Digestion

Tamarind for digestion

The pulp of the ripe fruit is beneficial in the treatment of bilious vomiting, flatulence, and indigestion.  It is also useful in constipation.  An infusion of the pulp prepared by macerating it in water is particularly useful for loss of appetite and disinclination for food.  For better results, black pepper  cloves, cardamoms and camphor to taste may be added to this infusion after staining.

For gastric problem, a mixture of a tamarind and jaggery has been found highly valuable.  The method of preparing this mixture is to take some tamarind, which has been preserved for more than one year and sock it overnight in water kept in an earthen container.  It should be mixed well with a stick and stained, if necessary.  Soaked tamarind and jaggery may be mixed in equal quantity with one tablespoon of lime, mixing it well again with a stick.  When it becomes like jam, it should be put in a glass container, filling only three-fourths of the container.  It should be closed loosely and left for 72 hours.  A teaspoon of this jam should be taken twice daily on an empty stomach for 30 days.

Another method of using tamarind for the treatment of digestive problems like morning sickness, indigestion and pyrosis is to chew a piece of tamarind with some salt and pepper.  This method has been used as a folk-medicine for centuries in treating these conditions.  The obtained by heating the bark with salt in an earthern vessel can also be given in 6 to 12 centigram doses for colic and indigestion with beneficial results.