The old ways are the best- is this true? So many people today are taking pharmaceutical medication, and our food, air and soil are polluted with metals, pesticides and other chemicals. Is it time to revisit old remedies and live a more natural life? Here I’ve collected some wonderful and interesting remedies from the past- enjoy!

Colds

• Elder was a very common remedy for colds and lung inflammation. Elder blooms in June and July and should be collected on a sunny day and dried in winter. Elder will keep for a year in a jar in a dark room.
• Peppermint leaves make a lovely tea and should be drunk before bed! Adding honey to the tea is beneficial to a tight chest. To banish head colds, the patient would breathe in the steam from the tea.
• Onions and swede would be boiled together for supper to help rid the cold!
• Onion, eaten raw, was a preventative measure for colds. Leaving a cut onion in a room would keep colds away too!

Digestion

• Camomile tea was excellent for nausea. Often, wormwood and camomile would be boiled together and drunk morning and night to lessen nausea.
• Ginger was a great remedy for heartburn. It can be used as a powder or freshly grated added to water, milk or buttermilk.

Hiccups

Do you tend to eat too quickly? Trying the following may help!

• Drink cold water from the opposite side of the glass or whilst holding your breath.
• Add brandy, whisky or vinegar to a lump of sugar and eat
• Eat dry bread

Arthritis

• Eating citrus fruits such as lemons, grapefruit and oranges helps arthritis
• Dandelion tea, wormwood and vinegar were also quite common.
• Tie rhubarb or cabbage leaves around the painful area!

Warts

• Cut an apple or potato in half and rub the centre onto the wart, then bury the apple or potato in the ground. The wart will disappear as the apple decays.
• Make a hole in the centre of a carrot and put salt in the hole. Rub the wart with the liquid produced from this.

Have you come across any weird and wonderful herbal remedies from the past, or ones that were passed down to you from relatives? Do they work? Let me know via email- evansangharad@icloud.com or visit my website here