Warm Notes for a Winter Day

Twigs and brews, oils and leaves
Will befriend this cold day with ease

Sniffles and colds always pick up the chilliest weather to put on an appearance. Brews and herbed honeys are the best combatants for these days.

For colds, asthma and joints
Honey draws out the moisture of whatever you put into it, and is therefore very conducive for fresh leaves, fruit or roots. For respiratory conditions like asthma, bronchitis, colds, etc, garlic honey is a great pick me up, preventive and curative. Peel the garlic pods and without cutting them, fill a small glass jar half with the cloves. Fill it up with fresh untreated honey. Lid and keep it in a cool, dry spot, and stir with a wooden spoon daily for four weeks. When the pods turn opaque, the honey is ready to use. Strain out the garlic, and bottle the rest. Store in cool, dry spot. Eat a teaspoon twice a day on a relatively empty stomach. Spreading it on your toast is the most delicious way of eating it. Garlic honey is good for arthritis, rheumatism and general joint pains. You can try your variations with basil, rosemary, amla, ginger, etc. They are all good for the respiratory system. With amla, you’ll need to refrigerate the honey, since it draws out a lot of water, and can spoil very fast. At any rate these honeys should be made in small quantities and consumed within six months of preparation.

A favourite winter brew of mine, that also fights respiratory ailments is a cinnamon and clove decoction. Pound a little cinnamon and a single clove, add one and a half cups of water, and simmer for a while with the cover on. When there is one cup left, strain out, add raw sugar or honey to taste and sip up. And drink lots of warm drinks, soups and water to prevent dehydration of the skin.

For that sore throat, three pinches of pure turmeric powder added to a tablespoon of honey does the trick. Or tuck a piece of liquorice root (mulethi) in your mouth. When you do your gargles adding a pinch of turmeric to the salt water enhances the effect enormously.

Summering your Skin
If you want to keep away from chemical-based commercial moisturisers, here’s a simple but very moisturising and softening recipe –
Take half a cup of rose water (good quality rose water is expensive, so don’t buy the cheap ones that only have the chemical essence) to half a cup edible glycerine. Add two teaspoons of raw honey. For a thicker moisturiser, increase the ratio of glycerine, and vice versa. If you don’t like or get good rose water, add the juice of three lemons instead of the rose water. And on no account use very warm water on your face or head. It will not only dry your skin and scalp, but is also energy sapping.

For the dry nose, first thing in the morning when you get up, dip your little finger in ghee preferably made of cow’s milk, and spread it on the insides of both nostrils. As per Dhanwantri this daily practice is also good for the eyes, brain, and keeps your facial skin supple and soft.

If you happen to suffer from chilblains, soak your affected fingers or toes in the warm water of boiled pieces of turnip. It works quite fast.


Lastly, keep the bowels going, make good use of the winter apples and have at least one everyday. Apples that are organic and grown from seed are a lot more therapeutic than the hybrid or inorganic ones.

Botanical: Phyllanthus niruri Linn. (Euphorbiaceae)
Hindi: Jaramla, bhoomyamlaki, bhoomi amla
Sanskrit: Bhumiamlaki, tamalaki
Tamil: Keeranelli
Telugu: Nelausirika
Other names in the world: chanca piedra, stone breaker, hurricane weed, quinine weed, creole senna, cane senna

Area of Observation, and photographed in: Gurgaon, Haryana

Description: A small branching 30-40 cm high herb.
Grows wild in the rainy and warm months on the northern and central plains of India. Should be perennial along the coastline and Southern/Eastern India, since it is indigneous to the rainforests of Amazon. In semi-arid areas grows from March to October, and dies out in winter.

Tiny green fruit, the size of mustard seeds appear under the leaves.

Aurvedic dosha: KP- V+ (I assume it increases vatta since it is considerably bitter)

Uses: Whole plant ingested for speedy results in jaundice, and other forms of hepatitis. My father (a doctor himself) was given a tight ball of the plant to eat as a child, and he said his jaundice was cured within three days of the daily dose. But he mentioned that the plant was remarkably bitter and unpleasant. I tasted a ball myself, and though it was confirmedly bitter, I didn’t find it repugnant. But then, I am used to eating a lot of bitter herbs. Traditionally root taken (10-20 gms) with buttermilk for leucorrhoea or white discharge in women. It is also used for diabetes, sores, ulcers, skin diseases, urinary tract diseases, chronic dysentry, and dyspepsia (source- FRLHT)

An infusion in water works best for diabetics, since the extract works as a hypoglacaemic for non insulin-dependant diabetes. I was unsure about using alcoholic tincture for liver conditions - but worked for a friend who'd already recovered from jaundice but not its effects; she took this with beneficial symptomatic results even after being diagnosed with hypothyroid (which has, to my knowledge, nothing to gain from phyllanthus niruri. 1ml to 2 ml of tincture twice a day mixed with half a glass of water was her dosage. For children, could be given with honey.

Phyllanthus niruri is called Chanca piedra in Spain, meaning 'stone breaker'. It is considered extremely beneficial in removing kidney and gall bladder stones. In clinical research over the years, the plant has demonstrated liver protective, antilithic (expels stones), pain-relieving, hypotensive, antispasmodic, antiviral, antibacterial, diuretic, antimutagenic, and hypoglycemic activities. (source - Raintree)