Mama's Home Remedies: Discover Time-Tested Secrets of Good Health and the Pleasures of Natural Living (10 page)

I call treating a cold “cleaning house.” Treatment usually lasts from one week to 10 days, regardless of the medicine you take. By following the simple methods that I mentioned above, it sometimes took my sister and me only three days to recover. Those days of relaxation and isolation restored our health and happiness (as Bernard Shaw said in
Back to Methuselah
, “I enjoy convalescence. It is what makes the illness worthwhile.”) Most importantly we did not put any over-the-counter drugs into our body.

I used these simple remedies with my sons when we lived in southeastern Europe. The weather, with the exception of summer, was cold, windy, rainy, and snowy. My oldest son was a member of a professional water polo team. He began playing when he was in first grade and played year-round in an outdoor pool with heated water. Water polo players often suffer from nose and ear ailments and my son was no exception. He would get a stuffy nose and otitis–ear infections. I used the magic phrase, “Go without food” with him many times. Fasting always helped to hasten his recovery.

Try the following infusions to rid the body of toxins.

r 8. Place one tablespoon of dried raspberries in eight ounces of boiling water. Steep for 20 minutes. Filter and drink one cup of hot raspberry tea twice daily—once before you go to bed.

r 9. Combine one teaspoon dried raspberries and one teaspoon peppermint flowers with one cup boiling water in a glass jar. Cover with a lid and steep for 20 minutes. Filter and drink one cup of hot tea before bedtime as a diaphoretic medicine.

r 10. This folk recipe original y cal ed for coltsfoot herb, which has been used at least for 2,500 years as an effective demulcent and expectorant. Coltsfoot contains pyrrolizidine alkaloids, which may be toxic to the liver, but these alkaloids are largely destroyed when boiled to make a concoction.

1 Combine two teaspoons raspberries, one teaspoon marshmallow root, and one teaspoon wild marjoram. To one tablespoon of the mixture, add one cup boiling water. Steep for 20 minutes, filter, and drink ½ cup of the hot drink three or four times a day as a diaphoretic.

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r 11. Make an herbal composition of one

Warning:

teaspoon dried raspberries, two teaspoons raspberry leaves, two tea
Pregnant or nursing
spoons wild marjoram, and two

women or children

teaspoons marshmal ow root. Add

under six should

10 ounces boiling water to one table
not use coltsfoot.

spoon of the herb mixture. Boil slowly

We have substituted

5-10 minutes in an enamel pot, filter,

marshmallow (Althea offiand drink ½ cup of hot tea three to four cinalis) to replace it in this

recipe and other recipes

times a day before a meal as a diaphoretic

that list a demulcent.

and expectorant.

r 12. Make our family cream “Magician” No.1. This is a simple and effective folk remedy to al eviate coughs and clear lung congestion. Combine two teaspoons butter with one teaspoon flour or starch and two teaspoons honey (not tropical). Mix until thickened and take one teaspoon three to four times a day along with hot chamomile tea and lemon for one to two weeks.

r 13. Combine one tablespoon linden flowers and one tablespoon rose hips with one cup boiling water and boil five minutes. Filter and drink one cup before bedtime. This infusion is soothing for colds and flu, and it is a good treatment for rheumatism.

r 14. Two tablespoons raspberries

One tablespoon wild marjoram

Use the same method as in #13.

r 15. Combine in an enamel pot one teaspoon dried leaves of peppermint and one teaspoon black elder flowers in one pint boiling water. Boil 5–10 minutes, filter, and drink one to two cups before bedtime. r 16. Combine one tablespoon linden dried flowers and one tablespoon black elder flowers with one cup boiling water in a pot. Strain and drink before bed.

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r 17. Red bilberries are popular in people’s medicine. This “mountain cranberry” is effective as a juice or tea to treat colds. Combine one tablespoon fresh red bilberries in a pot with one cup water. Boil, add honey, and drink one hot cup two to three times a day. r 18. If you suffer from a severe cold, try this remedy. Combine one smal twig of red bilberry with one cup of boiling water in a glass jar. Steep for 30 minutes, filter, and take two tablespoons four to five times a day.

r 19. Eat two to three pieces of garlic every day as a preventative measure during flu season. r 20. Combine one tablespoon dried Siberian elder flowers with one cup boiling water. Steep for 20 minutes, filter, and drink 2½ ounces three to four times a day 15 minutes before eating. Sweeten with honey if desired.

r 21. Make birch vodka or birch tincture. To one pint of vodka, add ¼ ounce of dried birch buds in a glass jar. Steep for two weeks in a cool place. Filter and take 15-20 drops to one teaspoon, dissolved in boiling water, before a meal. This assists in treating a cold, flu, inflammation of the kidney and liver, skin diseases, and rheumatism.

r 22. Combine one teaspoon each of elder flowers, linden flowers, chamomile, wil ow bark, blackthorn flowers, and mul ein flowers with one cup of boiling water. Steep 15 minutes, filter, and drink two to three cups a day.

r 23. Mix one teaspoon each elder flowers, chamomile flowers, linden flowers, and mint leaves. To one tablespoon of the mixture, add one cup of boiling water. Steep for 20 minutes, filter, and drink ½ cup of the hot drink three to four times a day as a diaphoretic. 58

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r 24. Combine two teaspoons elder flowers, two teaspoons linden flowers, two teaspoons wil ow bark, one teaspoon licorice root, one teaspoon chamomile flowers, and one teaspoon poppy petals. Combine two tablespoons of this herbal composition in a large glass with one pint of boiling water. Cover, steep for 15

minutes, then filter and drink warm during the day.

r 25. For cough or bronchitis combine one teaspoon each of elder flowers, linden, heartsease (Ivan & Maria), and fennel seeds. Combine one tablespoon of this herbal mixture in a glass jar with cold water, steep for two hours, and then pour the mixture into an enamel pot. Cook for several minutes. Cool, filter, and drink it warm three to five times daily.

r 26. A medicinal tea of rose hips with honey provides fast relief when you have a cold with a headache, cough, and laryngitis. This tea is also valuable in the treatment of cardiac-vascular diseases, high blood pressure, and diarrhea. Combine one cup of rose hips with one quart of water in an enamel pot. Boil 10 minutes, filter, and add three tablespoons of honey. Drink two ounces three to four times a day.

Hot teas, cold compresses, and warm hearts keep

colds at bay

r 27. Pour ½ cup of olive or sunflower oil in a glass jar and add one tablespoon of minced marsh cudweed (
Gnaphalium uliginosum
) leaves. Shake daily while al owing to steep for 21 days. After three weeks wring out and filter. On the first day of treatment, use two to three drops of this natural medicine in each nostril. Then on each successive day for one week, pour only one drop in each nostril three to four times a day. This medicine can be kept in the refrigerator two to three weeks. It is anti-inflammatory and tones up the respiratory system.

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r 28. Dissolve dried menthol in a pot with boiling water. Tent your head with a towel and breathe in the vapors from above the pot. r 29. Dot menthol oil on your forehead, face, and nose and behind the ears.

R 30. Combine one tablespoon chamomile, two tablespoons licorice root, two tablespoons thyme, and two tablespoons marshmal ow flower. Take two ounces three to five times daily after a meal. This is a natural cough suppressant.

R 31. Juice fresh beets. Use five to six drops in each nostril three times a day.

R 32. Mix two parts fresh beet juice with one part honey. Insert three to four drops in each nostril three times a day.

R 33. Combine one tablespoon fennel seeds, two tablespoons marshmal ow root, and two tablespoons licorice root. Put one teaspoon of the herb mixture in a mug and add boiling water. Steep for 20–30 minutes, filter, and take one tablespoon a day.

Warm baths can be soothing and relaxing in cold and flu treatment. Try some of these fragrant, mixed herbal baths.

R 34. Chamomile and linden bath. Combine two ounces each chamomile flowers and linden flowers with one quart water in an enamel pot. Boil slowly for 15–20 minutes. It is a fever-reducing treatment and also helps sleeplessness or skin irritation. R 35. Salty bath. Dissolve two pounds of sea salt or iodized salt in a warm bath. This bath cleans, tones the skin, strengthens muscles, and restores the body.

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R 36. Place one teaspoon of young branches and twigs of white oak bark (
Quercus alba
) or English oak bark (
Quercus robur
) in a twoquart pot. Add about one quart of cold water. Let steep for two hours, then bring to a boil and

boil for 30 minutes. Filter this decoction and

pour al into bathtub. This remedy acts as an

antiseptic and fever-reducer in healing colds. It

is helpful in treating tonsil itis, laryngitis, mouth

and throat inflammation, bacterial and viral

infections if you prepare a fresh decoction daily

by boiling four teaspoons of oak per one quart

of water for 10–15 minutes. Strain the liquid

and gargle. Don’t use these preparations for more

than two to three weeks. Thanks to the rich content of astringent substances cal ed tannins, the same oak bark liquid can be used in compresses, applied loosely to the affected area until the moisture evaporates, in such cases as weeping eczema and other skin rashes and in healing wounds. R 37. After taking a bath, prepare one cup warm water with one tablespoon honey and drink before bedtime. This natural sedative promotes sound sleep and regulates stomach activity.

R 38. Nettle tincture. Combine two tablespoons of nettle with one pint of vodka in a glass jar. Cover with a lid and wrap with cheesecloth. Keep the jar on a window sil for the first day. Store for the next eight days in a cool, dark place. Then filter, wring out, and store in a brown glass bottle or jar. Take one teaspoon of nettle tincture on an empty stomach 30 minutes before breakfast and one teaspoon before bedtime. Continue to take al of this tincture.

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One Hundred Brains

A crane flew up to the Altai as soon as the sun

was hot in the spring. He began to dance

because he felt so happy to be back in his favorite and familiar marsh. He moved his feet up and down. He lowered and then lifted his wings. He turned his head round and round and bent his neck. A hungry fox ran by. She was envious that the crane looked so healthy and happy, and she yelped, “I look at you and do not believe my eyes. You dance, poor crane, but you have only two feet.”

The crane stopped dancing, looked at the fox, and saw that she had four paws!

“Oh! There is not one tooth in such a long beak!” the fox continued. She smiled and revealed a mouth full of teeth. The crane closed his beak and hung his head. The fox continued to taunt him.

“Where have you hidden your ears and what do you have inside of your head?”

“I found my way here from oversees,” the crane almost cried. “That shows that I have some small brain in my head.”

“You are so unfortunate,” said the fox. “Two feet, but only one brain. Look at me: four feet, two ears, a

mouth full of teeth, one hundred

brains, and a remarkable brush (tail).”

The crane stretched his neck and

saw a man far away with a bow on

his shoulder and a quiver of arrows

at his belt.

“Your Honorable Fox, you have

four feet, two ears, and a marvelous

brush. Your mouth is full of teeth and

you even have one hundred brains

instead of one. But look! A hunter is

coming. How can we save ourselves?”

A. K.

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“Well, my one hundred brains give me one hundred suggestions. I don’t know which one to follow,” the fox cried.

She then plunged into a badger’s hole and the crane followed her. The hunter never in his life had seen a crane and a fox living peacefully together. He put his hand inside the hole and pulled the crane out. The crane’s legs hung loosely from his body. His eyes were glazed over and his heart nearly stopped beating.

“He obviously had little air to breathe in the hole,” said the hunter as he tossed the crane to the ground. In the meantime the fox grew impatient and curious as to what was going on. She ran out of the hole and right into the hunter’s bag!