In the days gone by access to modern medicine wasn’t easy, or even available. Our grandmas and grandpas didn’t fare the worse for this though. Maybe it was the simple lifestyle and food habits that made them healthier than we are today. However, sometimes even they suffered from some ailment or the other.
Question is, how did they treat themselves? Through natural home remedies for health and beauty. Natural remedies were the best way to tackle illnesses and other ailments, rather than gulping down pill after pill at the sign of even the slightest, say, a cold or a fever.
Good news is, these natural home remedies work. Now, where do you get these natural home remedies from? Well, you don’t have to venture far anyway. The kitchen cabinet or the backyard garden might be just the place to scour. You’ll surprise yourself to find how easy and inexpensive it is to shoo those ailments away.
Here are six top common items you definitely have in the house, that you can use as home remedies for health and beauty.
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6 Natural Home Remedies for Health and Beauty
These 6 natural home remedies can help you treat colds, fevers, burns, cuts, insect bites and even make you beautiful, in the comfort of your home:-
Honey – this sweet nectar of the gods sure has a way of kicking ailments out. Research has proven honey to be a natural and powerful antibiotic that kills almost all viruses and bacteria, on contact. No wonder grandma used to give us honey spiced with turmeric, ground pepper, ginger extract, and mustard oil to almost instantaneously demolish the germs that gave us the sore throats and sinus infections. So, got a sore throat? A cold? Here’s how you make a home remedy:
- Grind together into smooth paste about 5 peppercorns, half a teaspoon of turmeric, a small piece of ginger and a teaspoon of mustard oil. Or try Lakadong Ker.
- Put in a teaspoon of hot water for viscous consistency. Add a tablespoon (more if you want) of honey and gulp the mixture down.
- Take it two or three times a day. Most likely, you may not require it after the second day.
- A good daily morning habit is to sip a glass of hot water mixed with honey and the juice of one small lemon. This invigorates the digestive system, because of the enzymes in honey, the vitamin C in lemon and the hydrating and toxin flushing capability of water. So you can also say goodbye to constipation and belly aches. It is also a good home remedy for arthritis. Darker honey like wildflower honey works better than the lighter ones, but for sore throats, mustard honey will work fine. It is also a good idea to substitute the sugar in your tea or coffee with honey.
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Ginger – as a food ginger supplies vitamins A, C, E, the B vitamins, minerals potassium, magnesium, sodium, iron, phosphorous and zinc. But the gingerols or essential oils in ginger possess medicinal properties that are hard to equal.Studies have shown that ginger is also good for cardiac health. It cuts down by about 30% the production of arterial fats or triglycerides that block arteries.Ginger is an anti-inflammatory, anti-oxidant, analgesic, anti-flatulent and many more. It reduces inflammation and joint pains, improves digestion, prevents food poisoning, restores upset stomach, removes bad breath, controls high blood pressure and diabetes, prevents blood clots and reduces menstrual pains.To take a ginger remedy simply include thin slices or juliennes of it in your fresh salads or chaats, or chew a raw piece by itself. You may take it dried, powdered, as an extract or juice or in oil form. For example, if you feel overcome with nausea, morning or motion sickness, chew a small piece of fresh ginger. To ease menstrual cramps, boil in water a piece of ginger, fresh or dried, or mix half a teaspoon of ginger powder in hot water and drink.
- Adding ginger (or ginger oil) into the bath water relieves those rheumatic and arthritic pains.Another great way to use ginger is to infuse it into your teas. Its goodness will seep its way to your bones, and help you stay healthy.
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Turmeric – When it comes to cuts and wounds this common yellow spice can quickly come to the rescue. Accidents can happen in the blink of an eye and before you know, the skin is broken and the blood is oozing out. Turmeric’s proven powerful antiseptic and antibiotic properties make it an ideal choice in such mishaps. What you should do is apply turmeric directly on the wound itself and the bleeding will stop immediately. Turmeric’s healing properties come from the curcumin and the curcuminoids present in it. These compounds prevent infection and repair the broken collagen tissues under the skin.
- Garlic – Garlic has powerful anti-microbial and antiseptic properties. An active component called allicin is the agent responsible for this effect against a broad spectrum of pathogenic microorganisms, helping the body to naturally defend itself against infection. Bleeding from a wound is almost instantaneously stopped by placing crushed garlic on it. When a wound occurs first dress it with a clean cloth or cotton swab and then place crushed garlic on it. Bandage with a gauze and leave it for a day or two before replacing with fresh garlic and fresh gauze. Continue the process until the wound heals, which won’t take long.
- Onion – The ubiquitous onion in your kitchen is also one mighty home remedy - a natural antibiotic and anticoagulant - it also brings down fever, helps in cardiovascular problems, relieves minor burns, cures earaches, detoxes the system and benefits in many other ways. It is known to absorb sicknesses. So whenever there you have a fever, place sliced onions in strategic places around the room. The infection will decrease and other members of the family will not be affected.Onions are very powerful detox agents in case of insect bites, caterpillar or bee stings. Slice an onion and rub on the affected part. In the next few minutes, the redness and pain from the stings would have disappeared.
- Aloe Vera – These days Aloe Vera is so well known as a wonder plant with a myriad of uses. Aloe vera’s usefulness in treating minor burns, cuts, and wounds needs no mention. Simply slice a leaf and apply the oozing gel on the affected area. Aloe vera’s analgesic, anti-inflammatory, and astringent properties will take care of the problem.It is good to have an aloe vera plant in your garden or in a pot. This can give you a weekly face mask right at home for your personal beauty care to clear away blotches and blemishes, pimples and acne, and make your skin clear, smooth and glowing.You will need gel of two aloe leaves and the juice of one lemon. Wash the leaves, cut them into smaller pieces and carefully peel the skin off to scrape the gel underneath. Blend in a blender. Squeeze in the juice of one lemon to make a mixture. Apply this mask on your face, neck, and hands. Leave it for 15 minutes before washing with warm water. Then watch the magic of a glowing complexion on the mirror.You can also use this wonderful home remedy once or twice a month on your head for beautiful, luxuriant and dandruff-free healthy hair.
The healing might of these simple home remedies for health and beauty shows how amazingly easy it is to tap on to nature's wealth almost at no cost.
At Zizira we explore for such plant treasures of Meghalaya, to share with you. Maybe you too know of some useful remedy that you may like to share. We’d be happy if you’d share it with us.