The tea of this mixture of 10 root herbs (dasha = 10, mula = root) tastes very Earthy to me, in a pleasant way – like “pause … hmmm … interesting … aha … I get it …” It’s a traditional nutrifying remedy (rasayana) in the Ayurvedic tradition. Often recommended for postpartum as a restorative and nutritive tea, it is one that can also help balance the postpartum doshic tendencies (e.g. vata). It is recommended and used for several conditions and in several modes of application in the Ayurvedic tradition.
In my experience, the tea is indeed nutritive, and slightly purgative and perhaps mildly laxative.
Like any herbal supplement, learn about it, consult your health practitioner, beware of contraindications, and most of all, listen to your body, quietly and in detail observe yourself for responses or reactions, and titrate/grade, i.e. start with small amounts and assess.
Preparation: For our purposes here, common at-home easy preparation: Use nutritive/tonic herbal tea preparation at home.
Some (cool) web resources about dashamula, including literature from peer-reviewed journals (aka “scientific”) as well as vendors:
- A critical review on two types of Laghupanchamula (PubMed, Ayu: International Quarterly Journal of Research in Ayurveda)
- Fascinating look (again, nerd snipe alert) at the traditional formulation, origin (Ayurveda here and elsewhere is often cited as dating to the Vedic period aka 6000 BC – debatable, but you get the idea), and uses of Dashamula, including the note that of the many traditional formulations of Ayurvedic herbal therapies, Dashamula is accompanied by Trikatu and Triphala in the cohort of popular choices to today. Includes references to original texts of the tradition that found Ayurveda.
- Multimodal Ayurvedic management for Sandhigatavata (Osteoarthritis of knee joints) (Pubmed, Ayu)
- Includes efficacy of Dashamula (here modality of application is kwatha = simmered down to concentrate the tea, niruha basti = tea-like colonic/enema) in osteoarthritis treatment as part of a complete treatment regimen.
- Experimental evaluation of analgesic, anti-inflammatory and anti-platelet potential of Dashamoola (PubMed, J Ayurveda Integr Med)
- Efficacy demonstrated.
- ABQ’s own Banyan Botanicals store page for Dashamula
- Will post more …
If you’re an expert or Ayurvedic physician and would like to correct or suggest adjustments to my writing on this topic, just let me know!
Many thanks to my instructors on this and related postpartum Ayurvedic massage topics (linking to you as soon as it’s ok … )