Literature review on diet regimen mentioned in Siddha Medicine based on Thehiyin Ilakkanam, Kala Ozhukkam and Gunam

Dr.V.Dhivya¹*, Dr.S.Emima¹, Prof. Dr.S.Victoria ²

1- PG Scholar, Department of Noinadal, Government Siddha Medical College, Palayamkottai

2-Professor and Head of the Department, Department of Noinadal, Government Siddha Medical College, Palayamkottai.

ABSTRACT

Food is important for all living organisms. Eating a variety of healthy food promotes good health and helps to prevent against diseases. It gives nutrients to the body. Nowadays lifestyle modifications and westernized adaptations lead to many diseases. Siddhars, the ancient scholars of tamilnadu explained briefly about the diet regimen to be followed for a healthy and energetic life according to individual thehi’s, changes of climate condition and also based on character. The so called diet regimen is not followed nowadays may be due to lack of knowledge so this research is focused on collecting the information’s about the diet regimens proposed by siddhars in various classical literatures and presenting in the way of reaching the common people in a more effective way for maintaining good health. In this research need of balance of protein, fat, carbohydrates, fiber, vitamins and minerals in our diets to sustain a healthy body will be discussed along with the diet regimen of ancient siddhars to lead a healthy life.

Key words : siddha pathology, noi iyal, thehi illakanam, siddha medicine

INTRODUCTION

Siddha system is a traditional system of Indian medicine. Siddha system of medicine treats disease and also prevents diseases. Siddhars also told about lifestyle for healthy life. Food is daily need for human to provide energy and maintain life or stimulate growth. Food provides a range of different nutrients to the body. Nowadays food styles are changed. Many diseases such as obesity, diabetes, heart disease etc., were caused by life style modifications. So the need to focus ancient diet regimens followed by siddhars becomes necessary to maintain healthy life So this research discuss the diet plan as per thehi ilakkanam, kalaozhukkam and our gunam to lead a wonderful healthy life.

THEHIYIN ILLAKANAM

Thehiyinilakkanam is a physical and mental constituent of the body. In siddha theory the physical body is made up of three humors. They are vatham, pitham and kabam. These humors are proportionally together to form a human physical body. Based the proportion of these humors they are divided in to 3 main types and 7 sub types. The main types are vadha thehi, pitha thehi and kaba thehi. The sub types are fomed by union of main types. They are vathapithathehi, vathakabathehi, pithavathathehi, pithakabathehi, kabavathathehi, kabapithathehi and mukuttrathehi.

DIET BASED ON THEHI

DIET FOR VADHA THEHI

VEGETABLES: White pumpkins, mango, drumstick, flat beans, bitter gourd, elephant foot yam, brinjal, wild amorphophalus.

SPINACHES: Indian acalypha, amaranthusaritis, asian spider flower, black night shade, land caltrops, pointed gourd, hog Weed, garden purslane.

BEVERAGES: Trianthema aderandra, bitter gourd, drumstick, banana stem, tender vegetables

DRIED FOODS: Unarmed nightshade, snake gourd, gooseberry, capparis zeylanica, black night shade, dhal veldt grape

PICKLE: Citron pickle, beleric myrobalans, mustard, clearing nut, ginger, Bengal currants, pungent pickles.

DIET FOR PITHA THEHI

SPICES: Bengal gram, lima beans, black gram, cardamom, fenugreek, black pepper, unarmed night shade, butter, ginger, ivy gourd, curry leaves, cumin seed.

VEGETABLES: Cucumber, bitter gourd, ridge gourd, snake gourd, lablab bean, pumpkin, brinjal, drumstick, sesame, tapioca, onion, blossom, banana stem.

SPINACHES: Yellow wood sorrel, ivy gourd, drumstick, small leaf purslane, velvet leaf wound plant, forest pepper, hybanthus, spinach, three lobed night shade, bottle gourd, Indian penny wort, tropical amaranth, black night shade

BEVERAGES: Malabar spinach, humming bird tree leaves, tender coconut, thorny greens, snake gourd, climbing brinjal, unarmed night shade, wild egg plant, green gram, black night shade, Indian pennywort.

PICKLE: Green variety of pepper, ginger, climbing brinjal, tripala, bitter orange, bonduc nut, Chinese gooseberry, Alexandrian laurel, tender mango, sour orange, lemon.

DIET FOR KABA THEHI

VEGETABLE: Brinjal, wild snake gourd, lablab bean, bitter gourd, Bengal currants, wild egg plant, raw fig, green gram, bottle gourd, ridge gourd, banana stem, raddish, drumstick, white pumpkin, onion, tapioca.

SPINACHES: Emetic nut, ivy gourd, amaranthusaritis, elephant ear, snake gourd, water clover, Indian sorre, Indian acalypha, Indian penny wart, rough bryony, drumstick, chocolate This Researched, plumed cocks comb, cetis, velvet leaf wound plant, Bengal currants, asian spider flor, garden pursalane, dry ginger, aloevera.

BEVERAGES: Turmeric, mustard, garden dill anet, common fumitory, bishops This Researched, fenugreek, coriander, sesban, dog mustard, bitter gourd, thumbe.

DRIED FOODS: Unarmed night shade, black night shade, climbing Brinjal, veldt grape, wild snake gourd, Capparis zeylanica, snake gourd, lablab bean, amla, bitter orange.

PICKLE: Pepper, turmeric, unarmed night shade, banana stem, bishop Weed, tender mango, climbing brinjal, guava, tender bitter gourd.

KALA OZHUKKAM: Sidhars explain about kalaozhukkam as six perumpozhuthugal and six sirupozhuthugal. The perumpozhuthugal are karkalam, koothirkalam, munpani, pinpani, elavenil and muthuvenil. The three humors are vadha, pitham and kabam increase in their state and other state.

DIET BASED ON KALA OZHUKKAM

KARKALAM

· Person to take diet to equalize pitha thodam.

· Person to take emetic and purgative medicines

· Person to take bath with hot water

• Person to avoid butter milk and hot water
• Person to Avoid hard work and sleep at day time

· Person to drink rain water, Well water and hot water

· Person to eat sour and salt taste foods and easily digestible foods

· Person to take honey mixed foods and old grains

KOOTHIRKALAM

· Person want to equalize the pitham

· Person take purgative medicines of bitter taste oils, sloth and seetham vigor

· To avoid dew, sunlight, cold air, salt alcoholic beverages, curd, oil and fat items

· Person will sit in moon light

· Person take bitter, astringent and sweet taste foods

· Person take must easily digestible foods

· Person take samba rice, green gram, gooseberry and honey

MUNPANI AND PINPANIKALAM

• Person do some exercise

· Person should take oilbath

· Person eat sweet, sour and salt tasted foods

· Person eat meat, blackgram, wheat and sugarcane added foods

· Person take beverages prepared with jiggery, rice and grapes

· Person take some sunlight bath

ELAVENIL

· Person should equalize the kabam in this climate

· Person should take purgative and nasal instillations

· Person take light and dry foods

· Person do some exercises

· Person drink a soaked water of cuscus grass and sandal

· Person eat honey, wheat and mango fruit

· Person take pungent, sour and sweet tasted food and seetham vigor foods

· Don’t do sleep at daytime

· It is good time for family life

MUTHUVENIL

· Person equalize the vatham in this climate

· Person take neippu, liquid and sweet tasted foods

· Person must eat easily digestible food

· Person eat salt, sour and pungent taste food

· Person should avoid exercise

· Avoid sunlight and alcoholic beverages

· Person drink a soaked water of trumpet flower and cuscus grass

· Person take samba rice, meat, banana and jack fruit

· Person should take sleep at daytime

DIET BASED ON SIRUPOZHUTHUGAL

Siddhars also discussed diet plan for a day. They divide a day into 6 portions they are vaigarai, kalai, nadupagal, pirpagal, malai, and naduiravu but This Research take food three times per day. So they said diet for breakfast, lunch and dinner

DIET FOR BREAKFAST : Green gram, bengal gram, dholl, black gram, sesame, dry beans, mustard, pepper, dry ginger, asafoetida

DIET FOR LUNCH: Tuber varieties, fruits, spinaches, buffalo curd and butter milk

DIET FOR DINNER: Tender lablab bean, raw fig, cow milk, tender drumstick, three lobed night shade

GUNAM

Siddhars told about human characters. They divides gunam into 3 types. They are sathuvam, rasatham and thamasagunam.

CHARACTERS OF SATHUVAGUNAM: Grace, imprint controller, wisdom, majestic, greatness, sincerity and truthful

CHARACTERS OF RASATHAGUNAM: Encouraging, wisdom, majestic, valor, dhamma, charity, educative, questionnaire

CHARACTERS OF THAMASAGUNAM: Promiscuity, lust, angry, kill, sloth, justice will be passed, increased sleepy, foodie, liar, forgotten and crafty

This Research should take the food as per gunas, This Research gain good characters through food

DIET OF SATHUVAGUNAM

GRAINS: Samba rice, raw rice, by aris rice, wheat, chamba white, Italian millet, black gram, green gram, parched grain, parched rice, sesame

SPICES: Dried ginger, black pepper, cumin seeds, fenugreek

SWEETS: Sugar, white sugar, sugar candy, honey

FRUITS: Grapes, dates

AROMATICS: Nutmug, arillus of the nut, cardamom seeds, saffron

NUTS:Almond

OILS: Sesame oil, mahua oil, dry coconut

MILK PRODUCTS: Cow milk, cow curd, butter, ghee

VEGETABLES: Wild egg plant, cluster bean, bitter gourd, cucumber, green plantain, unripe jack fruit, wood apple, ber fruit, raw mango, black night shade, bitter orange, sprout, coconut, amla, colocasia, toxtail amaranth, plantain stem, veldt grape

SPINACHES: Curry leaves, purple fruited pea, fenugreek leaves, coriander leaves, purple amaranth, dwaf copper leaf, black night shade, humming bird tree leaves and flowers

FRUITS: All banana types, bayan banana, mango, jambul, guava, tender coconut

DIET OF RASASAGUNAM

GRAINS: Sago, dhal, Bengal gram

NUTS: Cashew nut, ground nut

SPICES: Turmeric, asafetida, musk, tamarind, chillies, salt varieties, mustard, black mustard seed, white mustard, coriander seeds

AROMATICS: Clove, bark of cinnamon, the bishops This Researched, opium poppy, areca nut, Ceylon Iron wood

MILK PRODUCTS: White goat milk and white goat ghee

VEGETABLES: Lady’s finger, pumpkin, cluster fig, tamarind, lemon, green chilli, yam

SPINACHES: Amaranthu saritis

FLOWERS: Banana blossom, cassia

FRUITS: Pomegranate

NON VEGETARIAN: Deer, goat, rabbit, meat, fish and some birds

DIET OF THAMASAGUNAM

GRAINS: Double boiled rice, ragi, millet, pear millet, maize, pea, dry beans, peas, horse gram

SWEETS: Palm jaggery, palm candy

MILK PRODUCTS: Buffalo milk, buffalo curd, buffalo butter, buffalo ghee

VEGETABLES: Brinjal, lablab bean, ridged gourd, drumstick, bottle gourd, potato, raddish, Palmyra root tuber

AROMATIC: Onion and garlic

SPINACHES: Drumstick leaves, tropical amaranth, yellow wood sorrel, chicory leaves

FRUITS: Cashew fruit, custard apple

OILS: caster oil

BEVERAGES: Palm wine, coconut toddy, alcoholic beverages

NON VEGTARIAN: Lake fishes, other animal meat

DISCUSSION

In siddha theory the human body is based on three humors. They are vatham, pitham and kabam. The three humors differ in its state causes the disease. We need to equalize the three humors by good activities and healthy food style. We should take food based on our humors combination. We lead a healthy life. Siddhars revealed about diet regimen as per thehi such as vathathehi, pithathehi and kabathehi. They have said about diet for climate variation. They divided twelve months into six kalam and told diet for climates such as karkalam, koothirkalam, munpani, pinpani, ilavenil and muthuvenil. They also said about diet for a day. Siddhars insist about human characters. They said diet for gunam such as sathuvam, rasatham and thamasam.

CONCLUSION

From the above information’s, the food styles were identified for individual thehi’s, based on climate changes and for gunam were revealed. Hence this research will help to avoids lifestyle disorders by following this diet regimen and can lead a healthy life.

REFERENCES

1. Durairasan K., NoiIllaNeri, Department of Indian Medicine and Homoeopathy, Chennai, 2008, pg no 184-186, 157-158

2. Kannusamypillai, PatharthaGunaVilakam, Department of Indian Medicine and Homoeopathy, Chennai, 2007, pg no 465-472

3. Shanmugavelu, NoinadalNoiMuthalNaadal – Part: 1, Department of Indian Medicine and Homoeopathy, Chennai, 2007.

4. Thiyagarajan, Compendium of Siddha Medicine, Department of Indian Medicine and Homoeopathy, Chennai, 2007.

5. Venugopal P.M., UdalThathuvam, Department of Indian Medicine and Homoeopathy, Chennai, 2007, pg no 262-265