Housewifery - More Home Remedies

I thought a list of home remedies would be something everyone might enjoy. I’m quite sure that some of these are still used today and are a help for the various ailments listed.

Add 1/4 spoon of freshly ground pepper, a pinch of tumeric powder, and one spoon full of sugar (to make the medicine go down, no doubt) into a glass of milk. Boil it well. Drink it when it is warm, and it will hep subside a cold, sore throat, and heavy head.
Drinking lots of water in the morning and then a green tea will subside the cold.

Another cold remedy is to use Chinese medicine that has been relying on chicken soup to boost the immune system for a long time. Be sure to cook a soup from real chicken, though (not instant), because certain proteins from the chicken are only released into the soup if the chicken is really being boiled. Also, onions have an antibacterial effect, as well as garlic, so throw it in. Add carrots for taste and potatoes, noodles or rice for the more satisfying, stew-like thing. If you have digestive problems and suffering mild dehydration, drink slightly salty liquids like broth to rebalance your minerals.

Every day eat a small leaf of Thulasi, an old world basil plant, and you will be saying a goodbye to colds. It gives a permanent cure.
To reduce fever mix one part white vinegar with one part cool (not cold) water. Soak white cotton socks in solution, wring out and put on feet. Re-soak when the socks warm up. Cools the blood at the point farthest away from brain and heart.

To help an ear ache, chop a fresh onion, wrap the pieces in a piece of cloth, and place the "onion bag" on the hurting ear. Maybe secured with a hat. It will give pain relief, and the onion fumes will help drain the ear of mucus. Still, this is just a supplementary treatment to a doctor's attention, so please go see a doctor anyway. Untreated ear infections can cause severe scarring of the eardrums and lead to increasing deafness over time!
Four drops of Oil of Oregano under your tongue twice a day will keep your cold away. Great immune booster as well.

For a sore throat / tonsil infection, suck on ice cubes or popsicles, preferably with low sugar so that you don't give the bacteria anything to really feast on. Avoid milk products (no ice cream) and chocolate with nuts, the combination seems to make staphylococcus bacteria expand their population extremely fast. Do not smoke, as it will further irritate the tissue and dry it out, which might cause tiny tissue tears. Again, a visit to the doctor is not negotiable, you might need antibiotics.

A shot of Vodka with red or black pepper, or with honey, then into bed and under the blankets to sweat the fever out through the night.
Increase your intake of Niacin from food sources as this may reduce the risk of getting Alzheimers, according to a report in the Journal of Neurology, Neurosurgery and Psychiatry. Good food sources are tomatoes, carrots, sweet potatoes, mushrooms, milk, chicken, broccoli, tuna and salmon. The recommended daily allowance is 14 mg a day for women and 16 mg a day for men.

Some studies have shown eating yogurt, drinking green tea, or chewing cinnamon or sugarless cinnamon gum can also reduce bad breath. Maintain water levels in the body by drinking several glasses of water a day. Adding lemon juice to your water is refreshing and also beneficial. Parsley is a natural breath freshener when chewed slowly, and is easy to grow at home. Since a dry mouth can increase bacterial buildup and cause or worsen bad breath, chewing sugarless gum can help with the production of saliva, and thereby help to reduce bad breath. Use Hydrogen Peroxide as your mouthwash. Use twice a day. Baking soda (gargle) and water with lemon juice (gargle) before bed.

For a persistent cough use Hydrogen Peroxide as a mouthwash twice a day until symptoms improves. Mix with equal amount of water, swish around in mouth for at least 1 minute, gargle and spit out. Use for up to 7 days.

Regularly eating local honey may reduce the symptoms of hay fever. Also wear dark glasses outdoors.

For hiccups take a teaspoon of white sugar. Pour on lemon juice to soak it. Eat it off the spoon, or take 3 deep breaths and on the last breath exhale until nothing at all comes out and at that time drink as much water as you can to the point where you feel like you are going to drown, then keep going just a bit longer. Its the drowning feeling the will rid you of the hiccups. Also you can place a little bit of sugar on the back of your tongue. Hiccups.. gone. This works very well on kids and babies!

These are only a few of many home remedies that were useful to our forebears and are still in use today.

Do you have something to share with us in the Housewifery column? If so, let us hear from you!

©2009 Sue Seibert