Natural herbal remedies, a traditional medicine: 2012

Sweaty feet and hands, remedy

Grandmother’s remedy to cure sweaty feet and hands: soak a cotton ball in lemon juice and rub your feet twice per day and your hands even longer.

Diet and other remedies for arthritis

Arthritis cause is the accumulation of toxic substances in the body, causing metabolic deterioration of fluids, tissues and body cells. The body, because of its weakening, is unable to fully eliminate these substances that consequently accumulate. Ultimately there’s the exhaustion caused by life bad habits that use nervous energy, which can be recovered only after long periods of rest and sleep. Body weakening inhibits excretion and increases toxins accumulation, interfering with nutritional synthesis. Thus our metabolism suffers from some changes that can lead to a pathology.

People suffering from arthritis need to drink a lot of liquids, especially fruit juices since they are very vitaminic, and to eat all the foods helping kidney functions and providing few nitrogenous substances. Bread consumption must be reduced and replaced by potatoes or brain; meat has to be avoided and replaced with light lake or river fish. Eat plain rice, avoid shellfishes, hot food, very spicy food, preserved and smoked food, game. As for herbs and vegetables: legumes, spinach, cabbage, lettuce, peppers, chards, abundant carrots and celery are not recommended. Avoid eating asparagus, turnips and green beans. Vegetable soups with low fat stock and soups of stinging nettles soft leaves are recommended. Lemon juice and fruit, both raw and cooked, are very good.

There is plenty of remedies for pain, for example:

White discarges are caused by germs, parasites or fungi. They affect every woman at least once in her life. However, they very often are physiological whites, that is mucus flow which is discharged, especially during puberty, menopause and during the intake of birth control pill.

White nettle decoction: boil 30 g (1.05 oz) of white nettle blossomed ends (it’s not the irritating type) in 1 l of water for 1-2 minutes. Let it infuse for 5 minutes and drink 3 cups per day for at least 3 weeks. To clear mucous membranes, make irrigations for external use twice per week (do not prolong to avoid irritation)

Lavender infusion is also helpful for external use with irrigations (30 g (1.05 oz) in 1 l of water for 10 minutes)

Old effective remedy with wine: soak 15 g (0.52 oz) of nut leaves and 15 g (0.52 oz) of white nettle in 1 l of red wine for one week. Take a tsp before meals.

Sage remedies for menopause disorders

Sage, which is high in vegetal hormones content, helps regulating hormone imbalance during the delicate stage of menopause.

Infusion of sage leaves and blossomed ends: let 10 g (0.35 oz) infuse in a cup of boiling hot water. You can flavour with 5 g (0.17 oz) of star anise. Drink one cup 20 days per month.

For irritability and sleeplessness disorders characterizing this period: 5 g (0.17 oz) of ballota in a cup of water before sleeping. It’s a tranquillizer.
For depression: soak 10 g (0.35 oz) of salicaria blossomed ends in 25 cl of water for 5 minutes. Drink a cup during meals.

Chamomile to help having a baby

Chamomile can soothe first birth pains, besides influencing contractions and making birth easier.
Drink a cup of this infusion when pain begins: 50 g (1.76 oz) of chamomile in 25 cl of hot water for 10 minutes.

Natural remedies against fever

Fever can be the symptom of many possible causes, generally deriving from inflammations or intoxications. But besides the cause, which must be diagnosed by a doctor, there are many herbs which can lower body temperature without side-effects.
Thus, among fever reducing herbs we can find:

Borage decoction: boil 30 g (1.05 oz) of dried borage in 1 l of water for 3 minutes, then blow out the fire and let infuse for 15 minutes. Drink no more than 5 cups per day.

Blessed thistle decoction: boil 40 g (1.41 oz) of blessed thistle leaves and blossomed ends for 5 minutes. Let it infuse for 15 minutes. Drink no more than three cups per day. It can cause nausea.

Meadowsweet infusion: let 50 g (1.76 oz) of meadowsweet (Queen of the Meadow) infuse in boiling hot water for almost 10 minutes. Drink 2-4 cups per day.
The queen of the meadow contains compounds of salicylic acid, the same used to synthesize the aspirin but, unlike this one, this infusion has no side-effects on the stomach or allergic reactions.

Aiding breastfeeding

Elderflowers decoction is helpful to stimulate milk secretion: let these flowers dry in the sun for 2 hours.Otherwise fennel flowers decoction.
For the opposite purpose (to reduce secretion), apply chopped fresh parsley leaves to the breast.
Compresses of cabbage leaves solve the problem of blocked milk ducts, using watercress and Vitamin A, C and D.

Recipes against arteriosclerosis

Olive action on vasodilatation and blood purification is interesting to fight arteriosclerosis.

Olive leaves decoction for arteriosclerosis: boil 20 olive leaves in 300 ml of water until reducing it to 200 ml. Drink slowly.

Soaked garlic for arteriosclerosis: let 50 g (1.76 oz) of cut garlic soak in 200 ml of 60% alcohol for 12 days, taking off the sprout from the cloves. Take 1 tsp every night or every morning on an empty stomach in 2 inches of water (it can be sweetened and, if you want, you can use marsala wine instead of alcohol).
It’s excellent also to low blood pressure.

The recommended foods to fight arteriosclerosis are: onion, milk, honey, yolk (egg whites clog the arteries), grapefruit, lemon and tomato. Avoid wine, coffee and tea for long time.

Alcohol over consumption

Eating a lot of cabbage helps in fighting alcohol side-effects in people who are used to drink or have drunk too much.
Milk and honey too are helpful to sober up.

Remedies for breathlessness

Passionflower extract and valerian drops are remedies.
Hawthorn decoction is a heart tonic. Have hot baths to feet and hands.
Being in the open air as long as possible surely is a helpful remedy.

Help an abscess to come to a head

Ask your herbalist for convolvulus. It makes abscesses, pimples and inflamed injuries come to a head. However, compresses of salted hot water are the simplest remedy. Repeat several times during the day. Do not prick or cut the abscess.

Voice loss and hoarseness

To improve voice loss it’s helpful to swallow small quantities of ice during the meals or an ice cream after eating.
Be careful not to take ice-cold things after meals because they could block your digestion. Avoid hot drinks instead. Hoarseness, besides eating ice, can be treated drinking a very sweet lemon juice with a tsp of glycerine.

Decoction for hoarseness: cook 100 g (3.52 oz) of carrots for 15 minutes. Drain water and sweeten with honey.

Elderflowers infusion is a good remedy too.

Heartburn treatment eating an apple

To calm acid stomach, you can simply try eating a raw apple at the end of each meal or eating boiled potatoes without salt.
Wine and coffee must be surely avoided for one week at least.

A remedy against halitosis

Bad breath (halitosis) is usually caused by bad digestion, bad intestine functioning or caries.

Juniper berries decoction is a helpful remedy: crush 10 berries and make them boil in a cup of water. Drink after meals.

Lemon is a good purifying too.

Herbs to treat asthma early symptoms

As soon as you feel the early symptoms of an asthma attack, try with hyssop infusion:
Put 10 g (0.35 oz) of hyssop flowers in ½ l of hot water. Let it infuse. Drink a cup of it. If your condition doesn’t improve, then take the drugs prescribed by the doctor.

On the contrary, during the attack, even to decrease the dose of necessary drugs, take one or two hot cups of this infusion: Put 15 g (0.52 oz) of marjoram and 15 g (0.52 oz) of ground ivy in 1 l of hot water for 20 minutes.

Thyme (Thymus Serpillum) is then a potent sedative for breathing airways: you can regularly drink a cup of an infusion prepared with 15 g (0.52 oz) of thyme in 100 ml of water. Sweeten with rosemary honey.

Moreover, since asthma is accompanied by anxious states, it can be helpful taking sedative herbs like valerian: a cup per day before meals or in the night before sleeping. Soak 10 g (0.35 oz) of valerian roots in 100 ml of cold water for 12 hours.

photo by Marc Streit

Oil for dry skin

For chapped and dry skin, add 2 drops of myrrh essential oil with a tsp of sesame oil to your daily cream.
It can be added also to the scented oil you prefer (rose, vanilla, ecc…).

Onion diuretic remedy

A very good diuretic remedy made with onion:

soak two chopped onions into 1l of white wine for 8 days. Drink 100 ml in the morning for 10 days.

Cervical pain and sore muscles

As ginger and cinnamon, cayenne pepper warms the body too.
To massage sore muscles after sport or for pains at the lumbar or cervical region, you can use two drops of it mixed with two tbsp of almonds oil and arnica cream. It must be used on unbroken and not irritated skin.

Stimulating the memory

If Greek philosophers used to adorn their head with rosemary to stimulate their mind, we can prepare an infusion to refresh our memory and relieve mental effort (rosemary is also a symbol representing memory and there are many “magic” rites associated to it, such as keeping it under the pillow):

Infusion for memory: let a tsp of rosemary infuse for 10 minutes. Drink this infusion before and after meals.

Expectorant homemade balm

In case of cold and very stuffy nose it can be helpful to use a homemade balm to rub on the breast during the night to help breathing:

Let 50 g (1.76 oz) of shea butter (kairite) melt in a bain-marie. Add 3 tbsp of olive oil, 20 drops of eucalyptus essential oil and 20 drops of mugo pine oil.
Let it cool and keep into a hermetic glass pot. Rub on the breast and cover with a wool cloth.

The drops of these essential oils can be used for fumigations in a basin of hot water: 3-4 drops of each one and a pinch of salt to keep heat; or in aerosol machines. In this case two drops are enough.

A mixture to warm up cold feet and hands

Ginger, well-known for its stimulating and heating properties, is a great help in case of cold and a very good after-dinner drink.
It’s an excellent antioxidant. In case of bloats or tensions it can be rubbed on the belly together with almonds oil.
To warm the extremities (hands and feet), use a tsp of ginger powder melted in hot water. Finally make a massage using 3 drops of essential oil in a tbsp of almonds oil.

Beauty care remedies with spices: cellulitis

Cinnamon essential oil is helpful for microcirculation, whereas massages with cinnamon help draining and muscles stretching.
Therefore it’s an excellent remedy against cellulite: add 2 drops of cinnamon essential oil in a tbsp of sweet almonds oil and massage the affected parts.

A remedy for oily hair

A remedy for oily hair consists in using an infusion made with a handful of juniper berries in 1 l of hot water in the final hair wash rinse.
You can warm it a little bit before using.

Coriander skin scrub

Coriander seeds stimulate digestion and reduce belly swelling.
Chopped seeds are helpful to remove skin dead cells too (scrub): a tbsp of rice flour, one of sweet almonds oil, one of chopped coriander seeds.
Use this mix to massage your wet skin by circular movements.

A remedy for gastritis and stress colitis

Passion flower nux vomica can be helpful for people suffering from gastritis or stress colitis: 30 drops in half a glass of water before meals for one month.
The disorder should improve after one month.
If symptoms persist, go to see a doctor. There could be a different cause.

Willow decoction against the flu

We thank an anonymous user for his comment on flu remedies where he suggests the use of willow.
Here we suggest willow bark decoction which produces salicin, the same agent of aspirin.
Therefore it’s an antipyretic, antirheumatic and analgesic remedy.
It is effective in case of flu but also of migraines.

Soothing parsley and compresses for bruises

Use compresses of parsley leaves crushed and cooked in wine for bruises.

Roots decoction is prepared with 60 g (2.11 oz) of roots in 1 l of water.
It is diuretic and analgesic.

A remedy for gout, lymphatic and biliary diseases

Celery decoction is recommended for gout, lymphatic and biliary diseases.
Boil 5 g (0.17 oz) of celery roots in 1 l of water.

Natural herbal remedies, a traditional medicine