Home Remedy Food Recipes

A number of common conditions can be prevented or treated through diet and nutrition. The following is a group of recipes for healthy mealtime dishes with ingredients that have been recommended by nutritionists, physicians, and health-conscious friends that have found certain helpful foods useful in alleviating annoying physical complaints.

If you have ever been awoken with a Charlie Horse (severe cramp) in a thigh or calf muscle, you have likely wished for a permanent cure. An OSU basketball player once told me that one way to stop the cramp is to sit up, extent your legs straight out in front of you as much as possible, grab all the toes and top part of the foot of the leg that is cramping, and pull back firmly. The next time I had such a cramp in the calf area, I tried this method and it worked. The technique might work for you in relieving cramps in the thigh muscles, but it does not work for me.

One way of preventing muscle cramps is to ensure that you eat foods that contain calcium, magnesium, and potassium. By intaking magnesium, some people also find that they lose their chocolate cravings. The following recipe is high in magnesium.

Mighty Magnesium Salad

Feeds 4 People

INGREDIENTS

• 5 Cups torn spinach, washed and dried
• 12 ounces of your favorited cooked white fish like halibut, cod, or canned chunk white tuna.
• 1 Large carrot, cleaned and cut into match sticks
• 1 Green onions, cliced thin, using part of the greens as well; save some for garnish.
• 1 Cup canned black beans

DRESSING

• 3/4 Cup plain yogurt
• 1 Tbsp lemon juice
• 1 Tbsp fresh chopped parsley
• 1 or 2 Cloves of garlic, peeled and minced

INSTRUCTIONS

• In a large bowl, mix the Dressing ingredients with a fork or a whisk.
• Add carrot, fish, spinach and green onions (except the portion saved for garnish) and toss all together to coat with dressing.
• Serve in four salad bowls and scoop black beans on top of each salad.
• Garnish with remaining green onions.

Doctors at the Cleveland Clinic in Ohio and Florida find that hemorrhoids are caused by 1) lack of fiber in the diet and 2) lack of fluid intake. Hemorrhoids are neither fun to discuss or to experience and that is a good reason to drink more fluids. In fact, drinking enough water and other fluids help the body in dozens of ways. The tangerines in this dish add a bit of fluid to the morning meal with their fiber. However, the following recipe is full of fiber that can help you avoid painful, annoying hemorrhoids before they occur or reduce and prevent their recurrence. Fiber can also reduce levels of "bad" cholesterol in the blood.

A Pain-Easing Breakfast

Serves 4 as either a cold or hot cereal

INGREDIENTS

• 1.5 Cups of rolled oats
• 3 Cups water (I use spring water)
• 1 Tbsp nonfat or low-fat yogurt
• 1 Tbsp honey
• 2 Delicious or other eating apples, washed ut left unpeeled, cored and chopped
• 1 Tangerines divided into clean sections (remove peel and membranes)
• 1/3 Cup almonds or walnuts

INSTRUCTIONS

• For a cold cereal, pour the oats into a large mixing bowl
• Add water to the bowl and soak covered overnight or at least 60 minutes.
• Add the remaining ingredients, stir, and serve in bowls.
• For a hot cereal, place all ingredients except the yogurt and tangerines into a large pot and cook over medium-high heat until desired consistency is reached. Remove from heat, stir in yogurt and tangerines and serve.

If your calf muscles begin to ache when you walk a short distance, the pain may be caused by a lack of oxygen stemming from narrowed blood vessels. The narrowing may be caused by accumulation of cholesterol and fat. The following recipe can help prevent and reduce the problem by adding folate to your diet. Check with your doctor if you are concerned about calf pain while walking; smoking can lead to this condition and other circulatory conditions may be at fault.

Walkabout Casserole

Serves 4 to 6

INGREDIENTS

• 2 tsp Extra Virgin Olive Oil (EVOO)
• 1 tsp red pepper flakes
• 2-3 Cloves garlic, peeled and minced
• 12 Cups of chard, cut into strips about 2 inches wide
• 1 Can (around 20 ounces) of cannellini beans, drained (save juice for gravies in other dishes)
• 2 Fresh chopped tomatoes
• 1 Cup broccoli florets
• 1 tsp sage
• 1/2 Cup bread crumbs
• 1/2 Cup Parmesan cheese

INSTRUCTIONS

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees F or about 176 degrees C.
• Place a large skillet over a medium heat and warm the pan. Then add 1 tsp extra virgin olive oil and swirl it to cover the bottom.
• Add pepper flakes and garlic, cooking until fragrant and garlic begins to soften.
• Add chard and cook 3 minutes.
• Add beans and broccoli, stir, and cook 5 minutes.
• Remove skillet from stove top and add in tomatoes and sage.
• Cooking-spray a rectangular baking dish, pour contents of skillet into it, spread evenly and top with bread crumbs and Parmesan.
• Drizzle the rest of the EVOO over the top of the casserole and bake 30 minutes or until a golden bubbling brown.

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