Elders and moms choose home remedies over mainstream medicine

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Did you know you could treat an ear infection with an onion or use eucalyptus leaves to treat a cold? Local mothers and elder members of family often advise safe and natural remedies in place of western medicine for many illnesses.

"Being holistic is about understanding how things are connected," said Nancy Massotto, founder and executive director of Holistic Moms Network. "It's all interconnected — the choices we make, the foods we eat — it all makes an impact on our bodies. The choices you make have an impact on you."

For chapter co-president Marissa Bunker of Rockville, living a holistic lifestyle means eating organic foods and buying local. She also uses safe, all-natural household cleaners that are environmentally friendly. For Joy Hawk, co-president of the group, living holistically means using cloth diapers on her children and practicing homeopathy, a form of alternative medicine that uses medicines and remedies found in nature.

"What brings us together are natural solutions," Massotto said. "There are some basic, simple natural things to surround our family with that's good for their health."

Some people don't agree with the holistic philosophy. There are pediatricians that refuse to accept patients that are not vaccinated, Bunker said. Others do not support the group's stance on extended breastfeeding, but it's nothing holistic mothers have not heard before.

"There's always going to be critics. When you go off the mainstream, you get criticized," Massotto said.

Anyone interested, visit www.holisticmoms.org

Ear infection

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• Cut an onion in half, wrap it tightly in a paper towel and microwave it for 50 seconds to one minute, until it starts to release liquid. Lie down and place the wrapped onion over your ear. Hold it there for 10 to 20 minutes until the pain begins to subside.

Eye diseases

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Eye is one of the most important organ which requires maximum care. Utmost neatness must be taken while handling medicines for the eye problems. It is advised that eye drops and other medicines shall be applied to the eyes after sun rice and before sun set.

• ഇലനീര്‍കുഴംപ് is very good for increasing eye sight and overall health of the eyes.
• Apply പനിനീര്‍ drops to eyes. Good for many ailments during the summer days.
• Apply honey of the Musa (plantains) flower to the eyes.
• Mix juice of the Muringa leaves with honey and apply to the eyes. Good for itching in the eyes.
• Apply honey alone in the eyes.

Dysentery

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• Prepare extract of Ram Thulsi (രാമതുലാസി, Ocimum gratissimum) leaves and add salt water to it and drink.

• Cook crushed മുത്തങ്ങ (Cyperus rotundus) in water after removing its skin. Add crushed garlic to it. Consume four times in a day.

• Mix one spoon sugar and one pinch of salt in one glass of boiled and cooled water and drink.

To increase fairness

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Walking in a sunny day without umbrella will darken your skin. These days sun cream lotions will help. But while walking in the evening, don't apply such creams. Evening sunlight is good for your skin. Grapes, lemon and apple are good for your skin.

Mix lemon juice with cucumber juice and apply to all over the body. Take bath after 40 minutes in water boiled and cooled water. Boil water with ficus leaves (അരയാല്‍, പേരാല്‍, അത്തി, ഇത്തി - various species of ficus).

Add few dry grapes to tender coconut water and keep for over night. Mix the grapes with the water in the morning and drink.

Thalaneeru (തലനീര്) or Thalaneerilakkam (തലനീരിളക്കം)

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Mix 10ml juice of പൂവാങ്കുരുന്തല്‍ (Vernonia) leaves and 1gm രാസ്നാദിച്ചുര്‍നം  (Rasnadi churnam) heat and cool the mixture. Apply to head and areas having inflammation. Remove the applied layer when it dried up. This will help to cure even extreme thalaneerilakkam (തലനീരിളക്കം).

Mix well 50gm Rasnadi podi and 800ml Puvankurunnila juice and add to 200ml coconut oil. Heat and cool the oil and apply to head.

Add crushed (2gm each) black pepper and onian (small) and handful of thulsi leaves to 1.5 litres of water and boil. Inhale the vapour coming out.

Heat 10ml juice of Moringa oleifera (മുരിങ്ങ) bark (വാട്ടി പിഴിഞ്ഞ് എടുത്തത്‌ ) with a pinch of rasnadi powder. After cooling, apply this to fore head. 

Red Sandalwood or Rakta chandana

Pterocarpus santalinus; Red Sanders - From the Wikimedia Commons

Red Sandalwood or Rakta chandana (Pterocarpus santalinus; Red Sanders) is a species of Pterocarpus native to India.

It is a small tree growing to 8 m tall with a trunk 50–150 cm diameter.The wood is one of the most prized woods for millennia. But due to its slow growth and rarity, furniture made from Red Sandalwood is difficult to find and can be expensive.


The Red Sandalwood paste can be used to cure discoloration on face.

Discolouration on face

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• Apply paste of Red Sanders or Red Sandalwood (Rakta chandana, Pterocarpus sandalensis) on face
• Grind curcuma and neem leaves and mix well with egg white and apply on the face during night. Wash the face in the morning with tender coconut water or water used for washing rice grains (arikkadi).

Medicinal herbs for dandruff problem

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Dandruff is the shedding of dead skin cells from the scalp. It often results in itching and may leads to hair fall.

• Add extract of Datura leaves to coconut oil. Heat the oil for 15-20 minutes and use daily before bath for massaging over the scalp.
• Massage coconut oil on the hair and then apply neem leaf paste over the scalp. Wash after one hour.
• Boil water with some neem leaves. Use that water to wash the hair daily.
• Prepare a gel of aloe vera leaves. Apply this on the scalp and leave it overnight. Wash it with a shampoo, preferably containing shikakai the next morning.
• Use 1-2 teaspoon of freshly prepared lemon juice and rinse over the scalp and wash it away.
  

Ummam (Datura stramonium)

Datura stramonium - From the Wikimedia Commons

Ummam (Datura stramonium) is a quick growing wild perennial herb common in rural and semi forest areas of Kerala. Datura stramonium belongs to the family solanaceae. The flowers look like creamy-white, long, large bells.

• Extract of Datura leaves is used a home remedy against dandruff
• The fruits and roots of ummam are used in different Ayurveda medicines. 
• The leaves are narcotic. 
• They are used in the treatment of asthma. 
• Ummam is also the chief ingredient of Kanaka Asava, a preparatory Ayurvedic medicine.

Use of Chicken soup to treat respiratory infections

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The use of chicken soup to treat respiratory infections such as a cold or mild flu is one of the popular examples of a home remedy. According to recent studies, this may actually be effective.

The result of a study published in CHEST journal suggests that Chicken soup may contain a number of substances with beneficial medicinal activity. A mild anti-inflammatory effect could be one mechanism by which the soup could result in the mitigation of symptomatic upper respiratory tract infections.

Dr. Barbara O. Rennard and others at Nebraska Medical Center, Omaha, NE shown that Chicken soup significantly inhibited neutrophil migration and did so in a concentration-dependent manner. The activity was present in a nonparticulate component of the chicken soup. All of the vegetables present in the soup and the chicken individually had inhibitory activity, although only the chicken lacked cytotoxic activity. Interestingly, the complete soup also lacked cytotoxic activity. [Read more]

Welcome to 'Griha Vaidyam - Home Remedies' blog

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As the name indicates, this blog aims to document several popular home remedies (griha vaidyam in Malayalam language) available in India in general and Kerala in particular.

As you know, India has a long tradition of Ayurveda and other traditional systems of medicine. It is still widely practiced in the country and also popular in many parts of the world.