Mama's Home Remedies: Discover Time-Tested Secrets of Good Health and the Pleasures of Natural Living (14 page)

Today allergies taunt us and disrupt our daily lives. Many people take allergy medications on a regular basis and, in fact, cannot live a normal life without them.

Austrian doctor Clemens von Piquet coined the term
allergy
in 1906. The first symptoms described by him stated that our body’s ability to identify and destroy any harmful organisms such as viruses or bacteria is essential to our survival. People are like most species living on the earth: We have developed our individual immune systems. These systems also target what are considered to be harmless, not dangerous, particles such as flower pollen, dust mite, dust in our homes, or peanuts, causing swelling, inflammation, itching, and, in extreme situations, death.

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Today approximately 90 percent of the world population has reactions to various irritants. Why does this happen in 90 percent of people and not in the other 10 percent of the world’s population? It happens because 90 percent of people don’t realize that their bodies accumulate toxins every day from air they breathe and from the food they eat.

What should we do? The answer is simple. All of us without any exceptions must consistently clean our bodies from these harmful substances poisoning our blood. Like you clean your house at least one time per week, you should clean your body every day using different natural “cleaners.” Start your day with a cup of hot water and a piece of lemon before breakfast to “rinse”

your blood vessels. Take burdock, 425 mg a day. Make hot peppermint or horsetail tea and add a piece of lemon. Eat baby carrots or drink carrot or birch juice. Enjoy eating melon and salads with grated red beets, almonds, and garlic or cabbage with carrots, apple, and onions. Make your own dressing for salads. It is very easy. Just mix ½ cup of first cold pressed extra virgin olive oil with ½

cup of freshly squeezed lemon juice.

Allergies are so common that even the term
allergy
is frequently used informally in everyday speech. I have overheard people saying to each other,

“Oh, leave me alone! Stop it! You talk too much! I have become allergic to you.” One day perhaps these statements will be included in a dictionary of colloquial expressions.

When suffering from allergies, try the following unique folk remedy to cleanse your body internally. This method will help you build a strong defense against allergic irritants.

r 1. Cleansing Maid, Mama’s recipe. Cut two lemons into small cubes. Mince five to six cloves of fresh garlic. Place lemon and garlic into a one-quart jar. Add two tablespoons of honey and fill with boiling water. Let steep until cool and then refrigerate. It wil turn a golden amber color with a pleasant taste and lemon aroma. Take one tablespoon three times a day.

r 2. Make horsetail tea. This herb can be purchased in packages in a health-food store. Place one pack of horsetail tea in a cup and add boiling water to fil . Let steep for three to five minutes and drink warm. Drink once every day for 7 to 14 days. Take a twoweek break and repeat the treatment. A Sickness of the 21st Century @ 87

What is an allergy?

Swiss doctor H. C. A. Vogel wrote in his manual of traditional and complementary medicine that an allergy is a hypersensitivity to a certain kind or variety of different substances. A particular hypersensitivity, he contends, may cause such drastic reactions that it may seem as though the patient has been poisoned.

People with physical hypersensitivity to the environment in which they live are surrounded by allergens—chemical substances; microbes; and the products of their activity, food products, plant pollen, animal proteins, and fats. For instance, some people can become ill if they have ingested only a small amount of egg that is contained in the food they eat. Others eat beans or bread, pastry, or muffins made with wheat flour, or fruit salad with oranges, or any canned food and become critically ill.

Seafood restaurants today are very popular among people who are dieting or concerned with weight gain and cholesterol levels. However I know people who have become ill after eating crabs, lobster, and shellfish while maintaining a normal level of cholesterol. At least their belief that fish contains good cholesterol paid off, and I mean the fish, not shellfish.

Though sad to say, we can count on hundreds of different irritants today that provoke allergic reactions. The following are just some of many:
Industrial:
mineral oils, paints, turpentine, nickel, chrome, formalin, urea, and others. Reaction: skin disorders.
Everyday chemicals:
lacquers and synthetic colors, detergents and cleansing liquids, cosmetics: soaps, creams, powder, lipstick, eye makeup, hair colorings, shampoos, hair sprays, and nail colors.

Everyday animals:
domestic animals (dogs, cats), wool clothing, feathers, usually the dander that penetrates our organism in the form of dust. Chemical and animal irritants usually give us respiratory sicknesses such as catarrh, sinus irritation, cough, rhinitis, and asthma (shortness of breath).

Medical:
antibiotics, aspirin (salicylates), various medical drugs, artificial vitamins with preservatives.

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Food products:
eggs, shellfish, beef, cow’s milk, honey, wheat and rye bread, canned foods, citrus fruits (oranges), blueberries, strawberries, nuts, mushrooms, tomatoes, chocolate, artificial colors or flavors, preservatives, chemical solvents, starch, gluten, yeast. Peanut or tree allergies affect approximately three million Americans a year and cause the most severe food-induced allergic reactions. Any food can turn from a nourishing friend into an allergen/invader. Usually food allergies appear with a break in the order of the normal functions of the stomach/digestive system. Symptoms can include vomiting, diarrhea, and fever.
Floral:
flowers, trees, blossoming herbs and grass pollen, essential oils of some plants such as primulas (primrose), tropical plants, hay dust, fungi, daffodils and tiger lilies (which are fragrant in the evening), rhubarb and
roses (thorns), and floral smells. Ailments: allergy cold (catarrh, sinus); conjunctivitis; blurry, tearful eyes.

Service machines:
home, car and office air conditioners. Although air conditioners provide us with coolness in hot weather, we get processed air instead of the fresh air we need to ventilate our lungs and respiratory system and to supply oxygen to our brain cells. Ailments: allergy cold (catarrh or sinus), sore throat, swollen glands, irritated eyes, common tiredness, head congestion, headache, and asthma.

Natural:
sunlight, warmth, hot, or cold could be irritants too, especial y in tropical climates. These irritants “sponsor” our body in forming certain substances that become al ergens. Ailments: al ergy cold, blurry eyes, fatigue, loss of energy, “hot head,” headache, skin rash, loss of appetite, and a bitter taste in the mouth.
Street, house, and bookshelf dust:
Ailments: asthma and all under Natural.

Smoking:
at least 80 different chemicals and metals. Ailments: all of the above.

A Sickness of the 21st Century @ 89

What factors lead to developing an allergy?

General disorders of normal functions include:

^ immune system, which fights an uninvited invader by producing irritation, mucus, and inflammation in our body

^ respiratory system

^ nervous system

^ endocrine system

^ circulatory system

^ liver dysfunction, a body “sponge,” processing blood

^ dysfunction of adrenal glands

^ traumas of the head and brain

^ negative emotions

^ irritation

^ stress

^ smoking

^ inappropriate diet

^ inappropriate food

^ inappropriate life style

^ a lack of walking and other exercise

^ a shortage of sound sleep

What are allergy ailments?

^ allergic arthritis, stiffness in bones, and joint paint; constant urinary infections, cystitis; gynecological problems (yeast infections)

^ respiratory: bronchial asthma, asthmatic fit, allergy cold (catarrh, sinus), nasal mucus, sneezing, allergic rhinitis, sore throat

^ conjunctivitis (irritated, blurry, tearful eyes)

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^ hay fever, skin rashes, eczema, blisters

^ digestive upsets (diarrhea or constipation), gastric pains

^ stress, short-term memory loss, fatigue, loss of energy and appetite In
The Complete Medicinal Herbal
19 British author and herbalist Penelope Ody writes, “A healthy system copes with al ergens, but if there is tension, infection, or fatigue, the arrival of an al ergen tips the balance and an al ergic response occurs in the form of hay fever, skin rashes or gastric upsets.”

Our immune system is a strong shield, guarding us from uninvited guests—irritants like inflammation, mucus, and phlegm. If we do not treat the symptoms in time, they will continue to penetrate our body and our immune system may become drastically weakened. Allergies are clever invaders. They sometimes hide under a pretty mask that creates a nice image that everything is fine for a while. Then they hit with an ugly, persistent sinus irritation; sore, irritated eyes; urinary infections; arthritic pains; and digestive upsets. What are common symptoms of allergy?

Al ergy symptoms can appear in hundreds of different forms. What to look for?

^ “Nettle rash.” Blisters and bumps appear on your skin, resembling a burn and maybe the scald of nettle.

^ Allergic catarrh (cold). Aspirated human and animal hair or bird feathers (pillows, wool, and mattresses) can result in the swelling of the mucous membranes of the nose and eyes.

^ Hay fever or hay catarrh (sinus). Abnormal sensibility to flower pollen, blossoming herbs and trees.

^ Under the influence of some irritants, people experience bronchial asthma, shortness of breath, hacking cough, mucous membranes, and bronchial swelling. Red, peeling spots on the skin may indicate eczema. When people suffer from severe eczema, the spots may itch and be wet. Sometimes the spots are withered. Eczema commonly occurs on the hands, feet, and other parts of the body. Types of eczema are different. The condition on the hands is called an irritant contact dermatitis and is caused by everyday contact with substances—irritants A Sickness of the 21st Century @ 91

to the skin, such as home chemicals and detergents. The best remedy, doctors say, is to avoid these harmful substances and to keep the skin moisturized. Another type of eczema is a form of allergic contact dermatitis, which usually develops when the body’s immune system rebels against some metals, rubber, or certain perfumes coming in contact with the skin. As a matter of fact, many of us wear earrings or belts with buckles made with nickel. Some people experience allergic reactions through repeated contact with this metal or “touch” perfume and develop a skin rash and inflammation. Others between 20 and 40

years of age have so-called infantile seborrheic dermatitis which looks on the scalp like mild dandruff but can be spread to the face, ears, and chest. You may have seen that the skin in this case becomes inflamed or red, then it flakes. Dermatologists believe that yeast growth provokes this condition. What can I say? Many people love to eat sweets. However, consult your doctor, who can prescribe a treatment with antifungal cream. There are two other not very pleasant types of eczema: varicose and discoid. Varicose eczema hits the lower legs of people in their 60s to the late years of their life and is caused by poor blood circulation. To prevent this, walk every day! Move as much as you can and try to prevent this eczema when

the skin around the ankles becomes itchy, speckled,

and inflamed. If this condition is left untreated,

dermatologists say that the skin can break down

and an ulcer can follow as a result.

Some people are very surprised and get upset

when they see suddenly an appearance of coin-sized

red spots on their lower legs and trunk. These “coins”

develop fast and become itchy and wet. It is discoid eczema.20

As far as I know from my research, there is currently no efficient cure for eczema, but scientists are very optimistic and continue to look for it. However I

can assure you that it is possible to find many ways to

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minimize the distress and discomfort provoked by this condition. The main solution is an effective skin care régime which is easy to conduct. First of al , we can buy many treatments over the counter at the pharmacy, but I would explore the simplest ways to minimize the presence of al ergens/invaders in my house. Keep it clean, and keep your body and skin consistently refreshed by taking twice a week a warm bath with 16 ounces of al -natural apple cider vinegar dissolved in it. Keep reading. You’l find further in this chapter more useful natural treatments for eczema tested by folk healers through the centuries.
Do not neglect physician consultations and prescriptions. Look to your doctor for professional advice and get a second opinion. It is important to catch a “self-invited invader” at the right time. What can we do about allergies?

For years, thousands of people have suffered with the ill effects of allergies that have disrupted their daily lives and have been desperate for treatments that would help them regain the normalcy they had before stubborn allergies dictated the way they felt. But until recently medical doctors and world scientists have been stumped for answers.

Currently, I repeat, an estimated 50 million Americans have some form of allergic disease. Approximately 24.7 million people have been diagnosed with asthma, with at least 7.7 million of them children under the age of 18. Asthma is the leading, serious, chronic illness among children in the United States. The good news is that we now can undergo a series of tests to determine specific allergens. Once the allergen is known, a physician can prescribe an effective treatment with well-advertised drugs. No one drug is guaranteed, of course. We are careful about guarantees of any kind.