Our big house on a hill was built of thick beech logs. It was cool in summer and warm in the winter. It was filled with love and kindness, our family often including grandparents from my mother’s and father’s sides; folk wisdom; and the aroma of grapes, walnuts, herbs, and wildflowers. Within our home in the country was a most magical place—the basement. Grandma’s and Grandpa’s homemade libations and elixirs shared that space. There Grandpa stored wooden barrels filled with his homemade crystal-clear white and rosé wines and lined shelf upon shelf with old-fashioned European glass bottles containing liquors and cognacs that he carefully prepared each fall. In another part of the basement Grandma fil ed her beautiful and simple European glass bottles with her homemade natural medicine recipes; tinctures of herbs, berries or fruits; and aromatic oils. On special racks in autumn she would hang handmade “necklaces” strung with dried fruits and herbs, or Vitachella with nuts, which we cal ed “grape sausage.” Her secret recipe for 22 ^ Mama’s Home Remedies
Vitachel a included cooked grape juice with special spices and, of course, walnuts. From November to May we enjoyed these dainty tidbits ful of a variety of natural ingredients and vitamins. My sister and I were al owed to go anytime to the basement, which we cal ed our “Sweet Fairyland,” to tear down and eat a grape “necklace.”
Another room of the basement was stocked with herbs. Some were suspended from the ceiling; others were carefully wrapped and packed in parchment. Near this herbarium was Grandma’s and Mama’s laboratory where they prepared their miraculous natural medicines for our family, for our friends and neighbors, and for Mama’s patients.
Grandma and Mama never sold their natural medicines. They were oldfashioned women. They shared a strong belief that if the medicines were sold, they would lose their ability to heal. Instead they felt they must offer them mercifully and free of charge to those who needed them. This mission of mercy helped many people overcome their illnesses. Because we grew up in a society without mass-produced and heavily marketed antibiotics and drugs, we, as the ancient Greeks, developed a strong, natural foundation in our bodies to be healthy human beings.
Once upon a time there lived an old man in the
sunny Valley of Roses. Long ago he planted a
big vineyard, which brought him a rich bounty year after
year. The vineyard was his passion, and so he decided to
build a beautiful big house right in the center of it.
Over time the house became entwined in grapevines. He believed that grapes and their vines would defend his hearth from evil people, from dust, and from the harmful effects of a hot, dry summer. He also believed that his mighty grapevines would clean and refresh the air. Overall his grapevines, he believed, would make his life peaceful and healthy. Grapes and vines are symbols of well-being, friendship, and attachment. Like the pineapple, they are a symbol of welcome. When the old man’s grapevines blossomed in June, he would drop to his knees, press his nose into the lush grape-laden vines, and breathe in their delicate aroma. A Healthy Spirit Lives in a Healthy Body @ 23
He waited patiently for September to come, when he would harvest great quantities of ripe amber, ruby, and rose grapes swollen with sweet juice. With his face illuminated by the brightest smile and his eyes shining with sparks of happiness, he would begin his task of creating “Sunny Beams” juices and wines. The old man went about his work in a passionate way and often said that he was so happy he felt as if he could kiss everyone in the whole world a thousand times.
This man was my grandfather.
Now I will share a story that he shared with me when I was a little girl.
“Come here, into the vineyard” he told his children one day. “The grapevine will pass happiness along to you too.” The children came many times to his purple and green kingdom, sparkling with millions of thin, almost invisible luminescent threads of sun rays and he told them everything he knew about grapevines and happiness.
The grapevine has always inspired great artists and poets. Many centuries ago a Greek artist painted a grapevine that became a famous legend. The grapes he painted were so attractive and realistic on the canvas that the birds mistakenly thought they could eat them. They flocked to the painting from everywhere to take a bite of happiness and enjoy the taste of juicy grapes. But the birds soon learned that the talented artist had fooled them.
“So don’t be mistaken in your life,” Grandpa told us. “See things as they really are. Don’t fool yourself. Whatever you do, do it well and you will always be satisfied with yourself and happy with the whole world. It’s so easy. If you do not do a good job, you will have to pay the consequences. You will have to correct what you did wrong and do it over and over again and you will not come to a great result. My advice to you is to do everything right in the first place and all good things will come back to you like a boomerang.”
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Grandpa used to say. “The land, especially the vineyard, loves hard workers and happy people. If you are in a fine mood, your grapevines will be too. Your feelings are passed along to them.” My grandfather worked hard every day from sunrise to sunset with his brothers by his side. This was the way in which he lived his life and he accepted it and was satisfied with it. He never wished to change it. In the 1930s the brothers built a family empire: vineyards, orchards, fields. They built a plant where they made their fine wines and juices. Then the Soviets came in 1940 and they nationalized people’s private properties. They prohibited private citizens from owning commercial vineyards and orchards. The two oldest brothers fled to France and Canada. For a year after that, my grandfather could not recover from the shock of what the Soviets had done or the loneliness he felt without his brothers, nor could he adjust to his new life without his beloved vineyard and orchard. He became terribly sick for a long time, suffering from shock and distress. One day my father gave him hope and renewed energy. He got permission for Grandpa to grow his cherished grapes and fruits on one acre of land in the outskirts of the city in which we lived. And Grandpa planted with great enthusiasm his new and last vineyard. He was always a gentle and kind man who didn’t talk much. I never heard him complain of being tired. I watched him toil in his orchard, and it was for me a priceless lesson because I learned how happy a man could be doing what he loved to do. I recalled many times the story of my grandfather who began his life anew after losing everything. Grandpa, this tiny but strong man with the soul of a child, had never been ill in his life. But the magic of our human nature is that we can adjust to any changes in our lives. Positive ones we adjust to in the blink of an eye; the negative changes take longer. The main point is that we can get accustomed to almost everything—if we love and believe.
Grandpa quickly became accustomed to his new life and a much smaller piece of land, and again he was happy, healthy, optimistic, and cheerful. He could not imagine life without his work. He couldn’t imagine losing his liaison with Nature and the vineyard. It was his magical world of the grapevines of happiness. As long as he dwelled in this spot, he was healthy and happy.
“A healthy spirit lives in a healthy body” is a wise expression attributed to the ancient Greeks. They did not have antibiotics or other chemical stimulators, such as sedative drugs, which so many people use now—and yet they were healthy and happy.
A Healthy Spirit Lives in a Healthy Body @ 25
We must maintain our health and energy to keep up with the fast pace of life in the twenty-first century. Unfortunately too many people are unaware that they are poisoning their bodies with chemicals in an effort to obtain rapid relief from their ailments.
While our physical health is supremely important, we cannot neglect our mental and emotional health either. Most of us, in an effort to manage our jobs, home life, and other roles we have taken on, must process a seemingly endless and continuous stream of information flying at us at breakneck speed via our modern media. Consequently we become overstressed and quickly burn out.
Stress has been
recognized as the major contributor to many neuroses and cardio-vascular problems. Scientists say that one in three people suffer from a nervous disorder or other form of stress-related disease. We must remember to establish boundaries for ourselves to maintain a healthy balance of work and play. Moderation is the key. Are we operating within our physical and intellectual limits? Have we succumbed to weakness and vulnerability? Or have we learned to accumulate and sustain reserves of our energy? We must all learn to tap into our reservoirs of strength and energy and keep them effective for as long as we can. How?
To maintain our health and conserve our energy, we must identify and eliminate the bad habits we practice that deplete them. First, we can temper our use of over-the-counter chemical preparations which are widely and readily available in drug stores. Taken over the years, they rob us of our strength, poison us, and destroy our internal organs.
Chemical drugs such as sedatives and stimulants may give us initial relief, but for a short time only. The body’s response to them often varies or changes. The little pill you popped a few months ago to take the edge off or put you to sleep may now make you nervous, dizzy, or prone to insomnia or cause other adverse side effects.
Prescription drugs used to treat illnesses such as heart disease, high blood pressure, thyroid disease, and diabetes should not be used for the long term, but only in the heat of our illness or during our recovery, and always under the supervision of a physician. If you become concerned about the amount of medicine you are taking or the duration of a course of drug therapy, ask your doctor about herbal alternatives.
Several years ago I read an article, “Doctors Are the Third Leading Cause of Death in the U.S., Causing 250,000 Deaths Every Year.” It was published 26 ^ Mama’s Home Remedies
in the largest and the most respected medical journal in the world, the Journal of the American Medical Association. 7
I remember getting a feeling of desperation after reading this article. None of the wire services picked up this story; the news media let it slip by. Perhaps the publishers decided that an article documenting the tragedy of the traditional medical paradigm of the United States might cause several million readers to rise up and ask questions.
When I mentioned this article to one of my friends, a journalist and breast cancer survivor, she said, “I think that this number, 250,000, is even higher now.” The author, Dr. Barbara Starfield of the John Hopkins School of Hygiene and Public Health, described how the U.S. health-care system may contribute to poor health. The figure, 250,000 deaths per year, is comprised of so-called iatrogenic cases! This term is defined as “induced in a patient by a physician’s activity, manner or therapy.”
Another analysis concluded that consecutive patients experience negative effects in outpatient settings with 116 million extra physician visits, 17 million extra prescriptions, 17 million hospitalizations, 3 million long-term hospital admissions, 199,000 additional deaths, and $77 billion in extra costs. However, evidence from a few studies indicated that as many as 20 to 30 percent of patients receive inappropriate care. The poor performance of the United States was recently confirmed by the World Health Organization, which used different data and ranked the United States 15th among 25 industrialized countries in healthcare. In any case 250,000 deaths per year from iatrogenic causes constitute the third leading cause of death in the United States, after deaths from heart disease and cancer. Shocking news, isn’t it?
We know that every doctor graduating from medical school takes the Hippocratic Oath to treat people no matter what. Doctors make a sacred promise “to do no harm,” but statistics show that doctors and hospitals do make mistakes. Another report that I found shocking was from the Institute of Medicine. It showed that medical mistakes are a common and potentially life-threatening risk.
Dr. Joseph Mercola, from the Optimal Wellness Center in Shaumburg, Illinois, had this to say about it in his newsletter: “It is an intolerable situation, especially when it’s taking place in the United States, which leads the world in medical advances.”8
A Healthy Spirit Lives in a Healthy Body @ 27
So what are we waiting for? Our ancestors survived by being smart and keeping themselves healthy with help from Mother Nature. Most of us come into this world as healthy human beings. Our bodies are designed to maintain the best in us. We are built to be solid, strong, and energetic. We can keep our bodies free of toxins and cleanse our systems periodically with herbs such as burdock, chamomile, dandelion, and garlic. Our natural resources, such as the sun, earth, and Nature, provide us with optimal energy. Thus we are perfectly capable to self-heal when we are sick or injured.
We are intended to live a long and healthy life, but only on one condition: we must take our health into our hands and maintain the knowledge of how to do that. We are our own best friends. So take good care of your best friend. By knowing the curative and preventative qualities of herbs and plants, we can safely treat our ailments and prevent further diseases, weaknesses, or hopelessness from wreaking havoc in our lives.
We must take control of our health while we are still healthy. Medical research organizations are not proponents of preventative medicine because their work is based on illness.
“There is no money to be made from healthy people.” This statement is excerpted from an article, “The Life That Is Costing Hundreds of Billions of Dollars,” published by a health organization in New Zealand.9 “This is why the medical and research establishments are not in the least interested in prevention (practically all diseases are preventable).”
Preventive care is the solution to disease. It can keep us healthy and free of illnesses. We can do it! We just have to learn how to do it. How can we begin to think differently about how we maintain our healthy bodies and help prevent serious illness? First, get smart! Keep up to date on the latest research on alternative health measures. We must equip ourselves with this powerful tool. With knowledge we can provide first aid and preventive healthcare in our own homes for ourselves and our families and avoid spending a fortune on doctor visits and drugstore prescriptions. Greek mythology tells us that Apollo, the god of prophesy, music, and healing, equated the medicinal worth of the common garden radish to that of gold, rapeseed to silver, and turnip to lead. Apollo later fathered a son, Asclepiad (Roman, Aesculapius), who is known to us now as the ancient Greek god of medicine and healing.
Aesculapius in Roman mythology is a god of healing. His name became synonymous with “doctor” or “healer” in an ironically playful way. Aesculapius 28 ^ Mama’s Home Remedies
or Asclepiad is known as the god of healing who became so skilled that he attempted to resurrect the dead, thus angering Zeus, who struck him dead with a thunderbolt.
The medical profession has adopted his symbol, a staff entwined by a snake.
I know some great American and European doctors who not only employ the use of well-known antibiotics and other drugs under their strict supervision, but they also prescribe and make their own healing herbal remedies. They garnered these natural remedies from centuries of wisdom, proven by generations of healers in Europe, Asia, and North and South America. They know that their patients rely on their knowledge and attitude. Good doctors are compelled to gain victory over disease.
Popping an over-the-counter pain tablet may provide temporary relief from a simple headache, but most of these drugs will not provide relief for migraine headaches—and loading up on chemicals over long periods of time does the body little good. Why not try a natural remedy instead?
Not everyone knows that most of us have in our kitchens a well-stocked
“apothecary.” Even today the common garden radish, swede, and turnip are valued in folk medicine for their healing properties.
R 1. One tablespoon of garden radish juice, squeezed from the root and taken three times, is helpful in decreasing coughs and soothing a hoarse voice. It is useful in treating dysfunctions of the liver and gal bladder, including the formation of stones in the kidneys and liver.
R 3. Although in most cases not as effective as radish juice, the juice of a turnip mixed with honey settles a cough.
R 4. Cooked and pulverized turnip root used as a plaster helps heal gout in the foot.
A Healthy Spirit Lives in a Healthy Body @ 29
R 5. A plaster of washed, fresh cabbage leaves applied to the forehead and temples relieves headaches.
R 6. Try the same plaster to soothe a burn, bruise, or external abrasions. R 7. Systematical y chew sauerkraut to make weak gums stronger. R 8. A wart rubbed with the fresh juice of sour apples over 10 days wil darken, decrease in size, and then disappear.
R 9. One tablespoon each of rum, glycerin, and lemon juice mixed and rubbed into the scalp strengthens the hair.
R 10. A cotton pad soaked in the freshly squeezed juice of two to three garlic cloves or one cut garlic clove rubbed onto the affected area treats skin disorders, including eczema and balding. Garlic acts as an effective antiseptic, antibacterial, and antifungal healer for other infected skin conditions such as acne.
R 11. Drink ½ cup of freshly squeezed cabbage juice 30 minutes before breakfast, lunch, and dinner for three to four weeks to help with weight loss.
R 12. A freshly grated beet, mixed with one tablespoon sour cream, is used to treat acne and purulent (festering) pimples by applying to the affected area for five minutes.
R 13. Strong black coffee made with freshly ground coffee beans can be used as a hand bath and to treat nail fungus.
R 14. Painful corns can be treated by rubbing them with fresh tomato slices for 15 minutes a day for two weeks.
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In your kitchen you will most likely find a vegetable that sailors have used for ages to treat burns, stomach ailments, and scurvy while navigating the high seas—the potato.
Mama's Home Remedies: Discover Time-Tested Secrets of Good Health and the Pleasures of Natural Living Page 4