Word: clothe
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Dates: during 2000-2009
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Never mind applying creams and lotions-if you could relieve a skin ailment simply by the kind of clothes you wear, or the bed linen you use, wouldn't you? The Handloom Weavers Development Society in Kerala, India, hopes so. The nonprofit organization-based in Thumbod, a tiny village of swaying palms an hour outside the state capital of Trivandrum-has infused yarn with organic herbs and plant extracts, and claims that regular contact with cloth made from this material will relieve itches, rashes and other skin disorders...
...With a sharp eye for the contemporary obsession with Eastern homeopathy, the weavers have dubbed their cloth "ayurvastra"-referring to the ayurvedic principles on which production is based. After cleaning, the raw yarn is coated with a natural gum, and it's then soaked in medicinal dyes prepared with pomegranate, turmeric and indigo, among others. "The idea is that immunity levels are raised when using these medicinal textiles and the body reaches a certain mental and physical equilibrium," explains Rajan, a weaver sporting one of the society's simple, hand-woven tunics...
...Before you rush off to order bolts of ayurvastra, do remember that it's still early days and more research needs to be done. But the cloth does seem to show some promise. A trial conducted by Kerala's Government Ayurveda College concluded that after using bedding, rugs and towels made from ayurvastra for one month, patients suffering from eczema, psoriasis and (curiously, because it is not a skin complaint) rheumatism showed a "marked improvement." This was sufficient to persuade the state government to give the weavers a grant of $250,000, which they're spending on a new medicinal...
Never mind applying creams and lotions - if you could relieve a skin ailment simply by the kind of clothes you wear, or the bed linen you use, wouldn't you? The Handloom Weavers Development Society in Kerala , India , hopes so. The nonprofit organization - based in Thumbod, a tiny village of swaying palms an hour outside the state capital of Trivandrum - has infused yarn with organic herbs and plant extracts, and claims that regular contact with cloth made from this material will relieve itches, rashes and other skin disorders. With a sharp eye for the contemporary obsession with Eastern traditional medicine...
...REALITY SHOWS MANIPULATED ranks with PORK RINDS FATTENING, RESEARCHERS SUSPECT. But even savvy viewers who realize that their favorite reality shows are cast, contrived and edited to be dramatic may have no idea how brazen the fudging can be. Quotes are manufactured, crushes and feuds constructed out of whole cloth, episodes planned in multiact "storyboards" before taping, scenes stitched together out of footage shot days apart...