Labels

Soon, herbal energy bars to help jawans keep off hunger, sleep

CHENNAI,Febrauary19,2012: Traditional herbs that helped sages to go without food for months may come in handy for jawans of paramilitary forces to beat hunger and sleep as they lie in wait during operations in conflict zones. The Mysore-based Defence Food Research Laboratory (DFRL) is planning to develop an anti-sleep and anti-hunger energy bar for personnel of Border Security Forces, Central Reserve Police Force and others. Paramilitary personnel are increasingly deployed in conflict zones across the country. In most cases, they do not fight an open battle but are forced to carry out ambushes that involve several hours of patient and alert wait.
Dozing off during such an operation can prove fatal. The defence ministry has asked the laboratory affiliated to the Defence Research and Development Organisation to develop ready-to-eat energy bars. Dr K T Jayakrishnan, an ayurveda practitioner, said: "There are herbs to increase alertness and help a person to stay awake for a longer period without damaging the nervous system. Aswagandha and sankupushpam are some of the herbs that can be used. Similarly, there are herbs that can increase and decrease hunger." Sages used these herbs to help them go without solid food for up to six months.

No comments:

Post a Comment