Health Alternatives
Much of what we now know as natural medicines has come from home remedies. For centuries households developed their own variations on cures for the common cold, sleeplessness, cuts, bruises and burns.
Far from being old wives’ tales, the effectiveness of many of these home remedies has been backed by modern science.
A lot of the remedies that your grandmother used as a first-line treatment we know worked.
Chicken soup for a cold, for instance, is more than just comforting. It aids immunity and helps strengthen the systems so the body can fight back.
A drink made of garlic, honey and lemon juice soothes the throat and also works as an antibacterial to kill a lot of the bacteria harbored in that area.
Passed down by word of mouth, home remedies have made a resurgence in recent years and they have added benefit of costing very little. Yeah we have Medicare supplement insurance to rely serious illness but these alternatives are really good too
Other popular natural treatments that have stood the test of time-as well as scientific scrutiny-include clove oil, containing a natural anaesthetic which has long been used for toothache, warm water with tea tree oil dabbed on to cuts and grazes, arnica for treatment of bruises and aloe Vera gel applied to minor burns including sunburn.
Inhalations are also making a comeback, with the tried and true eucalyptus oil added to hot water, sometimes combined with tea-tree and lemon oil, having an excellent ability to clear blocked sinuses.
And there is no shortage of home remedies for sleeplessness.
Two safe home remedies are chamomile tea as warm drink before bed and one drop of pure lavender essential oil on the pillow.
The classic warm milk before bedtime should also be not forgotten. The reason it works so well is because warm milk contains trytophan, an amino acid, also found in turkey, which makes you sleepy.
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