Day 45: Home Remedies

Dear Student,

Before the days of mega drug stores and 24-hour pharmacies, people made the majority of their medicines and remedies at home.

An amazing array of ailments can be effectively treated using age-old wisdom passed down from generation to generation. Not only can these remedies be effective, but they’re natural and cause no adverse effects, unlike most pharmaceuticals available today.

Needless to say, conventional medicine should not be disregarded if you have a serious illness, but herbal and home remedies can have significant positive effects for a myriad of minor day-to-day ailments.

(Stick to the recipes given below, as even slight variations might affect the outcome.)

Common Herbal Remedies

Ointments

Ointments and creams are used externally on the body; they should not be ingested.

1. Take a double boiler (a pot that is sitting in another pot of water to prevent the top pot from heating beyond boiling point) and melt 2 cups of pure petroleum jelly in it.
2. Add 1.5 cups of fresh herbs and heat for three hours. Ensure the water bath doesn’t go dry.
3. Remove and strain through a muslin bag or cotton cloth.
4. Store in a cold place in a sealed container.

Creams

Creams are made similarly to ointments.

1. Take 20 ounces of cream base (available from a drug store) and either 1 ounce of dried herbs or 2.5 ounces of fresh.
2. Melt the cream base in a double boiler and leave on heat for two hours.
3. Remove and strain through a muslin bag or cotton cloth.
4. Store in a cold place in a sealed container.

Tinctures

Tinctures are usually a water and alcohol-based extract. Alcohol makes up 25% of the solution and water makes up 75%.

This 25% alcohol is pure volume. If you use 40%-proof vodka, for instance, you must increase the volume of alcohol added by 2.5 to make up the difference in pure alcohol content.

1. Mix 7 ounces of dried herbs or 21 ounces of fresh herbs with 4 cups of the water-alcohol mix and cover in a non-metal container.
2. Ensure all the herbs are fully submerged.
3. Leave sit for three weeks, shaking occasionally.
4. Strain and store in a dark place.

Decoctions

Decoctions are used to extract the active ingredient from tough or fibrous plant materials, like roots or bark.

1. Take 1 ounce dried or 2 ounces fresh herbs and simmer in 2 cups water for a half hour.
2. Strain and store in cool dark place.

Infusions

Cold Infusions (Teas): Take 2 teaspoons dried or 1 tablespoon of fresh herbs and steep in 1 cup of cold water overnight.

Hot Infusions: Add 2 teaspoons dried or 1 tablespoon of fresh herbs and sit in water that has just stopped boiling for 10 minutes.

Cold Oil Infusions: Pack fresh herbs into a jar and cover with sunflower oil (ensure they are fully covered or they might go bad). Leave for four weeks in the sun on a window sill or such, shaking occasionally. Strain and bottle.

Hot Oil Infusions: Take 1 cup of fresh herbs and 2 cups of sunflower oil.

Heat on a double burner for 2 hours. Strain and bottle.

Poultices: Take two sheets of light cotton cloth or muslin. Chop fresh herbs onto one cloth, cover with the other. Dampen with water and tied to the affected area.

Common Ailments And Their Remedies

Aches And Pains

Headache: Hot infusion of 2 teaspoons fresh catnip and 1.5 cups of water steeped for 10 minutes in hot water. Drink up!

Toothache: Dab some clove oil on the offending spot in your mouth. Relief should be relatively quick from this topical analgesic.

Minor cuts and burns: Disinfect by applying pure honey.

Menstrual pain: Drink a hot infusion of ½ teaspoon fresh lemon balm, 1 teaspoon fresh raspberry leaves that have been steeped for 10 minutes in 1.5 cups of water.

Sore throat: Gargle a mixture of 1 teaspoon grated garlic, 4 tablespoons of honey, and 1 cup of water.

Sore muscles: Massage the afflicted area with one of the following blends:

• Cold oil infusion of basil and sage.
• Hot oil infusion of comfrey and thyme.
• 3 large comfrey leaves and 3 sprigs of thyme heated on a double boiler.

Skin Afflictions

Acne: A cold oil infusion of plantain leaves (the herb, not the banana) and calendula petals will sooth and heal.

Athletes foot: Crush garlic into a hot foot bath and let soak. Repeat daily until cured.

Atopic dermatitis: Rub coconut oil on the affected area twice daily until cured.

Bruises: Apply comfrey ointment to the affected area.

Burns: Apply a poultice of plantain leaves.

Insect bites: Rub basil juice directly on the bite; create an ointment of 1 cup fresh basil, ½ cup fresh oregano, 1 cup rosemary, 2 cups petroleum jelly and apply to the bite.

Ring worm: Put two copper pennies into a ½ cup vinegar. Leave until the pennies corrode (go green) and apply the solution to the affected area.

Varicose veins and hemorrhoids: Make a decoction of witch hazel made of ½ cup of witch hazel branch cut into 2-inch pieces and boiled in 2 cups of water for two hours. Let cool and strain into a 3-cup mixture of 50% alcohol and 50% water. Dab on with a cotton ball.

Warts: Rub with a piece of fresh garlic or the while sap from dandelion flowers.

Stomach And Gut

Intestinal upset: Drink a hot infusion of 1 teaspoon fennel and 1 teaspoon anise that has been steeped for 10 minutes in 1.5 cups of hot water.

Digestion assistance: Drink a hot infusion of 1 teaspoon fresh mint and 1 teaspoon bee tree balm that has been steeped for 10 minutes in 1.5 cups of hot water.

Motion sickness: Ginger is a great soother for nausea of any kind, including that caused by motion and also for morning sickness. Simply cut a piece of fresh ginger and chew it.

Upset Stomach, nausea, heartburn, and irritable bowel syndrome: All can be treated with peppermint oil. Take 100 mg of peppermint oil per day—either ingested directly or added to water, smoothie, coffee, tea, or other drink—is an effective treatment.

Cosmetic Assistance

Calluses: Rub with salt.

Dandruff: After showering, rinse hair with a solution of half vinegar and half water. Do not rinse out. Also try adding 1 tablespoon of apple cider vinegar to your daily diet for naturally healthy skin and hair.

Oily skin: Apply 1 cup apple juice mixed with 4 teaspoons witch hazel. Mix and apply with a cotton ball.

Wrinkles: Apply a cold sage infusion of 1 cup sage in 2 cups cold water. Leave overnight and apply with cotton ball when ready.

Colds And Flus

Flu and fever: Drink a hot infusion of elderberry made with 2 teaspoons of fresh flowers steeped in hot water for 10 minutes.

Chest rub: Apply a hot infusion of ½ cup basil, ¼ cup anise, and 2 cups oil. (Don’t use during pregnancy.)

Cold sores: Lemon balm can help; it’s got strong anti-viral properties.

Immune booster: Apply a tincture of purple cone flower (echinacea), made with 2 large pieces of echinacea root and 1 cup vodka. Steep the root in the vodka for four weeks, ensuring it is fully submerged the whole time. Strain and add a ½ cup purified water. It can be stored in a non-metal container. Ingest 3 drops five time per day until your immune system has recovered.

Relaxation and sleep aids: Drink a hot chamomile infusion of 2 teaspoons fresh chamomile and 1.5 cups of hot water that have been steeped for 10 minutes. Tart cherry juice can also help sleep, as it contains a high level of melatonin.

Sleep sachets: Great for personal use and also wonderful gifts. Create your own all-natural sleep aid sachets by combining 4 hop vine flowers, 1 sweet woodruff flower, 8 lady mantle leaves and flowers, 8 rose petals, 1 lavender sprig and sewing them all up in a cotton pouch (make these yourself by sewing together two 6-by-6-inch sheets of cotton. Place under your pillow and enjoy the aromas as you drift away.