Witnessed by: Ayurveda
Usara (alkaline-earth) salt, of the halide / efflorescence salt (saline-earth) family. A greyish-white saline bloom and crust on barren alkaline earth; native range: swept from the barren alkaline flats (usara bhumi, reh) of the dry plains, where salt blooms on the ground in the hot season. Globally recognized as usara lavana, ushara lavana in Sanskrit, reh ka namak in Hindi, and saline-earth salt, usara salt in English. The part used is the refined saline earth. Dull greyish-white, powdery and earthy, salty with an alkaline bite, dissolving cloudily in water.
In this cross-tradition database, we analyze how this substance operates across world medicine systems — tracking its traditional tastes, temperatures, tissue affinities, post-digestive effects, and planetary correspondences across Ayurveda, Unani, and Western herbalism.
USARA SALT
IDENTITY
Name
- Common
- usara (alkaline-earth) salt
- Family
- halide / efflorescence salt (saline-earth)
Form
- Part used
- the refined saline earth
PROPERTIES
Nature
Taste
how the plant declares itself on the tongue
- Ayurveda
- salty (lavana)
Temperature
- Ayurveda
- heating (ushna)
PRACTICE
Virtue
Actions
- Ayurveda
- deepana (kindles digestion), pachana (digestive), kaphavatahara
Cautions
- Contraindications
- hyperacidity, bleeding tendency, oedema and pitta excess; not in excess
- Toxicity
- as with all the lavanas, excess disturbs the blood and the fluid balance and aggravates pitta; the raw saline earth carries alkali and clay and is not used unrefined
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