Mama's Home Remedies: Discover Time-Tested Secrets of Good Health and the Pleasures of Natural Living (7 page)

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R 23. Wash one organic potato and chop with its skin in a food processor for a few seconds. Spread potato poultice on the affected area. Apply three layers of gauze or cotton strips to hold the poultice in place for two hours. This potato compress is an effective anti-inflammatory healer. It helps to treat eczema, painful corns, and acute dermatitis. These compresses can be used every two hours several times a day.

R 24. Mix one teaspoon honey to ½ cup potato poultice and use as in #23. R 25. Make ½ cup fresh organic potato juice mixed with honey as in

#23. Soak a gauze napkin in it and apply it to the affected area. Honey is a valuable ingredient with its nutritional and antiinflammatory properties. R 26. Put slices of raw potato on eczema sores to soften and heal them. R 27. Make a nutritious mask for dry, inflamed facial skin that is sensitive to dermatitis. Cook one potato, skinned and chopped, until soft. Crush it and whip with one tablespoon sour cream or two tablespoons skim milk. Apply to your face for 15 minutes. Wash it off. Look in the mirror. Your skin wil be soft and glowing. While potato flowers can be pretty accessories for women, they are a natural medicine as wel . The wisdom of folk medicine found the use of them in a treatment of cancerous tumors. See #28. R 28. Wash potato flowers and dry outdoors, out of the sun. Add one tablespoon dried flowers to one pint boiling water. Simmer for two to three hours on a hot stove. Drink ½ cup three times a day 30 minutes before meals. Do not consume more than four quarts of potato infusion per treatment, each of which lasts a week. Repeat three to four times a year.

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R 29. Potato starch is also a good anti-inflammatory remedy. Use it instead of a powder to treat sensitive skin.

Grapes

There’s no doubt that the potato is a great healer. Now let us look at the wonders that grapes can work.

Let me tel you what I learned in my childhood about these miraculous berries. One warm evening in June my sister and I were sitting on our porch with our grandma, looking at the grapevines and big oak trees that bordered it. The grapevines found these green giant oak trees to be a comfortable resting place. They climbed up to the top of the tal est oaks and then dropped from the summits to the ground. They looked different there than in our vineyard. These vines were like big mysterious and strange lianas that looked as if they belonged in a distant tropical paradise somewhere on an island in the Atlantic Ocean. Grandma, who had finished her errands and assumed Grandfather’s place on the porch to enjoy a quiet evening telling us the rich, colorful stories she loved so much, broke the silence. “Now we’ll open again our pot of gold. Are you ready?” Grandma asked us.

What she called our “pot of gold” was simply her endless collection of unforgettable fairy tales. Grandma had a rare gift for infusing a special force into ordinary things or creatures surround us. I never had my fill of her stories and I was afraid that one day she would deplete her storehouse of fairy tales. But she always assured me that I should not be worried; she still had plenty of them from different parts of the world.

She could look at the smallest flower or animal and then tell stories about their lives. She wove a story as if she were tatting beautiful lace—a mix of fantasy, charm, and wisdom. Her stories became for me a way to see the world and to learn about it.

“Today, girls, I’ll tell you the story about how the grapevine was born,”

Grandma began.

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Once upon a time when the Sun and Earth were

young, they were good friends. On the day

when they both became 18 years old, they married.

Nine months of their happy marriage passed quickly and

their daughter was born—a grapevine. They gave her the name Ampelos, which means “grape” in Greek.

The Sun-father caressed Ampelos with his shining warm rays and washed her with sparkling and refreshing rains. Her mother, Earth, fed her generously with vital juices from the flowers, herbs, and trees. She grew up fast and became a tall, slender beauty.

She gave her parents millions of smiles and small grandchildren—grape berries. They appeared on a vine and ripened before the sunrise came. The first small berries blushed all over with the pale pink glow of the morning dawn. People in the village had never seen such a miracle in their lives. They came from all over to see it. Some approached the vines and tasted the berries. People liked them so much that they ate them all at once, but the vines did not stop growing and miraculously grapes appeared again and ripened again in just about six hours one day.

People were truly amazed. They observed how the grapes drank the gold juice made by the midday sun. They gathered a second time at the rich harvest and ate it all. After that, the grapevine stood empty. She had given everything she had to the people. But blessed by Sun and by Earth, Ampelos came up again in the late evening with new deep-blue and navy-black berries, which took the color of the southern night.

From this day on, Mother Nature gave the small children of the grapevine a generous gift of all colors that you can imagine: red, orange, yellow, green, blue, navy, purple, and pink. And Nature made the grapevine the only plant in the world with berries that are painted with all colors of the rainbow.

“Tomorrow,” promised Grandma, “we’ll go to the vineyard and you’ll see how some grapes have all shades of white, green, and yellow and then turn into an amber warmth or golden gleam. It happens because the sun pours into each berry its bright colors, like foggy-grey, purple, and brown, and it makes sure that all

grapes shine and brighten up under his radiant beams.”

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The grape was known for its effective healing properties 5,500 years ago in ancient Babylon and Mesopotamia. In 1613 this plant was brought to Russia and became very popular there. The grapevine gloriously conquered the hearts of the people around the world from time immemorial and it was recognized as highly nutritious and medicinal.

Today’s biochemists affirm that 100-percent natural grape juice is equal in value to mother’s milk. Grapes contain calcium, potassium, carotene, magnesium, manganese, glucose, pectin, and natural vitamins, such as C (ascorbic acid), B1 (thiamine), B6 (pyridoxine), B12 (cobalamin), dietary fiber, and organic acids, which are biological and nutritious stimulants. The human body will not function properly without them.

However people began to cultivate grapevines even earlier, about nine thousand years ago. They loved and nurtured this generous plant, producing

“the berries of life.” The grape was also called a wise plant and an immortal fruit. Grapes love the sun, so they were named “sunny berries.”

In ancient times the grape was used as a tonic and effective diuretic, laxative, and expectorant. The grape is a great healer of a wide spectrum of illnesses when caught in the initial stage, such as bronchial asthma; pleurisy; tuberculosis; metabolism disorders; chronic inflammations of the alimentary canal; hemorrhoids; cardiovascular, liver, and kidney diseases; depression; arthritis; collapse/breakdown; and loss of blood.

The grape’s sugar—glucose—is a strong antidote when poisoning by toxic substances such as morphine, arsenic, strychnine, and nitrate sodium has occurred.

R 30. Drink ½ cup freshly pressed grape juice a day for one month to maintain your normal weight. Grape juice is also helpful as a restorative remedy for the nervous system to heal anxiety and tension associated with excessive stress. As we know, excessive stress can lead to a variety of health problems, such as emotional instability (tendency to cry or be irritated for no obvious reason), inability to relax, palpitations, insomnia, or headaches. Fresh grape juice also improves the exchange of water and salt in the body and acts as a good antiseptic to clean harmful products, such as uric acid, from the system. And this is not al : Fresh grapes can prevent the formation of stones and sand in the urinary tract. A Healthy Spirit Lives in a chapter

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r 31. Make “Baby Vinegar” using young green grapes. Fil a glass jar with two ounces of grapes. Add two tablespoons apple cider vinegar and one cup spring water. Simmer for two hours. Take one to two teaspoons daily before meals if you experience pains in joints and muscles or suffer from rheumatism. Store “Baby Vinegar” in the refrigerator.

R 32. Eat one ounce dried raisins, one ounce almonds or four to five walnuts, and two to three thin pieces of cheese (about an ounce) once a week for one month. Drink a cup of natural white grape juice once a week. It wil make your heart muscle stronger, strengthen the nervous system, and relieve nervous headaches. R 33. As a remedy for fatigue, take ½ cup fresh grape juice a day. Two tablespoons every two hours is also very helpful as a preventive measure for a loss of energy, insomnia and depression, lack of determination, anger, or emptiness.

I believe that grapeseed extract—a heavily marketed product—should
not
be
substituted for grapes and grape juices. It is extracted from the seeds of grapes (
Vitis vinifera)
and is combined with pine bark, which comes from the bark of the European coastal pine tree (
Pinus maritime
and
Pinus nigra
). In
The Complete Guide to Herbal Medicines
10,
Charles W. Fetrow, Pharm. D., and Juan R. Avila, Pharm.D., wrote that grapeseed and pine bark “contain proanthocyanidins, a chemical marketed as Pycnogenol.” It comes in tablets and capsules to treat cancer, inflammation, poor circulation, and varicose veins. The two pharmacists point out that products containing grapeseed and pine bark are sold under such names as Mega Juice, NutraPack, and Pycnogenol.

“The research shows,” they indicate, “that although grape seed extract is popular in Europe, it hasn’t been studied adequately in people for medical experts to recommend its medicinal use. The same holds true for pine bark.”

I grew up in a family of European winemakers, but I never heard that any efficient grapeseed extract can be produced from grape seeds. However Mama made the best grapeseed oil I ever had. It was fresh from our winery and soft 38 ^ Mama’s Home Remedies

as velvet. It was much lighter to the touch than apricot kernel, almond, wheat germ, evening primrose, calendula, or rose hip oils. Mama kept it in tightly sealed European dark glass bottles.

I could see its emerald green spark even through these amber bottles. It was Mama’s favorite oil for massaging. Sometimes she gave me a full body massage “to wake up my blood vessels” and increase the circulation of my blood and lymph system. Her skillful massage was a blessing, soothing my nervous system while her strong fingers glided effortlessly over my body, slick with her favorite grapeseed oil.

I have seen grapeseed oil for sale in bulk in health-food stores and recommended for use in cooking. I didn’t notice any limits placed on its use, but it does contain about 120 calories per tablespoon. That’s a lot compared to other cooking oils, such as olive oil, and adding excessive amounts of grape seed oil to the family diet may bring a problem of gaining weight or even obesity, so you’ll be better off using it for an effective massage.

Again, you might ask, what about grapeseed extract in tablets and capsules created by a “bio-genius” in some modern laboratory? If grape seeds are so useful for internal consumption, why do we spit them out? Why not just eat fresh grapes with seeds? Many people prefer to eat seedless grapes anyway. What does this mean? Are the grape seeds useless or harmful for digestion—

even in powder form? Obviously they are useless
because our body wil not accept anything that is against its nature. Just recal that when we eat fresh grapes with seeds, we spit them out as not chewable or acceptable to our digestive system. The scientific name is grape seed, and other names are used by scientists, such as Muscat, Red Wine Extract, or
Vitis vinifera.
In August 2004, the American Heart Association (AHA) published a scientific discovery warning that little evidence was found for the effectiveness of antioxidant vitamin supplements to prevent cardiovascular disease. While acknowledging the benefits of antioxidants, the scientists who prepared the AHA recommendation advise getting natural antioxidants from foods rather than from supplements. Additionally some evidence from animal studies suggests that very high doses of antioxidants such as those in grapeseed extract may actually increase damage from oxidation.11

Perhaps my statement is controversial, but, as you see, some scientists hold the same view too. Moreover, some side effects, risks, and interactions have been reported by participants in clinical studies of grapeseed extract. Side A Healthy Spirit Lives in a Healthy Body @ 39

effects include dizziness, cough, headaches, and nausea. Due to limited information about its potential effects on babies or infants, pregnant and breastfeeding women should not take grapeseed extract. This product may increase the effects of drugs, herbs, antioxidants or health supplements, if you have a bleeding or clotting disorder or if you are taking medicine to prevent blood clots. Grapeseed has not been evaluated by the FDA for safety or potential risks and/or advantages of grapeseed may not be known. Additionally there are no regulated manufacturing standards in place for these compounds. There have been instances where herbal/health supplements have been sold which were contaminated with toxic metals or other drugs.12

There are endless studies across the globe, including seven leading universities in Europe, that demonstrate the many benefits of grapeseed extract in fighting against free radicals in the body. This extensive research came in the late twentieth century from a so-called “French paradox.” It was stated that the French had very low rates of heart disease and are not overweight while some of their diet and other factors, such as smoking and relatively late dinners, would be thought to contribute to higher incidences of heart or other diseases. Scientists believed the secret was in their regular consumption of red wines, which contain OPC (oligomeric proanthocyanidins). These antioxidants help to protect cells from free radical damage and promote healthy blood circulation and cardiovascular health.13