Super Foods of the Himalaya

Indigenous Foods – Super Foods of the Himalaya- Nutritional Safety

We are convinced that the traditional foods of the Himalaya,  grown and harvested in natural conditions, processed in holistic non-aggressive and non-chemical manner are medicinal. Because of the immense nutritional properties, they carry the definition “Super Foods”.

The specific environmental conditions of the Himalaya, the unique weather, rich and diverse mineral content of the soil and cosmic radiation are such that the indigenous crop packs a multitude of medicinal properties.

 “Let food be thy medicine and medicine be thy food”  ~Hippocrates

These special characteristics are traditionally known in the communities; they have been tested over thousands of years and communicated verbally from one generation to the next. Nowadays international scientific research is confirming this ancient wisdom.

For example, Turmeric is getting vast international scientific attention as a remedy for prevention of Alzheimer’s, diabetes, dementia, cancer and so many more purposes. We find new publications on Haldi on the world wide web on almost a daily basis.

We call it ‘Pahari Gold’

As for Turmeric, the same applies to Oregano (Vana Tulsi), Amaranth (Ramdana), Millet (Madhira and Madhua), Himalayan Nettle and so many more.

It is quite intriguing to know that Amaranth carries the name ‘Grain of Lord Ram’ (Ramdana). In mythology, Tulsi is the devotee of Vishnu, in scientific terms an immune-modulator, an adaptogen. There are so many hints in the mythology and folkloric traditions indicating that these foods are indeed ‘Super Foods’.

Many of those foods are nowadays nearly forgotten, replaced by cheap mass processed products and we find them now only in religious practises, revealing indications of their original importance.

We believe that these ‘Super Foods’ of the hills can serve as nutritional supplements, compensating the deficient processed foods, generally available. A minimal to small portion of our Himalaya food remedies can add the required and missing nutrients.

We at SOS Organics Foundation are preserving, documenting and promoting traditional practises in respect to farming, indigenous crop and their uses.

In the very near future we intend to link, refer, publish on this foundation domain, the ever increasing information, research findings and applications of natural Himalayan foods, organic practises and the right post-harvesting techniques.

Our mission is to bring such information to the public domain, as easily accessible as possible for further research and application.

At this point we like to refer to our research partner Prashanti DeJaeger’s publication on Turmeric, released at Full Circle and available on line through our shop (publication).

SOS Organics product list – booklet on Turmeric

This book is a good example to show how we intend to publicize the information, combining traditional knowledge and scientific research and its relevance to practises/ usages in today’s age.

Also please have a look at our reference pages on turmeric and on amaranth.