Dear Subscribers,

If you missed the last email, it is now online:

http://ingridnaiman.com/subscription_posts/ayurveda/vidanga.html

The instructions for mixing vidanga with honey are there. If you prefer to make your own medicated ghee, there is a recipe reputed to destroy all parasites like a thunderbolt vanquishes demons. This recipe is not too difficult for those who are ready to put a toe in the water but need something "reasonable" for a first effort.

It uses the following proportions:

You make a decoction with this, meaning that you are extracting the herbs in water, but you make a fairly strong decoction by boiling the powders or cut and sifted pieces until the volume is reduced to one quarter of the original amount. This is strained and then mixed with eight parts ghee. You can add a tiny bit of Himalayan rock salt if you like. I have more Vidanga arriving tomorrow. Dashmool is available both in powder and cut and sifted form. Triphala is available as a powder. For those new to Ayurveda, it is a mixture of three tropical fruits.

http://www.ayurvedicbazaar.com/dashmool.php

Don't be afraid to use the search feature on the left, above the navigation links!

The reason you might want to make this is that after a long exposure to parasites, you need to detoxify (dashmool) and regenerate your intestines (triphala). Obviously, this process is more labor-intensive than the honey balls but it is also more "thorough" and there is actually a lot more to this issue than most people realize.

I remember the first time I saw a dog's heart in a jar of formaldehyde in a veterinarian's waiting room. I don't remember the name of the vet, the place, or the date, but I remember the jar, the shock, and terror it struck. According to what I read then, most of which was corroborated later, the drugs used to prevent heartworm knock at least two years off the life of the dog. The condition is allegedly caused by night-biting mosquitoes so I kept wondering if realistically I could keep my dogs indoors after dark. Honestly, that is not practical, less practical than asking a farmer in Africa to plant his crops while protecting himself with mosquito netting. I looked into flea collars and natural variations thereof but since before I was born, we mostly had big dogs and the collar is too far from the tail to be effective. Besides, dogs are very sensitive to smell and what interests them is often repugnant to me but what I like may not interest them. It could even be annoying.

One day I asked someone if people get heartworms, too. The way my mind works, this would be a truly obvious question but I was assured we don't get heartworms. Somehow, I wasn't convinced. The picture looked kapakahi, that's Hawaiian for completely out of order, skewed, not in alignment. It also did not resonate with the malaria statistics or countless other intellectual odysseys that continually distract me. It always interested me that life expectancy was higher in cold places than the tropics so the question is why? The tropics are more diverse because warmth and humidity promote growth and proliferation of flora and fauna. In an odd sort of way, I have the blood of the north but not the eating habits or other life style features of the north, besides everything "different" has always intrigued me.

In Europe, people have customs of drinking Artemisia absinthium some time after the grape harvest. There are countless aperitifs and other beverages, usually historic and traced to monasteries, that make wines or mild liqueurs with black walnut or some mixture of spices and herbs. Curious as I am, I compared the effect on the blood using these products, usually sold in wine shops, with the types one would find in an apothecary shop. In most cases, these work on blood parasites, but, as I have mentioned, I have never been in a position to assess the benefit for intestinal parasites. To make this point clearer, according to everything I have heard from experts, only two labs in the U.S. are capable of performing credible tests for intestinal parasites.

Lymphatic Valves

Image Credit: Science Photo Library

No one seems to be looking at much deeper issues such as the damage to the lymphatic valves due to parasites crashing those gates. This results in fluid accumulating where gravity has its sway, i.e., usually in the lower extremities. If not resolved in a timely fashion, tissues can become fibrous and the treatment challenges are therefore much greater. In short, it takes a while to correct all the problems. The parasites may be eliminated, but, of course, they have a tendency to reappear since the routes of reinfection are all open.

This is a short note, but there are some new products I am excited to announce. One is on toxicteeth.com:

http://www.toxicteeth.com/online_shop/toothbrushes.php

There are three variations of a sterilizing device that I first tried with toothbrushes. I had one of these years ago but gave it away. I like this model better and have been using it for more than a month now, still on the first set of batteries and the toothbrush (the travel type) still looks brand new. I have never seen a toothbrush look this good after so much use. Of course, I am being a bit religious about this because of the issue that got me started on oral hygiene. There are two other models of this device and to be honest, they just arrived last night and I haven't tried them yet, but I really like the idea of using these in places where sterile conditions are important, such as around the microscope and places in laboratories where specimens are taken and perhaps incubated. I have seen some truly horrific mold growth in doctor's offices so I really think the wand is a clever device. The clamshell model is about the size of an iPod and looks handy. I have had friends who are germ phobic. One was so bad, I thought she resembled Lady Macbeth who just couldn't get the blood washed off her hands. This lady would turn on the faucet to wash her hands and then turn off the water, only to convince herself that her hands got dirty touching the faucet. Obviously, she was having a rough go but Morrnah and I were able to get to the bottom of the issue and help her. Once she normalized, she was scintillating company, but I know lots and lots of germ phobic people and it's probably safer to be meticulous than reckless so these will make really nice gifts for your phobic friends.

I guess I am one of them because my whole HVAC system has UV sterilization installed, but I did this because of the mold in the ducts, not because I am crazy. Now, for the truth bullet. These objects are made in China, but they are not cheap looking and they do not off-gas even though the cases are plastic. I am very sensitive to off-gassing and these passed my sniff test.

Blessings,

Ingrid

Copyright by Ingrid Naiman 2011

Photographs used with permission: http://natureloveyou.sg/Embelia%20ribes/Main.html

Parasite Protocols for Children || Blood Parasites || Types of Parasites
Miniature Snakes || Fashions in Medicine || How Parasites Die || Spirochetes
Moss amd Mosquitoes || Mosquito Bites || Artemisia Annua || Wormwood || Bitter Taste

Introduction to the Dhatus
Essay #1 || Essay #2 || Essay #3 || Root Chakra
Chyawanprash || Ayurvedic Herb Import
Hair Color || Energetics Behind Vision || Air-Water Balance

Dosha Balance Questionnaire || Articles on Ayurveda || The Ayurvedic Bazaar

Design by Damien Francoeur