Oral Hygiene According to Ayurveda: Powders, Oils, and Ancestral Rituals

 

Ayurveda, India's ancient system of medicine, approaches oral health quite differently from conventional Western dentistry. Rather than industrial toothpaste, this tradition relies on herbal tooth powders (danta choorna), oil gargles (gandusha and kavala), and daily rituals designed to balance the doshas, the energies that, according to this philosophy, govern the body. Below is a practical guide to these techniques.

Mala Pariksha: The Ayurvedic Art of Stool Diagnosis

 

Long before modern gastroenterology developed its tools and technologies, Ayurvedic physicians were reading the body's messages through one of its most honest outputs: the stool. Known in Sanskrit as Mala Pariksha (mala = waste, pariksha = examination), this diagnostic practice forms part of a broader system of observational medicine that has been refined over more than 3,000 years.