Homemade Remedies - First Aid Right Your Health Kitchen

Our modern lifestyle - irregular food habits, fast foods, aerated cold drinks, alcohol, smoking, lack of exercise, etc., coupled with pollution - has made our lives miserable. We all want good health but some serious efforts are to be made to achieve it. We can find a number of items of great medicinal value on the kitchen shelves performing first-aid tricks without spending additional money. The golden rule of the thumb is, "Make food as medicines and not medicines our food."

Common cold and cough

1) Take one teaspoonful of turmeric powder in a cup of warm milk.

2) Take ginger juice mixed in honey. It will loosen phlegm.

3) For stress-induced colds and infections, take raw crushed garlic. It has antioxidant antiviral and antibacterial properties.

Sore throat

1) For a bad throat, gargle with warm water containing some salt.

2) Grandmothers have been prescribing honey for sore throats for time immemorial and there is quite a bit of truth behind this old remedy. Honey has anti-microbial properties which suite the sore tissues in throats.

3) For constant irritation in the throat, suck on crystalised sugar (mishri). Keeping a clove near your gums will also work wonders.

Toothache

1) Chew a clove (lawang) or apply clove oil to relieve the pain. Cinnamon is anti-inflammatory and is used in toothaches. Make a paste containing cinnamon powder and honey in a 1:5 ratio and apply it on the affected part.

2) Try to compress the affected area with ice. But if it aggrevates the pain, discontinue.3) Put a small piece of ginger or camphor on the tooth or in the cavity if any.

Bad breath

Chew some cardamom seeds to sweeten your breath. Rinse your mouth with water containing some juice of lemon.

Pimples

Rub a fresh piece of garlic (lassun) on and around pimples. With regular application, mark will be left.

Smokers

1) If you are trying to quit smoking or just want to reduce smoking, eating oats will reduce your craving.

2) Smokers who put a paste of turmeric in their mouth, do not get cancer.

Heart problems

1) Garlic (lassun) contains the element allicin which has a distinct aroma. It has a blood thinning effect as in aspirin. It slows plaque build-up in arteries. It significantly lowers LDL cholesterol.

2) The beneficial effect of garlic diminishes when cooking it. It is better to take it raw. The heat of garlic can be reduced if stored in water.

Appetite loss

1) Ginger is recognised as a remedy for appetite loss, indigestion and motion sickness.

2) Gulping some asafoetida with water serves as an effective appetiser.

Joint pains

Ginger helps remove accumulated toxins especially in and around joints which otherwise create disorders. It has anti-inflammatory and antioxidant properties.

Stomach upset

1) Regular use of honey helps optimise digestive functions.

2) Mint is very useful to combat flatulence and indigestion, take a cup of its soup.

Loose motions

1) Take a thick variety of cinnamon and boil it in water till reduced to one-fourth and drink it. Loose motions will be cured.

2) Burn a toast of bread and eat it. Charcoal so formed absorbs gas and helps an upset stomach. Otherwise take some aniseeds (saunf).

Stomach ache

Take some curd along with a small piece of asafoetida. In the case of babies, apply it around the naval region.

Gas

Use water stored in a copper vessel.

Dandruff

Take a cup of curd (made out of toned milk) add a teaspoon of lemon juice. Mix them thoroughly and apply it on your hair. After half an hour, wash your hair with lukewarm water and shampoo. Do it twice a week for a month. Soak a handful of methi seeds overnight. Make a paste in a blender. Apply it on your hair.

Dry skin

Take a spoon of urad dal, add it in milk at night. In the morning grind it and apply the paste so formed on your skin.

Vitamins/nutrients

Switch over to brown rice. Whole grains contain B6 and magnesium.

Burns

For burns, immediately treat the area with ice cold water.

Food poisoning

Couple black tea with a few burned toasts. The tannic acid in tea and charcoal in the toast will neutralise the toxins and help you get much better very quickly.

Beauty clinic

- There are millions of pores on our skin that release oil and sweat. We can pump nutrients into our body through these pores.

- Make a paste of besan, lemon, white of the egg and haldi powder. Apply it on your face for 15 minutes and wash it with lukewarm water.

- Take some cream, add lemon juice and any other fruit juice and apply it on the face for a few minutes. The nutrients will make your skin glow.