A Malay reader mentioned she had no energy after drinking herbal tea during menstruation. Normally, Chinese women would refrain from drinking herbal tea when they have menstruation. In traditional Chinese medicine (TCM), herbal tea, iced drink and ice cream are not recommended to be consumed during menstruation because they are associated with coolness/coldness (寒凉 han liang). Warmth/Heat (温熱 wen re) food such as ginger are prescribed to alleviate the pain.
In traditional Malay medicine, the key ingredients to alleviate menstrual pain are kunyit (curcumae domesticae rhizoma), asam jawa (tamarind) and gula merah (palm sugar). Preparing such drink can be inconvenient especially for busy urban dwellers.
This reminds me of Kiranti, a ready-to-drink product to regulate menstruation (datang bulan) and alleviate the problems related to it. Kiranti by Indonesia’s Orang Tua (OT) is popular in Indonesia and is easily available there. This ready-to-consume drink does have a potential market in Malaysia as the two countries share a common dietary culture and basic concept in traditional medicine. Backed by marketing and education, the success of Kiranti in Indonesia can be replicated in Malaysia.
Kiranti contains:
– Kunyit (Curcumae domesticae rhizoma)
– Jahe (Zingiberia Rhizoma)
– Asam jawa (Tamarindi Pulpa)
– Kencur (Kaempferiae rhizoma)
– Gula jawa (Arengae pinnata fructose)
– Paullinia Cupana
– Kayu manis (Cinnamomi cortex)
