Mama's Home Remedies: Discover Time-Tested Secrets of Good Health and the Pleasures of Natural Living (4 page)

A well-known Russian botanist and writer, Nikolai Verzilin, wrote in his book,
Follow Robinson
,2 “Sphagnum, when it is wet is pale-green on top, and white on the bottom. It covers solidly the peat bog, usually where cranberries and cloud-berries grow.”

In 1919, in a young Soviet Republic, a fierce fight raged in the north between the Russian tsar’s white guards and the Red Army soldiers. There were many wounded Red Army soldiers, and the field hospital was running low on supplies of cotton/wool bandages and iodine. There was nothing else the hospital nurses could do but to cut underwear in narrow strips for bandages while old bandages were washed and dried. But cotton wool, an irreplaceable material for treating festering wounds, was not available. When the supply of bandages and all dressing materials was depleted, the hospital doctors and nurses were forced to find an alternative. They had no means to obtain additional bandages and did not know what to use instead. Physicians were frustrated and distraught as they witnessed the soldiers suffering from wounds that were left unattended because of the lack of bandaging. One physician decided to take a walk and think about the problem. Winter had just begun and the northern village where the hospital was located was bleak, grey, and gloomy. The trees stood naked in solemn silence waiting for a severe frost, which would surely be upon them any day. The doctor arrived on the outskirts of the village to find a marsh covered with a first snow. The doctor became irritated and trampled down on the hummock. The situation appeared hopeless until he realized that he was standing atop clean, white moss sphagnum. Instantly he recalled that many years prior, during his student years in medical school, he had examined a leaf of sphagnum moss under a microscope and found large empty cells. He took a closer look at the moss under his feet now and saw frozen water in their empty cells. He knew that dried moss is used extensively by farmers to absorb dung water. The doctor immediately guessed that dried moss could be used successfully to absorb the liquids from festering wounds.

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Unexpectedly this unknown Russian doctor had made

a scientific discovery and found a substitute for cotton

wool bandages. He was excited about his find and told

the hospital staff about the white sphagnum moss.

The next morning a deep snow fell from the

heavy gray sky. It became very cold, but it did not deter the hospital staff from their mission. All hospital attendants, stretcher-bearers, and nurses went to the marsh to collect sphagnum. They dug into the

snow and removed almost 600 pounds of frozen layers

of moss in less than three hours. The harvest was enough to keep the wounded soldiers swaddled in clean bandages through the severe winter. To prepare the moss and adapt it to the needs of the patients, the moss was allowed to thaw. Then the water was squeezed from it and the sheets of moss were placed to dry on the floor of a warm room. In 24 hours it was ready to use as a substitute for the precious cotton wool.

It proved to be an effective bandaging material, but in addition sphagnum partially replaced the healing effects of iodine as well. Wounds dressed with the moss were noted to heal more rapidly because the moss contains a special disinfectant which is identical to carbolic acid and inhibits the growth of purulent bacteria.

When I was a child, my friends and I would tell spooky stories around the fire on our camping trips. My grandpa used to tell us horror stories that took place in marshy areas. He told us about ancient boats, wooden cabins and shacks, animal bones, and human skeletons that had been found in marshes. He told me about the body of a knight, suited in full heavy metal armor that had been found in a marsh.

His stories greatly affected me. I spent many sleepless nights trying to understand why a marsh is often such a sad, mysterious, and deadly place. Scientist-botanists often find pieces of tree trunks and stems of thorny plants that have been perfectly preserved in peat for two hundred thousand years. How is this possible? The preservation action is caused by a vacuum created by the absence of air, the acidity of the marsh, and the disinfectant action of the sphagnum. These three conditions provide a safe place for these materials to remain perfectly preserved for a long time.

“Even the Badger Knows…” @ 15

If you are curious by nature, conduct your own experiment with sphagnum. Place a piece of dry sphagnum in a glass jar with water and it will float on the surface like a cork.

To use sphagnum moss as bandaging material (don’t laugh; you might find yourself on a camping trip miles from civilization wishing you had paid attention to this), the moss must be soaked with water, wrung out, and dried before being applied to the wound. Do not allow the moss to dry to a brittle state because it will compress and lose its ability to absorb liquid. This little-known discovery made in pure desperation by a Russian doctor in 1919 can be developed today in research and perfected in preparation of natural materials for a treatment of wounds, ulcers, abscesses, inflammation, and burns.

It would likely be beneficial for our respected scientists to explore “the kitchens” of our grandmothers, midwives, and “witches.” Unfortunately my walking “Green Encyclopedia,” my grandma, has passed away, but I am thankful that my dear mother is alive, and she is there for me to consult regarding healing herbs and natural remedies. I consider myself the lucky heir to their extensive knowledge, which I began to document in a thick notebook when I was 12 years old. Day by day I recorded recipes and natural remedies that were passed down through the generations as treatments to prevent and fight disease. I read many medical books from Mama’s library and she shared with me her knowledge. I continue to consult with Mama, whose knowledge, even today, is extensive and focused on natural, effective, and harmless methods of green treatment. I have devoted my life to extensive research of the prescriptions and recipes of great ancient doctors. Today traditional, modern, and alternative medicines can no longer go each in their own way. We must learn to use them in synthesis, drawing from the best of each to reach their common goal—to

prevent and treat disease.

Avicenna, author of
The Canon of Medicine
,

lived in Bukhara, Uzbekistan. In some encyclopedias Avicenna (Ibn-Sina; 980-1037) is represented as a Persian physician and philosopher.
The Canon

of Medicine
is considered to be the greatest of all his prolific writing in theology, metaphysics, mathematics, and logic. It remained a standard medical text in Europe until the Renaissance.

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Avicenna relied on his own discoveries and adopted remedies from his ancestors—great physicians of ancient Greece, India, China, Egypt, Sri Lanka, Indonesia, and Africa. He also borrowed the wisdom of healers. While some may argue that the research on which he based his methods was ancient and no longer plausible in our current age of advanced technology, there is wisdom in the methods he employed that cannot be overlooked today. It is our choice to use our own judgment.

Avicenna did not hold an “authority’s” opinion above his own. He conducted his own experiments just as scientists do today. I do believe that he had more freedom to do as he wished than if he were employed by a powerful pharmaceutical company exploring the possibilities of the modern science of biochemistry. I sometimes imagine how Avicenna might function in today’s sterile, white modern laboratories with their state-of-the-art computers. He practiced nearly 40 years in the king’s palaces, in the shacks of poor workers, and in farm houses. During this time he had practical experience in using and validating the effectiveness of natural remedies. He approached these folk “prescriptions” from a critical point of view. After much research, he explained the nature and influence of various remedies on the patients’

physiology and illness.

Granted, as we read Avicenna’s words today, they may seem primitive, but thousands of years from today so will the ideas of our current scholars, scientists, and physicians. There is truth in the old saying that “the new is well-forgotten old.”

In an ancient Talmud it is written: “There is no leprous people and those suffering with pus in Babylon, because there the beets are eaten, the honey is drunken and people are washed with waters of the Euphrates.” Thousands of years separate us from ancient times. Today researchers affirm that the population in Iraq, contemporary Iraqis, consume red beets in big quantities. And statistics tel us that occurrences of cancer are minimal. But in a span between those thousands of years ago and our current age, Galen, Dioscorides, Hippocrates, Avicenna, and many other skil ed physicians of ancient times also knew about the medicinal properties of beets and used them as a natural healing medicine in treating diseases of intestinal properties and lymphatic glands, anemia, fever, nettle-rash, and putrid (putrefactive) and malignant sores. Scientific studies have proven that the ancient doctors were correct in their evaluation of the effective medicinal properties of red beets. It was established

“Even the Badger Knows…” @ 17

that beets contain cel ulose, apple, lemon, and other biogenetic acids which increase peristalsis of the intestines. Betaine in beets supports splitting (breaking up) and the adaptation of protein in food. Beets participate in the formation of choline, which increases the vitality of liver cel s.

Recommended remedies using organic beets include:

R

-1. Eat before breakfast three to five ounces of cooked beets if you suffer from chronic constipation, liver diseases, or indigestion. R 2. As a highly nutritious supplement for anemia and as a means to improve metabolism, make ½ glass fresh beet juice and mix it with ½ glass fresh carrot or black radish juice.

R 3. Fresh beet juice mixed with two teaspoons honey makes a natural medicine for healing hypertension or acting as a calmative.

Beets contain relatively big quantities of iodine and magnesium, which make this vegetable “a must have” in daily nutrition for all ages, but especially for elderly people and those who suffer from atherosclerosis.

R 4. Peel one or two organic red beets and cook until soft. Cool, grate, and add olive oil and thinly sliced almonds. Mix and eat the salad as breakfast, lunch, or appetizer.

R 5. Cut two smal pieces of raw organic red beet. Put in nostrils and beet wil heal catarrh, a head cold, or sinus problems.

R 6. Grate a raw organic red beet and apply to a sore (ulcer) or tumors. It supports the healing process natural y.

R 7. Grate a raw organic red beet. Put between two layers of cheesecloth. Apply to the anus for 15 minutes. This is one of the best natural treatments for hemorrhoids.

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But the best kept secret of red beets is their ability to prevent and treat tumors, in addition to diuretic, laxative, anti-inflammatory and pain reducing benefits. Grandma once had problems with her liver. She instinctually began to eat salads with grated raw, red beets, sprinkled with lemon juice and sunflower oil. After two months her liver problems disappeared. She tried to “recruit” us to eat her salads, but no one in our family signed up for it. So, Grandma said,

“If you don’t understand how to keep yourself healthy and prevent illnesses, I’ll show you!” And, indeed she did! She found other ways to entice us to eat red beets. I am not referring to borscht, which was already on her menu as our favorite meal. Following up on her beliefs about health benefits of beets, she invented and often created for us fresh beet juice and two absolutely fabulous salads, which she called “Red Wheels.”

R

8. Cook two medium organic red beets (skin on) in two cups water until soft. Cool, peel and grate them. In a bowl, combine the beets with two cloves crushed garlic, two tablespoons chopped walnuts and a pinch of salt. Add two tablespoons organic nonfat sour cream, vegetable mayonnaise or olive oil. Mix the salad and enjoy!

R 9. Herring under a fancy red beet coat. Place herring fillets on a plate and cover with a layer of cooked and grated beets, a layer of chopped walnuts or pine nuts, then a layer of diced red onion and chopped parsley. Sprinkle with pomegranate juice. If you prefer, use grated raw beets instead of cooked beets. Herring offers additional benefits in combination with beets; it helps to treat headaches and fatigue.

One day I asked Grandma why she craved her raw red beet salads. She said that when she began to have problems with her liver, she had a “call and request” from her body for red beets. In reality, the sick cells in her body, especially in her liver, made an independent, and obviously a smart decision for her by determining what she was lacking and what was needed. Grandma was healed by the vitamins and nutrients in raw, red beets. You see our cells know better and help us to treat our bodies in a natural way. The badger had the same experience. He felt that he needed the stump mold to heal his wounds.

“Even the Badger Knows…” @ 19