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Ayurveda

One of the world's oldest healing systems, balancing mind, body, and spirit through herbs, diet, and lifestyle.

India & South Asia

History & Philosophy

Origins

Among the world's oldest continuously practiced medical systems, Ayurveda traces back over 3,000 years to the Vedic period in India, with its foundational texts — the Charaka Samhita and Sushruta Samhita — compiled roughly 2,000 years ago from an older oral tradition.

Core philosophy

Ayurveda organizes the body around three doshas — vata (air/movement), pitta (fire/transformation), and kapha (earth-water/structure) — with health understood as a personal balance among them, and treatment individualized to a person's constitution (prakriti) rather than standardized by diagnosis alone.

Practiced today

Modern Ayurvedic practice combines herbal formulas, diet, yoga, and daily/seasonal routines (dinacharya, ritucharya) with panchakarma detoxification therapies, and is formally regulated in India under the government's AYUSH ministry alongside conventional medicine.

Herbs, foods & remedies

198 herbs traditionally used within Ayurveda — most often for Digestive Issues, Skin Health, Fever.

See all 198

Showing the first 40 of 198 — use “See all” above for the full, filterable list.

Ayurveda

History & Philosophy

Origins

Core philosophy

Practiced today

Herbs, foods & remedies

Agnimantha

Ajowan (Ajwain)

Aloe Vera (Kumari)

Amalaki (Amla Churna)

Amla (Indian Gooseberry)

Anantamool

Aparajita

Aragvadha (Cassia)

Ardraka (Fresh Ginger)

Arishta (Neem Flower)

Arjuna

Asafoetida (Hingu)

Ashoka

Ashwagandha

Atibala

Ativisha

Bakuchi

Bakula

Bala

Bay Leaf (Tejpat)

Bhallataka

Bhringraj

Bibhitaka Seed

Bibhitaki

Bilva (Bael)

Bitter Melon

Black Pepper (Marich)

Brahma Dandi

Brahmi

Brihati

Cardamom

Chakramarda

Chandan Bala Laksha

Chandana (White Sandalwood)

Chiraita (Bhunimba)

Chirata (Swertia)

Chitraka

Chopchini

Cinnamon (Dalchini)

Coriander

Amla (Indian Gooseberry)

Ash Gourd (Winter Melon)

Bael Fruit (Bilva)

Banana

Barley

Basmati Rice

Bitter Melon

Black Pepper

Black Sesame

Bottle Gourd (Lauki)

Cluster Beans (Guar)

Coconut

Coconut Milk

Colocasia (Taro Root)

Coriander

Cumin

Curry Leaves

Custard Apple (Sitaphal)

Dates

Drumstick Leaves (Moringa Greens)

Drumstick Pods (Moringa Pods)

Fenugreek Leaves (Methi Saag)

Fenugreek Seeds

Ghee

Ginger Root

Green Mung Sprouts

Honey

Indian Fig (Anjeer/Cluster Fig)

Ivy Gourd (Tindora)

Jackfruit

Jamun (Indian Blackberry)

Karonda (Natal Plum)

Kokum

Lotus Seeds