Mama's Home Remedies: Discover Time-Tested Secrets of Good Health and the Pleasures of Natural Living

by Svetlana Konnikova

  Warm baths can be soothing and relaxing in cold and flu treatment. Try some of these fragrant, mixed herbal baths.

  R 34. Chamomile and linden bath. Combine two ounces each chamomile flowers and linden flowers with one quart water in an enamel pot. Boil slowly for 15–20 minutes. It is a fever-reducing treatment and also helps sleeplessness or skin irritation. R 35. Salty bath. Dissolve two pounds of sea salt or iodized salt in a warm bath. This bath cleans, tones the skin, strengthens muscles, and restores the body.

  60 ^ Mama’s Home Remedies

  R 36. Place one teaspoon of young branches and twigs of white oak bark ( Quercus alba) or English oak bark ( Quercus robur) in a twoquart pot. Add about one quart of cold water. Let steep for two hours, then bring to a boil and

  boil for 30 minutes. Filter this decoction and

  pour al into bathtub. This remedy acts as an

  antiseptic and fever-reducer in healing colds. It

  is helpful in treating tonsil itis, laryngitis, mouth

  and throat inflammation, bacterial and viral

  infections if you prepare a fresh decoction daily

  by boiling four teaspoons of oak per one quart

  of water for 10–15 minutes. Strain the liquid

  and gargle. Don’t use these preparations for more

  than two to three weeks. Thanks to the rich content of astringent substances cal ed tannins, the same oak bark liquid can be used in compresses, applied loosely to the affected area until the moisture evaporates, in such cases as weeping eczema and other skin rashes and in healing wounds. R 37. After taking a bath, prepare one cup warm water with one tablespoon honey and drink before bedtime. This natural sedative promotes sound sleep and regulates stomach activity.

  R 38. Nettle tincture. Combine two tablespoons of nettle with one pint of vodka in a glass jar. Cover with a lid and wrap with cheesecloth. Keep the jar on a window sil for the first day. Store for the next eight days in a cool, dark place. Then filter, wring out, and store in a brown glass bottle or jar. Take one teaspoon of nettle tincture on an empty stomach 30 minutes before breakfast and one teaspoon before bedtime. Continue to take al of this tincture.

  Stop Sneezes and Sniffles and Stifle a Cold @ 61

  One Hundred Brains

  A crane flew up to the Altai as soon as the sun

  was hot in the spring. He began to dance

  because he felt so happy to be back in his favorite and familiar marsh. He moved his feet up and down. He lowered and then lifted his wings. He turned his head round and round and bent his neck. A hungry fox ran by. She was envious that the crane looked so healthy and happy, and she yelped, “I look at you and do not believe my eyes. You dance, poor crane, but you have only two feet.”

  The crane stopped dancing, looked at the fox, and saw that she had four paws!

  “Oh! There is not one tooth in such a long beak!” the fox continued. She smiled and revealed a mouth full of teeth. The crane closed his beak and hung his head. The fox continued to taunt him.

  “Where have you hidden your ears and what do you have inside of your head?”

  “I found my way here from oversees,” the crane almost cried. “That shows that I have some small brain in my head.”

  “You are so unfortunate,” said the fox. “Two feet, but only one brain. Look at me: four feet, two ears, a

  mouth full of teeth, one hundred

  brains, and a remarkable brush (tail).”

  The crane stretched his neck and

  saw a man far away with a bow on

  his shoulder and a quiver of arrows

  at his belt.

  “Your Honorable Fox, you have

  four feet, two ears, and a marvelous

  brush. Your mouth is full of teeth and

  you even have one hundred brains

  instead of one. But look! A hunter is

  coming. How can we save ourselves?”

  A. K.

  62 ^ Mama’s Home Remedies

  “Well, my one hundred brains give me one hundred suggestions. I don’t know which one to follow,” the fox cried.

  She then plunged into a badger’s hole and the crane followed her. The hunter never in his life had seen a crane and a fox living peacefully together. He put his hand inside the hole and pulled the crane out. The crane’s legs hung loosely from his body. His eyes were glazed over and his heart nearly stopped beating.

  “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 o
f 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 fairy tales and illustrate them with images of beautiful sleeping young women. The arched and curved vines of this plant are closely interwoven and form impenetrable brushwoods, which are riddled with sharp,

  crooked thorns. In Europe this plant blooms in late fall

  with big, beautiful, and aromatic wild rose blossoms. Because of the dense brush and dangerous thorns, the

  flowers and tasty berries are inaccessible to wildlife, except birds.

  One of the first herbal infusions I became familiar

  with as a child was marsh cudweed ( Gnaphalium uligi-

  nosum) tea. The herb is a dwarf, evergreen shrub with a strong, camphor-like fragrance.

  This herb was well loved by my family, and we

  had many plants in our stock of herbs to complement it

  in our home-made infusions or tonics like elecampane;

  astringents like mullein; elder flowers as a phlegm-reducing herb; or wild lettuce as a cough suppressant. The tea of marsh cudweed is used widely throughout Russia to treat colds, bronchial asthma, and rheumatism. This natural healer is an anti-inflammatory fighter, tones up the respiratory system, and gives temporary relief of persistent, hacking cough and shortness of breath.

  Here are several remedies:

  R 46. Combine 1½ ounces of marsh cudweed herb in a pot with one quart of boiling water. Steep five minutes and drink about 12

  ounces five or six times a day. The course of treatment runs from 5–14 days.

  66 ^ Mama’s Home Remedies

  R 47. Combine 1/8 ounce marsh cudweed herb and ½ ounce nettle leaves with one quart boiling water and steep five minutes. Drink four ounces five to six times a day. Repeat this procedure for five to seven days.

  My family used to make another natural medicinal drink called “Bloody tea.” It includes another great healing plant, hawthorn ( Crataegus oxyacantha). This herb’s blossoms are sometimes blood red with five delicate petals. The berries of the hawthorn plant are usually red, but sometimes red-yellow. This plant, especially its flowers, is an effective natural medicine for colds. R 48. Combine three tablespoons hawthorn flowers with 24 ounces boiling water and steep overnight in a preheated, cooling oven. The next morning filter and warm the mixture. Adults can take one cup three times a day. Children may have two ounces three times a day.

  It can be beneficial to eat delicious creams made with black currants because they are rich in vitamin C, glucose, and essential oils. Year-round our herbal stock contained a delicious and effective remedy that we called Black Sofia, which we made from black currants. We named this healing desert Sofia, a woman’s name that means wisdom.

  R 49. Make Black Sofia vitamin cream. Wash one pound of black currants and dry them on a napkin. Combine with two pounds of organic brown sugar in a blender and whip. Store the mixture in a glass jar in the refrigerator. Drink hot herbal tea, chamomile, linden, mint, raspberry, green tea, or a blend of Indian and Ceylon teas or a glass of warm milk and eat two to three teaspoons of Black Sofia cream. It is a simple remedy, which is also helpful when recovering from colds, tonsil itis, laryngitis, bronchitis, pneumonia, bronchial asthma, headaches, and nervous disorders. Stop Sneezes and Sniffles and Stifle a Cold @ 67

  R 50. Wash one tablespoon rose hips and combine with 16 ounces boiling water. Boil 10 minutes, cool, filter, and add one tablespoon honey. Mix and drink four ounces three times a day. R 51. To make our family drink, Sweet Kiss, you wil need one cup grape juice, 24 ounces spring water, four ounces red wine, (Cabernet Sauvignon), four tablespoons organic sugar or honey, and one grated lemon or orange peel. Bring spring water to the boiling point and add sugar or honey and orange or lemon peel. Boil three to five minutes, cool, filter, and add grape juice and red wine. Pour the liquid from the pot into a glass pitcher. Drink one cup once or twice a day for your recovery and pleasure. R 52. Cherry Milk. Combine one quart of milk with one cup of cherry syrup (carried in supermarkets and health food stores) and one quart of mineral water (S. Pelegrino, Perrier or other). Mix and drink 8–24 ounces a day to cleanse your internal organs.

  Natural raspberry and strawberry drinks also help to cleanse internal organs.

  R 53. Juice 24 ounces of strawberries or raspberries. Add the juice of two lemons, one cup of sugar or honey, and three quarts of mineral water. Mix and drink one cup two or three times a day. R 54. Grandmother’s and Grandfather’s Old World Sore Throat

  “Tonic.” Sunshine in smal doses can be healthy for you. Every day take a seat or lie down on a blanket in the bright sun for five minutes. Face the sun with your eyes closed and your mouth open widely. Sunbeams wil penetrate the throat and heal it with its natural warmth and ultraviolet rays. Try this for two weeks. R 55. In Russia wild marjoram (this herb is caled dushitsa) is a oneof-a-kind nectariferous herb which serves as a pungent tonic, 68 ^ Mama’s Home Remedies

  and stimulant. It is a great healer of a sore throat. Combine two tablespoons of wild marjoram with one quart of boiling water. Steep for five to seven minutes. Filter and drink four ounces five to six times daily.

  R 56. Cow’s milk is a great natural healer for people who are not alergic or oversensitive to food irritants. Drink one cup of milk a day. Ivan Pavlov, a world-famous Russian physiologist and experimental psychologist and a Noble Prize laureate in physiology and medicine, said that milk is a product that is perfectly composed by Nature. The health benefits of cow’s milk have often been debated in the United States. Many people are lactose intolerant and cannot consume milk in which the lactose has not been removed, but milk has been applauded since ancient times for its healing power. Of course, in ancient times, cows were not given growth hormones and did not eat grass sprayed with pesticides and other chemical “innovations” in powder or liquid form. Fortunately today we can buy organic and lactose-free milk and milk products, which can be used in the many natural medicine recipes throughout this book that list milk as an ingredient. More than 2,500 years ago in ancient Greece the young son of a rich man became sick with kidney disease. His father sought a healer for his son and invited a well-known physician to his home. This healer’s name was Hippocrates. Hippocrates prescribed donkey’s milk dissolved in water three times a day for 10 days for this young man.

  Ten days passed and Hippocrates then prescribed cow’s milk to combat the boy’s illness. Following the advice of Hippocrates, the son fully recov- ered. Hippocrates, who was considered the father of medicine, widely prescribed milk as a treatment for kidney an
d cardiovascular disease, stress, and stomach problems. He also advised people to drink milk for earaches, anxiety, headache, or nervous disorders. The ancient Egyptians were certain that sick people who bathed in donkey milk would be ener- gized and better able to fight their illness.

  Many years ago in Russia, people with various diseases traveled to Moscow from many cities throughout Europe to seek the medical advice of Fedor Stop Sneezes and Sniffles and Stifle a Cold @ 69

  Inozemtsev, a medical doctor who was using a “magical” natural medicine to cure his patients. When they learned what his “miracle” treatment was, they were greatly surprised. Dr. Inozemtsev’s magical natural medicine was milk—

  created by Nature.

  Force the flu to fly away

  Generally flu begins with a stuffy nose, followed by fever, headache, pain in the legs and back, and a cough. Flu can be dangerous because it can develop into bronchitis or pneumonia. The body’s immune system can become weak at this time and if the condition goes undetected and is not treated properly, it can provoke nephritis (kidney inflammation) or negatively affect the liver. Remember: For faster recovery from the flu and nasal congestion: R 57. Take 1,000 mg of vitamin C to block additional infection. R 58. Take a laxative and induce perspiration. Combine three teaspoons each of leaves of linden, mint, and raspberry in a glass jar with two cups of boiling water and steep for 10 minutes. Sweeten with honey. Drink this strong herbal tea and go to bed, covering yourself with a heavy blanket. You wil be bathed in sweat, so stay warm and al ow the toxins to be released through your pores via your perspiration.

  R 59. Use a chamomile enema, made with one teaspoon of chamomile to one cup water, once a day for two to three days to flush toxins from the body. Be sure to drink at least eight eight-ounce glasses of water during the day.

  R 60. Begin a three-to six-day fast, during which you drink chamomile and rose hips teas throughout the day. When you break the fast, maintain a diet of fruits, vegetables, and juice for the next three to four days, making sure that you eat plenty of carrots.