One should consume nutritious foods that pacify Vata and maintain a constant fluid balance means sweet, liquid, easily digestible, light, fresh, oily, juicy and cool substances should be taken in summer.
Eat more: Consumption of old Sathi rice, milk, butter and cow’s ghee gives coolness, vigor and energy to the body. Vegetables like bottle gourd, pumpkin, parval (tritos cucunerinnas), green cucumber, coriander leaves, mint leaves amongst vegetables and fruits like water-melon, musk-melon, coconut, mango, orange, sweet lime (Musambi), apple, pomegranate and grapes are beneficial in summer.
Eat less or avoid salty, hot, stale, spicy, acidic, astringent and bitter substances as well as dry, stale, fried dishes, amchur (powder of mango peel dried in the sun), pickles, tamarind, etc.
Sweet Panaa (a drink) made from roasted raw mangoes, lemonade made from lemon and sugar candy, coconut-water, fresh fruit-juices, Thandai, Shikanji of cuminseeds, Kheer made from milk and rice, Gulkand, sherbets made from cool and aromatic substances like rose, Palash (butea frondosa), jasmine etc. are all helpful in maintaining the fluid balance of the body.
One should cover head with a piece of cloth for protection against sharp sun rays. One should take little water frequently during these days. Don’t drink water soon after coming from a hot atmosphere to a cold one. Drink water at least after 10 to 15 minutes and that too not from the fridge, but that stored in an earthen pot or pitcher.
Mode of Living: Drinking about 4 glasses of water early in the morning on empty stomach is a must for this season. Walking in early morning, practice of yogasana, light exercise and oil-massage are beneficial.
Give up the habits of keeping vigil till late night and getting up late in the morning. Strenuous physical exercise, overexertion, strolling in the sun, excessive fasting, bearing hunger or thirst and having sex are strictly prohibited in this season.
Remedies for Summer disorders
Remedies for Hyper-acidity
(1) Consume the sattu of barley, wheat or rice mixed with sugar candy. (2) Take Amla-juice (juice of phyllanthus emblica) after meals. (3) Consumption of honey, banana, ginger, coriander leaves is recommended. (4) Take 3 to 5 grams Triphala Churna with lukewarm water at night.
Remedies for Prickly Heat
(1) Local application of Multani Mitti (good-quality clay) or cow-dung on rashes of prickly heat gives coolness and cures itching. (2) Apply ash on the lesions of prickly heat.
Cures for Epistaxis
(1) Grind Durva (A kind of grass) and Amla in cold water and smear the paste on the forehead. This will stop bleeding from the nose. (2) Instill onion-juice in the nostrils. (3) Wash the desi cow’s ghee seven times with cold water and then apply it on the forehead.
Remedy for Burning Sensation in the Body
(1) Consume Sattu of barley with sugar candy. (2) Drink cold water and cover the body with a piece of thin cloth soaked in Amla-juice. (3) Steep coriander seeds in cold water overnight. Filter it after crushing and mixing it well in the morning. Mix some sugar candy to it and then drink it. m
* RP - 256 - April 2014
