Arathai – Herbal Remedy for all Vatha ailments

Plant name : Arathai
“It prevents indigestion and good for all sort of Vatha ailments”

Botanical name : Alpinia galanga
Family : Zingiberaceae
Actions : Anti-inflammatory, Febrifuge, Expectorant, Stomachic, Anti-rhuematic.

Siddha Medicinal Uses :

1. For cough with sputum, a piece of rhizome of this plant is slowly chewed. This is also good for vomiting.
2. For all sorts of digestive and respiratory ailments in infants and children, this rhizome is baked or heated and given after mixing with honey and breast milk.
3. 1 to 3 gram of powder of this rhizome is administered thrice daily for rheumatic ailments.
4. For digestive problems, 1 to 5 grams of choornam or powder of this rhizome can be administered twice daily before food.
5. Athimathuram, Thaleesapathri, Arathai and Thippili can be powdered, mixed in equal quantity and given along with honey for cough, headache, fever and indigestion.
6. Recently research on this plant have proved that regular administration of powder or decoction of this rhizome increases sperm count and acts as an Aphrodisiac.

Note: Siddha treatment is based on complete physical examination of the patient, Naadi diagnosis, and other diagnostic criteria of the disease. The content given in this article is purely meant for information and education purpose only. Kindly consult a Siddha physician before any sort of self medication.