Ashwagandhadhi Churanam

--- by Sheela Rani Chunkath

Ayurvedic vaidyars normally do not approve of your drinking tea or coffee. However, a hot cup of milk with Ashwagandhadhi churanam will definitely meet with their approval. A hot cup at night helps relieve tension, stress and chronic fatigue. While the main ingredient of the churanam is Ashwagandha, (Withania somnifera, called Winter Cherry in English and Amukkura in Tamil), as in most any ayurvedic preparations, there are about 20 other herbs including the three pungents (called chukku, milagu and tippali in Tamil), three aromatics (cardamom, cloves and cinnamon), bay leaf, digestives such as curry leaf, omam seeds, mushta, galangal etc. To a powdered mixture of these ingredients, sugar is added so that the churanam is quite sweet.

Ashwagandha also known as Indian ginseng, is used by our vaidyars in the same manner as traditional Chinese practitioners use ginseng. It has aphrodisiac, sedative and rejuvenative properties. The Latin name somnifera means sleep inducing and as its name indicates, it is a good nightcap.

In the Sahasara Yoga it is recommended that if you have vitiated vayu and would like to reduce it, have the churanam with milk in the morning. It is also said to be good for alleviating arthritis. If you have vitiated pitta, the churanam is taken with cow’s ghee; for vitiated kapha with honey; for chronic fatigue and giddiness, it is taken with milk.

My recommendation if you are generally healthy but would like a pick-me-up, have a teaspoonful of Ashwagandhadhi churanam with milk at night. I have found it to be a very soothing drink. An aside about cow’s milk. What passes as milk these days is really a white liquid resembling milk. Too much processing, adding fat, removing fat has altered the molecular structure of the milk so much that it is far less effective than the milk we used to get, say 50 years ago. I still remember the cow being brought to my house at 5 am and my mother standing guard to ensure that no water was added and the cow being milked right in front of our eyes. In the name of progress and development we now have this white liquid in packets which no longer packs the goodness of original milk. If it is at all possible do try and see if you can get freshly milked organic cow’s milk.

Ashwagandha is native to the drier parts of India. While all parts of the plant are used, the roots are used in Ashwagandha churanam. The roots contain alkaloids, withanine and somniferine. Recent research has shown that these withanolides have regenerative properties on brain cell synapses in mice and human cell lines. Ayurvedists realized this many years ago. Since Ashwagandha is very effective, US and Japanese firms have as usual filed patents for formulations containing the herbs.

If you visit any village, you will find many middle-aged and old people, especially, women complaining of tiredness and fatigue. Some Ashwagandhadhi churanam with maybe an ayurvedic iron preparation will work wonders for them. Instead, today it has become the fashion for many of them to go and have a glucose drip and few Vitamin B complex injections to keep them going. The health of our nation will improve tremendously when we realize that ayurveda has an entire arsenal of herbs and drugs that not only prevent diseases but also rejuvenate us.

--- The writer was earlier Health Secretary, Govt. of Tamil Nadu and is currently CMD, TN Industrial Investment Corporation; Sheelarani.arogyamantra@gmail.com