Modern era’s changing lifestyle along with changing food culture and also depending upon ones body constitution Amlapitta is one of the most common symptom (disease) seen in the society.
‘Hurry’, ‘Worry’, and ‘Curry’ are the three main reasons for the disease.
Etiological factors:
- Stressful daily routine.
- Insufficient sleep at night.
- Irregular meal times or skipping meals.
- Eating too late at night.
- Spicy food habits like pizza, burger, chinese food.
- Oily foods, pickles.
- Salty and sour foods like chips .
- Over eating of stale, fermented foods(bakery foods, idli, dosa, etc).
- Sleeping immediately after meals.
- Lack of rest , fast moving lifestyle.
- Suppression of urges.
- Too much of worries.
- Walking for long hours in hot sun very often, or working near hot areas .
All these above factors result in excessive increase of ‘Pitta dosha’ which tries to find its way out of the body either through oral or rectal pathway and along with it exhibits symptoms of amlapitta.
Symptoms:
Weakening of digestive fire (agnimandya), Heart & chestburn (retrosternal burning), & nausea are the three initial symptoms of ‘Amlapitta’ ,the other symptoms are as mentioned below :
- Indigestion.
- Sour or bitter belchings.
- Heartburn.
- Throatburn.
- Aversion towards food.
- Heaviness in abdomen.
- Distention of abdomen.
- Pain in abdomen.
- Chest pain.
- Headache.
- Nausea, vomitting.
- Bad breathe.
- Foul smelling loose motions.
- Itching all over the body.
- Fainting.
- Giddiness.
- Chronicity of the disease may further lead to gastric ulceration.
Treatment:
The main key for treating Amlapitta is to improve digestion.
As the saying goes “Prevention is better than cure” it is better to avoid all the causative factors of amlapitta.
One should follow the meal times.
Avoid eating spicy foods, or foods containing excess amount of garlic, salt, oil, chillies,etc. very often.
Include liquids like lemon juice, kokam juice, sweetlime juice, pomogranate juice, amla juice. Shatavari kalpa mixed with water. Medicated water with ushir (wala) or coriander seeds, or laja (puffed rice). Shadangodak (water medicated with musta, parpatak, ushir, chandan, udichya & suntha).
Moramla (jam made from amla), gulkand (jam made from rose petals) can be taken singly or along with milk gives good relief, dadimpak (sweet syrup made of pomogranate juice).
Vegetables like white pumpkin, bitter gourd, okra, all leafy vegetables can be eaten except methi which should be definitely avoided.
Fruits like black grapes, sweet lime, pomogranate, fig, dry fig, black raisins.
Medicines:
- Avipattikar churna , Triphala churna – 1/4th tsp of churna should be taken with warm water at night.
- Sutshekhar rasa – 1 tab three times a day.
- Kamdugha rasa – 1 tab three times a day in case burning sensation is the prime symptom.
- Prawal panchamrit – 1 tab after lunch & 1 tab after dinner; specially in sour belchings, feeling of bloating,etc.
- Laghusutshekhar rasa – 1tab thrice a day.
- Dry ginger powder 1/4th tsp + ghee 1tsp + 1 tsp sugar should be taken in the morning at empty stomach.
- Churnas like – shatavari churna, yastimadhu churna, sariva churna, vasa, bhringa, dhamasa churna, amla churna, chandan, guduchi satwa, musta, parpatak churna should be taken under consultation.
- Chandanasav, ushirasav, bhunimbadi kadha, abhayarishta, amlapitta kadha,etc should be taken with enough qty of water after lunch and dinner.
- Shatavari ghrit, yashti ghrit also helps in certain cases.
In chronic cases or when patient cannot be well managed with oral medications ‘Panchakarma procedures’ like waman or virechan whichever is needed should be administered under proper guidance of Ayurvedic physician.
It is so simple to stay away from ‘Amlapitta’ (Acidity) but only if proper care is taken…