Choosing A Carrier (anupan) When Taking An Herb Formula

Most people either brew their herbs in a drink, mix them into a syrup, or cook them into some other concoction. This practice not only makes the herb formula more tasty, it also enhances the medicinal effect. You can strengthen or soften a formula by mixing it with different ingredients, called a carrier or anupan in Ayurveda. Ayurveda studies how to choosing the right carrier for your herb formulas, turning your herb formulas into a wonderful elixir!

Typically, the carrier is warm water. However, you may use other liquids than water, such as milk or almond milk to 'soften' the harshness of any herb (for delicate Vata constitutions). Liquids such as aloe vera, vinegar, and lemon juice are recommended to increase the cleansing effect of herbs. Herbs may also be mixed with honey and even ghee for various effects. Anything can be used as a carrier for an herb, such as a mashed banana, fruit juice and meat broths. Ginger or mint tea can also be a carrier.

Carriers are used to either direct the herbal formula to a specific tissue or to balance out qualities of the formula. Sometimes, a carrier will be a part of the formula in powdered form- raw sugar is one example the formula Sitopaladi. Usually, anupans refer to the liquid in which the client steeps the herbs in. For ghee to be effective, you must cook the herbs into ghee. Just taking them with ghee doesn't change the formula.

Carriers that Balance Doshas

• Vata: Warm water, milk, bone broth, raw sugar, ginger tea
• Pitta: aloe vera juice/gel, milk, cold water, raw sugar, mint tea,
• Kapha: honey, ginger tea,

Carriers to the Tissues (Dhatus)

• Rasa (blood plasma)- Water
• Rakta (red part of blood) - Pomegranate Juice
• Mamsa (Muscle) - Honey
• Meda (Fat) - Honey
• Asthi (Bone) - Milk
• Majja (Marrow) - Ghee, alcohol (tinctures, drakshas, cordials)
• Shukra/Artava (Reproductive) - Milk

The advanced herbalist will also want to study the chemical constituents of the herb before determining the carrier. Some carriers are better than others at extracting the active ingredient from the herb. For example, the active ingredient may be water soluble, fat soluble, vinegar soluble, or best extracted with alcohol. If the active ingredient is fat soluble, then use milk or ghee. If water soluble, purchase as a tincture.