Kadali for Asthma

Does Banana (Kadali) help with asthma? Not on its own. In fact, ripe bananas are usually listed among the foods to limit in asthma, because they are heavy and increase Kapha, the dosha of mucus. Yet Ayurvedic food tradition does use the banana in one very specific remedy for chronic bronchial asthma: as the carrier for Cloves.

The method is simple. About seven cloves are pushed into a peeled banana and left overnight. The next morning you eat the banana and cloves together, then an hour later drink a cup of hot water with a teaspoon of honey, which is said to give energy to the lungs and reduce wheezing.

Here the banana's sweet, heavy, unctuous body softens and carries the sharp cloves, while the cloves and honey do the clearing. This is a remedy for long-standing asthma between attacks, not for acute breathlessness. Asthma can be fatal, so keep your rescue inhaler and prescribed treatment.

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 movement of breath. Vata often joins in, making the spasm dry and erratic.

What the Banana Brings

Ripe Banana is sweet in taste (Madhura Rasa), heavy (Guru), unctuous (Snigdha), and cooling in potency (Sheeta Virya). It calms Vata and energizes the muscle, fat, nerve, and reproductive tissues.

Those same qualities increase Kapha and Pitta. That is why bananas are avoided during a cough with mucus and a runny nose, and why, on their own, they are not an asthma food.

Why the Cloves Change the Picture

In the traditional asthma remedy, the banana is a vehicle. The cloves are pressed into it and left overnight, so the fruit takes on their pungency. Cloves are among the herbs recommended for asthma and wheezing in Ayurvedic home-remedy tradition. The banana's soft, moist body tempers their sharpness and calms the Vata side of a dry, spasmodic wheeze.

The Honey Follow-Up

An hour later comes hot water with honey. Honey is the one sweet food specifically favored in asthma, valued for reducing Kapha and supporting expectoration, and the hot water itself helps keep digestion working. The one-hour gap also follows the classical rule not to take liquids until at least an hour after eating a banana.

For chronic bronchial asthma, Banana is used in one specific preparation with Cloves. It is a morning remedy, taken between attacks.

The Vehicle

Two vehicles (Anupana, the carrier that steers a remedy toward its target) are at work. The banana carries the cloves, and the hot water with honey that follows is said to give energy to the lungs and reduce wheezing. Let the water cool slightly before stirring in the honey, since honey should not be cooked.

Food Rules That Matter Here

• Wait at least an hour after the banana before drinking anything. The remedy is built around this rule.
• Do not eat bananas at night, with milk, or with yogurt. Cold dairy is also one of the main triggers of Kapha-type asthma.
• Skip the remedy during fever, vomiting, edema, or a cough with mucus and a runny nose.

Duration

Our sources give no fixed course length. Use it as a morning routine for chronic asthma alongside your prescribed treatment, and stop if it leaves you feeling heavy or congested.

If you want to start using Banana for asthma today, here is the simplest starting point.

Best form: a ripe banana studded with Cloves. In this remedy the banana is the soft carrier that tempers the sharp cloves.

Kitchen version: in the evening, push about 7 whole cloves into a peeled banana and leave it overnight. Eat the banana and cloves the next morning. One hour later, drink 1 cup of hot water with 1 teaspoon of raw honey stirred in once it has cooled slightly.

Dosha fork: this suits dry, Vata-type wheeze. If your asthma brings heavy mucus or you have a runny nose, skip bananas until it clears.

Find Whole Cloves on Amazon ↗ Raw Honey ↗

Safety note: keep your rescue inhaler and prescribed medication, and skip this during fever, vomiting, or a mucus-heavy cough.