Old Wives' Remedies...
and Folklore
This is a great recipe for rehydrating after a bout with "stomach flu"...
Not real tasty, but if you use ice-water it helps.
Two 8-ounce glasses:
Fill one glass with orange juice and add a pinch of salt and 1 Tablespoon sugar; stir well.
Fill the other glass with ice-water, add 1/4 teaspoon baking soda; stir.
Sip alternately from each glass until both are empty.
It works!
(From Dr. Donahue's syndicated column, stressing that symptoms lasting more than a few days merit a physician's attention; infants and young children need attention immediately, as dehydration occurs in a short time.)
In Praise of Chocolate:
~Just smelling a chocolate bar can improve your mood if you're feeling "down".
~ " '...I'm irritable, depressed, and my entire being is consumed with thoughts of chocolate...' "
Foods with medicinal properties:
~Gingerroot makes a lovely tea (a few slices of the fresh root, 3 cups of water, simmer for 10 minutes, add 1/4 to 1/3 cup brown sugar, if desired; strain. Refrigerate and reheat a cupful in microwave.)
For motion sickness, ginger was found to be more effective than dimenhydrinate (popular OTC remedy). Chew on a slice of peeled gingerroot or candied ginger before you leave on your trip; repeat as necessary.
~Blueberries contain a compound effective against the bacteria that cause most cases of diarrhea.Try 1 cup fresh, or 1/3 ounce dried blueberries next time.
~Bananas soothe heartburn symptoms; a natural antacid, when eaten at first sign of distress, will afford quick relief.
~Onions contain a mild natural sedative; a slice on bread at bed-time may promote sleep.
Send your tried-and-true remedies!
"Mary" sent this good advice...
A little Lore...
Signs of Coming Winter...
~It doesn't cause a lot of acidity or alter calcium levels; so it isn't as apt to cause cavities as say, raisins or caramel. But check label; cocoa or milk chocolate added raises sugar content.
~Chocolate contains stearic acid, a fatty acid, (also found in olive oil) which does not raise LDL.
A caveat or two, tho' - the caffeine in it can trigger migraines and can cause acid reflux and heartburn.
"The food cravings women experience are Mother Nature's way of informing us...we need a...food in order to look and feel great!"
"...Foods high in sugar and starch boost a potent brain chemical, serotonin..." (Studies have shown that people with low serotonin levels are more aggressive...pass the chocolate! NOW!!)
(See For Women Only for more excerpts from "Why Women Need Chocolate", ©1995 by Debra Waterhouse, M.P.H., R.D.)
Ginger has anti-inflammatory properties, helps relieve symptoms of migraines and rheumatoid arthritis.
And don't forget rehydrating formula above:)
~Honey is an ancient cure for cuts and burns. For a mild burn or scrape, first clean the wound, cool the burn, then apply a thin coat of honey under bandage. "Sugar absorbs the water...bacteria need to [grow] and reduces swelling by drawing fluid from the tissues," says Richard A. Knutson, Orthopedic Surgeon, Greenville, Miss.
Change the dressing twice a day.
"When you cut your foot on a rusty nail be sure to soak your foot in a basin of warm water with a handful of salt added. And if it got infected be sure to do this every four hours."
(And keep that tetanus shot up-to-date! Check with your doctor.)
~Katydids and cicadas "sing" exactly six weeks before the first frost.
~There are plenty of acorns, hickory nuts and walnuts and the squirrels scurry everywhere storing them away.
~The squirrels have bushier tails than usual.
~Your Thanksgiving turkey has a dark breastbone rather than a white one. (Try to remember to check it.)
A severe winter follows a spring when the dogwood trees are thickly covered with blossoms, a summer when the pine trees shed more needles than usual (so the heavy snow slides from branches more easily and saves the branches from breaking), and an autumn when the holly trees have lots and lots of berries.
Watch for spiders that move into your basement or garage in large numbers, and for wasps and hornets that build their nests close to the ground (to find warmth and get away from freezing temperatures.)
According to tradition, the day of the month when the first snowflakes fly tells us how many snowfalls the winter will bring. A Sunday storm means we will have snow on the rest of the Sundays that month.
A Christmas without snow brings bitter cold months early in the new year, and a green Christmas foretells a "white" Easter.
Look to the beavers to see if they are building their lodges earlier than usual and to the possums to see if they are making their homes underground rather than in hollow logs.
And last but not least, the famous woolly bear caterpillars will have very wide black stripes on their rusty brown coats when we're in for a terrible winter!
(Excerpted from St. Louis Post-Dispatch)