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Medicine in the Food Cupboard
Today, many people are battling to maintain themselves and families on limited incomes. But there is a simple product in the pantry which is a medicine and cosmetic as well as a food. Honey is mankind's oldest food and medicine but has been overpowered by heavy advertising by the drug companies
Honey is a universal medicine and the other bee products of royal jelly, propolis, bee pollen, wax and venom have specific uses that we will not cover here today. Here are 22 tips from the world of apitherapy (medicine from bees) to cut your doctors' bill. There are 750 different kinds of honey but any will do for the following uses, although runny honey is the easiest.
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Please Note: It is not safe to give honey to children under the age of 2. |
Honey for Burns :Apply freely over burns. It cools, removes pain and aids fast healing without scarring. Apart from being a salve and antibiotic, bacteria cannot live in honey.
Sleeplessness :A dessert spoon of honey in a mug of hot milk aids sleep and works wonders! Hyperactivity Honey is a mild sedative with minerals, vitamins, amino acids etc. Replace all white sugar with honey. White sugar is highly stimulating with no food qualities!
Nasal Congestion : Place a dessertspoon of honey in a basin of hot water and inhale fumes after covering your head with a towel over the basin. Very effective.
Wounds or Grazes: Cover wound with honey and a bandage. Excellent healer.
For Fatigue : Dissolve a dessertspoon of honey in warm water or quarter honey balance of water in a jug and keep in the fridge. Honey is primarily fructose and glucose and so it is quickly absorbed by the digestive system. (Honey is a unique natural stabilizer - ancient Greek athletes took honey for stamina before competing and as a reviver after competition.)
Facial Deep Cleanser :Mix honey with oatmeal approx. 50/50 till thick and apply as a face-pack. Leave on for half an hour then wash off. Great as a deep cleanser for acne etc.
Poor Digestion : Mix honey with apple cider vinegar approx. 50/50 and dilute to taste with water - aids digestion. (Also reputed to be wonderful for the joints. )
Hair Conditioner : Mix honey with equal quantity of Olive Oil and cover head with a warm towel for half and hour then shampoo off. Feeds hair and scalp. Hair will never look or feel better!
Sore Throats : Let a teaspoon of honey melt in the back of the mouth and trickle down the throat. Eases inflamed raw tissues.
For Stress : Honey in water is a stabilizer - calms highs and raises lows. Use approx. 25 percent honey to water.
Anaemia : Honey is the best blood enricher by raising corpuscle content. The darker the honey the more minerals it contains.
Food Preservative : Cakes with honey replacing sugar stay fresher longer due to natural antibiotics. Reduce liquids by approx. one-fifth to allow for moisture in honey.
Heart patients : These people are well advised to replace white sugar (sucrose) with honey, natural fructose and glucose.
Hayfever :Chewing the tops of comb honey stimulates the immune system due to minute amounts of pollen. During the season chew for 20 minutes a teaspoon of bee cappings (tops) five to six times per day. Highly effective and useful for asthma suffers as well.
Bed Wetting :A teaspoon of honey before bed, aids water retention and calms fears in children.
Osteoporosis : English research has shown that a teaspoon of honey per day aids calcium utilisation and prevents osteoporosis. Essential from age 50 onwards. Long Life One common fact worldwide is that the most long-lived people are regular users of honey. An interesting fact yet to be explained is that beekeepers suffer less from cancer and arthritis than any other occupational group worldwide.
Migraine : Use a dessertspoon of honey dissolved in half a glass of warm water. Sip at start of attack. If necessary repeat in 20 minutes. Always effective (so tip goes) as migraine is stress related.
Conjunctivitis (pus in the eye) :Honey dissolved in equal quantity of warm water. Apply when cooled as lotion or eye bath.
Cough Mixture : 6 ozs liquid honey 2 ozs glycerine Juice of 2 lemons Mix well. Bottle and cork firmly.
Use as required Keep honey in first aid cupboard for emergency bums etc and another in the kitchen cupboard. Those interested in a more scientific explanation can refer to Kaye M. Russell's 1983 MSc thesis, Waikato University, "Antibiotic qualities of NZ honeys" - a NZ explanation of knowledge long-buried and available through the public library on request. Article kindly supplied by J.P. Welten, Maroa Apiaries, Taupo.