How long should you consume a herbal remedy
It's 2021 and the pandemic is still raging outside and every one is bombarded by multiple home remedies using herbs. Not everyone is able to get a proper medical advice and It’s even more required now that one should be very careful, especially when taking medical advice from social media
It is important that you Know how long to consume any herb
The following is a real life issue seen at an Ayurvedic clinic .
A patient approached saying, he is suffering from thirst and wrinkles are forming on his hand. He is around 45 and not too old to get wrinkles on skin yet. Up on further probing it is found that he is consuming “Punarnava” daily in dal in his meals for almost a year. He took the leaves, dried them, made into powder and started adding to dal while cooking. Apparently someone suggested him that “Punarnava” helps prevent kidney diseases and he refused to divulge who that someone is.
But it is not so difficult to figure it out where the suggestion came from, just a cursory search on Youtube reveals the truth - from house wives with cooking channels to certified doctors- everyone has a video about how Punarnava helps with kidney problems, liver and everything possible.
Some of them tell you how to use it, in the form of a powder/ kasahya/ dal etc. But what you will be missing is how long to consume. Some say you can procure the raw herbs from garden, but how many normally grow these “medicinal plants” in their yards? You end up hunting them on the street or some fields, which are grown amidst of pesticide sprays . For folks in cities, they may buy directly on e-commerce channels.
It is important to realise that too much of any thing is not good for health. You would not eat pizza continuously for a year, but why would you want to consume a herb for a year, that too without a doctor’s advice?
Follow the same principle here. Talk to your doctor before consuming anything for longterm.
Coming back to original issue, the reason for his ailments are, “Punarnava” is a diuretic and it will expel entire water out of your body how much ever you consume and it is causing the issue.
Here are some thumb rules while consuming herbs:
Talk to your doctor about two things
- How to consume
- How long to consume and when to stop- This may be based on a test or relief from the ailment.
Going back to basics, Why did you decide that you need to consume a certain herb, probably you had some ailment and you learnt that consuming this particular herb can help you with the ailment. Talk to an Ayurvedic doctor to learn how long you should consume a herb. I am sure you don’t want to consume something on your own if it is going to impact your health. If you don’t know any one, contact us here and we will guide you for free.