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WINTER
Avoid winter infections before you get them. Eat plenty of fresh fruit and vegetables and in addition take 1000mg. Vitamin C every day; 5000mg if you are a smoker. Eat lots of garlic;
it’s nature’s own antibiotic. Drink elderflower tea every day; it tones up the mucus membranes so you produce less phlegm and are less likely to get colds. Wear a vest.
If you get a cold:
- Keep it to yourself. Stay at home. Wash your hands often, as cold germs are often spread by touch. Dispose of tissues immediately.
- Stop all dairy products, which increase mucus production. That means milk, cheese, yoghurt, cream, ice cream, milk chocolate.
- Go to bed if you feel poorly. Keep warm but not stuffy. Relax.
- Increase garlic. Take at least one clove a day; as garlic bread, on pasta or chopped and gulped down with water.
- Increase Vitamin C to 5000mg. A day in the short term.
- Take 30mg of zinc at bedtime while you are ill, then stop.
- Drink teas made of thyme (unless you're pregnant) and elderflower.
If you take a chill:
- Go to bed with a hot water bottle and this brew:
In a big mug, put
- ½ teaspoon dried ginger
- ½ clove
- 2 inches stick cinnamon
- 2 teaspoons thick honey
- Fill with boiling water and stir to dissolve honey.
- Add lemon juice and/or whiskey to taste.
If you get a fever:
- Don't suppress it; it's designed to burn out the infection and speed recovery.
- If the fever is mild, stay in bed, rest, drink plenty of water and herb teas. A mixture of elderflower, peppermint and yarrow is traditionally used to loosen fevers. Lime blossom has the same effect and is relaxing. Be careful not to become chilled - stay under loose covers.
- If fever rises 2 degrees or more in children, call the doctor
- For higher fevers, sponge the patient with tepid water; put a tepid flannel on the brow and change often, and, if necessary, lie them in a bath of tepid water. NEVER use cold water. Call medical help, particularly if there is a history of convulsions.
If you get a sore throat:
- Gargle with sage tea as often as possible - every half hour will do.
- Increase garlic
- If the throat is dry and inflamed, take coltsfoot tea frequently, interspersed with hot honey and lemon (a teaspoon of honey and some lemon juice in boiling water, allowed to cool a bit).
If you get a cough or chest infection:
- Make this cough mixture:
- chop raw onion finely
- In a bowl put a layer of onion
- Then a layer of brown sugar (white will do in emergencies)
- Then a layer of onion, and so on
- Leave overnight
- In the morning, drink all the juice which has seeped out.
- Loosen a cough with plenty of coltsfoot tea
- Drink thyme tea to loosen mucus and stop infection
- A decoction of elecampane root will move deep-seated phlegm as well as fighting infection and helping to heal the lungs
- Eat plenty of garlic and rub it over the chest.
- For small children, rub garlic on the soles of the feet instead
- In all these infections, drink plenty of water, stop all dairy products and rest at home.
Hangovers
- Drink plenty of water before going to bed. Keep drinking the water.
- Take 4 capsules of evening primrose oil before bed, and again next morning
- Take Swedish (angostura) bitters if you can get them (often over the bar). Dilute in water, sip gently.
- Add the juice of half a lemon or some Jif lemon (NOT lemon squash) to a mug of hot water and sip slowly.
- The idea is to get the liver to break down alcohol as fast as possible. In emergencies, a fried breakfast will stimulate bile flow (In the long term, it increases stress on the liver).
- Drink peppermint tea for nausea.
Overeating
- Follow instructions for hangovers, omitting the fried breakfast. Take plenty of dried fruit - raisins, figs, prunes - to speed up the bowel. Try eating just fruit for a day or two.
Dry skin and lips
- Increase your intake of oils - nuts, sunflower and pumpkin seeds, avocadoes. If necessary also take evening primrose and flax seed oil.
- Massage almond oil into your skin all over after the bath/shower.
- Drink lots of water.
- Keep moving. Dry skin is often a sign of poor circulation - see below.
- Look after your lips. Rub olive oil into them every day. Make a stunning lip salve by melting together a tablespoon of marigold oil and half a teaspoon of beeswax in a bowl over a pan of boiling water. Pour into a warm jar while still liquid.
Poor circulation, chilblains
- Get enough exercise. Going for a walk warms you up. Keep moving.
- Drink ginger tea every day. Add ½ teaspoonful dried ginger or about ¾ inch of root (grated) to boiling water. Add honey and lemon to taste.
- Wear warm socks, gloves, a woolly hat and a vest.
- If you work outdoors or get chilblains, dust the inside of your socks and gloves with a mixture of talcum powder and a little cayenne pepper. NEVER do this with broken chilblains.
- Take mustard foot baths. Add 2 tablespoonfuls of dried mustard powder to a washing up bowl of hot (not boiling) water and soak your feet for ½ hour. Top up the hot water as it cools.
- Use marigold oil see below on broken chilblains. If not available, squeeze a capsule of vitamin E oil over them.
Winter blues
- Get outside. Experience the daylight while it's there. You'll be surprised how often the sun shines.
- Get moving. Take a brisk walk in the lunch hour and again after work.
- If your work allows it, change your schedule. Don't get up before dawn in winter if possible.
- Eat well. Fresh food with plenty of fruit and vegetables. No junk food.
- Eat oats every day. They are a wonderful tonic for the nervous system.
- Take a supplement of vitamin B complex for your nerves.
- Always have fresh flowers or a bowl of bulbs in the house in winter.
- If you get very low, drink St. John's Wort tea or take it in capsules. If you are taking any other medicine, consult your nearest herbalist about interactions.
- Remember spring is coming.
How to make a herb tea.
If you have a teapot, warm it. Add a couple of teaspoonfuls of dried herb and cover with boiling water. Allow to brew for 5 minutes. Strain and drink.
You can also use one teaspoonful to a mug and cover with a saucer for 5 minutes.
How to make marigold oil.
Put 2 handfuls of dried marigold flowers in a Pyrex bowl and cover with sunflower or almond oil. Stand the bowl in a saucepan of boiling water and simmer over a low heat for 2 hours. Keep checking that the pan is not boiling dry and the water is not bubbling over into the oil. Strain through an old tea towel (don't burn yourself — let it cool a bit first). Add another 2 handfuls of flowers to the same - now yellow - oil and repeat the process. Easy.
How to make a decoction of roots or seeds
Add a teaspoonful of dried herbs to a cup and a half of boiling water. Put in a pan and simmer gently for ten minutes. Strain and drink.
Dried herbs are available from:
Baldwins
171-173 Walworth Road
London SE17 1RW
020 7703 5550
www.baldwins.co.uk
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