Herbal Household Remedies

The whole article Winter naturally is interesting, so have a look.  I am just blogging the end of it here where the author mentions uses for honey and cinnamon.

Via: cadillacnews.com

HONEY & CINNAMON

• A mixture of honey and cinnamon can be a great remedy. Honey can be used to treat diseases, and it doesn’t have side effects.

• Heart disease: Make a paste of honey and cinnamon powder and spread it on bread; eat it regularly for breakfast. It reduces the cholesterol in the arteries. Eating this daily can relieve loss of breath and strengthen the heart beat. Honey and cinnamon revitalize the arteries and veins.

• Arthritis: Twice a day, drink one cup of hot water with two spoons of honey and one teaspoon of cinnamon powder. In a study conducted at the Cophenhagen University, scientists found that when doctors treated their patients with a mixture of one tablespoon honey and half teaspoon cinnamon powder before breakfast, within a week about 35 percent of the people treated felt vast pain relief; within one month, most patients who could not walk or move prior to the honey and cinnamon treatment could now walk with no or minimal pain.

• Bladder infections: Take two tablespoons of cinnamon powder and one teaspoon of honey in a glass of lukewarm water and drink it. The mixture destroys the germs in the bladder.

• Toothache: Make a paste of one teaspoon cinnamon powder and five teaspoons honey and apply on the aching tooth three times a day until the tooth stops aching.

• Cholesterol: Two tablespoons of honey and three teaspoons of cinnamon powder mixed in 16 ounces of tea water and given to a cholesterol patient was found to reduce the level of cholesterol in the blood by 10 percent within two hours.

• Colds: Those suffering from common or severe colds can try one tablespoon of lukewarm honey with 1/4 teaspoon of cinnamon powder daily for three days. This process can cure most chronic coughs and colds and helps clean the sinuses.

• Upset stomach: Honey taken with cinnamon powder cures stomach aches and also clears stomach ulcers from the root causes.

• Gas: According to studies in India and Japan, a person may be relieved of gas if honey is taken with cinnamon powder.

• Immune system: Daily use of honey and cinnamon powder can strengthen the immune system and protect the body from bacteria and viral attacks. Scientists found that honey has various vitamins and iron in large amounts. Honey strengthens the white blood corpuscles to fight bacteria and viral diseases.

• Influenza: A scientist in Spain has proven that honey contains a natural ingredient which can kill influenza germs and save a person from getting the flu.

• Longevity: Honey and cinnamon, when made like a tea and taken regularly, can arrest the ravages of old age. Take four spoons of honey, one spoon of cinnamon powder and three cups of water; boil to make a concoction that is similar to tea. Drink 1/2 cup three to four times per day. It keeps the skin fresh and soft.

• Pimples: Three tablespoons of honey and one teaspoon of cinnamon powder paste. Apply this paste on the pimples before sleeping and rinse off the paste the next morning using warm water. Try this process daily for two weeks.

• Skin infections: Applying honey and cinnamon powder in equal parts on the affected areas can treat eczema, ringworm and all types of skin infections.

• Fatigue: Recent studies show that the sugar content of honey is helpful in terms of strengthening the body.

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There are many ways of improving your health the natural way, and a lot of very helpful books have been written on the subject, such as The Herbal Medicine Maker’s Handbook: A Home Manual.  Spices have always been a part of Grandma’s Old-Time Remedies, so this article might repeat remedies you have already heard of, but I am sure it will also offer some new insight even if you are a well versed home remedy user already

Via: NaturalNews

Spices do more than make food taste great. Recent research is showing that spices can promote health and well being through a series of actions that are anti-aging and inhibiting of degenerative disease. The vegetarian diet so often associated with good health and lack of disease relies heavily on the use of spice. But you don’t have to be a vegetarian to gain the amazing health benefits these inexpensive flavor enhancers have to offer.

The addition of spices can turn up the taste of almost any food. Add some chili pepper, cumin or turmeric to mashed potatoes or rice. Sprinkle marjoram or rosemary on your salads, and dress up cottage cheese with whatever spicy flavor appeals to you. Add spice to vegetable dishes and sprinkle it on meats, poultry or fish before cooking. Spice up your veggie juices and smoothies. Any way you do it, adding spice means adding a wealth of health benefits.

Recent research continues to show the power of these natural medicines

Spices have more antioxidant power, measure for measure, than fruits and vegetables. Antioxidants help prevent cancer, Alzheimer’s disease, heart disease, and premature aging. In a study reported in the British Journal of Nutrition, fifteen aromatic herbs and spices consumed in Central Italy as part of the Mediterranean diet were studied to reveal total phenolic, flavonoid and flavanol content as well as their antioxidant potential as measured by oxygen radical absorbance capacity (ORAC). Comparison was made between salads to which aromatic herbs had been added. The addition of lemon balm and marjoram increased by 150% and 200% respectively the antioxidant capacity of a salad portion, corresponding to an intake of 200 mg. of phenolics and 4000 ORAC units. Among other spices tested, cumin and fresh ginger made the most significant contribution to antioxidant capacity.

Full Story and a list of Spices that stand out for their health benefits

This is not new, but probably good to remember anyway

The life of spices: Science finds medical promise in the kitchen cabinet

Getting spices into your daily meals can be a tasty way to get an antioxidant boost. Here’s four that have been the subject of research.

• Turmeric: Its active ingredient is curcumin, used in traditional medicine to treat ailments from gallstones to anemia, to heal wounds and treat arthritis.

• Ginger: Grown underground, but not technically a root. It is one of the most-studied plants in the world and is known as an aid to relieve nausea.

• Cayenne: Includes capsaicin, another antioxidant and anti-inflammatory that may help reduce the risk of heart disease, cancer and other pro-inflammatory diseases of aging.

• Cinnamon: A powerful antioxidant. A teaspoon of cinnamon has the same antioxidant power as a half cup of blueberries.

Read more about the four
In 1993, an eager biochemist at University of Texas M.D. Anderson Cancer Center struggled to put the brakes on a protein he had discovered a few years earlier, a protein that can turn on cancers and inflammatory diseases.

Bharat Aggarwal knew that the protein, tumor necrosis factor, or TNF, could trigger a whole cascade of inflammation in the human body — a very bad thing. He also knew that turmeric, the yellow curry spice, was a potent anti-inflammatory in traditional Ayurvedic medicine.

The next step, sprinkling some turmeric on a culture of TNF, may seem like a bit of a leap. But it didn’t feel that way to Aggarwal, a professor of cancer medicine at M.D. Anderson.

“In Ayurveda, it is nothing new,” he said. “And the beauty is that it is very, very safe.”

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