Seasame (Gingelly) oil

[Guest guest]

Food ingredients will remain a topic of debate between east and west

for quite a long time.

 

These days if one goes to any doctor, the first advice is to stop

fats, oils and chillies. This precaution is suggested mainly by

doctors and naturopaths. Not by grand parents. Or Maharshis.

 

Ayurveda does not prohibit using oils in diet. Rajvaidya Rasiklal

Parikh and Prabhashankar (Porbandar) of Gujarat had written about

oils and fats in their publications. According to several well known

ayurveda experts, Seasame oil (gingelly oil in south India) gives

health benifits and best medicine for several vatic disorders. Hence

whenever someone prescribes reducing oils and fats in diet, patients

should remember following points.

 

Stop abusing vegetable oils.

 

In none of ancient ayurvedic texts oil has been prohibited. Maharshi

Charaka, Sushrut or Vagbhata has never indicated any red signal

against oils. On the other hand they have widely praised the property

of oils in pacifying Vata. A reason for Health practitioners

opposing oils in diet could be that the available ground nut oil,

sun-flower oil, palmolene oil and cotton seed oil is dangerous to

health. Ayurveda regards seasame oil and mustard oil (Sarasau tel in

Hindi) as true oils. The benifits of oils given in ayurvedic texts

apply only to seasame oil and sarasau oil. They are not applicable to

groundnut oil ot palmolene oil.

 

Seasame oil is the health treasure:

 

Maharshi Charaka puts seasame oil first in the list of items worth

adopting. This sweet and slightly salty taste oil has one special

property which attracted all ayurvedic community. Its power to

rapidly reach micro channels (Strotas) is remarkable. First it

reaches micro channels and then it gets digested. This way it gives

energy and alertness to all cells. It is appetiser causing extra

hunger, leading to proper digestion, therefore regarded as tonic also.

 

Best medicine for Vata disorders

 

Disorders such as Arthritis, stress incontinence, obessity owe their

existence to unbalance of Vata. Hypertension and CAD also belong to

Vatic category of diseases, though pitta and kapha can also coexist

in such cases.

 

One can use seasame oil as supportive diet in such cases. Seasame oil

is 'grahi' means causes Baddha action on stools and urine. Hence bed

wetting children can be given one handful of black seasame seeds to

chew and swallow every morning evening. Within a month significant

benifits can be seen. Due to cell-penetrating power of seasame oil,

it takes every medicine dissolved in it also to all cells. Hence most

of Vatic massage oils are made using seasame oil.

 

Good for teeth problems too

 

If your gums have become loose, tooth are paining, moving when

pressed, pus/blood coming out from gums and dentist may have

recommended removing all. Gargle with seasame oil. Astonishing

benifit has been obtained by those who believed in the power of

seasame oil and carried out this gargle thrice a day.

 

Makes skin smooth and shining

 

A serious problem in winter. When vata increases, skin dries out. It

becomes rough also. Vata really means inadequate flow of nutrients to

parts of body. Thus circulation of blood, hormones, cerebro-spinal-

fluid and signals in nerves, everything is governed by proper Vata

balance. Blocking of channels, arteries is what sets up disorders.

While massage can help in all vata disorders, generally seasame oil

is used for massage in most cases. Essential oils are also mixed in

to explot sharpness property of seasame oil.

 

 

 

Useful to women under Menopause

 

The women in menopause suffer due to many uterine diseases. Modern

practitioners advise hysterectomy under most circumstances. Ayurveda

regards these problems falling under Vata vitiation and advise use of

seasame oil as the first choice. Those advised hysterectomy can try

this. Chew finely black seasame seeds, one handful evry morning and

evening for six months. No hysterectomy will be needed thereafter for

lifetime. Further, simultaneously, they can take enima of seasame oil

and dashmul quath, Nirgundi etc, but under expert supervision. March

and Septemeber are ideal months in India for such enima. Dr Vasant

Lad has given a home panch karma procedure, already published on this

list.

 

 

Save yourself from Hypertension and CAD

 

Seasame oil is extensively used for patients of hypertension and CAD.

Ayurvedic experts use medicated seasame oil in shirodhara. This

treatment causes deep sleep. This in turn reduces blood pressure.

Massage by seasame oil improves blood circulation, which reduces

heart work load. Those who are in Maharashtra, India can call

National Association for Blind, Worli, Mumbai, where massage experts

are blind men and women. While they charge very reasonably and give

home service, proper training received by them and the dedication

they have to the profession, causes wonderful results. Their mind

power gets concentrated in their fingures.

 

Seasame oil actually reduces cholesterol, just like pure ghee of

Indian cow. ghee is already discussed on this list. Thse two, when

used in diet, will reduce the chances of heart stroke. Ayurvedic

medicines for heart are made from cow ghee. Take Arjuna Ghrutam,

Brahmi Ghrutam as examples. If one wishes to make a fast penetrating

medicine which reaches the strotas within say an hour, make it in cow

ghee.

 

Various practitioners, without understanding the great praise for

seasame oil by ancient sage, advise eating boiled beans and cereals.

The sales promotion campaigns by Multinational companies may have

caused this state. However, the Baghar (sauting) made by using this

oil, causes penetration of the molecules of mustard, cummin seeds,

fenugreek seeds into oil and therefore cereals. When these spices get

mixed this way, Vata pacifying property is imparted to curry. This is

also brought out in one old messasge on ayurveda by Maharshi

Ayurveda experts.

 

When seasame oil is used for frying, it will become poison in the

same manner as all other oils. All oils, when start foaming under

heat, become poisons due to free radicals generated. To preserve all

vitamins, oil should not foam during heating. South indian diet uses

much less ghee, but use of seasame oil and coconut oil is maximum.

Dosa is not contra-indicated if seasame oil is used as a non-stick

medicum.

 

Also cold pressed oil should be used rather than hot pressed. Those

residing in Mumbai, Maharashtra can obtain cold pressed oil from

Yusuf Meherali Centre, Panvel, Mumbai. If you get it from some other

source, taste it before buying. It must give a little salty taste.

 

 

Use of seasame oil as cooking medium instead of other oils is the

first line in the diet recommendation of every patient this author

treats.

 

Dr Bhate

 

ayurveda, Todd Caldecott <todd@t...>

wrote:

> like McDonald's and Kentucy Fried Chicken and their east Indian

> equivalents such as deep-fried carbohydrate-rich snacks (e.g. dosa,

> vadai, pakora, samosa etc.) and sweets, with healthy fats that

include

> unheated cold-pressed seed oils or cholesterol-rich fats such as

ghee

> and other animal fats

>

> i have already mentioned before that the trend in India of using

> processed vegetable-based oils in cookery such as gingelly oil and

> vegetable ("cooking") ghee is particularly worrisome

>

[Guest guest]

> Dear Dr. Bhate,

> On your last post about Sesame oil, I have a question

> on your statement about not using cottonseed, palm and

> sunflower oils. I can understand why you mentioned

> cottonseed and palm because I understand they have

> high levels of saturated fats.

 

 

i just want to jump in here and mention that there is very little

"hard" evidence that saturated fats are bad - there are so many factors

in a person's diet that researchers tend to over-generalize, based on

conceptual errors - case in point, i heard this AM on the radio that

"red meat" increases the risk of colon cancer - thankfully the reporter

also defined what "red meat" is considered to be: a fast food hamburger

- as you can see, such extrapolations are almost meaningless

 

saturated fats are much more heat and light stable compared to any

other kind of fat - when we consider the danger of fats, in particular,

how they oxidize and promote free-radicals, saturated fats are the

safest oils to eat, and polyunsaturated fats are the most dangerous

 

humans have been eating mostly saturated fats since the dawn of time -

and we seem to have survived OK

now of course we have an epidemic of obesity - ever since the dogma

that "saturated fat and cholesterol is bad" began to dominate the

social dialogue

Caldecott

todd

www.toddcaldecott.com