Swetha Sundaram's Blog, page 2
April 18, 2020
March 23, 2020
ANCIENT VEDIC WISDOM IN DISEASE PREVENTION - CORONAVIRUS PANDEMIC 7
Continued From: https://thoughtsonsanathanadharma.blogspot.com/2020/03/ancient-vedic-wisdom-in-disease_67.html
Proper cleaning procedures must be followed when using traditional cookware. Each type of metal has a particular cleaning agent recommended by our ancestors. For example, sugar is used to clean gold. Tamarind is generally used to clean bronze and copper vessels. There is no danger in using traditional cookware as long as proper care is taken to remove tarnish from the traditional vessels. If unsure, use tin vessels and soft stone vessels for cooking food and transfer the cooked food into silver/copper serving bowls. When time permits, change the chrome hardware in your homes to brass hardware. Changing doorknobs, faucet handles and other commonly touched hardware to brass will help minimize the spread of germs. A study even found that brass doorknobs sanitized itself within 15 minutes! Stay safe by eating only home-cooked meals. Keep in mind that the spoons and plates at restaurants have been used by someone else. Most restaurants wash dishes by hand even when they have access to an electric dishwasher. Due to the high volume of visitors at restaurants, most restaurants cannot keep up with sanitizing procedures. Not only during the pandemic, but at all times one should develop the habit of eating only at home.
Get into the habit of offering food to Perumal during thiruvaradhanam. Even if there are any defects in the food, when we pray to Perumal, He blesses the food and makes it wholesome. As this is not the case at restaurants, they should be avoided at all times.
Concluded.
Proper cleaning procedures must be followed when using traditional cookware. Each type of metal has a particular cleaning agent recommended by our ancestors. For example, sugar is used to clean gold. Tamarind is generally used to clean bronze and copper vessels. There is no danger in using traditional cookware as long as proper care is taken to remove tarnish from the traditional vessels. If unsure, use tin vessels and soft stone vessels for cooking food and transfer the cooked food into silver/copper serving bowls. When time permits, change the chrome hardware in your homes to brass hardware. Changing doorknobs, faucet handles and other commonly touched hardware to brass will help minimize the spread of germs. A study even found that brass doorknobs sanitized itself within 15 minutes! Stay safe by eating only home-cooked meals. Keep in mind that the spoons and plates at restaurants have been used by someone else. Most restaurants wash dishes by hand even when they have access to an electric dishwasher. Due to the high volume of visitors at restaurants, most restaurants cannot keep up with sanitizing procedures. Not only during the pandemic, but at all times one should develop the habit of eating only at home.
Get into the habit of offering food to Perumal during thiruvaradhanam. Even if there are any defects in the food, when we pray to Perumal, He blesses the food and makes it wholesome. As this is not the case at restaurants, they should be avoided at all times.
Concluded.
ANCIENT VEDIC WISDOM IN DISEASE PREVENTION - CORONAVIRUS PANDEMIC 6
Continued From: https://thoughtsonsanathanadharma.blogspot.com/2020/03/ancient-vedic-wisdom-in-disease_24.html
Tin (eeyam ஈயம்) also has excellent bactericidal and fungicidal properties. Pickles and chutneys stored in eeya sombhus have a longer shelf life and do not go mouldy. Eeyam got a bad rep a few decades ago as mistakenly people associated eeyam with lead. There were also many reports of food poisoning related to eeyam. There are two types of eeyam; kariyam (காரீயம் ) is lead. The metal used to make vessels is velliyam(வெள்ளீயம் ) which is tin. Tin doesn't corrode. A few decades ago milkman used to bring butter and milk in tin cans. Tin is used as an overlay on vessels made of bronze or brass. The cases of food poisoning occurred when the tin overlay was scratched and the tarnish on the substrate metal went unnoticed. Keep in mind that copper, bronze and brass should not be used to cook acidic foods like rasam and sambhar which contain tamarind. This is why these vessels were coated with tin to prevent adverse reactions. Tin has a low melting point therefore tin vessels should only be placed on low heat. Heating tin vessels on high heat may result in the vessel disappearing! Someone we know in Mumbai placed the eeya sombhu with ingredients to make rasam on high heat and left the kitchen. 30 minutes later when she returned to the kitchen, she was shocked to see that her eeya sombhu had vanished and her stove was inundated with tamarind water and tomatoes!!! There was a white metallic blob on the burner which was the only thing that remained of the eeya sombhu!
Continued On: https://thoughtsonsanathanadharma.blogspot.com/2020/03/ancient-vedic-wisdom-in-disease_76.html
Tin (eeyam ஈயம்) also has excellent bactericidal and fungicidal properties. Pickles and chutneys stored in eeya sombhus have a longer shelf life and do not go mouldy. Eeyam got a bad rep a few decades ago as mistakenly people associated eeyam with lead. There were also many reports of food poisoning related to eeyam. There are two types of eeyam; kariyam (காரீயம் ) is lead. The metal used to make vessels is velliyam(வெள்ளீயம் ) which is tin. Tin doesn't corrode. A few decades ago milkman used to bring butter and milk in tin cans. Tin is used as an overlay on vessels made of bronze or brass. The cases of food poisoning occurred when the tin overlay was scratched and the tarnish on the substrate metal went unnoticed. Keep in mind that copper, bronze and brass should not be used to cook acidic foods like rasam and sambhar which contain tamarind. This is why these vessels were coated with tin to prevent adverse reactions. Tin has a low melting point therefore tin vessels should only be placed on low heat. Heating tin vessels on high heat may result in the vessel disappearing! Someone we know in Mumbai placed the eeya sombhu with ingredients to make rasam on high heat and left the kitchen. 30 minutes later when she returned to the kitchen, she was shocked to see that her eeya sombhu had vanished and her stove was inundated with tamarind water and tomatoes!!! There was a white metallic blob on the burner which was the only thing that remained of the eeya sombhu!
Continued On: https://thoughtsonsanathanadharma.blogspot.com/2020/03/ancient-vedic-wisdom-in-disease_76.html
ANCIENT VEDIC WISDOM IN DISEASE PREVENTION - CORONAVIRUS PANDEMIC 5
Continued From: https://thoughtsonsanathanadharma.blogspot.com/2020/03/ancient-vedic-wisdom-in-disease_70.html
We have seen the positive effects of copper, silver and tin in the above post. Let us now see the effect of iron on microorganism. Iron is an essential nutrient required by all lifeforms. While silver, gold, copper and tin cause cell death in microorganism, iron causes an increase in the population of the microorganisms. The stainless steel spoons and plates may look shiny, but when viewed through a microscope could reveal the presence of large pathogenic colonies! Nowadays it's fashionable to have a stainless steel kitchen countertop, sink and appliances. Keep in mind that these shiny stainless steel surfaces are breeding ground for pathogenic organisms. One study found that even when the surfaces were kept dry for a period of 48 hours, the surface showed significant growth in certain bacterial colonies. No wonder using the same stainless steel vessel to make curd results in a bad-smelling product, because even after washing and drying the vessel there is a significant increase in the population of lactobacilli, the bacteria responsible for producing curd. If you can afford, start using silverware. For those who don't have the luxury of using silverware, try copper/bronze utensils. Stores now even sell copper jugs and water bottles. I was inspired to write this article after reading a New York Times Post that confirmed rapid deterioration of the novel coronavirus on surfaces made of copper.
Continued On: https://thoughtsonsanathanadharma.blogspot.com/2020/03/ancient-vedic-wisdom-in-disease_67.html
We have seen the positive effects of copper, silver and tin in the above post. Let us now see the effect of iron on microorganism. Iron is an essential nutrient required by all lifeforms. While silver, gold, copper and tin cause cell death in microorganism, iron causes an increase in the population of the microorganisms. The stainless steel spoons and plates may look shiny, but when viewed through a microscope could reveal the presence of large pathogenic colonies! Nowadays it's fashionable to have a stainless steel kitchen countertop, sink and appliances. Keep in mind that these shiny stainless steel surfaces are breeding ground for pathogenic organisms. One study found that even when the surfaces were kept dry for a period of 48 hours, the surface showed significant growth in certain bacterial colonies. No wonder using the same stainless steel vessel to make curd results in a bad-smelling product, because even after washing and drying the vessel there is a significant increase in the population of lactobacilli, the bacteria responsible for producing curd. If you can afford, start using silverware. For those who don't have the luxury of using silverware, try copper/bronze utensils. Stores now even sell copper jugs and water bottles. I was inspired to write this article after reading a New York Times Post that confirmed rapid deterioration of the novel coronavirus on surfaces made of copper.Continued On: https://thoughtsonsanathanadharma.blogspot.com/2020/03/ancient-vedic-wisdom-in-disease_67.html
