cough and Cold

Some Siddha home remedies for cough and cold are given below.

Chitharathai kudineer or infusion

The ingredients are chitharathai (alpinia officinarum) 10gm, perichan (phoenix dactylifera) 10 gm, chukku (zingiber officinale) 10 gm, and athimathuram (glychyrrhiza glabra) 10 gm.

These are powdered coarsely and bundled in a cloth. This mixture is boiled in 50 ml milk adding 50 ml water to it. Continue heating at a low heat for sometime and then decant it. Add 10 gm of palm candy to this.

This should be taken (25 ml) twice a day for five days.

Over the counter preparations

Thalisaathi vadagam – One three times a day.

Korojanai mathirai – Two tablets three times a day with honey or milk.

Siddha Herbal Remedies for Asthma

Some symptoms of asthma are difficulty breathing, tightness in chest, wheezing and unproductive cough.

Adathodai kudineer is an excellent siddha herbal remedy for asthma.

This is explained in one of my earlier posts ‘Siddha Herbal Remedies for Cough and Cold’.

Adathodai manapagu is also useful in treating this.

Pavala parpam is a Siddha remedy available at Siddha stores useful in treating this condition. 100mg three times a day with milk or ghee is the standard dosage.

These are some Siddha home remedies for Cough, cold and asthma.

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Siddha Herbal Remedies for Common Cough and Cold

There are excellent remedies that can be made using Siddha herbs to treat cough and cold. I will explain below some of the herbs and preparations.

Adathoda Zeylanica

Adathoda or adathodai is the herb for the lungs. It is used in treating almost all ailments that afflict the lungs like asthma, tuberculosis, wheezing, etc.

Athimathuram

A decoction of adhimathuram bark soothes the throat and relieves dry cough.

Thippili or Piper Longum

This is an excellent expectorant and brings out the phlegm in chest.

Common symptoms of Cough

Cough with expectoration, phlegm in chest, pain in chest while coughing, sore throat due to irritating cough, slight rise in temperature at times.

Adathoda decoction or kudineer

Collect a couple of adathoda leaves and fry them with honey. Add powdered thippili, thalisapathiri (Taxus baccata) and athimathuram 4 gm each to the fried leaves and add 500 ml of water. Let the water boil and reduce to a fourth of its volume. Remove from heat and let it cool. 50 ml of this decoction three times a day is the standard dosage. Prepare the decoction fresh each day.

Adathoda syrup

Collect 200 gm of adathoda leaves and cut them to small pieces. Boil them in 2.5 litres of water and reduce to 75 ml. Filter out the leaves. Add 200 gm of sugar to this decoction and boil the water again to a syrupy consistency. Remove from heat and let it cool. Take 15 ml of this syrup with warm water three times a day.

Some of the preparations available at Siddha pharmacies are ‘thalisaathi choornam’, ‘kasthuri karuppu’, ‘ pavala parpam’ etc.

Common symptoms of Cold

Sneezing, postnasal discharge, stuffy nose, sore throat, cough are some of the common symptoms.

Pepper Decoction for Cold

4 gm of powdered pepper is added to 450 ml of water and heat. Reduce to one fourth volume. The dosage is 40-50 ml three times a day. This is also useful for pain in abdomen.

Thirikadugu

To prepare this lehyam, take dried ginger, pepper and thippili of equal quantity by weight say 50 gm each. Also take cumin seeds, cardamom seeds, cloves 25 gm each. Powder all of these separately. Prepare a syrup after adding 200 gm of palm candy to this combination. On this reaches a syrupy consistency add 200 ml of ghee and 40 ml honey. Standard dosage is 3 gm twice a day after food.

Neerkovai maathirai

This preparation is available in Siddha pharmacies. Take two of these tablets in a plate and add few drops of warm water. Grind the tablets to a fine paste with your fingers. Apply the paste on forehead and temples. This is said to clear retention of fluids in the sinuses and relieve heavy headedness.

These are some of the Siddha home remedies prepared with Siddha herbs for cough and cold.

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Thulasi Home Remedies for Cough, Cold, Asthma

Thulasi is well known for its action on lungs and associated problems. The lungs are affected due to cold, phlegm, cough, sneezing, runny nose etc. All these can be classified as kapha diseases.

In case of phlegm in chest, gather a handful of basil leaves, clean them and add a teaspoon of pepper to it. Add a glass of water and heat the combination. Reduce it to half glass, and then filter the water. Add honey to this water and drink it three times a day. Another alternative is to take 1-2 teaspoon of thulasi leaf juice once every four hours.

In case of allergy that results in sneezing, runny nose etc the following preparation is found to be useful. Powder of dried thulasi leaves 100 gm, powdered clove 100 gm, powdered cardamom 100 gm all these mixed thoroughly and stored in a bottle. Take a pinch of this mixture to a teaspoon of honey and take it morning and night after food. Regular intake can cure this annoying problem.

For people suffering from asthma, thulasi leaves 6 nos, pepper corn 6 nos and vilva leaf 6 nos are taken together raw first thing in the morning. Chew the combination and swallow down the juice such that it passes down the throat slowly. This will help relieve the attendant uneasiness.

For smokers cough thulasi is an excellent remedy. A handful of thulasi leaves, toothuvalai leaves and kandakathiri leaves are collected. Put all these leaves in a litre of water. Now add 5 gm each of dried ginger (chukku), pepper and thippili to this and heat it. Reduce it to half and then let it cool. Add honey and take it twice a day. Do this for 21 days, preparing this combination fresh each day. This can help cure smokers cough.

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