Home Remedies

The cure for what ails you may be no further than your pantry and kitchen cabinet. What your grandmother told you turns out to be right after all—many foods and herbs have been clinically proven to be as effective as a medication that can be purchased in a drug store. Other home remedies have not been scientifically tested, but nonetheless, yield amazing results for many people. However, home remedies are not meant to be replacements for conventional medicines in the case of a serious medical condition.

Some herbs used in home remedies have the reputation of being “cure-alls”. While this is a slight exaggeration, home remedies using garlic and honey, for example, can often yield dramatic results. Garlic has been known to prevent colds. It is also an antiseptic, and small amounts of garlic can be placed on a wound to aid in healing. Honey is also good for wounds, and is especially useful when placed on stubborn wounds that will not close. Home remedies that are mainly beauty remedies often use honey, since it is a wonderful agent for tightening the pores, and it also softens the hair. Honey and lemon in tea is still an excellent treatment for a stubborn cough and cold.

Among popular summer home remedies are tea and chammomile. It has been scientifically proven that placing black tea (cold of course) helps to treat sunburn. The active ingredient in regular tea is tannin, which draws out the redness of a sunburn and takes care of a lot of the irritation. It has been said that chammomile repels mosquitoes. Splashing cold chammomile tea before a hike might be a good way to prevent bites.

Home remedies for colds are very well known, since the common cold cure has yet to be discovered. Breathing in steam from boiling apple cider vinegar helps to clear the nose as well as drops from salt water. Hot compresses are great for a fever, and peppermint tea is said to restore vitality. Pregnant and nursing women should be especially careful about which home remedies to use since many seemingly harmless herbs, such as peppermint and red raspberry leaves, do not support pregnancy.