Sethsuwa
Sethsuwa Pranajeewa is the product range of the Sethsuwa Ayurveda Hospital, a traditional Ayurvedic hospital in the green countryside of Batalanda, Makola, in Sri Lanka's Gampaha District, with a consultation centre and Osusala pharmacy on Gregory's Road, Colombo 7. The physician in charge is Dr. Sujeewa Prasanna Withanage. In Sri Lanka the range is sold through Cargills Food City pharmacies; here it is the Sri Lankan pack, shipped worldwide from Sri Lanka.
Pranajeewa oil. The house formula, Sethsuwa Pranajeewa Oil, follows a recipe recorded more than 200 years ago. Over 200 herbs are washed, cut and dried, then simmered in heavy stainless-steel cauldrons for about four months in a base of margosa oil, gingelly (sesame) oil, ghee, castor oil and mee oil. It contains no preservatives or colourings. The same preparation also comes as Pranajeewa capsules.
Classical oils. Sethsuwa makes the oils of the Ayurveda pharmacopoeia in its own pharmacy: Mahanarayana Thailaya, Maha Siddartha, Pinda, Sarshapadi, Gugguladi (Handi), Nirgundyadi, Neelyadi and Peenas oils, mostly on a base of sesame oil, and a Triphala massage oil made with cold-pressed sesame oil.
Hair and skin. Sheersha hair oil blends vetiver, black cumin, Indian gooseberry and neem with natural vitamin E; Kumari is made with herbs and pure virgin coconut oil, without added fragrance or colour; and there is an Anti Dandruff Beauty Hair Oil. Kunkumadi face oil is the classical saffron and red sandalwood oil, a few drops of which are massaged into the face in the evening, and Pranalepa is a small herbal ointment.
Capsules and rasayana. The capsule range is built on single herbs and short formulas: Biogen Moringa (400 mg of moringa leaf powder per capsule), Triphala, Memory Boost (gotu kola and brahmi), Liv Health (heen bovitiya and aloe vera), Ayu Lax (aralu), Fat Blaster (garcinia and bulu), Ashwagandha Enhanced, Super Man and Nariveda. The rasayana are traditional herbal jams taken by the spoon: Vajibala, Kushmanda (ash gourd), Ashwagandha and the Wellman and Wellwoman blends. Cinnoney is Ceylon cinnamon blended with bee honey, and there is pure bee honey too.
Herbal teas and decoctions. Caffeine-free tea bags of heen bovitiya and butterfly pea flower (nil katarolu), Suwa Dharani (coriander, venivel, ginger and heen aratta), Paspanguwa, the five-herb decoction Sri Lankan households brew, Fast Shape-Up (aralu, bulu, nelli, garcinia, cinnamon, black seed, cumin and senna), Gastro Cure (Avipaththikara churna) and beli mal (bael, Aegle marmelos) tea.
Most of these are Ayurvedic medicines and supplements: use them only as directed by a qualified Ayurvedic physician, and ask one before use in pregnancy, while breastfeeding or for children.
