It’s ever so easy to head to the drug store
and pick up some pills or syrup for the most minor of ailments, but did
you know that overindulgence in antibiotics can result in bad bacteria
becoming resistant to them? These bacteria are evolving faster than
science can find a cure for them. This alarming information made me take
a look back at the all-natural treatments my grandma used to swear by
for various ailments. Here are the 9 I can remember:
1. Honey
If you want to keep your body free of
harmful bacteria, try drinking a glass of warm water containing a
spoonful of apple cider vinegar and a spoonful of honey.
If you’ve managed to cut, burn or injure yourself somehow, you can try
cleaning the resulting wound with honey.
Drinking 2 teaspoon of honey in a glass of warm water along with 2 teaspoons of lime juice on empty stomach, helps in weight loss. It curbs your appetite during the day too.
2. Garlic
Garlic is rich in allicin, a compound that
helps fight infections such as the common cold. What’s more, it helps to
protect your body from other harmful microbial bodies, such as
bacteria, yeast or parasites.
All you need to do to benefit from garlic’s antibiotic properties is
just ensure that you include it as a regular food in your diet.
As I'm a COPD (
chronic obstructive pulmonary disease) patient, I get severe bouts of
cough with phlegm and wheezing. I boil about 200 ml milk, with 1/4 tsp
of turmeric powder, 2-3 pearls of garlic finely chopped till the milk
reduces to half. Then add little sugar and drink it as hot was possible
at night. You will find your cough and phlegm reducing and also your wheezing.
3. Turmeric
Turmeric is very commonly used in Asian
cuisine, however, the spice also happens to be an excellent natural
antiseptic.
Try mixing turmeric with honey to make an easily-applicable paste. If
you want to give your immune system a boost and increase its ability to
fight infection, you can try mixing turmeric with warm milk to stimulate
it.
Turmeric
is also anti-bacterial, anti-inflammatory, anti-fungal. For my fungal
toe nail, I made a paste with turmeric powder and Listerine, mouthwash,
by applying my pain did disappear. It also helped for akki/ Herpes
simplex virus. When I had it, the moment I saw the red rashes coming, I
applied the same paste mentioned above, it helped it to dry faster, with
hardly any pain!
I
mix turmeric powder, dry ginger and fenugreek ( methi) powders in 1/4-
1/2 teaspoon of each, mix with water and drink on empty stomach. Your
arthritis pain will disappear, as all are anti-inflammatory.
For cough see in garlic, how adding turmeric and milk reduces cough, phlegm and wheezing.
Want
to get rid of facial hair- make a paste of turmeric powder with coarse
rice powder and milk, paste should not be too watery nor too thick.
Apply rubbing against the direction of hair growth well. Wash with water
after 15 minutes when you can feel your skin tight and pulling. It will
make your skin soft, slowly hair will stop growing, especially if you
start doing from young age. It will also make your skin lighter.
4. Cabbage
The humble cabbage doesn’t get the
recognition it deserves as an antibacterial source. For starters, it’s
rich in sulfur, which is essential for treating infections and is even
believed to be anticarcinogenic. Cabbage is also rich in vitamin C,
which makes it highly effective at preventing everyday infections,
including the common cold.
Try including cabbage into your everyday diet as a salad, or try using
it when making fermented foods. You can also try
cabbage juice (include a dash of honey for sweetness).
5. Apple Cider Vinegar (ACV)
This miracle vinegar, which is made from
fermented apple extract, is a nutritional powerhouse, and great for
maintaining excellent health. This is because it's both antiseptic and
antibiotic, making it great for combating bad bacteria.
It’s also great for balancing the pH level (acidity vs. alkalinity) in
the body, which means that bacteria have a lesser opportunity to breed.
I
can vouch for 2 more properties of ACV - it is one of the ingredients
of my cough syrup along with honey, water and dry ginger powder. My
friends have found it more effective than the store bought cough syrups.
For
liver / age spots no need to buy those expensive creams which
dermatologist will prescribe. All you need to ACV, dab it religiously
over the age / liver spots at night, once dry sleep. Wash next morning.
It will take 3 months of daily use to see the result. I can vouch for
this too, as before the time, most of my age spots has lightened a lot,
in few more days it will disappear.
I told our electrician to drink ACV 1 tsp mixed in a cup of water 2-3 times a day, to get rid of his kidney stones, it helped !
A fixture in Sri Lankan cuisine, coconut
oil is a highly effective antibiotic, which also happens to be
antibacterial and antifungal.
Due to the latter property, coconut oil is an excellent remedy for
dandruff or other fungal infections of the scalp.
Furthermore, coconut oil has wonderful antioxidant properties, which
means that it can help slow down aging, keeping hair and skin looking
their best.
While the benefits that the consumption of
grapefruit has on the skin is talked about widely, not much is said
about its antibiotic properties. The fruit’s seeds, in particular, are
highly antibiotic. A recent study showed that grapefruit seed extract
was effective against more than 800 different forms of virus and
bacteria, as well as over 100 different types of fungus.
Fermentation is usually either thought of
in the context of produce going bad, or alcohol being made, however,
fermentation is actually a process involving good bacteria having an
effect on a given type of food. When it occurs, many compounds are
generated, thus antibiotic properties are added.
Common examples of fermented food items include pickles, probiotic
yogurt, and unpasteurized cabbage. Consuming them will boost your immune
system function.
More well-known for adding flavor to pizzas
or salads than anything else, oregano is also great for helping
digestion, as well as weight loss. The herb is antibacterial in nature.
An oil is made out of oregano, and it’s known as Carvacrol. It’s
immensely good at treating both stomach and intestinal tract infections.
This oil can also help treat yeast infections.
10. Baking soda
Most people of baking soda only for baking. No, it has so many uses, which I've put in the post of many uses of baking soda. Here, want to tell you of 2 simple uses of it.
Most people of baking soda only for baking. No, it has so many uses, which I've put in the post of many uses of baking soda. Here, want to tell you of 2 simple uses of it.
1) Normally we all buy expensive deodorant from
the shops. But, even after using it on a hot, humid day, you find
yourself smelling of sweat as the day progresses. Our daughter-in-law
told me, ma- you already have thyroid cancer, why do you want to use
deodorant and get breast cancer ( though 2 views about it, one says not
the cause, another says, it causes). Anyway, by adding baking soda with
coconut oil and rose water, I have my excellent deodorant, not only
cost effective but also very effective on all days.
2) For insect bites,
mix baking soda with little milk and apply over the place where it
itches. soon, your itching will disappear. When our grandkids come,
they're the target of mosquitoes and other insects. Come to me saying it
is itching, I apply this paste and voila, no more itching.
3) I put some amount of baking soda in my washing machine at least once a week, to take care of the salt deposits.
4) I put
100 gm of baking soda when my drain when it is clogged after pouring
hot water, then I heat 100 ml of vinegar, pour over the baking soda, it
will bubble. After 30 minutes, pour hot water again and use, your drain
will be clean.