Ayurvedic home remedies
Simple, traditional preparations for common, everyday complaints. Each remedy lists ingredients, preparation, how to use it and — most importantly — precautions.
This is the full list of home remedies. Each remedy has one address under Remedies. Browse by health concern
Showing 24 of 56 remedies
Herbs & foods
15 minGiloy (guduchi): how it's used, a simple kadha and who should avoid it
Giloy, the heart-leaved climber called guduchi or amrita in Ayurveda, became a household name during the pandemic. Traditionally it's used for recurring fevers, low immunity and digestion. Here's how to use it sensibly in a mild decoction, and why it isn't for everyone.
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Herbs & foods
20 minMoringa (sahjan): cooking the leaves, pods and flowers for everyday nutrition
The drumstick tree growing in so many Indian backyards is a nutrition powerhouse. Its leaves are rich in iron, calcium, vitamin A and protein, and its pods are a favourite in sambar. The best way to benefit is simply to cook it as food, regularly.
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Herbs & foods
15 minNeem: the village pharmacy for skin, scalp and home hygiene
Neem has been called the ‘village pharmacy’ of India. Its bitter leaves are mostly used externally — in bath water, face packs, hair rinses and as a natural insect deterrent — and occasionally in food, such as neem-flower dishes during Ugadi.
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Herbs & foods
10 minTulsi (holy basil): daily leaves, tulsi tea and a calm mind
Almost every Indian home has a tulsi plant in the courtyard. Beyond its religious place, holy basil is a gentle adaptogen traditionally used for colds, cough, stress and digestion. A few fresh leaves or a cup of tulsi tea is the easiest way to enjoy it.
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Herbs & foods
10 minHaldi (turmeric): getting the most from India's golden spice
Turmeric colours nearly every Indian dal and sabzi. Its active compound, curcumin, has anti-inflammatory and antioxidant properties, but it's poorly absorbed on its own. Cooking it in a little fat with black pepper, and using it daily in food, is the traditional — and smartest — approach.
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Herbs & foods
5 minAshwagandha: a strength-and-stress tonic — forms, amounts and cautions
Ashwagandha is Ayurveda's best-known rasayana for strength, stamina and stress. It's now sold everywhere as capsules, gummies and powders. Knowing which form to choose, a sensible amount, and who should avoid it helps you use it safely.
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Herbs & foods
10 minTriphala beyond bedtime: seasonal pairings, a mouth rinse and a hair wash
Triphala — a blend of amla, haritaki and bibhitaki — is best known as a gentle bedtime digestive. But Ayurveda uses it in more ways: paired with different carriers by season, as a mouth rinse for gums, and as a cleansing hair wash.
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Herbs & foods
10 minAloe vera (ghritkumari): growing it, extracting clean gel and using it wisely
An aloe plant on the balcony gives you fresh gel for sunburn, dry skin, minor burns and even a light hair gel. Knowing how to cut and drain a leaf properly makes all the difference, and drinking aloe needs more caution than applying it.
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Herbs & foods
20 minMethi (fenugreek): leaves, sprouts and seeds in everyday cooking
Fenugreek shows up in Indian kitchens as fresh leaves, dried kasuri methi, sprouts and seeds. It's rich in fibre and traditionally used for digestion, joint stiffness, blood-sugar balance and to support breast milk. Here's how to bring it into meals beyond the morning seed water.
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Herbs & foods
10 minAjwain (carom): a digestive spice for heavy meals, tadkas and parathas
A pinch of ajwain transforms heavy foods like pakoras, puris, rajma and parathas, making them easier to digest. It's one of the most-used home remedies for gas and indigestion. Here's a practical guide to cooking with it and making a handy digestive mix.
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Herbs & foods
10 minJeera (cumin): roasted jeera powder and other everyday digestive uses
Cumin is the backbone of the Indian tadka. A jar of freshly roasted jeera powder — sprinkled on raita, buttermilk, chaat and fruit — is one of the simplest ways to add flavour and gentle digestive support to daily meals.
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Herbs & foods
15 minSaunf (fennel): a cooling summer sharbat and its many kitchen uses
Fennel is the sweet, cooling seed Indians chew after meals. It's also the base of a lovely summer sharbat, a key flavour in Kashmiri and Bengali cooking, and a gentle digestive suited even to people with a lot of body heat.
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Herbs & foods
10 minShatavari: Ayurveda's nourishing herb for women, taken in warm milk
Shatavari, the root of a wild asparagus, is Ayurveda's classic tonic for women through every life stage — from periods to new motherhood to menopause. It's traditionally taken as a powder in warm milk. Here's how it's used and when to hold back.
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Herbs & foods
10 minBrahmi: the memory herb — tea, oil massage and knowing which plant is which
Brahmi is Ayurveda's most famous medhya (mind-nourishing) herb, used for memory, concentration and calm. It's taken as a mild tea or ghee preparation and used as a cooling head-massage oil. Two different plants go by the name, so it helps to know which you're buying.
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Herbs & foods
15 minArjuna bark: Ayurveda's traditional heart herb, and why your cardiologist must know
The bark of the arjuna tree has been Ayurveda's foremost heart tonic for centuries, traditionally boiled in milk as arjuna ksheerpaka. It's widely used today for heart health, but it's not a substitute for heart medicines and can interact with them.
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Herbs & foods
10 minMulethi (licorice root): soothing tea for acidity and throat, with a caution on BP
Mulethi sticks have long been chewed by singers and teachers to soothe the throat. The sweet root is also a gentle traditional support for acidity and a common ingredient in skin care. It's powerful, though — regular large amounts can raise blood pressure.
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Herbs & foods
10 minKalonji (nigella seeds): in naan, pickles and panch phoron, and as a hair oil
The small black, onion-flavoured seeds sprinkled on naan and in achaar are kalonji, also called black seed or nigella. Popular in both Ayurvedic and Unani traditions, kalonji is easiest to enjoy in food, and its oil is a favourite scalp treatment.
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Herbs & foods
15 minAlsi (flaxseed): roasted alsi mukhwas and chutney for daily fibre and omega-3
Flaxseed is one of the richest plant sources of omega-3 fats and fibre, and it's cheap and easy to find in India. A spoonful of roasted alsi a day — as a mukhwas, in chutney powder or in rotis — is an easy habit for digestion and heart-friendly eating.
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Herbs & foods
30 minAmla (Indian gooseberry): preserving the winter harvest — candy, pickle and dried slices
Amla season is short, but the fruit keeps beautifully when preserved. Homemade amla candy, a tangy pickle or sun-dried slices let you enjoy this vitamin-C-rich fruit all year, with far less sugar than shop-bought murabba.
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Herbs & foods
10 minLahsun (garlic): crush, rest and enjoy — raw garlic habits and a fiery chutney
Garlic is one of the most studied kitchen foods for heart health and immunity. The trick to getting the most from it is simple: crush or chop it and let it rest for 10 minutes before eating or cooking. A spicy Rajasthani-style lahsun chutney makes daily garlic a treat.
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Herbs & foods
10 minDalchini (cinnamon): true cinnamon vs cassia, and warming ways to use it
Cinnamon warms up chai, biryani and winter desserts, and is often talked about for blood-sugar balance. What most shops in India sell as dalchini is actually cassia, which is fine in cooking but not in large daily doses. Here's how to tell them apart and use each well.
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Herbs & foods
5 minElaichi (green cardamom): the queen of spices for digestion, breath and a calmer chai
Green cardamom perfumes kheer, chai and biryani, and a pod chewed after meals freshens the breath and settles the stomach. It's one of the gentlest digestive spices, balancing heavier or caffeine-rich foods.
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Herbs & foods
45 minDesi ghee: making it at home and enjoying it in the right amount
Ghee is central to Ayurvedic cooking and healing — used for tempering, as a carrier for herbs, for oil massage and for dry skin and lips. Homemade ghee from malai is easy and aromatic. The key is balance: a teaspoon or two a day suits most people, not ladlefuls.
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Herbs & foods
10 minGud (jaggery): a traditional sweetener — how to choose it and use it wisely
Jaggery is the unrefined sugar of Indian villages, eaten after meals, in winter chikkis and in countless sweets. It carries a little iron and minerals and a rich caramel flavour — but it's still sugar. Used in small amounts in place of white sugar, it has a rightful place in the kitchen.
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