Hauma - The Arian Elixir

The old Arian heroes all drugged themselves with soma, which is equivalent to the Persian hauma. What is this thing? It is the ephedra plant pressed and the liquid drank. Old Zoroastrians of the city of Yazd (Iran) consumed ephedra, which was locally known as hum or homa and which they exported to fellow Indian Zoroastrians.  Yazd is a remote desert city on the Iranian plateau with a large Jewish-Yazdi community, which moved to Israel. Former president of Israel Moshe Katsav is a Yazdi Jew. 

Many species belonging to the genus Ephedra have traditionally been used for a variety of medicinal purposes. It has been used in traditional Chinese medicine for more than 2,000 years. Native Americans and Mormon pioneers drank a tea brewed from other Ephedra species, called "Mormon tea" and "Indian tea".

What does ephedra?  It contains ephedrine and pseudoephedrine, which are stimulants.These compounds stimulate the brain, increase heart rate, constrict blood vessels (increasing blood pressure), and expand bronchial tubes (making breathing easier). It is effective to lose weight, but the side effects are bad - it certainly causes dizziness and insomnia. In my times in Argentina, it was sold over the counter for astma, and we students used to improve exam results.