Lime is useful with hot, spicy foods to cool down their hot, Pitta provoking nature.Limes stimulate the secretion of digestive enzymes and very useful for indigestion.  It can be an effective antidote to alcohol.  Limes are sour, slightly bitter and cooling, but the after digestion effect is sweet.Limes calm Vata and is okay in moderation for Pitta, but aggravate in excess.  Limes stimulates Kapha and can cause excess salivation.

 There are eight ways to use as a medicine.

1. To Improve Appetite, chew some lime with a pinch of rock salt.
2. Lime pickle (about 1 teaspoon), used with the main meal Improves Digestion and Absorption of Minerals, as well as the taste of the food.
3. For Acute Indigestion, squeeze the juice from 1/4 of a lime in a 1 cup of warm water.  Add 1/2 teaspoon of baking soda and drink quickly.
4. For Acid Indigestion, take the juice of 1/4 of lime, mixed with 1 cup of warm water and 1 teaspoon of rock candy or organic sugar.
5. For Heartburn, Nausea or Hyperacidity; (also helpful for Headache, Motion Sickness, and Morning Sickness)

• Take 1/2 lime and hold it on a fork or stick over a flame  – let the fire penetrate the skin, charring it a little .  
• Cool it down and chew it including the skin with: 1/4 teaspoon of sugar, A pinch of baking soda on lime

6. To relieve a Burning Sensation of the Urethra, take a mixture of 1 glass of heated, then cooled, water and 1 teaspoon of lime juice, if taken, sip by sip, every fifteen minutes for the whole day.  
7. For individuals with High Blood Pressure who need Diuretic action without sodium and potassium loss, take a mixture of 1 cup coconut juice, 2 teaspoons of lime juice, and 1 cup of cucumber juice may be beneficial.
8. A glass of hot water with 1 teaspoon each of honey and lime juice may be a useful drink to take in the morning for conditions of Obesity and High Cholesterol.

Important Note:       Lime should not be used when one has a cold, congestion and/or cough.