CHENNAI: Every parent tries their best to provide hygienic and healthy food to children. However, in certain cases, children do not show much physical and mental development despite healthy diet practices.
One of the reasons could be due to intestinal/parasitic worms that cause unexplained weight loss. A simple remedy for this weight loss is prescribed in our traditional systems of medicine.
Oral administration of 3 gm of powdered seeds of Vayu Vidanga (Embelia ribes Burm.f.), a woody climber that belongs to the Myrsinaceae family, mixed in honey twice a day for a week will alleviate all complaints related to intestinal worms.
In Sanskrit, it is known as Krmighna; Vayavidanga in Hindi; Vayuvidanga in Kannada; Vizhalari in Malayalam; Vayuvilangam in Tamil and Vayuvidangalu in Telugu. In trade, it is called False Black Pepper. Its flowers are small and have a greenish-yellow hue. Fruits are berries — globular, dull red to dark black while ripening.
It’s found in moist deciduous to evergreen forests throughout India. It’s one of the highly traded species is reported to be used in more than 50 medicinal formulations in traditional health systems.
This extensive usage has pushed this species into a vulnerable category of the red list and needs immediate conservation action to prevent extinction.