Is Navara Rice Really Medicinal? Benefits, Uses & Who Should Eat It Daily
Is Kerala the True Origin of Navara Rice?
Kerala is known for many things: breathtaking backwaters, lush tea gardens, vibrant Kathakali, soulful Ayurveda, and the iconic Sadya. It is lovingly called ‘God’s Own Country’ and perhaps that’s why nature gifted this land a sacred grain: Navara Rice!
Specifically native to the Palakkad region of Kerala, Navara is one of India’s rarest and oldest heritage Ayurvedic rice varieties. The people of Kerala have preserved it with devotion for centuries. Even today, Navara remains an integral part of temple prasadam, Ayurvedic healing therapies like Navarakizhi, medicinal porridges, baby food, and daily diets.
In this blog, we’ll explore why Navara is not just a rice but a healing grain, and how it continues to hold an irreplaceable place in Ayurveda, wellness, and traditional Kerala cuisine.
The History of Navara Rice
Navara rice is not a recent health-food discovery but it has existed for over 2,000 years now through the Ayurvedic and cultural heritage of Kerala. This grain finds mention in revered classical texts like the Susruta Samhita and Ashtanga Hridaya, b where it was honored as a “pious medicinal rice” used in healing therapies, temple rituals, and nourishing postpartum mothers.
Also known as Shashtika Shali because of its rare 60-day (shashtika) short harvest cycle, unlike most rice varieties that take 90-120 days. Farmers in the Palakkad region of Kerala cultivated it, just like how Rajamudi does, using completely natural and chemical-free methods long before the term “organic farming” even existed.
But like many heritage grains of India, Navara too almost vanished from our fields in the early 2000s due to hybrid rice dominance, low awareness, and poor commercial demand. Thankfully, its cultural and medicinal value was recognized in time and around 2007, Navara rice received its Geographical Indication status, officially protecting it as an exclusive rice variety of Kerala.
Today, glad to farmer-led revival efforts and the global demand for Ayurvedic, diabetic-friendly, and gluten-free heritage rice, Navara is making a powerful comeback as a symbol of India’s living medicinal wisdom. And we at Rajamudi Organics are proud to be part of its upliftment.
Is Navara Really Medicinal? The Ayurvedic Truth
As mentioned before, navara is one of the very few rice varieties that finds a documented place in classical Ayurvedic texts - not just as food, but as medicine. Ancient vaidyas described it as Rasayana (rejuvenating), Balya (strength-building), and Vrishya (supporting vitality), which is why it has been traditionally used in therapies like Navarakizhi, postpartum nourishment for new mothers, and in diets designed to gently rebuild strength.
What makes it special is its natural richness in iron, antioxidants, dietary fiber, and easily digestible protein, which allows it to nourish without being heavy on the body. Unlike modern polished rice varieties, Navara is recommended in Ayurveda when someone is recovering from weakness, managing fatigue, or needs a real energy boost, especially children, elders, and those in the healing process. It is even preferred as a gentle grain for diabetic and immunity-supportive diets, when consumed mindfully and as part of a balanced sattvic lifestyle.
While Ayurveda never claims that one grain can cure disease, Navara is deeply respected for how intelligently it works with the body by supporting recovery, calming inflammation, and strengthening from within. In a world where rice is often nothing more than a filler carb, Organic Navara Rice stands as a reminder that food can still be both nourishing as well as a natural medicine.
Nutrition Profile? Why Ayurvedic Doctors Still Recommend It Today
What makes Organic Navara Rice so unique is that its nutrition goes far beyond just macro nutrients. Ayurveda values foods not only for protein and calories but for their digestibility, pranic energy, and how gently they nourish the tissues (dhatus). And Navara checks every box.
It is naturally rich in iron, which is why it has long been given to women with fatigue, anemia tendencies, or post-delivery recovery. Its deep red bran layer is packed with antioxidants, supporting cellular repair and immune strength. Unlike many heavy red rice varieties, Navara is light on the gut and easy to digest, making it suitable even for children and elders.
Modern nutritionists are now echoing the same benefits Ayurveda documented centuries ago that Navara may support blood building, energy metabolism, and inflammation balance, especially when consumed in its organic and unpolished form. This is why Ayurvedic doctors still recommend Navara today for its powerful yet sattvic, nutrient-dense yet gentle digestion properties.
Health Benefits of this Medicinal Rice
Unlike most red rices that are heavy and difficult to digest daily, Navara is soft, fibre-rich, and naturally nourishing, making it suitable even for infants, elders, and recovery diets. Let’s look into some of the many health benefits of this grain!!
Supports Immunity & Low Iron Levels
Naturally rich in iron and antioxidants, Navara may support haemoglobin and immune health, especially beneficial for women, kids, and those on a plant-based diet.
Light on the Gut, Easy to Digest
Despite being unpolished, it cooks softer than most traditional red rices, making it ideal for people with weak digestion, acidity, or gut sensitivity.
Beneficial During Pregnancy & Recovery
Navara is traditionally preferred during pregnancy, postpartum, and illness recovery because it provides strength without feeling heavy or overheating the body.
Supports Muscle Health & Growing Children
Its unique protein profile makes it suitable for muscle nourishment, which is why athletes and children are often given Navara porridge or payasam.
Helps Manage Fatigue & Inflammation Naturally
Due to its naturally calming and restorative nature, Navara is often recommended as part of a fatigue-friendly, low-inflammatory diet not as a cure, but as a clean, functional food.
Who Should Definitely Make Navara a Part of Their Daily Diet?
If your body often feels tired before the day is even halfway through, or your digestion never feels truly ‘light’, Navara is one of those grains that quietly comforts and rebuilds you from within. It’s especially loved by people with frequent acidity, IBS, bloating, or weak gut strength, because it doesn’t burden the system.
It’s also a beautiful daily grain for women navigating PCOS, hormonal fluctuations, or postpartum recovery, where the body’s demand for gentle strength, iron, and calm digestion is very high. Many mothers and grandparents still prefer Navara for children, elderly family members, or anyone recovering from illness or surgery because it strengthens without overstimulating the system.
If you follow or aspire to a sattvic or Ayurvedic lifestyle, Navara naturally blends into your way of eating. It’s light, non-irritating, high in natural iron, and naturally gluten-free, making it safe even for those with mild gluten sensitivities or inflammatory triggers, a grain that feels like it’s working with your body and not against it.
Ways to cook Navara Rice!!
Navara isn’t a “weekend special” grain in Kerala households, it’s been eaten daily in the simplest, most comforting forms. It’s celebrated not for luxury, but for its ability to restore strength quietly, one bowl at a time.
The most traditional way is Navara Kanji (rice porridge/congee) which is gently slow-cooked in water or thin coconut milk, sometimes with a pinch of rock salt or jaggery depending on whether it’s eaten savory or sweet. This is the preferred form for gut healing, postpartum care, and recovery meals, because it’s easily absorbed and deeply nourishing.
For festive or nourishing moments, there’s Navara Payasam where the rice is simmered in coconut milk and jaggery, often offered as temple prasad. Unlike rich desserts, this version is light, sattvic, and still considered medicinal, not indulgent.
A more everyday version is Navara Ghee Rice cooked like regular rice but finished with desi ghee and mild spices (jeera, curry leaves). Ayurveda considers this ideal for building ojas, inner vitality and calm energy.
No elaborate sauces, no restaurant-style plating. Navara has always been eaten in water-based, fat-supported, or mildly spiced forms because its role was never to impress the tongue, but to actually strengthen the body, daily.
Why Choose Rajamudi Organics’ Navara Rice?
If you're choosing Navara for its medicinal and nutritional value, the purity of how it’s grown matters as much as the grain itself. Rajamudi Organics sources true, non-hybrid Navara seeds, not the commercially diluted or hybridized versions often found online. These are heritage, chemical-free grains grown through regenerative and soil-restoring natural farming practices, ensuring the grain retains its therapeutic identity instead of just being just any “red rice”. Unlike store-bought polished variants, our Navara is hand-pounded and unpolished, so its iron, antioxidants, bran fiber, and bioactive compounds are naturally preserved.
Our sourcing is farm-to-table traceable grown at certified organic farms, not through generic middle markets. Every batch undergoes 250+ food safety & purity checks, guaranteeing it is free from pesticide residue, heavy metals, and adulteration, something shockingly common in the Navara category today. Commercial versions are often machine-polished, hybridized for yield, and stripped of nutrition, defeating the very purpose of choosing Navara.
For those choosing Navara with intention to heal, to nourish, to eat consciously Rajamudi ensures you’re not just buying rice, but receiving the grain in its original Ayurvedic integrity, as it was meant to be.
Ready to Experience the Original Ayurvedic Navara?
If you’re looking for the authentic Kerala Medicinal Navara rice, not a hybrid red rice lookalike, Rajamudi Organics brings you the same medicinal-grade, gluten-free, organic Navara rice that Ayurveda has recommended for centuries. Whether you’re choosing it for gut healing, pregnancy nourishment, iron-rich diet, PCOS, IBS, or a sattvic lifestyle, this is one grain that can truly serve as your daily healing food, not just a trend.
This is Navara in its purest, heirloom, farm-direct form grown slowly, naturally, and respectfully, the way it was always meant to be.
Shop Rajamudi Organics’ Certified Organic Navara Rice and bring real Ayurvedic nutrition back to your plate.
