How to preserve Gooseberries using Honey

Gooseberry is an excellent source of vitamin C. It keeps you active and drives away lethargy. Honey is an excellent source of energy. It is a natural preservative. It is also an antiseptic par excellent. Gooseberries that are available only 2-3 months in a year can be preserved in honey and used throughout the year. Honey helps retain the vitality and medicinal properties of gooseberries. One way to preserve gooseberries using honey is described below.

A small note on honey, honey harvested from mature honeycombs is the most beneficial. Prematurely harvested honey gets sour quickly and becomes useless.

Take required number of mature gooseberries. Each gooseberry is pierced at various spots (5-6 piercing) with a stainless steel sharp object or thorn. Now take a jar full of pure honey and drop these pierced gooseberries into them. Let the gooseberries be fully immersed in honey. Cover the mouth of the jar with a thin white cloth and place it in sunlight for 1 hour each day for 15 days. Now the gooseberries are storehouses of energy.

On getting up in the morning, after cleaning your teeth, take a honey soaked gooseberry first thing in the morning. This eliminates lethargy and keeps you active throughout the day.

This is an excellent source of energy for both young and old and ideal for strengthening the mental faculties.


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Ayurvedic tenets for long and healthy life - II

The rishis and siddhars (spiritually evolved people) of the past discovered the secrets of longevity and have passed it on to the successive generations. These saints saw the harmony that exists in the universe, the day and night, the seasons, the perfect motion of the planets, the yin and yang. They intuitively deduced that human beings are the microcosm of Nature and the vast expansive Universe is the macrocosm. They saw the human microcosm as part of the larger universal macrocosm. Hence they stated that the secret of healthy life lies in establishing harmony within the microcosm based on the harmony that pervades the universe throughout. Their efforts were then directed towards finding ways and means of establishing this universal macrocosmic harmony in the human existence. This search resulted to yoga, meditation, etc.

The Vedas state that the universe is made of five elements namely, earth, water, fire, air, and ether. Human body is also made of the same five elements. So for a healthy living, there should be a healthy balance of all the five elements. The human body’s actions relate to the universe through these elements.

Humans drink water, eat food, inhale air and thus regulate the temperature of their body. They get ‘prana’ from ether. It is the earth that gives them the external form. Bones, tissues, muscles, skin, hair etc relate to earth. Blood, glandular secretions, and all the other fluids in the body relate to water. The third element fire is behind emotions, energy, and vitality. Digestion, blood circulation, nervous system, etc are the spheres of action for fire. Air relates to breathing. Ether is the source of mental prowess and spiritual development. When all of these five elements are in balance and harmony, there is health and joy.

One cannot isolate the elements from one another. All elements act in unison. The physical activity is a result of the combined action of the elements. Any imbalance in one element affects the harmony of the whole.

Doshas are a combination of the five elements. Vata, pittha and kapha are the three doshas that Ayurveda speaks of. Vata is a combination of ether and air, pitha fire and water, kapha water and earth. Though there is no exact English equivalent for the Sanskrit word dosha, it roughly means force, or one that could easily lose its equilibrium. Human beings are a combination of two or all three doshas with one being predominant. To know your dosha click here.


When the doshas get vitiated, (and they tend to get vitiated easily), it results in diseases. Disease comes from outside and is not the nature of the body.




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Ayurvedic tenets for long and healthy life

To lead a long and healthy life Ayurveda recommends a lifestyle based on moderation in all spheres of life. Adapting this lifestyle is liberating and manifests positive changes in body, mind and spirit. Human beings die either naturally due to ageing or due to diseases and accidents. While one cannot foretell death, leading a healthy life keeps away diseases and the attendant suffering.

Ayurveda recommends following certain tenets that when adapted to ones lifestyle and made into a habit can benefit physically, mentally and spiritually.

The basic requirement for a healthy existence is good food, good sleep and good relationship.

Always consume freshly prepared food. Avoid all foods of the previous day especially the non-vegetarian ones. Also avoid refrigerated foods.

Do not suppress the natural urge to urinate and defecate. Avoid daytime nap. Do not lie down to sleep with head facing north.

Eat only when you feel hungry. Eat twice a day. Do not go to bed immediately after supper. Walk for 10-15 minutes before going to bed.

Follow a regular routine for sleeping. Go to bed by 10 o’clock at night. Get up at 6 in the morning. Six to eight hours of sleep is necessary to maintain good health.

Ayurveda advocates sex in moderation. It stipulates a general rule of sexual relationship once every fortnight (a tough one!). No sex immediately after food, a gap of 4 hours is advised.

The Siddhars of yesteryears also suggest the following regimen.

Eat twice a day.

Apply oil to head and bathe in warm water once every four days.

Fast a day, once a week.

Sex once a fortnight.

Clean the airway passages and nostrils etc (by instilling certain medications into the nostrils) once every 45 days. This helps clear the sinuses.

Take purgatives (natural ones) once every four months and cleanse the colons.

Take emetics (vomit inducers) once every six months to clear the phlegm etc.

Avoid dust and polluted atmosphere.

A disciplined mind is necessary to keep away from bad habits and inculcate good ones.


I am reminded of a quote I found at the entrance of Integral Coach Factory Design and Development Department, "in the chains of a disciplined life, the spirit soars”.

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