BY SANDRA GUY

If you’re rusty on your history of natural medicine, it’s time for a primer — and this one just might be a remedy for our continued coronavirus vigilance.

The topic is Ayurveda, one of the oldest healing sciences — it originated in India more than 5,000 years ago — that translates into “The Science of Life” in Sanskrit.

Ayurveda posits that everyone comprises three kinds of energy. They go by the Sanskrit terms vata, pitta and kapha.

Vata governs movement, but can be as subtle as breathing, blinking, the heart pulsing and cell membranes regulating materials transport. In terms of balance and imbalance, vata can promote creativity and flexibility or fear and anxiety.

Pitta controls digestion, nutrition, metabolism and body temperature. Its optimal energies boost understanding and intelligence, while its out-of-sync version is said to arouse anger and jealousy.

Kapha provides the glue that holds cells together and provides the energy for bones, muscles and tendons. Its high road expresses as love, calmness and forgiveness, while its evil twin leads to envy, greed and attachment.

These three energies are known as doshas.

Each energy is believed to be positively impacted by three tropical fruits that make up the compound Triphala. The three fruits — native to India — are believed to promote the health of the doshas.

Though Triphala’s effects are scientifically unproven on people, its adherents boost its antioxidant properties. Ayruvedic practitioners tout it for oral health, to boost the immune system and to treat tiredness and upset stomach.

Triphala is available as a pill, a powder, a supplement and a liquid extract.

Experts advise talking to a doctor before taking Triphala.

If you get the go-ahead, Tiphala could well join your nighttime or daytime rituals for staying calm, balanced and creative — just when you need it most.