BASIL (TULSI, OCIMUM SANCTUM)
Basil is no alien to Indian homes and is often grown therein as a holy plant. It is a holy plant and is worshipped due to its health and medicinal properties. It is neither used in the form of cooked vegetables nor is it used in fruit juice form. It is said that it keeps the homes free from germs and insects. Black Tulsi is considered to be more useful than the ordinary variety.
Its flowers and oval-shaped leaves are used to get rid of many disorders. All medicinal and purifying qualities of basil are attributed to its volatile oil. It is pungent in taste and is an excellent appetiser. It improves digestion, is of immense value in arresting excess of bile in the system, controls and dispels the phlegm, flatulence and purifies blood impurities. Not only its seeds and leaves, but its stems, shoots and roots are also used to dispel many a disease. Its use in juice form, raw green leaves or dried up leaves (under shade only), either alone or in combination with other ingredients which help to enhance its utility, us will be evident from following revelations.
Digestive disorders: Indigestion and ache in stomach can be cured and controlled by taking 5 ml mixture of equal quantity of basil and ginger juice. Nausea and vomiting can be contained by mixing basil juice with a little of powdered Cardamom and honey. Excess of bile formation can be regulated by taking onions, ginger and basil juices in equal quantities.
Intestinal worms can be expelled by taking 5 ml of basil juice. If one has repeated complaints and discomforts due to indigestion and flatulence, one should take, after major meals, mixture of ginger and basil (5 ml in all), adding some black salt and black pepper powder to it. Loose motions and diarrhoea can be controlled by preparing a decoction of sugar and basil leaves.
Hysteria, Headache, Insomnia: To induce sleep, keep thymol and basil leaves under pillow. Add some pepper (black) with basil juice and store in a well covered up bottle to be smelt daily to have relief in hysteria and hysterical fits—It is both preventive and curative. For relief in headache, apply camphor mixed basil juice on forehead. If this preparation is inhaled (without being inserted into nostrils) it will also remove nasal blockage and congestion, thus facilitating respiratory process.
Skin Disorders: To get relief from acne, itching, pimples, blackheads, black spots and various other skin disorders apply lemon juice, mixed basil juice on affected parts.
Respiratory Problems: Basil is a specific remedy for providing relief in most of the respiratory problems which are symptoms only but their originating causes lie somewhere else. Following suggestions may be tried.
(1) Infantile cough, vomiting, loose motions, cough can be controlled if 3-4 drops of basil are mixed with mother’s milk.
(2) To tone up respiratory process mix up, in equal quantity juices of basil and ginger, and some honey and then lick it.
(3) Add sugar candy (10 mg) to 5 ml juice of basil and piper longum powder to have chest pain, fever and dry cough relieved. It may cause excessive perspiration which is a welcome sign.
APRICOT (KHOMANI)
Its pit is soft like a plum but more winged and broader. It is round or rounded oblong but it is akin to peach in appearance. Its flesh is yellow or orangish yellow in colour. It is available all over the world and its kernel, if soft, is used in eating also. Its stone is quite hard and has an almond-like seed within it which, if sweet, is also eaten. It is eaten fresh, in custard or is canned. It is also dried up and used as a dry fruit. Its taste is sweet with some citrus tinge with it. In India, it is generally grown and found in hilly areas.
It is taken in raw form also. It has natural sugar content and is also rich in vitamin ‘A’. In off season, its canned juice is used to keep up health and also to get rid of nausea and vomiting. Iron is found, in abundance, in its dried variety. Us size, shape juicy content, size of kernel and the seed vary according to qualities of the soil on which it is grown.
MULBERRY (SHAHTOOT)
It is grown in hilly forests. Its colour is either green, yellowish green, dark brown or reddish black, though its food value remains unchanged. It is a favourite food for the silk worms. It cannot be preserved for more than 1-2 days, and that also when a water-soaked cloth cover is provided to keep it fully covered. Unripe fruit may cause heat and bile, besides being hard to digest but ripe fruit is sweet, dispels impurities of blood and does not let bile to increase.
It makes up for the deficiency of intake of water, removes thirst, dispels heat, helps to digest food. For brain fag, use its juice in the form of syrup. It is preventive of heat and keeps body cool. Pomegranate juice and honey also counteract bad effects of its excessive use. Its juice (or raw form) should always be extracted fresh and used instantly.
LICHI
Lichi is no alien name and is a frequently used fruit. It is available in U.P., West Bengal and Bihar. Lichi of Dehradoon is red and small-sized and is abundant in sugar content, has water and soft pulp. Lichi of Bihar (Muzaffarpur) is not big in size and is abundant in sugar content. But lichi of Bengal is bigger in size, red and highly juicy, but does not have much sugar content. Its stone is also small and soft. It has plenty of soft pulp. It is taken in raw form, after removing its outer rind and its stone is also not used.
Lichi is processed to prepare jam, syrup and jelly. Its juice is canned. Being available in summer months, it quenches thirst, dispels, bad effects of heat, keeps body cool, serves as a laxative, removes constipation, It prevents sun-stroke and heat-stroke. If its juice is given after bad effects of heat-stroke, it will do away with its bad effects. It should be taken in moderate quantity only and never in excessive quantity, as it can cause bleeding and urinary problem. Diabetics can take it in very moderate quantity for a changeover only but not as a substitute for fruit juices of other fruits. In addition to being sweet in taste, it is slightly citrus also and thus can help in digestive process, if taken after meals.
Generals Remarks on Fruits Juices
Fruit juices should always be extracted, mechanically or manually. Only at your homes. Always use fresh fruit for juicing purposes and juice should be extracted for the quantity which is desired and required to be utilized. Once juice has been extracted, it should never be stored in a fridge or any other device. Moreover, do not also store, cut/chopped/ sliced pieces of fruits, in advance, or in anticipation of juice extraction at a late hour.
Dust-ridden, pre-extracted, exposed to germs and bacteria, stale, pre-sliced, residual juice should never be taken because it is capable of causing more harm than good. Instead of being a potent vehicle for improving health, giving succour to the ailing, aiding in removal of diseases, such unhygienic and exposed fruit or their juices will expose the body system to many other health hazards.
Fruits juice is a boon to the ailing, healthy, old, young and infants. It should never be taken stomachful or heated on fire, exposed to sun, cooled down by ice or any other cooling agent (excepting, of course, where otherwise specifically mentioned or when the situation demands so). It should always, as far as possible, be taken in its pure form. Taste and avarice for palate satiation must not take precedence over its use for health reasons. Do not add anything to it—take it in pure, bland and undiluted form, adding only permissible ingredients, only when situation warrants.
Fruit juice is an instant restorer of energy. It is nature’s gift to mankind to compensate for the lost and exhausted energy, at not much cost. If used judiciously, in moderate and requisite quantity, it will not only enhance general health status of person but will also serve as a prophylactic device. Those who cannot digest any food item can live only on fruit juice. So, it is an excellent food substitute, beside being curative and a tonic but the only precondition is that it must be fresh, pure, and taken moderate, and requisite quantity only.
Blending of various fruit juices with vegetables is quite useful in health and diseased states. Fruits available in off-season should always be avoided, because they are neither nutrient nor useful. Some authorities are against blending of fruit and vegetable juices. Their reason being that both have varying digestive durations—fruits get digested much earlier than the vegetables.