Musk Melon - An important fruit in summer season

Editor’s note Dear Readers, It is summer now in India and now that summer is upon us, the land will be heating up. High temperatures and humidity can place special stress on the body, since we tend to spend more time outdoors during warmer weather. Dehydration often results because people tend to wait until they feel thirsty before drinking, but if you wait until you’re thirsty it’s too late. By the time you feel thirsty your body has already lost a great deal of fluids and may even be dehydrated. Dehydration is a serious problem and can cause fatigue, headache, weakness and other symptoms and it may increase the risk of heat-related illnesses. There are many things you can do to protect yourself and minimize your risk of heat injury. Musk melon, known as Kharburjam in Sanskrit and Kharbuja in Hindi is one such fruit which helps us beat the heat in summer by hydrating us and removing thirst and fatigue. So in this article we will see more about Kharburjam and its uses. We welcome your suggestions and submissions. Enjoy reading and get benefited with Ayurveda. Dr. Rajesh Kotecha Vaidya M.D (Ayurveda), Director Chakrapani Ayurveda Clinic and Research Center Musk Melon - An important fruit in summer season To protect our health, nature has created different fruits and vegetables etc. in different seasons and same are sold in market in different seasons. Summer is one of the most horrible season with increase of heat in environment we lose our energy, we perspire a lot due to which there is fluid loss and at the same time body heat increases. Kharburjam (Musk Melon) is one of the perfect fruit for this season. As it helps to maintain the water content of our body, it also helps to regulate heat inside the body and can prevent heat related diseases. Botanically Kharburjam is called as Curcumis melo and in English it is called as the musk melon and also popularly known as 'Cantaloupe'. In most of different Indian languages it is called as Kharburjam. Ayurveda texts like Madanpal Nighantu and Bhavprakash Nighantu has mentioned about this plant. This plant is called musk melon because the odour of the fruit is like musk. It is very sweet in taste, cool in potency and delicious to eat. It is heavy to digest, nutritious, aphrodisiac, relieves burning sensation, relieves tiredness, diuretic, useful in blood disorders etc. In Ayurveda it is used to cure Vata disease (Neurological diseases) and Pitta diseases (Bile related disease). Nutritive values of Kharburjam Kharburjam is low in Saturated Fat and Sodium, and very low in Cholesterol. It is also a good source of Dietary Fiber, Niacin, Vitamin B6 and Folate, and a very good source of Vitamin A, Vitamin C and Potassium.   Nutritive values in 100 gm of Kharburjam Calories 34.0 (142 kJ) Fat 0.2 g Protein 0.8 g Carbohydrate 8.8 g Vitamin A 3382 IU Vitamin C 36.7mg Vitamin E 0.1 mg Folate 21.0 mcg Niacin 0.7 mg Vitamin B6 0.1 mg Calcium 9.0 mg Iron 0.2 mg Magnesium 12.0 mg Phosphorus 15.0 mg Potassium 267 mg Sodium 16.0 mg Some of the important uses of musk melon:- Muskmelon is very nourishing, it is sweet, cool and strength giving. After removing the skins of muskmelon and cutting it into small pieces and then mixing some sugar in it for taste and also powdered cardamom, eating of this mixture cures inflammation, it eliminates the excessive formation of bile, and emanation of sperm through urine. The musk melon fruit is good for obese people weight because it does not have too many calories or sugar, it has significant amount of fiber and helps you feel full and also helps sustain that feeling for considerable amount of time. It taste good and be a great addition to fruit salads and custards. Musk melon can take care of your skin, too. It contains Vitamins A and C; it is concentrated with excellent level of beta-carotene, folic acid and potassium   which is useful in manufacturing healthy skin. So, if you are looking for healthy and younger skin, this is what you should include in your daily diet. Presence of folic acid prevents cervical cancer, also useful for pregnant women to have healthy fetus and prevent osteoporosis. Also the folic acid present in musk melon helps fight depression. It relives constipation due to high contents of dietary fibers. It helps to control high blood pressure; potassium present in the soft flesh helps to excrete sodium from the body and thus brings down high blood pressure. Musk melons are a source of polyphenol antioxidants, chemicals which are known to provide certain health benefits to the cardiovascular system and immune system. These chemicals are known to regulate the formation of nitric oxide, a key chemical in promoting health of the endothelium and prevention of heart attacks. After crushing either the pulp of muskmelon or the root of its plant, then mixing it with water and drinking its essence after filtering it, daily in the morning cures stones. Increase heat inside the body can lead to heavy flow during menstrual period, eating cold Kharburjam flesh with sugar helps to control the heat and hence prevent heavy blood flow.  Crush the seeds of muskmelon and then soak in hot water for half an hour then filter the same. Drinking this water will help to cure painful and burning urination and can help to remove bladder stones. Dr. Mahesh Verlekar is a Ph.D Scholar from NIA, Jaipur and he can be contacted at maheshverlekar@gmail.com Recipe of the month - Bilwa Juice Ingredients: Bilwa fruit - 1, Jaggery - 2 tbsp (optional), Water - 2 glasses, Black pepper powder - 1 pinch, Rock salt – pinch, Lemon – according to taste.   Method of Preparation: Take out the inner pulp from the fruit and put it in a vessel. Add water in the pulp and mix them nicely in hand blender. Add sugar, rock salt and black pepper powder in it. Take a filter and filter the seeds of the fruit from the juice. Add lemon if needed and stir well. Bilwa fruit helps in digestion, gastric complaint, constipation, diarrhea, abdominal cramps and nausea. Product of the month – Rasayan tea Ingredients: Bala seed (Sida cordifolia), Ashwagandha (Withania somnifera), Nagbala (Grewia hirsuta), Guduchi (Tinospora cordifolia), Shatavari (Asparagus racemosus), Yastimadhu (Glycerrhiza glabra), Ela (Elettaria cardamomum).   Method of use: Dip one sachet of tea in one cup of hot water for 2 - 3 minutes and drink it.   Benefits: Helps in rejuvenating body and mind, promotes longevity, slows down ageing process, and helps in proper functioning of all systems of the body. For more details on Rasayan tea : click  here Wish to procure our products? Kindly contact as detailed below: USA: Now available at Garry and Sun, USA - The new longevity tonic & all the other products of Chakrapani Ayurveda, India, potent and fresh Ayurveda herbs, massage oils for body types, good quality Indian spices and readymade Ayurveda food items suitable for Ayurveda body types. Contact at Toll Free: 1 - 888 - 98 - HERBS Garry and Sun  http://garrysun.com France S.I.E.T.P.A. http://massages-ayurvedique.com U.K. Health Trail www.healthtrail.co.uk Ireland The Samadhi Centre http://thesamadhicentre.com Colombia Ms. Gisele Dupuis kamalacentroayurveda@gmail.com Curacao Ms. Soraida http://www.enlightengroup.org Brazil Jorge Farias fariasjh@hotmail.com Ph: (21) 2261.5352   Would you like an advertisement of your health services and products to be read by the largest on - line audience of Ayurveda in the whole  world?  Or would you like to sponsor a newsletter? For all information about our newsletter and sponsorship details, click here For Archives of our earlier published Newsletters, please click here Subscription Information: If you know someone, who would enjoy AyurvedaNews, please forward it to them or tell them about it. If AyurvedaNews came to you from a friend, you can subscribe to it for free at our web sites or click here Click here to send your feedback on this issue of AyurvedaNews. Your valuable suggestions will help us in our efforts at continuous improvement. Change of Address: If at any time you wish to change your e-mail address, please update us by clicking here. Stop Subscription: If you wish to stop your subscription click here Chakrapani Ayurveda have been giving genuine services in the field of Ayurveda from past 15 years and we would like to introduce our readers about our services and our team. Kindly visit Chakrapani Ayurveda Clinic & Research Center Introduction Part I on youTube at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YNO7FuxnEwg. This video shows first part of the thorough introduction on the services being offered by Chakrapani Ayurveda Clinic & Research Center based at Jaipur, India. To see second and final part of the introduction,  kindly visit http://youtu.be/pQPb9oR9MgI.