Trikatu: Ayurvedic Spice Blend for Health

Trikatu is an Ayurvedic spice blend that includes just three spices. The benefits of Trikatu are many and in this article, learn how to make and enjoy the benefits! 

Ayurveda has always emphasized the importance of good digestion for health. It is no surprise, therefore,  that there are many spices used in Ayurvedic remedies as well as in Indian cooking; Spices enhance our digestive fire and help us gain immunity, which in turn, keeps us healthy and free from the modern day ailments.

Today, we talk about another such wonderful remedy used in Ayurveda for digestion, metabolism and much more! This Ayurvedic remedy is called Trikatu ("tri" meaning three and "katu" meaning pungent in Sanskrit). It is a simple spice blend of just three spices and yet, offers immense benefits to the body. 

How is Trikatu made?

Trikatu is an Ayurvedic spice blend made with equal parts of black pepper (Piper nigrum), long pepper (Piper longum or Indian Long Pepper) and ginger (Zingiber officinale). It can be made at home by freshly grinding the whole spices or mixing equal parts of ground spice powder. 

What are the benefits of each spice in Trikatu?

Ginger - Ginger, called adhrak in Hindi, is a digestive spice. It enhances the digestive fire and increases metabolism as well as digestive enzymes. It is great for boosting circulation and helping the body stay healthy during winter months. Due to its warm properties, it is also great for conditions like arthritis, aches and pains, cold, cough, and so on. 

Black Pepper - Being a powerful yet gentle expectorant, black pepper is great for respiratory conditions and to clear out excess mucous from the body. This helps the lungs as well as conditions like asthma, bronchitis, cough, stuffed nose, and so on. Black pepper is called Kali mirch in Hindi. It is a digestive stimulant and helps in better absorption of the nutrients by the body, This is due to its constituent called piperine. This is the reason it is given to those with weak appetites and sluggish digestion. 

Long Pepper - Long pepper is called pipli in Hindi and also, Indian long pepper. It is used a lot in Ayuredic remedies to treat conditions related to appetite and digestion. Conditions like indigestion, stomach ache, diarrhea, gas, heartburn, cholera, constipation, and such, are all treated with long pepper. It also aids in respiratory conditions like cough, cold, asthma, etc. Long pepper is related to black pepper, however, it's taste is more hot and pungent. Just like black pepper, long pepper also contains piperine and helps the body adsorb nutrients from the food much better, thus improving the nutrients and bio-availability greatly. 

What doshas does Trikatu serve best?

Trikatu is good for all doshas. It helps kappa dosha by removing excess mucous. It helps vata conditions by helping with sluggish digestion and poor assimilation of nutrients. It helps pitta in skin issues, for example, like itchy skin. As you can tell, Trikatu is a remedy for all doshas and helps to bring them back in balance. 

What are the benefits of Trikatu?

Trikatu has many benefits and they are: -

• Clearing the excess mucous from the body - As Trikatu goes in the body, it starts cleaning the excess mucous and balancing kapha conditions. This is due to the presence of black pepper and long pepper, both of which help in respiratory conditions like asthma, bronchitis, wheezing, sinus, etc due to their expectorant properties. 

 

• Great for lungs, cold, cough & respiratory issues - As explained above, Trikatu dries out and flushes the excess mucous from the body. This is due to it's warm properties that dry out the mucous and help give relief during times of respiratory distress. This is why it can aid those who have frequent sinus conditions or get allergies easily. It is a great remedy to take for cold, cough, stuffed nose, runny nose, and so on. 

 

• Helps digestion - It creates a healthy digestive fire (agni) and helps in getting toxins out of the body. The three spices are pungent and warm in properties and due to their warm juices, the digestion get a kick-start and creates healthy fire to flush out toxic waste (ama) from the body as well as to better absorb the nutrients (especially due to black pepper in Trikatu). 

 

• Boosts metabolism & aids weight loss - Because Trikatu helps in flushing out excess waste and fat from the body, it naturally helps to increase the metabolism by increasing our digestive fire (agni) as well as helps in reducing weight. 

• Helps IBS/Leaky gut, parasites, Candida albanicans, IBD - Trikatu can help those who suffer from IBS and other digestive conditions. Due to the peppers in Trikatu, the nutrients will get absorbed better by the body and help aid in healtheir weight management for those who have IBS and leaky gut issues. It also helps clean out toxins (ama) in the digestive tract and this will help improve the overall health of the person with issues like IBS. 

• Cholesterol - Trikatu helps in lowering cholesterol as it expels the excess fat from the body. This is due to its warm properties which help increase metabolism and therefore, help in weight loss. Trikatu also boosts bile as it helps the liver function better, and this in turn, helps the liver to flush out fat properly. 

• Liver health - Due to piperine, Trikatu helps improve the liver health. It does this by removing toxins from liver and flushing them out. Alcohol, drugs, poor diet, processed foods, sugar, etc can really take a toll on our liver and its functioning. By keeping the liver clean, Trikatu helps strengthen it and promotes normal functioning of the liver.

• Ascites - Ascites is a condition where fluid builds up in the abdominal cavity, causing swelling and discomfort. It is usually due to liver cirrhosis. Trikatu can be taken with meals to help with ascites.

What is the best way to take Trikatu?

The best way to take Trikatu is with warm water and 1-hour after a meal. It is taken in very small doses, so start with 1/4 of a teaspoon and see. Ayurvedic remedies are individual - they depend on the person's age, condition, other symptoms, digestive power of the person, and such factors. Therefore, it is best to start with a very low dose of Trikatu and see how you feel after a week's time. Based on that, you may increase or decrease the dose as well as the frequency (for e.g., once per day or twice)

Can I mix it with other Ayurvedic formulations?

Yes. Trikatu is also taken with Triphala, an Ayurvedic herb blend of three herbs called Haritaki (Terminalia chebula), Amla (Indian Gooseberry) and Bibhitaki (Terminalia bellirica). Triphala helps in conditions like constipation and therefore, is paired with Trikatu to help flush out the toxic waste even more optimally.

This finishes this article and here you have found a wonderful remedy for so many modern day ailments. Give it a try IF your condition needs it and start reaping it's benefits right away! Ref (1), Ref (2), Ref (3)

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-Somyata.