Herbal Remedies Blog

For vomiting due to indigestion or biliousness antiemetics are rarely indicated. One or two vomits throw the toxins out and the sick person feels better. Most of us must have been given a teaspoonful of ginger juice with sugar or concentrated aniseed water by mother or grandmother to arrest vomiting. Cumin is also commonly chewed to check vomiting as it acts as a digestive.

Here is a useful remedy for sudden vomiting and indigestion. Boil in a glass of water a few small pieces of ginger, one cardamom. A few tulsi leaves and a little aniseed. Allow the water to cool. Take an ounce thrice a day for stopping vomiting. A similar decoction can be made with the rind of lime (small or large) instead of ginger and an ounce taken thrice a day to check nausea and vomiting.

In rural India there is a very interesting practice to arrest vomiting, A piece of peacock feather with its white central rib is burst; about half a teaspoonful of this charred feather is mixed in honey and given. The dose is repeated, if necessary a few times. Even for the little infants this treatment is supposed to work effectively. However one cannot go vomiting unless one has a few feathjers in stock or has a pecocok feather fan handy  to pluck out a feather.

A more herb remedy is to fry a couple of cloves, powder them, mix in honey and lick down slowly to stop vomiting. The anesthetic  action of clove benumbs the gullet and stomach and vomiting stops.

Biliousness or bitter mouth is associated with problem like poor digestion, dyspepsia, flatulence,etc. It is often due to improper functioning of the liver and gall bladder. After a full meal there is a bitter taste in the mouth. In the morning one gets up with a sour feeling. A simple home remedy for this would be take a glass of lime juice ( one lime to six ounce of water) with a piece of ginger crushed into it. When there is no lime available ginger pieces in jaggery will serve the same purpose.

For the most dyspeptic disorders lime is a panacea. But for its full effectiveness take the dilute juice as such or with a crystal of rock salt. Over sweetening lime decreases its medicinal value. However it retains its nutritive value in all forms. Only contraindication for taking lime would be when one is specifically allergic to citrus fruits, or when there is excess acid secretion of gastric juice with increased hunger and pain in upper abdomen when the stomach is empty.

Many paternal grandfather had  simple home remedy for condition of dysentery when there is pain in the abdomen frequent stools with traces of mucus. It is a tumbler of tea decoction with a teaspoonful of ghee in it. Tea with its tannin content and ghee as a demulcent help cure the inflammation of the intestines associated with dysentery. Some of my north Indian patients have mentioned about the usefulness of the common vegetable ‘dudhi’ in dysentery and intestinal gripe. Not only is the soup of this vegetable useful, but even the skin dried in shade and powdered and stores come handy to cure blood in the stool. A teaspoonful of the powder mixed in water and taken twice a day controls blood dysentery.

Pomegranate as mentioned earlier is a cure for various intestinal problems. All parts of the plant and fruit have medicinal value. The dry flowers as an infusion is very helpful in dysentery. The fruit juice is highly recommended in all forms of diarrhea and dysentery.  Even for small children pomegranate’s very useful. I have routinely recommended the fresh juice diluted in water for diarrhea. For curing dysentery the following prescription has been found useful. A piece of the skin of the fruit is roasted over charcoal and crushed into fine powder. Mixed with a little honey this is given twice or thrice a day. In dyspeptic diarrhea due to indigestion,dry or fresh ginger is very useful. Take a piece of dry ginger and powder it along with crystal of rock salt. A quarter teaspoonful of this powder taken with small piece of jaggery bring quick relief. Ginger is a carminative, aids in digestion by stimulating the gastric-intestinal tract.

For severe diarrhea my grandfather used equal quantities of onion juice and lime juice. She would give this mixture first before trying any other remedy. Onion is antiseptic, digestive and anti flatulent. Lime juice is astringent and nutritive ; it is rich in anti infective Vitamin C and citric acid. A combination of onion and lime juice should naturally help. She also had another useful recipe to check diarrhea. She would powder about half dozen tamarind seeds with a teaspoonful of cumin, Mix it with sweetened water. This is given also to stop dysentery. While the tamarind fruit pulp is laxative the seed are astringent and biding and help to control loose stools.

Mango seeds are very useful for diarrhea and dysentery. During the mango season collect the seeds,dry them in the shade, powder well, sieve to remove big particles and preserve the powder for use when necessary. A small roll of the powder in jaggery thrice a day is useful remedy for recurrent diarrhea. In combination with powdered ‘ Jamun’ seed this is dramatically effective.

Another easy to make home remedy for dysentery has poppy seeds as the main ingredient. About quarter teaspoonful of the powder of poppy seeds roasted to golden brown in honey twice a day gives relief from the symptoms of dysentery. As these seeds have sedative effect do not take the remedy for more than tree days. It is the seeds of the poppy plant from which opium is obtained.

A very useful intestinal antis pectic is turmeric. Turmeric rhizome as such, Its juice or dry powder in buttermilk or plain water is very helpful to cure chronic intestinal problems, specially chronic diarrhea. Turmeric in addition is a gastric stimulant, a blood enrichment and a tonic.

For those who are particular about home remedies and are willing to take the trouble of getting a few out of the way items here are few recipes :

The banyan and bamboo are very useful in traditional medicine. The banyan tree is found practically in every part of India, especially in the countryside. The buds of the banyan tree soaked in water overnight and taken as infusion help in chronic diarrhoeal complaints.

In many parts of the India the leaves of the bamboo arch used in the f0orm of decoction to tart diarrhea. The young shoots of the bamboo are however poisonous due to the content of hydrochloric acid in them., They are used only externally as a poultice for chronic infective condition of the skin. Hence it is better to avoid remedies which if carelessly made and taken could lead to serious side effects. Babul bark is available in any shop. A decoction of this bark is highly effective in chronic diarrhea. Bring highly astringent, it binds the bowels and controls diarrhea.

At that time most applicable for immediate effect is concentrated aniseed oil, it should be taken ten drops straight in half a teaspoonful of dry sugar. The aniseed are most effective remedy because of its essential oils which are stoma chic, digestive and curative. The vomiting will gradually stop. whether it is better then thrown out all the toxins or whether the aniseed oil. It is  this simple home remedy seemed to sort out the sudden occurring problems.

To set the system right coconut water and green plantation curry for two days is applicable. Through Indian in general have greater resistance to intestinal infection because of natural immunity – developed from young age- valuable lives have been lost in epidemics of summer gastroenteritis and cholera. Binders and astringents decreases discharge and harden stools. These are given with hope that in mild attacks they check the number of stools. In the  meantime the body immunity mechanism overcome the infection and the diarrhea is fully controlled. In diarrhea due to die tic indiscretion or due to mild intestinal infection home remedies are all that is needed. Powerful modern antibiotics are unnecessary.

Traditional home remedies often include mild intestinal antiseptics which are very useful in chronic dysentery and diarrhea. Modern antibiotics are powerful and efficient but the disease causing organism are quick to develop resistance to them. This is the great drawback of antibiotic therapy. Home remedies greatly emphasize on die tic restriction and oral hydration, i.e. the administering of liquids to replenish the loss of fluids from the body. What fluids are given orally depends on the region to which one belongs.

Coconut water which is rich in potassium is very useful to maintain the salt balance. Buttermilk, arrowroot water, barley water, whey water are all commonly used for oral hydration all over India. The Indian housewife uses curry leaves to add flavor to her dishes. Grind a bunch of these leaves into fine paste mix in buttermilk and drink on an empty stomach to set right an upset stomach.In the south, rice gruel is popularly given to control diarrhea.

Different forms f starchy liquids like barley water, arrowroot gruel, rice gruel or thin sago porridge not only replace the fluid lost but also bind the stools. When you have one or two loose stools a glass of dilute buttermilk to which turmeric and salt are added may be helpful. Place a cooking vessel on the fire and put half teaspoonful of turmeric and add buttermilk and pinch of salt. Warm till the buttermilk froth. Take this turmeric rich buttermilk three to four times a day.

Chewing down of few tender bael leaves every morning. Try this treatment, it has been know at least half a dozen acquaintances suffering from stomach problem who are benefited by this treatment. Bael leaves are soaked in water is taken to get an infusion. The next morning the strained water is taken as a drink. This treatment is continued daily for a few weeks. relief from pain and discomfort is certain. Bael  leaves are rich in tannins. The bael fruit taken in the form of beverage or as such has great healing properties due to mucilage contents which forms a coating on stomach mucosa and helps in the healing of ulcers. Tannins in addition decrease inflammation and help healing.

In many parts of South India there is a belief that cabbage is very helpful to cure stomach ulcers. cabbage is boiled in water. The water that is drained is taken cold twice a day as a cure.

Kalyana murungkai (drumsticks) is a variety of drumsticks freely found in south India. The leaves of this tree are popularly used for the healing of stomach ulcers. The leaves are grinde into the paste, mixed in curd and taken daily.

Manattakkali or makoi grows wild over India. The berries and leaves are sold in bazaar. The leaves, cooked and eaten help in healing ulcers in any part of the alimentary tract, from mouth to anus. The dry berries, a tablespoonful, fried in ghee and taken mixed with rice in a popular home recipe for treating ulcer in most part of south India. Mannattakkali berries and leaves are rich source of Vitamin C, Which further aids ulcer healing.

Liquorice is popular all over India for coughs and other respiratory problems. It is also very useful for removing pain due to stomach ulcers. The demulcent action of liquorice decreases the irritation due to acids.Pieces of the dry root soaked overnight in water and the inflation taken with rice gruel ( Kanji ) helps in the cure of ulcer. Manattakkali berries and leaves are rich source of Vitamin C, Which further aids ulcer healing.

Even in modern medicine liquorice has become a recognized drug for treating ulcer patients. Continuous, uninterrupted treatment is however not advisable as it may cause increase in weight and puffiness of body. Hence best avoided in pregnancy and heart and kidney conditions.There are several herbal remedies hidden in the depth of south side of India.

Little infants are very prone to it due to milk indigestion. The Indian mother has stock of home remedies for helping an infants suffering from colic. How often we have seen the mother-in-law or grandmother run into the kitchen to get asafoetida and Castor oil. She warms a little piece of asafoetida in Castor oil, powders the piece and mixes it well in a little warm Castor oil. She applies this medicated oil all around the suffering infant”s navel and gently massages the abdomen.

Some mothers use a combination of Bach, ‘harir’ and nutmeg ground to a paste as a carminative, antispasmodic medicine. Goar Bach is the rhizome of sweet flag, a popularly known semi aquatic plant. It is antispasmodic and digestive in small doses. The slight warmth on the abdomen brings on peristaltic movements of the intestines which help to expel any caught-up gas. A speck of asafoetida is a well known anti flatulent medicine.

In larger doses it produces vomiting due to the essential oils in it. The usefulness of goarbach in controlling diarrhea and dysentery us due to the large amount of tannin present in the rhizome.A more experienced mother rubs a piece of ‘gorbach’ just once or twice on a grinding stone and applies a bit of paste on the baby’s tongue to cure colic. By experience she knows how much will needed to relieve the colic.

The seeds of mint are very useful to relieve abdominal gripe due to indigestion in older children. After a heavy meal or indiscriminate eating if a child complains of fullness of belly and pain, the child may be given a quarter teaspoonful of seed to chew and swallow with water. Even chewing a few leaves of mint has carminative effect. Mint is rich in menthol and is a source of peppermint oil. Commonly used as a spice in cooking, It has valuable digestive properties.

For grown-ups warm mustard oil doubled be used to massage the abdomen. The counter irritants action of mustard decreases pain inside the abdomen. The warmth produced by massaging expels any wind caught up in the intestines.
Some suffer from pain in the abdomen due to over irritation of stomach. For such people my maternal aunt had a demulcent or soothing drink. She would take a tumbler of pain starch water obtained from cooked parboiled rice, and add a teaspoonful of cow’s ghee to it. Even for those suffering from an onset of dysentery she would use this home remedy for quick relief of abdominal discomfort.Among South Indians there is an interesting prescription for quick relief of abdominal pain. A teaspoonful of fenugreek seeds is powdered, mixed in buttermilk and taken internally to relieve pain and help digestion.
For frequent gripes in the belly many north Indians take Isabgol. Isabgol seeds with husk are soaked in water or milk for a few hours. The liquid is strained and taken at night. The high mucilaginous content in isabgol forms a covering inside the intestinal wall which protect the lining mucosa and helps in the healing of ulcers. Irritation and gripe thus decreases.

Digestion

“Guava is a very nutritious fruit. When eaten with seeds it gives roughage to the diet, it is good for digestion and regular bowel action. Eat it straight with its skin on, chew thoroughly without spitting out seeds for maximum benefit. Your digestion will become so strong that you can digest pebbles”

It helps in the normal evacuation of the bowels. The fruit improves overall resistance. Even to this day a deco cation made from its leaves is used in many Indian home remedy to check vomiting and diarrhea.

the leaves which are rich in the essential oil eugenol and tannins are highly astringents.They check vomiting and loose stools. The bark of the root od the guava tree is also very helpful for diarrhoeal complains. It is slightly roasted and powdered. A pinch of this in buttermilk checks diarrhoea,  a particularly useful remedy in infants and children.

It is interesting to note, while the fruit is a laxative and digestive the leaves and roots bark arrest diarrhoea and bind the stomach. In practically every Indian house-hold astachooran is a familiar name, This is an ayurvedic powder – administered in all types of digestive disorders and to increase appetite, to digest a heavy meal, to remove mouth  bitterness, to decrease flatulence and biliousness. It is not commonly made home. It is available ready made in the market and kept as a convenient home remedy to use when the need arises. It can cause heart burns due to the influx of stomach acids.

Ashtachoornam, as the name indicates has the following eight ingredients asafoetida,rock salt,dry ginger, black pepper, white cumin, black cumin, pipli (long pepper) and ajwain in equal proportion. They are separately roast es over a gentle fire, powdered fine and blended. A pinch to half teaspoonful of this powdered in honey or curd is ideal for indigestion in children and adults. A tiny speck of the powder in honey improves digestion and increases appetite infants.
Adults could take half to one teaspoonful in water, curd or honey in dyspeptic conditions. Stomach ulcer is only contraindication. Avoid tea and coffee which will over burn

Even nowadays many mothers prefer aniseed water sweetened with a piece of palm candy to administering ready made gripe mixtures for their infants. When cumin and aniseed are bi-led too long they lose their essential oils and thymol. Avoid over boiling so that their digestive properties are retained. However, the water that remains when concentrated has other medicinal values.

NAIL CARE

Doing manicure at home saves money and one need not be an artist for doing it.

The things required for manicure include file clip or emary board, orange slpi, mail clipper, nail buffer, nail polisher, cuticle oil, colored nail polish, transparent treatment nail polish, protective or strengthening polish, exfoliation lotion, moisturizing hand cream and nail polish remover.
There are steps for manicuring. At first any old nail polish shold be removed using nail polish removar or acetone. This can be done by taking a cotton ball wetting it with acetine or nail paint removar and then wiping the nails with the cotton ball. Then nails should be shaped using a file to a desitred length and shape. The length of all the nails should be same as far as possible. While giving shape to the nails it is important to use the file only in one direction to prevent nails from breaking and maintaining their strength. if the file is very sharp then it can be used bith way.

Then the hands should be immersed in warm water fir 5 to 10 minutes. Sime liquid soap can be added to that. Care should be taken that the water is not too hot which may cause drying of hands. Then cuticle cream can be applied to the base of the nails to make any rough spots softer.

Then the cuticles should be pushed back of the nail bed with the help of a cuticle stick so that they do not disturb the polishing. If cuticle stick is not available then popstick can be used. If ine is used ti self manicure and wants to have great hands then the cuticles can be cut back. Then the hands should be cleaned using a scrub or a homade made scrub.

After scrubbing the hands should be dried. Then the application of moisturizer and nail polish are the last steps. The two thin coats of nail polish should be applied. The second coat should be applied only after drying the first. If there is no time to polish the nails then the manicured nails also look good. Another tip os light nail polish is better to maintain than the drak one therefore isung a lighter shade is better.

Nails can be painted while watching TV or listening to music so that to allow them dry properly. Most of the manicure steps can be followed for the feet also. Cleaning the nails before application of nail polish is necessary so that the nail polish sticks to the nail properly. If the manicure is done after every two months then the hands especially the cuticles need to be cared less. When cuticles act up then application of oil is recommended to soften them.

Hand are one of the things contribute to personal image. They should be cared properly and adequately.

If people are allergic to certain products and certain ingredients then it is best to avoid them. In such circumstances natural products are better alternatives. The natural products are for pretty, gentle and problem free skin. It is thought that natural skin products are more pure and they do not contain any harmful ingredients prepared in the lab. However it is not always true.

There are some chemicals in the beauty or skin care products like phthalates, petrochemicals and preservatives like parabens are just like hormones in the body and can cause cancer in higher concentrations. But the council for Personal Care Products has passed these products as safe but the Environmental Working Group say that people should avoid them.

There are some problems with the natural products. The tern natural is not defined properly therefore the product may not contain any ingredients one is looking for them in it.

Reading the labels on the products is very important. If they contain ingredients like parabens as preservatives, petrochemicals and their products, all these are found in skin care products. Other harmful ingredients in cosmetics include lead in lipsticks, mercury in mascara and eye drops, dioxane in shampoos and body washes and phthalates in hair sprays and nail polishes.

It is important to know that natural ingredients also cause allergies.  A study published in a leading journal has found that many people are allergic or sensitive to the most popular natural ingredients like jasmine, tea tree oil, lavender and feverfew.  To check for the natural ingredients “sniff test” is good. Smelling the product for the smell of the ingredient which it is claiming to contain helps in checking for its presence. If the smell is like the natural one then the product contains that particular ingredient in natural form. If it has a smell like artificial flavor then it contains only the flavor and not the natural ingredient.

In another study various brands of baby care products were tested fir cancer causing chemicals formaldehyde and 1,4 dioxane and it was found that most of the products contain one of these chemicals.

According to many experts the minute quantities of chemicals do not harm the body but others say that such minute quantities from many such products can be harmful to body and such study to find the collective effect has not been carried out.

The answer to this dilemma of skin care products is the use of home remedies. So instead of using Aloe Vera cream Aloe Vera preparation prepared at home is better. Instead of cold cream coconut oil or “Kokam oil” is better for winter skin care. Less use of soap is also a better option to prevent drying of skin in winter. Use of milk products instead of creams, use of coarse turmeric or sandal powder is better than scrub. Turmeric paste in milk can be used for fair skin instead of fairness creams.

Thus finding a home remedy for skin problem and skin care is better than solving the controversies and finding which product is better.

Very important about make up is that it should be used to add to the beauty and not to cover the age. Excessive make up draws unnecessary attention. Here are some steps to great make up.

The first and the foremost thing about make up is that it should be according to the occasion. For daytime the make up should be lighter and for night functions it can be brighter.

Some women do not ware make up at al because of the fear that do not make it a loud. In such cases they can start with light make up using light shades and fewer things. Like initially they can start with foundation, then mascara, then blush or lipstick.

For the make the foundation to be used of the color of the skin. Blending the shades to get the perfect skin color is important. Same is for the powder. Darker shades look good on dark people and lighter shades are suitable for fair people. After doing all the make up the overall make up should look natural.

The lip liner should be applied on entire lips and then the lipstick of desired color should be used. The lip color should go along with the skin color and the lip liner should be seen. To make the lips smaller the lip liner should be applied on the inner side of the lips and make them look larger then the lip liner should be applied on outer side of the lips. Sometimes this can look ugly.

The eyeliner should be thin and light. This will brighten up rest of the make up and will give softer looks. Mascara also should be light. As excessive mascara can cause flaking and can look ugly if worn with thick eyeliner or dark blue eye shadow.

To color the hair the shades chosen should suit the original color. If the original hair is dark color then a dark color will suit them. If the original hair color is light then light colors are better. If one decides to color the hair then consistency is a must otherwise the roots will be seen differently.

Finally if make up is done regular touch ups throughout the day are required otherwise it will start fading or creasing.

While buying make up products it is not necessary that only big stores should be selected. It is common thought that the big stores have best products and best prices. The make up products companies can earn more by selling their products in bigger stores as customers do not like to and do not trust smaller stores. In these stores the products are very expensive. There are smaller shops who sell good quality make up products that too at cheaper rates. The smaller shops may not have all the make up brands but the one you are looking for may be available with him and that too at cheaper rates.