Natural Remedies to Common Ailments

Colds are usually viral, and rarely become anything serious. Over the counter remedies treat the symptoms and can actually delay recovery by suppressing your body’s natural responses. This is silly, when there are natural ways to relieve symptoms without delaying your body’s healing.

• Mix 2 tsp honey and 1 tsp lemon juice with a cup (8oz) of water. The lemon juice is loaded with vitamin C, which will reduce the time you spend sick, and the honey and hot water ease sore throats and help loosen congestion.
• Chicken soup, or chicken broth, has anti-inflammatory properties which also sooths sore throats. Furthermore, chicken soup has properties that reduce neutrophils; neutrophils are something the body produces, when it is fighting viruses, which stimulate mucus.[1] Add garlic to your soup; garlic oil opens up airways.
• Add two or three drops of eucalyptus oil in a humidifier, hot bath, or pot of boiling water. Steam will help break up congestion so you can cough it up, or blow it out – adding eucalyptus oil makes the steam more effective.

Contrary to popular belief, yeast infections are not only a woman’s problem; yeast infections can occur on any part of the body that is damp and warm, like your armpits. Yeast infections are causes by a bacteria called Candida that lives on the skin in small quantities. Unfortunately, when conditions are right it grows quickly, causing a dermal infection. Symptoms are redness, itching, and moisture.

• Grape Seed Oil has a higher amount of linoleic acid and vitamin e than many of its brethren. Because of this, it has astringent and anti-inflammatory properties[2]. After bathing the area with soap and drying it thoroughly, apply grape seed oil directly to a yeast infection; as an added benefit, grape seed oil also relieved itching.

Also called allergic rhinitis, nasal allergies are a ‘harmful immune response to an antigen that may not be harmful’[3]. Symptoms are itchy nose, watery eyes, sneezing, and allergy ‘shiners’. For some people allergies are a seasonal thing and for others they are a constant issue.

• Stinging nettle has been used for years as a natural recipe; usually administered through capsule form, stinging nettle can be bought in your local vitamin store. Take as advised.
• Raw, local honey has been shown to relieve nasal allergies, but you have to eat a little every day for sometimes up to a month before seeing any difference. Honey usually carries the pollen it was made from – ingesting a little of the pollen that’s causing your allergies will help you build up an immunity to that type of pollen. It needs to be local honey; the pollen bees from other areas will get is not the pollen causing problems in your area. Warning: DO NOT EVER FEED HONEY TO A CHILD UNDER TWELVE MONTHS.
• Bee pollen, taken orally, has shown to improve allergy symptoms by 75% for 75% of users for the same reasons as honey.[4]

• Ginger is a great remedy for nausea, and is a wonderful aide for motion sickness. Straight ginger will work, but is bitter. Other option is to buy empty gel caps and add ground ginger, or you can drink it as a tea.
• Mint can be helpful for nausea. You can buy premade mint tea, or you can cut some off your own mint plant and boil it.[5]

• Valerian Root is handy for treating insomnia and anxiety disorders[6]. It can be ingested as a tea, but it smells like cat urine, so that is impossible for those with week stomachs or sensitive noses. The other alternative is orally by gel capsule.
• Chamomile tea is a well known, but mild, sedative. However, that is not all it does – chamomile is also helpful in reducing inflammation, speed wound healing, and reduce muscle spasms.

• Pickle ‘juice’, or the liquid that your pickles sit in in the pickle jar, is helpful for the occasional heartburn. Keep in mind heartburn, on a regular basis, could be a sign of something like GERD or Acid Reflux disease, and should be treated by a doctor.
• Baking Soda, when ingested, can neutralize the stomach acid that is causing your misery. A small spoonful, in a glass of water, is all it takes. However, caution should be used with this remedy. If taken too often, it can affect the body’s ability to ‘maintain appropriate electrolyte balance in the blood, [which can lead to] impaired regulation of blood pressure and the retaining of body fluids’. Once again, if you are fighting chronic heartburn, you need to talk to a doctor.

Athlete’s foot is a fungal infection that occurs between the toes and sometimes on other parts of the foot and is closely related to ringworm and jock itch. Symptoms are itching, burning, and in extreme cases, bleeding.

• The fungus that causes athletes foot will only grow in dark, damp places, like the inside of your tennis shoes. It will help your feet, a lot, if at the end of the day you take off your shoes, wash your feet with antibacterial soap, and spend some time barefoot so your feet can dry out. Another option is making sure to powder your feet with cornstarch, or better yet – Gold’s Medicated Foot Powder, on your feet before putting on your shoes – the cornstarch will help absorb sweat during the day.
• Tea tree oil, which can be bought in most health food stores, can be applied directly to the affected area.

***The information published for educational and informational purposes only, and is not intended as a diagnosis, treatment or as a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis and treatment. Please consult a local physician or other health care professional for your specific health care and/or medical needs or concerns.***

[1] http://archives.cnn.com/2000/HEALTH/diet.fitness/10/17/chicken.soup.reut/

[2] http://www.natural-remedies-for-skin-care.com/Grapeseed-Oil.html

[3] http://users.rcn.com/jkimball.ma.ultranet/BiologyPages/A/Allergies.html

[4] http://www.bee-pollen-buzz.com/bee-pollen-for-allergies.html

[5] http://tlc.howstuffworks.com/family/home-remedies-for-nausea2.htm

[6] http://www.health.com/health/condition-article/0,,2018