Mama's Home Remedies: Discover Time-Tested Secrets of Good Health and the Pleasures of Natural Living

by Svetlana Konnikova

  “swimming” inside. Enjoy!

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  Here is my grandma’s recipe:

  Prepare 30–40 young grape leaves; two tablespoons olive oil, corn oil, or butter; two onions; 10–12 baby carrots; one parsley root; ½ cup uncooked rice, two tablespoons tomato puree or three freshly cubed tomatoes; ½ cup lemon juice; ½ cup sour cream; one cup chicken broth; one cup tomato juice, two teaspoons sugar or honey; one teaspoon salt; ½ teaspoon black pepper; one teaspoon fresh dill; and one tablespoon fresh parsley. Pour boiling water on the grape leaves and wash them well. Blanch the rice by rinsing in a sieve in cold water. Mix and roast a little bit of diced onions, carrots, parsley root, and parsley leaves. Put blanched rice and all roasted vegetables in a big bowl. Add salt and pepper, chopped fresh dill, and parsley leaves. Mix well. Make balls with this vegetable stuffing and put one on each prepared grape leaf. Roll each into a small “package.”

  Rub the walls and the bottom of a two-quart pot with olive oil. Cover the bottom of the pot with grape leaves. Carefully place the golubtsi layer by layer in the pot. Mix chicken broth with tomato juice or tomato puree and a pinch of salt and black pepper. Mix two tablespoons lemon juice with two teaspoons sugar or honey and pour this liquid into the pot. Cook 10 minutes. Cover the tops of the golubtsi with grape leaves and put pot in a 350° oven and let it steam until the rice is ready (about 25–30

  minutes). Place all golubtsi on a big serving plate. Pour the sauce remaining in the pot on top of the golubtsi. Top with dollops of sour cream. Chop fresh parsley and sprinkle on top. Serves 5–10, warm or cold.

  This is a delicious and healthy meal. You can add to the

  vegetable stuffing one pound of ground veal for a nice flavor. Then you can enjoy a small bunch of grapes, or one cup grape juice or one cup grape compote for dessert (see #43).

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  Do you know that sometimes even a happy grapevine cries with juicy tears?

  According to Avicenna, an ancient Asian doctor, the tears of a grapevine heal herpes (shingles). The juice, flowing out when the grapevine is cut, or a juice exuded when the grapevine burns is cal ed a grapevine’s tears. Ancient people used it by soaking a cotton pad in grapevine tears and applying to an affected area. A grapevine was always a symbol of friendship and constant affection for the family and friends—especial y for Russians. Century after century many different enemies invaded this grape country. Moldova is located in the southeastern part of Europe on the major European crossroads. The climate is moderate and the soil is rich and black, similar to the famous fruitful soil in Switzerland, Italy, and France. Hundreds of vineyards grow there under the friendly rays of the sun and blossom with a fancy appearance in the long val eys. Thousands of liters of red, white, and rosé wines and juices are made every fal . Even on a topographical world map, the contours of this country resemble a bunch of grapes. For many centuries it attracted numerous invaders: Scythians, Hottentots, Huns, Golden Horde of Tatars and Mongolians, ancient Romans, and Turks. Wars raged on and on beginning in the twelfth century. My grandfather’s family lived in Moldova for centuries, learning how to be happy and how to keep a healthy spirit in a healthy body.

 

  The sun, with al those planets revolving around it and dependent on it, can stil ripen a bunch of grapes as if it had nothing else in the universe to do.

  —Galilée (Galileo Galilei), 1564–1842, Italian physicist and astronomer ƒ

  Life well spent is long.

  —Leonardo Da Vinci (1452–1519), Florentine artist and scientist 50 ^ Mama’s Home Remedies

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  Throw nature out of the door, it will come back (or return) through the window.

  —Fyodor Dostoevsky (1821–1881), Russian novelist, The Brothers Karamazov ƒ

  If you want the present to be different from the past, study the past.

  —Baruch Spinoza (1632–1677), Dutch philosopher

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  First say to yourself what you would be; and then do what you have to do.

  —Epictetus (C.A.D. 55–135), Greek Stoic philosopher

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  The heart has its reasons which reason knows nothing of.

  —Blaise Pascal (1623–1662), French scientist and religious philosopher ƒ

  I know of no more encouraging fact than the

  unquestionable ability of man to elevate his life

  by a conscious endeavor.

  —Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862), American writer

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  If you want to be happy, be…

  —Alexei Tolstoi (1883–1945), Russian novelist and playwright ƒ

  A likely impossibility is always preferable to a convincing possibility.

  —Aristotle (384–322 B.C.), Greek philosopher

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  Chapter 4

  Stop Sneezes and Sniffles

  and Stifle a Cold

  Nature teaches beasts to know their friends.

  —William Shakespeare (1564-1616), English playwright and poet FACTS

  According to some estimates, people in the United States suffer one billion colds annually. Children have about 6 to 8 colds a year. In families with children in school, the number of colds per child can be as high as 12 a year. Adults average 2 to 4 colds a year although the range varies. Women, especially those aged 20–30 years, have more colds than men, possibly because of their closer contact with children.

  More than 200 different viruses are known to cause the symptoms of the common cold, reports the American Lung Association.14 In addition, the National Center for Health Statistics (NCHS) Report shows that 7 in 10 adults are not active regularly. Is it any surprise then that physician visits reached 824 million in 2000?

  Let your vital power work for you. When you get a cold, see it as a red flag that your body has accumulated too many toxins and lost its internal purity. Let a stuffy nose be a sign that it is time to take the “trash”

  out and to relax and nurture yourself.

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  Twelve Months

  Once in a small village in Russia lived Mariushka,

  a delightful young girl. After her mother died, her

  father married an evil woman. The woman did not love her

  new stepdaughter, Mariushka, and forced her to be a slave to her and to her daughter.

  On a frosty January day, icy trees stood amidst other snowy shapes. Animals hid in their dens, not daring to show their noses outside. Meanwhile a wicked and jealous woman thought of tedious tasks meant to tire Mariushka so she would lose her freshness and not be more beautiful than her lackluster daughter.

  The old woman ordered Mariushka to go into the forest and pick snowdrops for her daughter’s birthday the next day. Mariushka reminded her that snowdrops bloom in March not January. The stepmother persisted,

  “Go to the forest and find these flowers under the ground. If you do not find them, do not come home.”

  Mariushka went crying into the bitterly cold forest where the strong northern wind blew and a snowstorm ensued. Mariushka trudged into a clearing where 12 young and old men stood royally dressed in rich blue and gold clothing. They were surprised to see the tiny girl, dressed shabbily in a thin coat full of holes. Mariushka told them her sad story. The men were filled with compassion. The oldest man struck the ground with his cane and cast a spell. At once the coldest month of January ran away. The second man did the same, and February disappeared instantly. The third man raised his cane and warmth spread throughout the air; the sun appeared and the gray sky turned bright blue. As each man took his turn, each month’s passing hastened the seasons along. Milky, tender flowers bloomed throughout the meadow. The 12 men smiled and said, “Take as much as you can carry home. We did for you what we could, and we hope that your stepmother will be happy now.”

  The poor girl, lad
en with snowdrops, ran back to her stepmother, sure that the vile-mannered woman would be amazed by her accomplishment. However, the stepmother appeared unimpressed, and Mariushka, 54 ^ Mama’s Home Remedies

  suffering from a cold she had caught in the woods, was left alone to nurse herself back to health.

  Fortunately she understood the powers of healing herbs and became well overnight. Amazed that Mariushka had recovered

  so quickly, her stepmother begged her to teach her about herbs and stopped placing impossible demands

  upon her.

  Nature knows best how to rid the body of toxins

  When you get a cold, Mother Nature will help you cleanse and purify your body. Allow your body’s defenses to restore it to health. Do not disturb the process. Whenever my sister and I were young and caught a cold, Mama prescribed fasting. And, of course, we were to adhere to the following rules: r 1. Put yourself (or your children) in a warm bed.

  R 2. Go without food, including fruits and fruit juices.

  r 3. Drink distiled water with honey and lemon and herbal teas. r 4. Keep your bedroom refreshed and inviting.

  r 5. Refrain from reading, watching TV, or listening to the radio. r 6. Keep talking to a minimum.

  r 7. Sleep as much as you can and relax during this cleansing process. Stop Sneezes and Sniffles and Stifle a Cold @ 55

  I call treating a cold “cleaning house.” Treatment usually lasts from one week to 10 days, regardless of the medicine you take. By following the simple methods that I mentioned above, it sometimes took my sister and me only three days to recover. Those days of relaxation and isolation restored our health and happiness (as Bernard Shaw said in Back to Methuselah, “I enjoy convalescence. It is what makes the illness worthwhile.”) Most importantly we did not put any over-the-counter drugs into our body.

  I used these simple remedies with my sons when we lived in southeastern Europe. The weather, with the exception of summer, was cold, windy, rainy, and snowy. My oldest son was a member of a professional water polo team. He began playing when he was in first grade and played year-round in an outdoor pool with heated water. Water polo players often suffer from nose and ear ailments and my son was no exception. He would get a stuffy nose and otitis–ear infections. I used the magic phrase, “Go without food” with him many times. Fasting always helped to hasten his recovery.

  Try the following infusions to rid the body of toxins.

  r 8. Place one tablespoon of dried raspberries in eight ounces of boiling water. Steep for 20 minutes. Filter and drink one cup of hot raspberry tea twice daily—once before you go to bed.

  r 9. Combine one teaspoon dried raspberries and one teaspoon peppermint flowers with one cup boiling water in a glass jar. Cover with a lid and steep for 20 minutes. Filter and drink one cup of hot tea before bedtime as a diaphoretic medicine.

  r 10. This folk recipe original y cal ed for coltsfoot herb, which has been used at least for 2,500 years as an effective demulcent and expectorant. Coltsfoot contains pyrrolizidine alkaloids, which may be toxic to the liver, but these alkaloids are largely destroyed when boiled to make a concoction.

  1 Combine two teaspoons raspberries, one teaspoon marshmallow root, and one teaspoon wild marjoram. To one tablespoon of the mixture, add one cup boiling water. Steep for 20 minutes, filter, and drink ½ cup of the hot drink three or four times a day as a diaphoretic.

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  r 11. Make an herbal composition of one

  Warning:

  teaspoon dried raspberries, two teaspoons raspberry leaves, two teaPregnant or nursing spoons wild marjoram, and two

  women or children

  teaspoons marshmal ow root. Add

  under six should

  10 ounces boiling water to one tablenot use coltsfoot.

  spoon of the herb mixture. Boil slowly

  We have substituted

  5-10 minutes in an enamel pot, filter,

  marshmallow (Althea offiand drink ½ cup of hot tea three to four cinalis) to replace it in this

  recipe and other recipes

  times a day before a meal as a diaphoretic

  that list a demulcent.

  and expectorant.

  r 12. Make our family cream “Magician” No.1. This is a simple and effective folk remedy to al eviate coughs and clear lung congestion. Combine two teaspoons butter with one teaspoon flour or starch and two teaspoons honey (not tropical). Mix until thickened and take one teaspoon three to four times a day along with hot chamomile tea and lemon for one to two weeks.

  r 13. Combine one tablespoon linden flowers and one tablespoon rose hips with one cup boiling water and boil five minutes. Filter and drink one cup before bedtime. This infusion is soothing for colds and flu, and it is a good treatment for rheumatism.

  r 14. Two tablespoons raspberries

  One tablespoon wild marjoram

  Use the same method as in #13.

  r 15. Combine in an enamel pot one teaspoon dried leaves of peppermint and one teaspoon black elder flowers in one pint boiling water. Boil 5–10 minutes, filter, and drink one to two cups before bedtime. r 16. Combine one tablespoon linden dried flowers and one tablespoon black elder flowers with one cup boiling water in a pot. Strain and drink before bed.

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  Cold @

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  r 17. Red bilberries are popular in people’s medicine. This “mountain cranberry” is effective as a juice or tea to treat colds. Combine one tablespoon fresh red bilberries in a pot with one cup water. Boil, add honey, and drink one hot cup two to three times a day. r 18. If you suffer from a severe cold, try this remedy. Combine one smal twig of red bilberry with one cup of boiling water in a glass jar. Steep for 30 minutes, filter, and take two tablespoons four to five times a day.

  r 19. Eat two to three pieces of garlic every day as a preventative measure during flu season. r 20. Combine one tablespoon dried Siberian elder flowers with one cup boiling water. Steep for 20 minutes, filter, and drink 2½ ounces three to four times a day 15 minutes before eating. Sweeten with honey if desired.

  r 21. Make birch vodka or birch tincture. To one pint of vodka, add ¼ ounce of dried birch buds in a glass jar. Steep for two weeks in a cool place. Filter and take 15-20 drops to one teaspoon, dissolved in boiling water, before a meal. This assists in treating a cold, flu, inflammation of the kidney and liver, skin diseases, and rheumatism.

  r 22. Combine one teaspoon each of elder flowers, linden flowers, chamomile, wil ow bark, blackthorn flowers, and mul ein flowers with one cup of boiling water. Steep 15 minutes, filter, and drink two to three cups a day.

  r 23. Mix one teaspoon each elder flowers, chamomile flowers, linden flowers, and mint leaves. To one tablespoon of the mixture, add one cup of boiling water. Steep for 20 minutes, filter, and drink ½ cup of the hot drink three to four times a day as a diaphoretic. 58

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  r 24. Combine two teaspoons elder flowers, two teaspoons linden flowers, two teaspoons wil ow bark, one teaspoon licorice root, one teaspoon chamomile flowers, and one teaspoon poppy petals. Combine two tablespoons of this herbal composition in a large glass with one pint of boiling water. Cover, steep for 15

  minutes, then filter and drink warm during the day.

  r 25. For cough or bronchitis combine one teaspoon each of elder flowers, linden, heartsease (Ivan & Maria), and fennel seeds. Combine one tablespoon of this herbal mixture in a glass jar with cold water, steep for two hours, and then pour the mixture into an enamel pot. Cook for several minutes. Cool, filter, and drink it warm three to five times daily.

  r 26. A medicinal tea of rose hips with honey provides fast r
elief when you have a cold with a headache, cough, and laryngitis. This tea is also valuable in the treatment of cardiac-vascular diseases, high blood pressure, and diarrhea. Combine one cup of rose hips with one quart of water in an enamel pot. Boil 10 minutes, filter, and add three tablespoons of honey. Drink two ounces three to four times a day.

  Hot teas, cold compresses, and warm hearts keep

  colds at bay

  r 27. Pour ½ cup of olive or sunflower oil in a glass jar and add one tablespoon of minced marsh cudweed ( Gnaphalium uliginosum) leaves. Shake daily while al owing to steep for 21 days. After three weeks wring out and filter. On the first day of treatment, use two to three drops of this natural medicine in each nostril. Then on each successive day for one week, pour only one drop in each nostril three to four times a day. This medicine can be kept in the refrigerator two to three weeks. It is anti-inflammatory and tones up the respiratory system.

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  r 28. Dissolve dried menthol in a pot with boiling water. Tent your head with a towel and breathe in the vapors from above the pot. r 29. Dot menthol oil on your forehead, face, and nose and behind the ears.

  R 30. Combine one tablespoon chamomile, two tablespoons licorice root, two tablespoons thyme, and two tablespoons marshmal ow flower. Take two ounces three to five times daily after a meal. This is a natural cough suppressant.

  R 31. Juice fresh beets. Use five to six drops in each nostril three times a day.

  R 32. Mix two parts fresh beet juice with one part honey. Insert three to four drops in each nostril three times a day.

  R 33. Combine one tablespoon fennel seeds, two tablespoons marshmal ow root, and two tablespoons licorice root. Put one teaspoon of the herb mixture in a mug and add boiling water. Steep for 20–30 minutes, filter, and take one tablespoon a day.