Peyava

The use of alternative medicine otherwise known as herbal medicine is widely common in Asia and the pacific countries like China, Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore, Taiwan and the Philippines and some countries in South America like Mexico and Brazil. This has become widely acknowledged by people in some parts of the world and is slowly beating over-the-counter drugs.

Peyava: Popularly Known as Samahan

Among the drugs that are already in the form of herbal medicine are preparations for cough, colds, sinus and other forms of viral disease, allergies, fever, head ache, body pain such as back pains and muscle pain. Dietary supplements and slimming teas, tablets and capsules also formulated using the power of different herbal combinations that would help aid in losing weight and body mass.

One perfect example of alternative medicine commonly used and taken in Sri Lanka is the use of Peyava.

Peyava is an indigenous herbal formulation for relieving colds and related symptoms, originated from the Deshiya Chikitsa system that prevailed before the introduction of Ayurveda and Chinese Treatments, Western Medicine and Homeopathy. Peyava is a famous herbal remedy in the form of a hot beverage used and taken by people in Sri Lanka over centuries. It is a concentrated, water soluble herbal preparation of selected medicinal plants used over centuries for health care purposes. It is prepared by boiling various combinations of five to fifteen medicinal plants as a decoction. Herbal ingredients include spices and condiments which are used in daily culinary preparations throughout the world. The fourteen ingredients used in the formulation of Peyava are as follows along side their English names: Adhatoda vasica Nees. (Acanthaceae) or  Adathoda,  Alpinia galanga Willd. (Zingiberaceae) or Java galangal, Carum copticum Benth & Hook. (Apiaceae) or Ajowan, Coriandrum sativum Linn. (Apiaceae) or Coriander, Coscinium fenestratum (Gaertn.) or Colebr. (Menispermaceae) or Flase calumba, Cuminum cyminum Linn. (Apiaceae) or Cumin, Evolvulus alsinoides Linn. (Convolvulaceae), Glycyrrhiza glabra Linn. (Fabaceae) or Liquorice, Hedyotis herbaceae (Linn.) or Lam. (Rubiaceae), Piper longum Linn. (Piperaceae) or Long pepper, Piper nigrum Linn. (Piperaceae) or Black pepper, Premna herbacea Roxb. (Verbenaceae) or Solanum xanthocarpum Schrade. & Wendl. (Solanaceae) or Yellow berried nightshade, Zingiber officinale Roscoe. (Zingiberaceae) or Ginger.



The Peyava Process of Decoction

The Peyava process of decoction is fairly well known among the Sinhalese. All you need to do is boil the ingredients to 8 cups of water and simmer it down to four cups. Then you have to add the pori or rice pop-corn and boil again to one or one and a half cups of water.

According to the locals of Sri Lanka, the Sinhalese, this herbal medicine is said to be used as analgesic, antipyretic, anti-inflammatory and as expectorant thus is said to be effective in providing rapid relief to common colds, headache, cough, fever, body pains and other viral diseases.

Peyava which are commonly seen in the market nowadays in the form of sachet bags just like tea bags, can be taken by almost anyone including children. However, children five years old and below, must only take half of the normal recommended dose for adults.