Thursday, October 13, 2011

Herbs That Boost Your Performance



The possible use of our old wisdom about maintaining good health as described in the Ayurveda and taking herbs not as medicines but as Rasayana tonics to improve one’s physical capacities was discussed at the Indian Sports Congress, Organised efficiently by prayaas, at the India International Centre in November, 1994. The theme of the congress was “Sports in India – strategies for the 21st Century.” The subject The subject first come up in the session on “ Promotion of sports in Tribal Area’ which stated that our athletes could certainly, benefits from a;; the knowledge and information we have, based on our ancient systems of medicine.

It is not that we should use plants to improve performance but they should be used to promote health and thus enable our athletes to function in the best possible health. As we all know there are plants like Ocimum sanctum (tulsi), Asparagus recemousus (satavari) and Withania somnifera (ashwagandha) which are know to improve health. It our athletes could be given some of these non-addicting simple herbal remedies, it is possible that our results at international athletes meets would improve.

The subject come up again in the session on the final day where the theme was “Sports Sciences”. Specialists in Sports Medicine identified some of the physiological functions which are involved when our sportsmen participate in competitive games. A person who has an efficient oxygen transport system will be able to supply more oxygen to the muscles than one whose mechanisms are not so efficient.

Scientists are aware that this system can be improved but surprisingly no effort has been made to see whether tulsi or satavari could improve these systems. Recently a nut has been discovered in Kerala which is used by the Kani tribes to help in walking and climbing long distances without getting tired. The effect of this nut could be scientifically studied.

There are other types of physiological activities which could be improved by plants, yoga and medication. This sort of improvement would not be against the rules as these are only improving one’s physiological functions. The cardiac output could be improved. It is also possible that some or our plants could effect the enzymes involved in transportation of oxygen in the blood. What is clear is that a whole area of alternative medicine and sports remains unexplored. It is very interesting that this subject has been brought to our attention – not by physiologists or medical persons but by sports specialists. This investigation should be carried out keeping in mind the rules governing the use of medicines for sports person.

Increasing physiological performances by yoga or meditation or by use of our Rasayana herbs can in no way be considered as drug abuse or as cheating. The International Olympic Commission rightly states that drugs or medicines taken to gain an unfair advantage in sports are subject to doping control regulations. Time and again we read about participants being disqualified as a result of urine tests. There are five categories of substances which are banned. These are 1) Stimulants; 2) Narcotic analgesis; 3) Anabolic steroids; 4) Diuretics and 5) Peptide hormones and their analogues. There are sensitive test to pick up these substance from the urine.

The use of good wholesome food, the practice of meditation to improve concentration, the practice to yoga to condition one’s mind and body and the use of herbs to promotes one’s health are not considered as doping.

As a first step, specialists and Ayurvedic and Unani and other systems of medicine need to list those plants which are reported, in these systems, to have an effect on oxygen transport mechanisms, pulmonary capacity, heart pumping capacity, cardiac output, total blood volume and other functions relating to sports activities.

The work reported on these plants should be critically looked at to determine which substances could be crucial in improving some of these functions. In addition to the three plants mentioned earlier in this article, awareness must be spread of other plants such as Boerhaavia diffusa (punarnava), Curcuma longa (haldi), Azadirachta indica (neem) and ginger. It is possible that the use of some of these herbs, commonly found throughout India, could improve the physical conditioning of our athletes thus, enabling them to perform better.

Several other extremely interesting sessions were held during the congress. One must appreciate the initiative taken in bringing together people from different spheres of life, who are all interested in sports and who were willing to give up their time on Saturday and Sunday, to participate in these very important discussions relevant to our country’s performance at international sporting meets.

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Chitika