Mama's Home Remedies: Discover Time-Tested Secrets of Good Health and the Pleasures of Natural Livin, Svetlana Konnikova [classic fiction .TXT] 📗

“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!

“Perhaps I will put the crane in my bag too,” the hunter thought. “It can be a good meal for my dogs.”

But the crane had taken flight and was flying so high that even an arrow would not reach him. The fox, who had a hundred brains, a mouth full of teeth, two ears, and a remarkable brush, had been caught, but the crane who thought logically with only one brain had made the right choice

and saved himself.

We can use herbal remedies in beneficial ways without having “one hundred brains.” They are easy to make; they are natural and do not have complicated side effects as many chemical drugs do. R 39. Create onion drops. Grate a smal onion to make a fresh juice and add the same quantity of water. Use a medicine dropper to insert two to three drops in each nostril. In one to two days these drops wil treat inflamed nasal membranes; stuffy, runny nose fol owing a cold; and sinus pain. It wil also soften a cough, which often occurs with infections such as colds or influenza. Stop Sneezes and Sniffles and Stifle a Cold @ 63

R 40. Try the folowing two simple exercises: To treat a headache, with your fingers massage in a circular, clockwise direction your frontal (forehead) sinuses 7–10 times, then massage your nose 7–10

times to help clear nasal congestion.

R 41. Two quick headache remedies:

a) Take thyme out for tea. Infuse two tablespoons thyme leaves

in eight ounces water. Steep 10 minutes, strain, and drink

twice a day.

b) Chop one tablespoon feverfew and put into one ounce

butter. Spread on bread and eat.

Make a special concoction called “Dog Rose,” named after the main ingredient, which the ancient Greeks believed was the best medicine to treat the bite from a dog. This plant is the rose hips ( Rosa canina), which means dog rose.

For centuries it has been known for its valuable preventive characteristics. Hippocrates, Greek physician and father of medicine, used rose hips berries as natural medicine. Three centuries ago in Russia rose hips were appraised higher in price than gold and were recognized as a rare and important natural medicine.

People could get these berries only in exchange

for sable fur, velvet, satin, or gold. Rose hips berries

were kept in the Kremlin’s pharmaceutical stock and

the Russian tsar’s permission was required to acquire

this miraculous healer.

In ancient Russian hand-written encyclopedias

of folk medicine is information on rose hips and its

effectiveness as a tonic to make gums stronger; to treat

cold, flu, laryngitis, gastric diseases, inflammation of the kidneys, liver and bladder problems, anemia, and tuberculosis; and to ease the pain of childbirth.

Take advantage of this rich source of vitamin C that

Mother Nature generously bestows upon us.

64 ^ Mama’s Home Remedies

R 42. “Dog Rose.” Wash two tablespoons dried rose hips in cold water and grind. Combine them with two pints water and, if desired, four tablespoons sugar or honey. Boil for 10 minutes in a covered pot and then steep for two to three hours and filter. Drink one cup in the morning and one cup in the evening. This is a beneficial vitamin drink for children too. If your rose hips drink is unsweetened, limit your intake of the beverage to only two to four ounces a day to prevent an elevated level of stomach acidity. R 43. Wash whole rose hips berries and place them in an enamel pot with 16 ounces boiling water and two tablespoons sugar. Boil covered for 10 minutes. Steep for 24 hours and filter. Drink this homemade vitamin medicine as you would juice. During convalescence after il ness, it is effective in restoring normal functioning to the stomach and reducing cramping. The old texts assert that it assists “to render harmless” gases and helps to dissolve stones in the bladder and kidneys.

R 44. Boil two tablespoons of rose hips roots in one cup of water for 15

minutes. Steep until cool and add one teaspoon of honey. Drink ½ cup three times a day for 7–10 days. Increase the quantity by fol owing these ratios:

a) two tablespoons rose hips to one cup water to one teaspoon

honey

b) four tablespoons rose hips to 16 ounces water to two

teaspoons honey

c) six tablespoons rose hips to 24 ounces water to three

teaspoons honey

R 45. Rose hips liqueur with vodka. Prepare one cup of dried or fresh rose hips. If you use fresh berries, do not cut them. If you use dried, dice them and combine with 8–12 cups of sugar. Add 24 ounces of vodka and steep in the sun for five days. On the sixth day add 10–24 additional ounces of vodka. Al ow mixture Stop Sneezes and Sniffles and Stifle a Cold @ 65

to continue to steep in the sun for five more days. Filter on the 10th day, and take one tablespoon two to three times a day after a meal.

Centuries ago people were inspired by rose hips to write poetic