HALADI: (Turmeric)
Curcuma longa
Family: Zingiberaceae
Sanskrit name: Haridra
Hindi name: Haldi
Take ground root of turmeric, lentil flour, a touch of pure camphor, paste of white sandalwood, and a little dried orange root. Blend. Apply on the face and body. Allow to dry. Rinse off with water.
~ Recipe for Uptan, a traditional skin food and cleanser.
Indian cosmetics pay a great deal of attention to preserving the skin’s suppleness and youthful quality by retaining the body’s natural oils, and where necessary augmenting them. Traditionally, an Indian, male or female, has an oil
massage before bathing. Then, instead or using soap, Indians cleanse their faces and bodies of the film of oil with a moist paste made from turmeric and lentil flour. The root of the turmeric plant is known to be antiseptic and aromatic,
both attractive qualities in a cleanser, but the paste also succeeds in cleansing and disinfecting the skin without drying out its natural oils. Turmeric tubers are bright yellow inside and when ground into a paste and used as a cleanser the
skin takes on a golden glow, while curing skin ulcers at the same time.
The bactericidal and antiallergenic qualities of turmeric have been proved by clinical testing to have a greater medicinal effect than the merely cosmetic, which may explain its presence not just in Indian cosmetics and cleansers,
but also as an essential ingredient in most Indian curries. Turmeric powder has been found to significantly increase the mucous content in gastric juices and Indian cuisine lays great weight on turmeric’s therapeutic effect against gastric
disorders. Used externally on animals, the volatile oil from the turmeric tuber has been found to have an antiinflammatory effect greater than that of hydrocortisone, while other turmeric extracts nave significantly reduced
histamine or allergic contents in the skin, and inhibited subacute arthritis.
Taken internally as a draft, turmeric is an important ingredient in an Ayurvedic prescription for respiratory infections, which is being clinically tested at the moment to see if it can be marketed as a pharmaceutical drug.
Excerpted from The Garden of Life by Naveen Patnaik.
Illustration: Photograph of a Turmeric tree.
