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Dr. Rajesh Vishwanathan.
Eye irritation.
Introduction:
My grandmother had many home made remedies for common conditions. She was not formally educated but she had native wisdom and used home remedies that were coming from generation to generation.
Common eye irritations:
Honey and milk:
She used to make eyewash with warm milk and honey. Honey is known to have many amazing anti septic properties. If there were lactating women, she used human breast milk. She used to take equal parts of honey and lukewarm milk and mix them together and with a dropper she used to instill 2 to 3 drops of this mixture three times the day in each eye and this used to work wonders.
Castor oil:
Sometimes, she used to use pure castor oil for eye irritations. She would administer one drop of castor oil in each eye, thrice a day and that used to magically reduce the swelling and redness.
Cucumber slices:
Sometimes she used to cut two slices cucumber and place it in cold ice for a few minutes. Then she used to place the cool cucumber over our closed eyes and it used to be wonderfully soothing and it reduced the soreness in our eyes.
Rosewater:
When our eyes were irritated we used to be told to rinse our eyes with rose water and I found it very soothing for my irritated eyes. Even instilling 3 to 4 drops of rose water were found to be useful.
Conclusion:
I am fortunate to have had many wonderful exposures to harmless and useful home remedies. One of the most proven home remedy in recent times is Aloe Vera.
Aloe vera is readily available in different forms at drug stores and natural food stores and is fairly inexpensive. This natural remedy has proven antibacterial, anti fungal and antiviral properties. This makes it the perfect way to treat irritated eyes, no matter the root cause. .Aloe Vera eye drops also contains Aloe to soothe inflammation. Aloe is gentle enough to be used in and around the eye.
Aloe vera was not known to my grandmother and I am sure she would have gladly used it on us, if she had got her hands on it.
Home remedies for hair growth.
Introduction:
In the South Indian state of Kerala, India. Women have long and thick hair and they use a lot of traditional home made hair oils for hair growth. My grandma was no exception and she made her own hair oil from local ingredients
Natural Remedies:
Eclipta Alba leaves (Bringraj)
My grandma used a mixture of 200 ml of Eclipta Alba leaf juice (this is called as Bringraj in India).
Curry leaves
To this she added 100 ml of curry leaf juice.
Henna juice
Then she added 10 ml of Henna juice,
Cumin seeds
10 gram of cumin seeds.
Then she added 100 ml of amla juice and 2 teaspoonful of lime juice.
Shoe flower
She added 10 shoe flowers to the mix and mixed and boiled this with 300 ml of coconut oil. She had this ready-made when we came for our holidays.
Conclusion:
Bringraj is a famous Ayurvedic ingredient in hair oils for hair growth. Henna is good for hair grown. Shoe flower is a cooling herb that has a number of valuable pectins, organic acids and other useful ingredients for hair growth. Fenugreek and cumin seeds accelerate hair growth and protect the natural color of the hair.
Natural Remedies for Mouth ulcers.
Introduction:
Mouth ulcers may be caused by stress and anxiety, hormonally changes, eating highly processed foods such as chocolate, coffee, cheese and wheat flour. Mouth ulcers can also be caused among other things due to toothpaste additives and smoking.
Grandma’s remedies:
She used to mix Jambul fruit with sugar and salt. Then she used to add some fenugreek power and stir this mixture vigorously. She then added a paste of Basil (Tulsi) leaves to this. She added a paste of poppy seeds to this and further stirred the paste.
She then added some coconut milk and honey to the mixture. She used to make this fresh every day and we used to drink one glass full thrice a day and the mouth ulcers would disappear in a few days.
Conclusion:
Jambul fruit contains many flavinoids and phenols that are loaded with carotene, protein, minerals and vitamins.
Basil leaves are adaptogens that are useful in combating stress.
Honey is a restorative and has anti-microbial effects and helps in tissue growth.
Poppy seeds and coconut have a cooling effect on the body.
So, much of the concoctions that my grandma made were actually scientific and sound.
Runny nose.
Introduction:
During the summer holidays we used to always be in the village pond with our heads full of oil. As a result of this, we used to constantly have a runny nose. Grandma had many remedies for this and we never used to go the physician and take antibiotics or cold medications.
Some of grandma’s remedies were:
Rocksalt
To treat cold, she used to make a paste of ginger, clove, rock salt and honey. She used to give us about half spoon of this home remedy for cold two times in a day to treat and cure cold.
Sometimes she used to put few drops of almond oil in our nostrils and it used to work wonders…
Sometimes grandma used to treat nose blockage by giving us steam with few drops of eucalyptus oil.
She used to increase our intake of fruits and food rich in Vitamin C. She used to insist that we eat more of. oranges, amla, grapes, sweet lime to help protect and prevent cold.
For adults who had a runny nose, grandma would make ginger tea by boiling ginger into water before boiling tea leaves to get good results to treat cold.
She also made delectable balls of jiggery mixed with ginger and roasted sesame seeds. This was a great remedy to open up chocked sinuses.
Personally she used to take half a spoon of turmeric powder twice a day as a preventative home remedy for cold and flu.
She recommended that we start the day by drinking lukewarm water with honey and lemon juice to prevent colds.
I recall all our elders consuming Betel leaves (Pan) juice. I now understand that it is a good way to treat cold and sneezing at home..
Honey bee sting.
Bee stings:
As children we used to throw stones on a bee hive and we used to get bitten by the angry bees.
My grandmother’s home made remedy was very simple.
She used to take 1 teaspoonful of lime (sometimes more). She used to add a spoonful of tamarind paste to this mix and vigorously stirred to form a paste. She then crushed garlic cloves and released its juices into this mix. She finally added some honey to the mix.
Lavender oil
When we were out on picnic and she could not make her wonder mix. She rubber lavender oil which, she always carried in her purse and applied it to the bee sting and the pain used to vanish soon.
Another interesting tip I have heard from my elders to combat bee stings is to use tobacco.. If you have loose tobacco you can hold it with light pressure against the sting until the pain and swelling go down. If you do not have loose tobacco but have a cigarette, just simply break the cigarette open to remove the tobacco. This is a sure shot way of combating the ill effects of bee stings.
Stomach upsets.
Introduction:
As children, we used to love visiting grandma in our summer holidays. All of us cousins created havoc at our ancestral home in the southern state of Kerala, India.
We used to get small injuries, stomach upsets and diarrhea from over eating and my wonderful grandma had a home remedy for all these small ailments.
Grandma’s concoction for stomach pain due to indigestion and over eating:
Mint leaves
Grandma used to a small bunch of crushed fresh mint leaves and put it into 1 cup boiling water.
Cinnamon
Then she used to add a teaspoonful of cinnamon powder to the mix.
Ginger
Then she used to grate half a spoon of ginger into this mix
Cumin seeds 
Fennel seeds
Then she used to add half a spoonful of cumin seed powder, fennel seed powder and asafetida each.
Mango leaves
To this mix she used to add two teaspoonfuls of mango leaves which were previously dried and powdered.
Finally when the mix was brought to a boil over a small flame. She used to cool this mixture and add some honey to taste. She then strained this mix and allowed it to cool.
One glassful of this wonderful mixture worked wonders for any stomach pain or indigestion brought about due to a gastronomic extravaganza.
Introduction:
A new term eggetarian has been coined for vegetarians who eat eggs. It is a very common misconception that eggs are vegetarian sources of protein. It is often impossible to make people believe that an egg has a potential life and it has an unborn chick within its shell.
Just look at these facts before consuming eggs:
The hen’s egg is an important link in its reproductive system. Its internal structure is clearly meant for the propagation of its species and not meant for human consumption.
By eating eggs, we are certainly meddling with nature. Contrary to popular beliefs, the poultry industry breeds violence. The hens in any poultry are treated as egg-producing machines. They are confined to a narrow space called as chicken havens. Due to the shortage of space, the chickens become violent, obsessive and quarrelsome. They attack each other in a barbarous manner. To prevent them from hurting themselves and other chickens are de-beaked.
In addition, hens are fed with bone meals, blood meals, excreta food, meat and fish. The egg is produced without any contact with the male bird and thus it is infertile but it is also animate because it is born out of the hen’s body with its blood and cells. Therefore, its consumption is 100% non-vegetarian.
A hen can lay an infertile egg, before the day of contact with the male and also the next day. According to the famous American scientist Mr. Philip J. Scamble, no egg is without life in it. The scientists at Michigan University in America have proven it beyond doubt that no egg – fertile or infertile – is without life (inanimate).
Victoria Moran, the author of the book Compassion: The Ultimate Ethics says, to eat fertilized egg is in fact to consume a chicken before its birth.
Dangers of eating an egg:
Infectious diseases. Whether the egg is fertile or infertile, life is essentially there; and it has all the symptoms of life, such as respiration, brain, feeding ability, etc. There are 15,000 porous-breathing holes on the shell, the cover of the egg, where there is an exchange of oxygen and carbon dioxide. When the egg is spoiled, there can be a transmission of infectious diseases.
High cholesterol. The yolk of the egg contains 250 to 300 mgs cholesterol, a waxy fat, which deposits itself in the liver and hardens the arteries. The coronary arteries supplying blood to the heart are thus affected, causing fatal heart- attacks, strokes, and gallstones.
Other diseases.
Since egg has no fiber in it can lead to diseases such as; chronic constipation, piles, gall-bladder-stones, colon cancer, indigestion, ulcer, colitis, kidney -failure, and diverticulosis.
Dangers of egg white.
Egg white contains “Avidin” – a poison that can cause Leprosy, eczema, skin inflammation, skin cancer and allergies.
Other infectious diseases. Egg ingestion can cause Typhoid, Listeria infections and even the dreaded Creutzfeldt Jacob’s disease or the Human variant of the Mad Cow Disease.
Nutritional value of the egg is questionable:
Eggs contain saturated fatty acids, which are dangerous to health. Eggs also lack in vitamin B complex, vitamin C, calcium and carbohydrate and produce hyperacidity. Eggs are not easily digestible in human beings and should not be give to young children.
Conclusion:
It is impossible to sow eggs and produce a plant of eggs or hens. So to call egg a vegetarian food is a myth.
Reference:
BACILLINUM.
This is a Nosode and it is made from the maceration of a typical tubercular lung.
It has been employed successfully in the treatment of tuberculosis.
It has been found particularly useful in many chronic non-tubercular diseases too, like many non-tubercular respiratory ailments.
Bacillinum is indicated for the lungs of old people with chronic catarrhal condition of an enfeebled pulmonary circulation.
It is also useful in removing tartar from the teeth.
The skin symptoms for this remedy are useful is for ringworm, eczema of eyelids.
It is also useful in enlarged glands in the neck that are tender.
In children who look old, dwarfed and wrinkled, also with a tuberculous heredity, SYPHILINUM AND BACILLINUM given in turn, will work wonders.
Dr. Noel. Pudephatt.
I have often used BACILLINUM in grippy colds or in bronchitis where a cough has persisted despite the usual treatment. It is astonishing sometimes to note how promptly a dose of BACILLINUM will stop such a cough.
BACILLINUM has proved to be one of the best remedies in asthma where there may not be a history of tuberculosis. It is especially useful when there is a very bad chronic cough accompanying and many calcified nodes are seen throughout the chest in the X-rays.
Dr. Wilbur. K. Bond, M.D.
I find Bacillinum very useful in children with bronchitis and constant colds with a family history of Tuberculosis.
AURUM METALLICUM.
IT IS A USEFUL REMEDY WHEN SADNESS IS ASSOCIATED WITH A DISPOSITION TO SUICIDE.
This remedy is derived from gold and it was Dr. Hahnemann who proved it.
This remedy is useful in hopelessly despondent persons with a great desire to commit suicide.
This remedy is useful in sleepless patients who sob aloud in their sleep and have frightful dreams.
This remedy also suits young boys, who are lifeless, low-spirited with weak memories and who do not have the self-confidence.
It is useful in dissolving the exostosis of bones.
It is useful in curing heart ailments like Angina associated with palpitations.
It is also useful in Atherosclerosis with Hypertension.
This remedy is useful when the nose is obstructed, ulcerated, painful and swollen with a horrible odor of the nose and the mouth.
This remedy suits persons who are worse in the cold weather and who have complaints that come on after coming in contact with cold water. This remedy also suits persons who are worse between sun set to sunlight.
TIPS FROM THE MASTERS…
AURUM METALLICUM is useful in pre-cancerous conditions of the cervix that are associated with profuse leucorrhoea.
Dr. Burnett, M.D.
AURUM MET is useful in preventing recurring attacks of Angina Pectoris.
Dr. Leon. Vannier.
One remedy we need much more often than we think in our cases is AURUM METALLICUM, which is always needed when there is hypertension when persons are easily made angry. It is not necessary for them to have an aversion to life. Just being angry is enough. Here, AURUM is very often indicated. This anger comes from a defective liver that accompanies such heart diseases.
Dr. F. K. Bellokossy, M.D.
I have cured more cases of Ozaena with AURUM METALLICUM from the 1st to 12th dilution than with any other remedy.
Dr. Foubister, M.B., Ch.B, D.C.H.
AURUM METALLICUM 200 – 10M is a pathological remedy for undescended testicle, providing the testicle is not ectopic.
Dr. Foubister, M.B., Ch.B., D.C.H.
AURUM METALLICUM is an excellent remedy in arteriosclerosis in which there is an element of vasomotor constriction.
Dr. Hale, M.D.
Amla