Posted: Monday May 14, 2018
If there is one cooking ingredient that has transcended the boundaries of the kitchen and found its use from lighting lamps to holistic healing, it must be oil. From food, home remedies to beauty aids, oil, is the quintessential part of Indian living. For thousands of years oil is not only being used as a part of personal care routine in India but also as an important ingredient in natural and ayurvedic well-being practices.
Oil in Sanskrit means ‘Taila’ and exhibits the properties of ‘Sneha’. ‘Sneha’ means love, warmth, softness, smoothness and caring. When used in cooking food, oil nurtures it with mother’s love, when used on hair and skin it bestows nature’s softness and caring and when used in body massage it penetrates warmth and health into the body.
Just as different oils are used in different parts of India according to taste preferences and climatic conditions, they also find different uses in home remedies and healthcare due to their various medicinal properties. Mustard oil, due its anti-bacterial, heat and nourishing properties is used as cure in common infections and body pains, for massages and beauty aids.
Mustard oil provides excellent nourishment for hair. Regular massaging of your scalp and hair with mustard oil will make your hair lustrous, black and thick, just the way you always wanted. Mustard oil when boiled with henna leaves can be used as a treatment for hair loss. Boil mustard oil in a tin container and add henna leaves to it. Allow the henna leaves to burn in oil. Leave the concoction cool and then filter it with cloth and store. Use this oil everyday to message you hair and bid adieu to hair loss.
Mustard oil is used in making ‘Ubtan’, the world’s first known natural cosmetic. ‘Ubtan’ is a body application made of natural ingredients and is used to exfoliate, nourish and glow your skin. To make ‘Ubtan’ mix turmeric powder, saffron, sandalwood, bengal gram, seeds of yellow mustard in mustard oil. Apply the paste on your body and keep it on for 20-30 minutes. Then scrub it off and take a bath. Incorporating ‘Ubtan’ in your beauty regime will not only keep your skin supple and glowing but will also keep it safe from infections.
Mustard oil is useful in toothache. Take a few drops of mustard oil and add a pinch of rock salt to it. Massage the mixture on the aching tooth jaw. Massaging of your teeth, jaws and gums regularly with mustard oil and rock salt will keep them strong and healthy.
If you have tried using hairpins or ear buds to clean ear wax and have not been too happy, mustard oil will save your troubles. Put 1tsp warm mustard oil in your ear and plug it with a cotton swab. Mustard oil will soften the wax in a day and then it can be easily removed.
Mixture of mustard oil and liquorices (‘khadira’) is one of the best home remedies for corns. Mix required quantity of mustard oil and ‘khadira’ according to the area affected and make a paste. Apply the paste on the corn-infected area and keep it overnight. Do it for a few days and the swelling and pain will gradually reduce.
Mustard oil can be used as a natural cure for asthma. A mixture of mustard oil and camphor when rubbed on the chest of the person suffering from asthma can relieve the discomfort of an asthma attack. This is because vapours of the mixture clear the phlegm and mucus from the bronchial passage and ease breathing.
Being a natural rubefacient, mustard oil is used as a liniment in relieving arthritis and back pain. Rubbing mustard oil on the affected part increases the flow of blood on the surface of the skin, which facilitates healing.
To ease the pain of arthritis, mustard oil mixed with two or three pieces of camphor must be massaged on stiff and aching joints. This will increase blood supply to the joints, and decrease their inflammation and stiffness.
For back pains, mixing garlic cloves with mustard oil provides effective home remedy. Heat 10 to 12 garlic cloves in 3 to 4 tbsp. of mustard oil until the cloves turn golden brown. Allow the oil to cool, and then apply it to the affected areas. Avoid bathing for a few hours after applying the oil. Continue applying mustard oil in a similar fashion regularly for 1-2 weeks and you will notice a significant reduction in back pain.
Due to its medicinal and heat properties, mustard oil is used in therapeutic massages. Mustard oil massage increases blood circulation and stimulates muscle development. Ayurveda prescribes mustard oil massage for people with ‘kapha’ body type. As mustard oil is hot in nature it helps dissolve the ‘kapha dosha’ in body and thereby helps curing ailment that arises out of that ‘dosha’.
