Taleesadi Chooranam

-by Sheela Rani Chunkath

The other day, my friend’s son horrified me by saying that he takes a course of antibiotics every month . The problem is that he often gets throat pain and finds taking antibiotics an easy solution. He seems quite casual about the long term deleterious effects of taking these drugs and just wants a quick effective remedy. Of course since antibiotics weaken his immune system, he is afflicted by the same ailment with increasing periodicity.

Chennai and Tamil Nadu have been experiencing a somewhat cold and wet winter and this has resulted in a rash of colds, coughs, fevers, wheezing bouts and throat pains for many individuals. If you think you are going to start a cold, have a sniffle and a scratchy feeling or a mild pain in the throat, gargle with triphala chooranam with a little salt in warm water. (Please refer my earlier article on triphala for details regarding its effects and composition). Simultaneously you can take ½ a teaspoon of Taleesadi churanam mixed with ½ to 1 teaspoon of honey. You can repeat this 3 to 4 times a day. Taleesadi is a sweet tasting chooranam as it contains sugar candy, taleesa patra, dried ginger, pepper, long pepper (chukku, milagu and tippali in Tamil), cardamom and cinnamon. Taleesa patra (in Sanskrit) is popularly called the Himalayan Fir (Abies webbiana). The leaves of this tree are anti-spasmodic, astringent and carminative. Since the leaf is also aromatic, mixed with other herbs it also improves appetite. Honey is a vehicle and a medium to make the herbs more effective. Also honey is a drying agent and dries up the mucus and brings down the vitiated kapha dosha. Taleesadi chooranam is described  in Sarangadhara Samhita’s Madhyama Khanda.

If the throat pain is accompanied by feverishness or fever, take Sudarshanam chooranam tablets. (Please refer to my earlier articles for details regarding details about Sudarshanam chooranam).

All these remedies help to boost the immune system and acts also to pacify the vitiated kapha dosha so that with time you will hardly ever have throat pains. A word of caution though. Some lifestyle changes are also in order. Taking cold drinks, including cold fruit juices is a no-no. Orange juice will not reduce your chances of getting a throat pain, never mind that the purveyors of orange juice say it is filled with vitamin C. So much consumption of the citrus fruits/juices will only add to the building up of kapha. So also curds and lassi. Avoid these during winter. Fruit juices and buttermilk can be taken during summer and very likely you will not get a cold or cough. The ayurveda ‘ritu charya’ talks about the importance of season on daily activities and diet. Similarly exercise a little caution when sitting in open cold areas. Dress a little warmly and you will see the winter through without falling prey to cold, cough, fever or throat pains.

I am trying to convince my friend’s son that he is better off with Taleesadi. I have made a little progress. During his last bout of throat pain he condescended to eat a little Taleesadi and he tells me that he has reduced his consumption of antibiotics. I hope to keep my readers posted on whether he is able to make the switch from antibiotics and keep free from recurrent bouts of throat pain.

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