3 Ayurvedic Remedies for Tummy Troubles
How many of you get tummy troubles from time to time? It can be such a bummer! But I have help :)
First of all, there are a lot of different kinds of tummy troubles including gassies, bloaties, crampies, loose poops and stuck poops. But what they all have in common is that agni, our digestive fire, is not working properly.
I have three remedies to share with you that may fix the problem in a pinch and work to increase agni's strength overall.
But before we get into it, please know that in Ayurveda, one size does not fit all. For this reason, I usually don't share remedies because if the wrong person with the wrong problem tries the wrong remedy, Ayurveda will not work and/or they could have wrong/worse effects.
Keeping that in mind, I'll be a little bit general, but overall, we want to make sure that agni digestive fire is working properly. When our digestive fire is working we, for the most part, are really dang healthy. So it's super important.
In addition to the three remedies, when we have an upset tummy, don't eat more food.
Sometimes we just need to fast and actually not eat, which can be a remedy all on it's own, so that our digestive fire can catch up and process and digest all of the food that we give it.
3 Ayurvedic Remedies for Tummy Troubles
#1 Ginger Tea.
Ginger tea is amazing for so many reasons. It stokes agni. It calms spasms (cramps!). It disperses gas. It is warming. And it is pungent so it helps digest/scrape any toxins or ama that might have accumulated.Ginger in Ayurveda is known as universal medicine because it comes in different forms and has many benefits for all doshas.
Sip ginger tea any time! It works after a meal, in between meals or on an empty stomach. I like Yogi Tea brand the best but you can get any ginger tea brand.
#2 Indian Lemonade.
Indian lemonade is a paste that you make, also known as "the best appetizer" in Ayurveda. You take raw ginger root, peel it and finely grate it, which makes kind of a ginger paste. Squeeze lemon and add a little bit of salt.
You'll end up with yellowish paste, depending on the color of your ginger. You can keep it in the fridge in a little container for a week or so.
Eat 1/4 tsp (pittas, like 1/8 tsp) of this:
a) Any time you feel gassy, bloaty, crampy, distention
b) Before you eat (truly as an appetizer!). The raw ginger is very hot/sharp, so it preps agni for accepting and digesting food.
Pittas, be mindful of Indian lemonade and how much you take because raw ginger is very heating.. I recommend 1/4 tsp for vatas and kaphas. 1/8 for pittas.
#3 CCF Tea, cumin, coriander and fennel tea.
All three of these spices are really nice digestives. If the cumin is a little bit hot or if it's not your favorite flavor, you can use less cumin and a little more fennel.
How to make CCF Tea: Take a teaspoon of each (approx) cumin, corriander, fennel seeds, throw them into a pot, like a teapot or a pot on your stove. Boil for 10-15 minutes. Strain out the seeds. You'll have this kind of light green, maybe yellowish color tea. Sipping it warm is best for vatas and kaphas. Pittas you can have it room temp or even cool.
Now you might be like, "Really? You're going to put cumin in it? Don't you use cumin for like taco seasoning?" But don't worry :) When it's mixed with these other spices it has this really earthy, settling, lovely taste to it that I think you'll like.
What do you think?! Are these pretty doable? Totally! Give some of these a try and see which one works the best.
If you've already tried one, share your experience with us in the comments below!
And keep bringing Ayurveda to life!
XO!
Monica B.