The Complete Book of Ayurvedic Home Remedies: Based on the Timeless Wisdom of India's 5,000-Year-Old Medical System

by Vasant Dattatray Lad

Begin your home detoxification program with internal oleation. For three days in a row, take about 2 ounces of warmed, liquefied ghee early in the morning. (See appendix 2 for instructions on making ghee.) For a vata person, take the ghee with a pinch of rock salt. For a pitta individual, take the 2 ounces of ghee plain. The kapha individual should add to the ghee just a pinch of trikatu (a mixture of equal amounts of ginger, black pepper, and pippali, or Indian long pepper). The ghee provides internal oleation and lubrication, which is necessary so that the ama or toxins begin to come back from the deep tissue to the gastrointestinal tract for elimination. After your three days of internal oleation, it is time for external oleation. For the next five to seven days, apply 7 to 8 ounces of warmed (not hot!) oil to your body from head to toe, rubbing it in well. The best oil for vata types is sesame, which is heavy and warming; pittas should use sunflower oil, which is less heating; kaphas do best with corn oil. You can do this oil massage for fifteen to twenty minutes.