Rasayana for Childcare

optimum health. Vata drives all movements, pitta transformations
and kapha structural formations in the body.
Health problems and diseases arise with the loss of this
balance due to vitiation of the doshas. Rasayanas have
a vital role to play in maintaining the equilibrium of the
doshas and therefore, health by increasing or decreasing
doshas. E.g., kapha dosha is vitiated in indigestion and
can be pacified by the use of ginger that reduces kapha
and increases pitta. Contrary to the popular thinking that
Rasayanas are meant for old age problems (jara chikitsa),
they find usage in every stage of life.
Childcare is mostly driven by being sensitive to the
child’s needs topped up with liberal doses of common
sense. There are some fundamentals to be noted. E.g.,
there is no substitute really for breast milk for a new
born. It is a highly recommended health practice, both in
traditional and contemporary medicine. However, as the
baby grows, there are some herbs that can be introduced
as nutritional supplements and growth promoters such as
the Rasayana plants that we mention. But pay attention
to the ways of preparation and the dosages. These are,
after all, medicinal plant drugs and must be treated as
such. This book is not intended to replace medical advice.
In case of allergies or persistent health conditions, seek
medical advice.
Unlike in modern biomedicine where drugs are usually
single chemical entities, Ayurveda has crude herbs and
polyherbal formulations as drugs in their Materia Medica.
The overall effect of the drug on the body is said to be determined
by the taste (Rasa), properties (Guna), potency
(Virya) and the post-digestive pharmacodynamic action
(Vipaka).
Some of the herbal preparations may not be ‘tasty’
in the conventional sense. However, early years are the
ones when all tastes can be introduced and a child can get
used to them. It is not adequate for the food to merely
be ‘tasty’ to the tongue but also be healthy to the body.
As per Ayurveda, a well-balanced diet should contain all
six tastes namely, sweet, sour, salty, pungent, bitter and
astringent. Obesity in children is a fairly recent phenomenon,
mainly due to diets dominated by one or two tastes,
such as sweet and salty. So, please take care while introducing
solids to your child that your measures of sugar and
salt are controlled.
This book has 2 sections:
1. Twelve Rasayana plants selected for their effectiveness
in dealing with primary health issues for children.
Details on their Sanskrit/Botanical/common names, methods
of preparation and dosage have been provided along
with interesting cultural tit-bits.
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