Traditional Nutritional Recipes for Women’s Health

Traditional Nutritional Recipes for Women’s Health

During my visit to a Swasthya Rakshan Camp to a nearby village Keelanatham in Tirunelveli District, Tamil Nadu, South India, I met a 35 year old woman who came along with her 12 year old girl child for consultation. The mother narrated her complaints -- calf muscle pain in both legs, excessive bleeding during periods, tiredness and hair fall. The girl child looked malnourished with underweight. She also had irregular periods, excessive tiredness and inability to concentrate in her studies. When I interrogated with them, I came to know about their poor eating habits and misunderstanding about the traditional food recipes. Before giving medicines, I advised them to take nutritionally rich diet and explained the value of functional foods mentioned in Siddha system of Medicine in managing their problem. I recommended her to prepare and consume the following recipes on a daily basis and whenever possible:

Nutritionally rich traditional recipes for Women’s health:

• Black gram porridge –  strengthens the uterus
• Multi grain porridge – nourishes with protein and calcium
• Sesame balls – corrects Anaemia
• Morringa leaf powder – used as appetizer and for  anaemia
• Baloon wine pancake (mudaktran adai) –  useful for osteoporosis
• Pomegranate syrup (madhulai manapagu) – useful for anaemia
• Devil’s backbone sauce (pirandai thuvaiyal) – useful for osteoporosis
• Red rice pudding (puttu) – useful for Anaemia, mennorrhagia
• Fenugreek porridge– strengthens the uterus and used as lactogogue
• Shark fish pudding (Sura puttu) – used as lactogogue  and nourishes with vitamin A and D

She immediately recalled that her grandmother used to give some of the above mentioned foods during her menarche and adolescent period. After her grandmother’s demise slowly these foods have gone out of their kitchen. She thanked me for making aware of these forgotten traditional recipes. I also explained them about the ill effects of junk foods and health hazards that are caused by improper eating habits.  Later, I met her after three months in a similar camp and came to know that she was near normal and now was able to do her routine works without much difficulty. She also said that her daughter was slowly gaining weight and improving in her academics too. She added that her neighbour too had similar problems and she had started to recommend traditional and nutritious foods for her too. I felt happy for hearing such a rewarding statement and the role of traditional nutritious and healthy foods that can have a healthy impact on Women’s health.

- Dr. K. Sivaranjani, Research Officer (Siddha)
Siddha Clinical Research Unit, Palayamkottai

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