Cataracts: Ayurvedic Treatment, Causes & Natural Remedies

Cataracts develop when kapha molecules accumulate in the lens tissue of the eye, particularly in individuals with kapha constitution who follow a kapha-provoking diet. Treatment involves following a kapha-soothing diet and squeezing the juice of organically grown pomegranate seed into the eye. Though it burns initially, it then feels soothing. The astringent quality of pomegranate removes the kapha molecules from the lens tissue, restoring clear vision.

Cataracts are a kapha disorder. Molecules of kapha accumulate in the lens of the eye and affect its translucence and transparency, making it increasingly opaque. As the cataract grows, it creates increasingly smoky, blurred vision. Generally persons with diabetes are prone to cataracts, as are young people with juvenile diabetes, though cataracts are primarily associated with elderly people.

. If your eye doctor has detected an early sign of cataracts developing,

EFFECTIVE HERBAL EYEWASH

this triphala tea eyewash will be effective in dissolving the molecules of kapha that cause the cataract. Boil 1 teaspoon triphala in a cup of water for 2 to 3 minutes. Let the tea cool, and strain it with a double or triple layer of cheesecloth so that not a single particle of triphala is left in the strained tea. Then, with an eye cup, wash your eyes with the triphala tea. You may wish to repeat the wash 2 or 3 times, depending on how it feels and how much tea actually got into the eye. To keep the lens clear and prevent the further growth of cataracts, wash your eyes with triphala tea in the morning and at bedtime. Do it regularly for one month, and if it proves effective, you can continue indefinitely. It will help to arrest the process of cataract formation.

. One drop of pure castor oil (without preservatives) placed in the eye at

CASTOR OIL EYE DROPS

bedtime lubricates the cornea and the conjunctiva and helps to remove molecules of kapha from the lens. In this way one can prevent cataracts from developing.

HERBAL REMEDY . A third approach is to take this herbal mixture internally:

punarnava 5 parts shatavari 3 parts brahmi 3 parts

Take ½ teaspoon of this herbal mixture twice a day with warm water as a preventative measure against cataracts. As with the triphala eyewash, you may continue using this formula as long as you wish.

• brahmi
• castor
• punarnava
• shatavari
• triphala

Cataracts develop when the aqueous humor in the anterior chamber of the eye—which is normally alochaka pitta, transparent, shiny, and bright—becomes clouded by kapha. The vitreous humor in the posterior chamber of the eye is naturally kapha, but when kapha encroaches upon the anterior chamber and clouds the aqueous humor, vision becomes impaired.