CHAI GARAM...........

Take one: Friday 19th September, around 3pm.

Pune city is getting drenched in the rain. This does not have any effect
on the traffic,though. People are trying to reach their desired destinations
inspite of the rain. On one such two wheeler, i travel with one of my friends
and the only priority is to reach home in time.
As an “End Result” i reach home, BUT fully drenched and soaking in the rain!!!

Take two: Friday 19th September, one hr later.

I now sit in front of my PC, nice and dry and cozy , wearing warm clothes and
sipping my fuming hot cup of afternoon tea. Seems normal to every household
Right?............ NO............. I am sipping on a special cup of tea, which has a
special ingredient added to it.
This special ingredient is the CHAI MASALA which one of my friends has made
for me and i have specially added it to my cup of tea today because it has some
medicinal properties !!!!!
This tea masala has an equal proportion of dry Ginger,Cloves, Cinnamon,Black pepper corns
and Cardamom. Each of these ingredients has properties which will give me a cover from the
after effects that i may land up in, because of getting wet in the rains. Lets see how...............

Dry Ginger: Has potential to work against Influenza Virus. It has natural antihistamines to fight
any inflammations. Fights sinusitis, colds, asthma and reduces swellings and
congestion in the nose and throat.

Cloves: Can be used very effectively to alleviate cough, cold and congestion.
It has mucolytic properties and fights sore throats.

Cinnamon: Useful in relieving pain, cough and cold. Also relieves bad breath.

Black Pepper: It has Antioxidant and antibacterial properties. Alleviates Cough.
Relieves bronchospasms and mobilizes the blocked Phlegm.

Cardamom:It is useful in coughs, is a mouth freshner &opens breath.
Particularly, In combination with dry ginger, it can ward off blocked Phlegm
and relieves congestion.

I am sure this hot tea is going to save me from having a bout of cold and cough.

Lets hope for the best !!!

Food as Medicine

Food is one thing I cannot get out of my mind at all. It has always been as central an issue to my life as it is to most of you. Not only do I thrive on food, like all the living beings, but my profession does not allow me to look elsewhere either :)

Being an Indian, food even plays a bigger role in my life, as traditionally, we Indians regard food to be a central part of our culture. The way in which we prepare and cook our food is very very unique and I must say it is one of the interesting feathers in the "Cap of World Cuisine".

We have known about the medicinal properties of a variety of spices and condiments and herbs that we have been using very successfully and regularly in our kitchens for ages. There can be a lot of times when we can just turn to our kitchens to fix-up simple home remedies that can relieve us of common ailments.

I can remember many occasions in my childhood when my grandmother used to come up with simple but very effective home remedies for problems like colds and cough and colic and indigestion and diarrhoea and acidity............ The list is long, but i have seen these home remedies do wonders.

The best part is that these time-tested home remedies have been passed on from one generation to another.

Another very important part of our Culture is "Ayurveda", one of the most ancient systems of Medicine in India and it also considers DIET to be an important part of the treatment. Sometimes, a dietary prescription in itself is a complete treatment.

Indian Culture has appreciated and acknowledged the importance and use of food as nourishment as well as like medicines.I bow down to the wisdom of our ancient medicos who have provided us with the wonderful treasure of home remedies.

This is just an humble exploration into the world of "using Food as Medicine"