Grapes for Asthma: Does It Work?
Do Grapes (Draksha) help with asthma? In Ayurveda, grapes are a nourishing food remedy for chronic, long-standing breathing complaints rather than a treatment for attacks. The traditional preparation for chronic cough, asthma, and respiratory allergies is a slow-steeped mix of seedless grapes, ghee, and honey, taken by the teaspoon twice a day.
The reasoning comes from the fruit's nature. The Bhavaprakash Nighantu calls Draksha one of the most valued fruits and names it as beneficial in cough (Kasa). The Astanga Hridaya describes grapes as the best among fruits: sweet, unctuous, cold in potency, and a remedy for diseases of Vata, Pitta, and the blood.
That moist, soothing profile suits the dry, irritated chest of Vata-type asthma. Grapes are also heavy, though, and most asthma in Ayurveda is driven by Kapha, the dosha of mucus. Use them as gentle support within a wider plan, and never in place of a rescue inhaler.
How Grapes Helps with Asthma
Ayurveda describes asthma (Tamaka Shwasa) as Kapha that builds up in the stomach when digestive fire (Agni) is weak, then rises into the lungs and blocks the breath. In the Vata-Kapha pattern, Vata adds dryness and spasm: a louder wheeze, scanty mucus that is hard to bring up, and anxiety during attacks.
Moisture and Calm for a Dry Chest
Grapes are sweet and sour in taste, unctuous (Snigdha, oily and moistening), cold in potency (Sheeta Virya), and sweet after digestion (Madhura Vipaka). These qualities directly oppose the rough, dry quality of Vata, which is why classical texts say grapes cure diseases of Vata and why they are named for cough (Kasa).
Red, purple, and black grapes are considered balancing for all three doshas. Green grapes are different: sour and heating, they can stimulate Kapha and Pitta, so they are the wrong choice for asthma.
Why Ghee and Honey Join In
The traditional asthma preparation pairs the grapes with ghee and honey. Ghee adds further unctuousness for a dry chest, while honey is the one sweet food specifically favored in asthma, valued for reducing Kapha and supporting expectoration. The honey offsets some of the heaviness that grapes alone would bring.
Gentle Downward Movement
Grapes are also a mild natural laxative that helps the elimination of urine and stool. Since Ayurvedic asthma care aims to move Kapha back down from the chest and out of the body, this gentle downward action fits the overall strategy.
How to Use Grapes for Asthma
For asthma, the traditional form of Grapes is not the fresh fruit but a steeped grape, ghee, and honey preparation, aimed at chronic cough, asthma, and respiratory allergies.
| Preparation | Proportions | Dose | Timing |
|---|---|---|---|
| Grape, ghee and honey preparation | 1 part seedless grapes, 1 part ghee, half a part honey | 1 teaspoon | Twice a day |
| Munakka (large dried grapes with seeds) | 5 to 10 pieces | Daily | For dry cough alongside the asthma picture |
Making the Preparation
- Mix 1 part seedless grapes, 1 part ghee, and half a part honey.
- Keep the mixture in a warm place for 15 days.
- Strain it and store the liquid in a clean jar.
- Take 1 teaspoon twice a day.
Keep the place warm, not hot. Honey should never be cooked.
Choosing Your Grapes
Use red, purple, or black grapes, or dark seedless raisins. Green grapes are sour and heating and can stimulate Kapha and Pitta, which works against you in asthma.
Duration
This is a slow, nourishing remedy for chronic cases, not something to take during an attack. Our sources give no fixed course length, so treat it as ongoing support alongside your prescribed treatment.
Who Should Go Carefully
Grapes are heavy and hard to digest, and rich in natural sugars. If your digestion is sluggish, your asthma brings heavy white mucus, or you have diabetes, keep the amounts small or ask a practitioner first.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can grapes replace my asthma medication?
No. Asthma can be fatal, and no food or herb replaces a rescue inhaler. The grape, ghee, and honey preparation is a gentle remedy for chronic cases. Do not reduce inhaled or oral steroids without medical supervision.
Which grapes are best for asthma?
Red, purple, or black grapes. They are cooling, sweet after digestion, and considered balancing for all three doshas. Green grapes are sour and heating and can aggravate Kapha and Pitta.
Will grapes increase mucus?
They can if you overdo them, since grapes are heavy. That is why the asthma preparation is taken by the teaspoon, combined with honey. If your asthma comes with abundant white mucus, a Kapha-reducing herb such as Long Pepper may suit you better.
Grapes vs Licorice for asthma?
Both are sweet and soothing. Licorice is a respiratory herb used to loosen thick, sticky mucus in dry wheeze, but it has drug interactions and course limits. Grapes are a food, gentler and slower, suited to long-term nourishment of a dry chest.
Recommended: Start Grapes for Asthma
If you want to start using Grapes for asthma today, here is the simplest starting point.
Best form: the traditional grape, ghee, and honey preparation, made with dark seedless raisins or grapes. It is the form specifically given for chronic cough, asthma, and respiratory allergies.
Kitchen version: mix 1 part seedless grapes, 1 part ghee, and half a part raw honey. Keep it in a warm spot for 15 days, strain, and take 1 teaspoon twice a day.
Dosha fork: this suits dry, Vata-type wheeze best. If your asthma brings heavy white mucus (the Kapha type), keep the dose small and avoid green grapes.
Find Black Raisins on Amazon ↗ Organic Ghee ↗
Safety note: keep your rescue inhaler and prescribed medication, and count grapes as sugar if you have diabetes.
Safety & Precautions
Grapes are a food, and for most people they are very safe. The cautions come from their heavy, sweet and laxative nature rather than from any toxicity.
Digestion
The Astanga Hridaya describes grapes as hard to digest (Guru, heavy). If your digestion is sluggish or you tend toward heaviness and swelling, keep portions moderate.
Because grapes are mildly laxative, eating too many can loosen the stools. Reduce the amount if that happens.
Green grapes
Green grapes are sour and heating, with a sour post-digestive effect. They can aggravate Pitta and Kapha and suit Vata only in moderation. Choose red, purple or black grapes if heat is your concern.
Food combinations to avoid
Ayurvedic food-combining guidance lists grapes as a poor match with corn and with radish. Like most fruit, grapes are best eaten on their own rather than with milk, yogurt or heavy meals.
Sugar
Grapes are rich in natural sugars (glucose and fructose), and dried grapes are more concentrated still. If you have diabetes, count them in your daily sugar intake.
Fermented preparations
Draksharishta and grape wine (Mardvika) contain alcohol. The Astanga Hridaya notes that grape wine causes a slight increase of Pitta and Vata. Avoid fermented grape preparations in pregnancy and while breastfeeding.
Other Herbs for Asthma
See all herbs for asthma on the Asthma page.
▶ Classical Text References (4 sources)
33-36 अ कषमहाशालताल ो णरि मषु वनेषु माधवीि ल ट ा ा तवकशा लषु सुगि ध हमपानीय स यमानपटा लके कायमाने चते चूत वालफललुि ब भः कदल दलक लारमण ृ ालकमालो पलैः कोमलैः कि पते त पे हस कुसुमप लवे म यं दनेअकतापातः पु त व या ाराग ृहे अथवा ी तनह ता य व ृ तोशीरवा र ण Day time should be spent in forests having tall trees reaching the sky such as shala (Shorea robusta, Tala – Borassus flabellifera etc, which obstruct the hot rays of the sun, or in houses around which bunches of flowers and grapes are hangi
— Astanga Hridaya Sutrasthan, Ritucharya adhyaya Seasonal
Meat of animals of desert-like lands, soup of pulses , wine prepared from grapes and fermented decoctions, which are old or mastu (whey, thin water or curds) processed with more of Sochal salt and powder of panchakola, should be used.
— Astanga Hridaya Sutrasthan, Ritucharya adhyaya Seasonal
Mardvika – (wine prepared from grapes) :मा वीकं लेखनं यं ना यु णं मधुरं सरम ् अ प प ता नलं पा डु मेहाशः कृ मनाशनम ् Mardvika (wine prepared from grapes) is scraping, good to the heart, not very hot in potentcy, sweet, Sara – promotes natural movement of body fluids (laxative), causes slight increase of Pitta and Anila (Vata), useful in anaemia, diabetes, hemorrhoids and worms (intestinal parasites).
— Astanga Hridaya Sutrasthan, Drava Vigyaniya Drinkables
Kharjura – (wine prepared from dates) :अ माद पा तरगुणं खाजूरं वातलं गु is inferior in properties than grapes, aggravates Vata, and hard for digestion.
— Astanga Hridaya Sutrasthan, Drava Vigyaniya Drinkables
Phala vrga- (group of fruits):- Grapes benefits: अथ फलवगः ा ा फलो तमा व ृ या च ु या स ृ टमू व ११५ वाद ुपाकरसा ि न धा सकषाया हमा गु ः नह य नल प ता त ता य वमदा ययान ् ११६ त ृ णकास म वास वरभे द त यान ् Draksa (grapes) is best among fruits, is aphrodisiac, good for the eyes, helps elimination of urine and faeces, sweet in taste and the end of digestion, unctous, slightly astringent, cold potency, hard to digest, cures diseases of vata, pitta and rakta;
— Astanga Hridaya Sutrasthan, Annaswaroopa Food
Source: Astanga Hridaya Sutrasthan, Ritucharya adhyaya Seasonal; Drava Vigyaniya Drinkables; Annaswaroopa Food
Take 100 pala each of kashmarya, amalaki, black pepper, haritaki, vibhitaki, pippali and grapes, add to it 100 pala of old jaggery and two drona of water, then put the mixture in a vessel lined with honey for 7 days in summer or for 14 days in winter for fermentation.
— Charaka Samhita, Chikitsa Sthana — Therapeutic Principles, Chapter 12: Edema Treatment (Shvayathu Chikitsa / श्वयथुचिकित्सा)
The patient of pittaja type of chhardi should be given trivrit (Operculina turpethum) along with the juice of draksha (grapes/Vitis vinifera), vidari (Purera tuberosa) and ikshu (sugar-cane/Saccharaum officinarum) for causing downward movement of the morbid matter (laxation).
— Charaka Samhita, Chikitsa Sthana — Therapeutic Principles, Chapter 20: Vomiting Treatment (Chhardi Chikitsa / छर्दिचिकित्सा)
In pittaja morbid thirst, water mixed with grapes, sandalwood, dates, vetiveria zizanioidis, honey and cold water in which red shali rice, dates, parushaka, blue water lily, grapes, honey and a baked lump of earth have been kept, may be given or water kept in earthen pot in which 64 tola of red shali rice, pounded with lodhra, liquorice, antimony and blue water lily are put and in which a baked clod of clay, water and honey have been integrated.
— Charaka Samhita, Chikitsa Sthana — Therapeutic Principles, Chapter 22: Thirst Disorders Treatment (Trishna Chikitsa / तृष्णाचिकित्सा)
For kapha and pitta predominant person madya prepared by grapes and honey is appropriate (to drink) respectively.
— Charaka Samhita, Chikitsa Sthana — Therapeutic Principles, Chapter 24: Alcoholism Treatment (Madatyaya Chikitsa / मदात्ययचिकित्सा)
In pitta dosha dominant madatyaya, cool, well suitable liquor prepared of sharkara, mridvika (dried grapes) added with sugar and juice of cassia fistula, dates, grapes, parushaka or pomegranate and mixed with parched grain flour shall be administered.
— Charaka Samhita, Chikitsa Sthana — Therapeutic Principles, Chapter 24: Alcoholism Treatment (Madatyaya Chikitsa / मदात्ययचिकित्सा)
Source: Charaka Samhita, Chikitsa Sthana — Therapeutic Principles, Chapter 12: Edema Treatment (Shvayathu Chikitsa / श्वयथुचिकित्सा); Chikitsa Sthana — Therapeutic Principles, Chapter 20: Vomiting Treatment (Chhardi Chikitsa / छर्दिचिकित्सा); Chikitsa Sthana — Therapeutic Principles, Chapter 22: Thirst Disorders Treatment (Trishna Chikitsa / तृष्णाचिकित्सा); Chikitsa Sthana — Therapeutic Principles, Chapter 24: Alcoholism Treatment (Madatyaya Chikitsa / मदात्ययचिकित्सा)
Give ghee, sugarcane juice, grapes, milk, sugar water, or sweet-sour substances to pacify.
— Sharangadhara Samhita, Uttara Khanda, Chapter 9: Dhumapana Vidhi (Medicated Smoking Therapy)
A decoction of Darvi (Berberis aristata), Guduchi (Tinospora cordifolia), Triphala, Draksha (Vitis vinifera, grapes), Jati Pallava (Jasminum grandiflorum shoots), and Yavasa (Alhagi maurorum), mixed with one-sixth part honey, held cold in the mouth, destroys oral ulceration (Mukha Paka) arising from all three Doshas.
— Sharangadhara Samhita, Uttara Khanda, Chapter 10: Gandusha-Kavala Pratisarana Vidhi (Gargling, Oil Pulling and Oral Paste Application)
Darvi and Guduchi are potent anti-inflammatory herbs, Triphala is astringent, grapes and jasmine are cooling, and Yavasa is a demulcent.
— Sharangadhara Samhita, Uttara Khanda, Chapter 10: Gandusha-Kavala Pratisarana Vidhi (Gargling, Oil Pulling and Oral Paste Application)
Grapes (Vitis vinifera), Amalaki (Emblica officinalis), varied pleasant foods, wine (in moderation), Parushaka (Grewia asiatica), and soup made from quail, partridge, rabbit, goat, etc.
— Sharangadhara Samhita, Parishishtam, Chapter 29: Diet for Burning Sensation (Daha Pathyapathyam)
Red rice, barley, green gram (Vigna radiata), wheat (Triticum aestivum), tortoise meat, soup from arid-land animals, grapes (Vitis vinifera), wood apple (Limonia acidissima), and coconut (Cocos nucifera) are recommended.
— Sharangadhara Samhita, Parishishtam, Chapter 30: Diet for Insanity (Unmada Pathyapathyam)
Source: Sharangadhara Samhita, Uttara Khanda, Chapter 9: Dhumapana Vidhi (Medicated Smoking Therapy); Uttara Khanda, Chapter 10: Gandusha-Kavala Pratisarana Vidhi (Gargling, Oil Pulling and Oral Paste Application); Parishishtam, Chapter 29: Diet for Burning Sensation (Daha Pathyapathyam); Parishishtam, Chapter 30: Diet for Insanity (Unmada Pathyapathyam)
Draksha (grapes), audra, chandana (sandalwood), yashtimadhu (licorice), yoshit-tira, and rajyanka — ground to a paste with ghee, these are recommended for tarpana (eye nourishment), seka (irrigation), and nasya (nasal therapy).
— Sushruta Samhita, Uttara Tantra, Chapter 10: Pittabhishyanda Pratishedha Adhyaya (Chapter on Treatment of Pitta-type Conjunctivitis)
Or with grapes, madhuka, and kushtha combined with saindhava;
— Sushruta Samhita, Uttara Tantra, Chapter 17: Drishtigata Roga Pratishedha Adhyaya (Chapter on Treatment of Diseases of Vision / Drishti Roga)
or with rodhra, saindhava, mridvika (grapes), madhuka, and goat's milk.
— Sushruta Samhita, Uttara Tantra, Chapter 17: Drishtigata Roga Pratishedha Adhyaya (Chapter on Treatment of Diseases of Vision / Drishti Roga)
Or with madhuka, utpala, kushtha, grapes, laksha, and sugar — boiled with saindhava, it destroys pain and redness.
— Sushruta Samhita, Uttara Tantra, Chapter 17: Drishtigata Roga Pratishedha Adhyaya (Chapter on Treatment of Diseases of Vision / Drishti Roga)
Decoctions for Vata fever: Pippali (long pepper), Sariva, Draksha (grapes), Shatapushpa (dill), and Harenuka boiled with jaggery destroy Vata-type fever.
— Sushruta Samhita, Uttara Tantra, Chapter 39: Jvarapratishedha
Source: Sushruta Samhita, Uttara Tantra, Chapter 10: Pittabhishyanda Pratishedha Adhyaya (Chapter on Treatment of Pitta-type Conjunctivitis); Uttara Tantra, Chapter 17: Drishtigata Roga Pratishedha Adhyaya (Chapter on Treatment of Diseases of Vision / Drishti Roga); Uttara Tantra, Chapter 39: Jvarapratishedha
Medical Disclaimer: The information on this page is for educational purposes only and is not intended as medical advice. Ayurvedic treatments should be pursued under the guidance of a qualified practitioner (BAMS/MD Ayurveda). Always consult your healthcare provider before starting any new treatment. Content is sourced from classical Ayurvedic texts and may not reflect the latest medical research.