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:

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Garlic soup recipe against hypertension

Garlic soup is a very helpful dish to adjust arterial pressure, both high and low.
Fry some chopped garlic cloves in a little bit of oil.
Boil in 1 l and 1/2 of milk and switch the fire off as soon as it starts boiling. Mix it with two whisked yolks, add some salt and pepper and serve it on dried bread slices.

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Face lifting with sorrel

Rumex Acetosella is very commonly found in the gardens and looks like clover.
As for cooking tips, use it mixed in salads to replace lemon juice.
Or flavour your dish putting a handful of sorrel in rice soup.

As mouth disinfectant: chew some sorrel leaves.

To make your face skin firmer and avoid its wilting: make a decoction boiling 40 g (1.41 oz) of sorrel acetosella root in 1 l of water for 5 minutes and then let it stay for 5 more minutes.
Drink a cup in the morning, 1 during the day and 1 in the night for 20 days.

Check contraindications and do not overdose or use it longer than necessary since sorrel can be toxic.

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Mallow to eliminate fats

Besides its therapeutic properties and mainly disinflammating applications, mellow can be used in cooking. You can eat its leaves as spinach, or use it to prepare a salad or an omelette.

As for the diet, mallow eliminates fat: for example, make a decoction with a handful of fresh leaves boiled for 5 minutes and drink it on an empty stomach.

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Mint to stimulate your mind

Mint can be successfully used in cooking: for omelettes, fried courgettes, sauces and tea.
One of its effects is “activating” the mind but it’s not stimulating.
Dried and powdered mint can be sniffed to treat colds.

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A common purifying remedy with sorrel

Garden sorrel, simply called sorrel (acetosa), is used to treat the skin for its purifying and remineralizing action; roots, leaves and stalks are the parts used.
Its leaves can also be used to flavour food, such as meat, fish, tomatoes, lentils, eggs, potatoes…
Do not cook sorrel into iron pots.

Sorrel is not recommended for people suffering from gout, arthritis and rheumatisms.

Infusion to treat acne: 20 g (0.70 oz) of fresh leaves in 1 l of boiling hot water for 10 minutes. Drink a cup in the morning and one in the night.

Soup for fever: boil 40 g (1.41 oz) of sorrel leaves, 20 g (0.70 oz) of lettuce and warts, 10 g (0.35 oz) of spinach and chard.
After cooling, add a pinch of salt and 20 g (0.70 oz) of butter.
It’s a recipe dating back to Renaissance.

photo by Marinella Zepigi

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To heal cough and cold with poppy jam

Let 50 g (1.76 oz) of fresh poppy petals soak in the juice of 8 lemons for 24 hours. Then melt and boil 3 kg of sugar in 3 glasses of water, letting it skim until the compound looks clear and gets to syrup stiffness.
Add poppies soaked in lemon juice to the syrup: it must boil for few minutes.
The jam is ready: it’s aromatic, good and healing. Actually it fights the cold, alleviates cough and bronchial inflammations.

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Almonds milk recipe

This is a simple recipe to prepare very good and nourishing almonds milk: blend two spoons of sweet almonds and a tsp of honey in 2 dl of water.
Drain it into the tea strainer.

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Tarragon in cooking, vinegar but also as digestive infusion

Tarragon medicinal parts are leaves and blossomed ends. Leaves are gathered one by one in May and flowers in July. They are both dried up into the shadow or in an aired room and then kept into hermetic glass pots, sheltered from the light.
Very rich in aromatic essences, tarragon has a tonic effect on the stomach, stimulates digestion and eliminates intestinal gas. It’s a good cooking herb for its aroma. It can be easily grown into a pot and, if sheltered from winter cold, it produces leaves throughout the year.
For its digestive property, it’s recommended to mix it with raw salads, to sprinkle it on cooked vegetables and meat and to use it for soups and omelettes.
Tarragon vinegar too, besides giving a special taste to salads, can make some dishes more digestible.

Digestive infusion: prepare an infusion using some tarragon leaves and a cup of boiling hot water. Let infuse for 5 minutes, drain and sweeten with honey. Drink it after meals instead of coffee.

Tarragon vinegar: take a small bunch of tarragon sprigs before flowering (100 grams (3.52 oz) and put them into a hermetic bottle. Fill the bottle with good white wine vinegar, close and let it stand for 2 months in a place sheltered from light. Once this time passed, use it in small quantities because it’s very aromatic.

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The mistreated stinging nettle

The so much despised stinging nettle (Urtica), easily recognized by everybody, has many reputed virtues.
It’s excellent to rub tired hair. Boil nettle roots with a bit of vinegar.

Excellent also for gourmands if used to cook an omelette: boil 300 g (10.58 oz) of nettles in a little salted water. Drain and chop them.
Break 6 eggs in a bowl, add 50 g (1.76 oz) of parmesan, salt and pepper.
Whisk carefully and add chopped nettle. Cook into a non stick pan with 30 g (1.05 oz) of butter.
Very good!

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Decrease the onion smell

Since we often mention the onion in our recipes, here is a method to reduce the only drawback of this vegetable, when used in the kitchen, which is the smell, caused by the high content in sulfur.
Just leave the onion slices in water acidulated with lemon for several minutes.

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Herbalist in kitchen - taraxacum

The dandelion is very good cooked, boiled and eaten with oil and lemon.
You can also drink a glass of the remaing water with an empty stomach, it's purifying.

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Make an alternative coffee

You can make coffee with dandelion (taraxacum).
Roast in the oven the roots harvested in autumn and cut into slices.
Ground and use instead, or in combination, with regular coffee.

Photo by Flavio Takemoto

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