OLD REMEDIES
Even with all the spas and diet foods available in this country today, we are still overweight as a nation. Nutrition experts tell me there’s a reason for that. We eat more and exercise less, and when we think we’re controlling our weight by eating special “fat free” or “sugar free” foods, perhaps we should think again. Nothing is free, they remind me, and to make up for the taste lost by less sugar and fat, more additives are in the food, which makes our food products chemically-enhanced and harder on the delicate system that makes up the metabolic process.
Women of a certain age were not fat even after child-bearing years and menopause because they did not eat meats injected with growth hormones or fruits and vegetables laced with pesticides. If they were obese, they were just plain lazy or they had “glandular problems.” Women worked hard back then, even the glandular afflicted. They did not have televisions that encouraged sitting on the sofa; they did not have computers that required sitting in a chair, and they were active most of the day. We will never go back to growing our own food and doing one fourth of the things our grandmothers did, but we can use some of the proven remedies that worked for them. Here are a few that are known to be effective, and they use an ingredient we all have: apple cider vinegar (ACV). Please be advised that ACV cannot cure disease, for curing is a biological function performed by the body, but ACV enhances the body’s ability to cure itself.
• Apple cider vinegar is indeed a superb homeopathic remedy that has been used by practitioners and individuals to provide relief for various ailments, including its use as a detoxifying agent for the bloodstream, kidneys and other organs. Today, homeopathic practitioners, naturopaths and others realize the importance of detoxification to the healing process. Even though a detox program can include various processes from thermal waters to fasting, one old Southern remedy that remains a favorite involves apple cider vinegar and distilled water.
To detox: Place two tablespoons of ACV in a bottle of distilled water; drink several glasses of the mixture throughout the day for the full effects of detoxing the body. Do not add sweetener. Other reported benefits are increased energy and gradual weight loss.
• Kidneys and bladder can benefit from “flushing” with two teaspoons of ACV in a glass of distilled water six times a day. Additionally, this has been known to clear up inflammation of the kidneys. Caution is warranted for persons with liver disease.
• Two teaspoons of apple cider vinegar in a full glass of water at each meal (three times a day) will result in a gradual weight loss, as in one dress size smaller. The apple cider vinegar helps burn body fat, not store it.
• Apple cider vinegar helps cure sore throat. Mix one teaspoon of vinegar in a glass of water; use as a gargle every hour. Take one mouthful at a time; gargle, then swallow so that it reaches all parts of the throat. Repeat each hour. As relief occurs, gargle every two hours.
• ACV promotes digestion, assimilation, and elimination. Those who suffer from heartburn should sip a tablespoon of raw apple cider vinegar added to a glass of water and sip it while eating.
• As a cough suppressant, mix ACV and enough honey to taste in a small jar. Take a tablespoon as needed.
• To help relieve arthritis pain, add to a glass of distilled water two teaspoons of ACV and two teaspoons of raw honey. Drink three glasses of this mixture each day. This cocktail will also help ease colitis.
• For a liniment, beat one egg with one tablespoon of turpentine and one tablespoon of ACV. Rub onto skin surface. This was once used as relief for lameness.
