Lemon and its many zingy benefits in easy home remedies – Shreeguruji’s video inside!

The lemon is an indispensable part of the Indian culinary arts. Just the thought of the fresh yellow lemon fruit, stimulates our brain’s RAS (reticular activating system) and makes our mouths water. Among appetizers, lemon is a star performer. It is a great stimulant of digestive fire. It adds that characteristic and memorable zing to simple dishes like poha (rice flakes), or to sabudana khichadi (delicious fasting food made of sago seeds). A few drops on saatvik varan-bhaat, made from arhar dal (split yellow pigeon peas) and rice, bring out the flavour of the meal as well as our appetites.

In Ayurveda, the post-digestive effect of a food is very important. Lemon (or neembu in Hindi) pacifies both Vata and Pitta Doshas and is laghu (light) in guna (quality). Even though it’s rasa (taste) is sour, is an-ushna (not-so-hot) in veerya (action) and has a madhur vipak (sweet post digestive effect). 

It is well known that lemon is rich in vitamin C. Lemon juice enters the blood stream as alkaline citrates and reduces the acidity of the blood. It is customary to take a small piece of lemon in India during meals. The leaves and seeds of the lemon also have medicinal properties. The fruits are sour, digestive, carminative, antiseptic, stomachic, anthelmintic, anti-scorbutic, stimulant, and mosquito repellent.

In the Summer, one can find street stalls selling neembu paani (lemon sherbet) in the Western parts of India, and shikanji in the Northern states, popping up all over the country. These refreshing, thirst quenching preparations top the list of cooling drinks in the hot summer months. The sugar and salt added to this Indian lemonade fulfils the need for electrolytes in our bodies, depleted due to the heat.

Neembu-paani – Lemon sherbet recipe
The most juicy lemons are those with a thin-papery skin. The sweetener can be of your choice, either cane sugar, honey or jaggery. In this recipe we have used cane sugar. Black salt blends best with lemon, though rock salt may also be used. The spices in the recipe are optional, though roasted cumin seed powder adds to the cooling benefits.
Ingredients:
1 juicy lemon
40 grams Sugar
400ml cool drinking water (preferably from a matka, an earthen cooling water-pot)
1/4th tsp saindha namak or black salt or rock salt
1/4th tsp roasted cumin seeds powder
1 pinch black pepper powder
2 strands of saffron

 

Method: The lemon is cut horizontally into half and squeezed with a lemon juice squeezer.
Tip: for maximum juice, roll the lemon on the table top for a few seconds before squeezing.
Now add the water and rest of the ingredients and stir well.
One can add crushed mint leaves or basil leaves to give the drink more flavour and also sparkling water or soda if you wish, though water offers the best health effect.

Nimbu Masala or Spiced-up Lemon
This is a unique health recipe created by Shreeguru Dr. Balaji Tambe. In Ayurveda, the biggest root-cause for most of our health disorders is manda-agni or a disturbed and low digestive fire. Food is our main source of energy and getting the most from what we eat depends mainly on our digestive fire.

This recipe is a wonder home remedy for many problems related to indigestion, loss of appetite, a bloated tummy, stomach ache, nausea, etc.

Recipe: Cut a lemon in half and remove the seeds with a knife. On the cut surface of one half of the lemon, add a pinch of roasted cumin powder, a pinch of ajwain powder (caraway), a pinch of turmeric powder, a pinch of saindha namak (black salt) and a very small pinch of asafoetida (hing powder). Place the lemon in a skillet and roast on a slow cooking flame. The lemon should be placed so that the skin touches he skillet surface and the open part topped with spices, faces upwards.

You can see Shreeguruji’s video about this here.

Lemon – Home Remedies

External Uses:

• A mixture of lemon juice and camphor applied on the scalp helps to reduce dandruff and blisters.
• Application of a paste, made by grinding camphor and turmeric in lemon juice, reduces pimples on the face.
• Washing the feet with lemon juice mixed with water helps to prevent fungal infections.
• Rubbing the rind of the lemon fruit on the face helps to improve complexion.
• The external application of lemon juice on mosquito bites helps to relieve itching and irritation.

Internal Uses:

• To decrease excess fat and obesity – Take the juice of one lemon mixed with honey in a glass of water.
• Frequently taking a mixture of lemon juice and ginger juice with salt, helps in case of gases, indigestion and stomach ache.
• A glass of lemon sherbet after meals helps to improve digestive fire and increases the appetite.
• To stop vomiting and hiccups, prepare an ash by burning dry lemon mixed with honey, and give it to the patient to lick frequently.

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