Thai traditional medicine and thai herbs: Health care during the rainy season

     The "rainy season" is a period where we are more susceptible to various diseases due to environmental changes and increased risk of infections, especially for those with low immunity, which makes them more vulnerable to illness.

     The Department of Thai Traditional and Alternative Medicine, Ministry of Public Health, recommends using herbs with warm properties to help balance the body during this high-humidity season. According to Thai traditional medicine, this period impacts the wind element in the body, leading to an excess of this element. This imbalance can cause illnesses related to wind element, such as common cold, sore throat, and thick mucus. Health care during this period involves consuming warm-flavored foods to help warm the body.

According to Thai traditional medicine, there are medicinal prescriptions with warming properties, such as the Tri-Satu prescription, a three-ingredient medicine that helps warm the body, including dried ginger rhizomes, Thai pepper, and dill seeds. These three herbs have the following properties:

1. Dried Ginger Rhizomes have a sweet, spicy, and warm taste. They help dispel wind, relieve bloating, reduce nausea and vomiting, and further warm the body.
2. Thai Pepper has a spicy and warm taste, helps reduce flatulence or nourish the element, and warms the body.
3. Dill Seeds have a spicy, warm, and bitter taste, help reduce inflammation, and aid in relieving body aches.

     These three herbs are considered the medicines of the rainy season. Consuming all three in equal amounts, about 15 grams each, can help balance and control the wind element, warming the body. If the ingredients are hard to find, drinking ginger water is recommended because it is not excessively hot. The stronger the ginger water, the more the ginger's sweet and spicy warmth helps alleviate nausea and vomiting, and helps dispel wind. Honey can be added to enhance strength, about one teaspoon to balance the taste and make it easier to consume.

     For foods with warming properties, sour curry, fish with chili sauce, chicken stir-fried with ginger, chicken in coconut soup, clear soup with holy basil can help warm the body.

     Moreover, the Tri-Satu prescription also helps people with indigestion, low metabolism, and high fat. Some hospitals use this prescription to assist in weight loss clinics, reduce blood fat, reduce sugar, dispel wind, relieve muscle, and also help dispel intestinal fat.

     One advantage of Thai traditional medicine is that it does not accumulate in the body and can be expelled. Unlike modern medicines that may leave residues when taken over a long period, the use of modern medicine must therefore follow the doctor's prescription. But for Thai traditional medicine, it is recommended to study well or see a doctor who is proficient in herbs.

Source: The Public Relations Division of the Office of the Permanent Secretary, the Ministry of Public Health, 88/20 Moo 4, Talad Kwan Subdistrict, Mueang District, Nonthaburi 11000
Tel. +66 2590 1000

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