Rasayana for Childcare: Joy of Herbs and Healing

About the Book

This is a book of herbal recipes for childcare based on a concept in Ayurveda called Rasayana. Rasayana deals with methods to live long and live well. The recipes selected can be prepared at home using ingredients from the kitchen, garden, supermarkets or Indian stores. The book includes stories woven over the ages around these herbs, legends that they star in, their vernacular names and citations from ancient Ayurveda Materia Medica that reveal the nature of the Rasayana herbs. The beautiful photographs of plants, interesting hand-drawn illustrations and tit-bits are a celebration of the cultural history associated with the herbs. The book will not only be a pleasure to read and use but also a treasure to keep for young mothers and children’s care-givers.

About the Author

Padma Venkat is a professor at the School of Life Sciences, Institute of Transdisciplinary Health Sciences and Technology, Bangalore, India. She was the former director of the Institute of Ayurveda and Integrative Medicine, Bangalore. After completing her doctorate degree in microbial biochemistry from the University of Cambridge, UK, she returned to India with a commitment to scientifically explore the traditional medical systems of India and joined hands with the Foundation for Revitalisation of Local Health Traditions (FRLHT), Bangalore. Her research studies are of a transdisciplinary nature aimed at bridging traditional Indian medical knowledge and modern science. She is interested in understanding the concepts in Ayurveda and using them to develop cost-effective, contemporary health-care applications. She has demonstrated how certain Rasayana herbs can be used at the household level to promote wellness and manage anemia. She believes that understanding the Rasayana concept can unfold the mystery about wellness and longevity. She established the National Centre for R&D in Rasayana at her institute. Prof. Venkat also holds a masters degree in health management from McGill University, Canada. Her thesis proposed the promotion of traditional home health practices among households for primary health care as a means to achieve universal health coverage. India has rich traditional health-care practices for pregnant and young mothers and neonates. She believes that by investing substantially into researching traditional medicines, it has the potential to bring down health-care costs and also create a healthy society. However, today the health coverage in India is largely inadequate. It is neither satisfied by traditional medical practices because they have eroded, nor by the allopathic system since they are inaccessible or not adequately adopted by the communities. Thus India’s maternal and infant health indicators are far below expectations. Concerted efforts at scientific and community-based research into the use of traditional practices for home health care can provide evidence for policy changes to mainstream good traditional practices. This book was initiated by Prof. Venkat based on her own experiences with traditional Rasayana herbs, as a small step to guide young mothers for the care of their children.