Sowbhagya Sunti: A Uterine Tonic and Lactagogue

By Sheela Rani Chunkath

Western medicine has nothing much to offer by way of postnatal care after a normal delivery. In fact, in today’s fast-paced world, many mothers are at work just fifteen days after delivery. Ayurveda has an elaborate prescription for postnatal mothers. One of the lehyams used in postnatal care is Sowbhagya Sunti, a herbal jam-like preparation.

Lehya, as described in the ayurvedic pharmacopeia, are linctuses, confections or thickened and sweetened extracts, equivalent to the confections, electuaries and conserves of the British pharmacopeia. Lehyams are also called Avaleha. Lehyams can be stored for almost a year without any change in quality as the presence of jaggery in the lehya acts as a preservative. The heating of jaggery to get the correct consistency of the syrup is an art; only then will the lehya be soft and easy to consume.

The recipe for Sowbhagya sunti is to be found in the Uttarakhanda section of the Rasaratna Samuchchaya of Vaghbata written in the 7th century, well over 1300 years ago and can be acknowledged as having stood the test of time. It is a preparation made with jaggery and ghee, both extremely nourishing for the new mother. Many of the ingredients are such that it helps the mother digest food properly so that the baby who is being breastfed does not get colicky.

One of the main ingredients is satapushpa or dill seeds (called sadakuppai in Tamil). Dill seeds are the fruits of Anethum sowa. These seeds help control flatulence and is a digestive, carminative and stomachic. The seeds contain essential oils with alpha and beta pinene. The other major ingredient is dried ginger. All of us are familiar with sunti (Sanskrit) or chukku (Tamil). It is used as a home remedy for indigestion. The properties of dried ginger and fresh ginger are quite different. Usually, dried ginger only is used in ayurvedic preparations. To dry ginger, the skin is scraped off and it is treated with lime, lime being used as a preservative. Dried ginger is pungent and aromatic. It dilates the blood vessels and hence causes warmth. It increases perspiration, and brings down temperature in fever; good to have a masala chai when your nose is blocked and you are feeling feverish. Zingerone, shogaols and gingerols are the various volatile oils present in ginger. Apart from these, dried ginger contains many other phytochemicals which are helpful in digestion. No wonder that dried ginger is an essential ingredient of every grandmother’s home remedy kit. The other ingredients such as cinnamon leaves and bark, black pepper and cardamom are again items we are familiar with and use in our cooking. Cinnamon leaves contain eugenol. All the above ingredients are aromatic, stimulant, astringent and carminative. Black pepper is useful in the treatment of dyspepsia, flatulence, sore throats and fevers. Coriander seeds, embelia fruits, nigella seeds (black cumin seeds), long pepper, nagakesar stamens and nutgrass tubers are the other ingredients of this lehyam.

According to ayurvedic vaidyars, the dosage is 2 to 10 gms to be taken with goat's milk. Since the lehyam has ghee, it should be taken on an empty stomach and the next meal should be taken only when the medicine is fully digested.

Another reason why Sowbhagya sunti is prescribed for postnatal mothers is because it is a lactagogue which increases the flow of breast milk. The combination of various herbs, seeds and aromatics along with ghee and jaggery gives the lehyam its lactagogue properties. Modern Western medicine has hardly anything worthwhile to offer to increase breast milk and very often mothers quickly switch to bottle feeding in despair. An interesting aside – jasmine flowers decreases breast milk production, so lactating mothers should avoid wearing jasmine flowers.

--- The writer was earlier Health Secretary, Govt. of Tamil Nadu and is currently, Home Secretary, Govt of Tamil Nadu. She can be reached at Sheelarani.arogyamantra@gmail.com. Earlier articles can be accessed at http://arogyamantra.blogspot.com/