Tag Archives: water

Natural Common Cold/Flu Remedies For Children

When my children come down with common cold or flu then instead of giving them the conventional medicine I first try to fight off the disease with some natural remedies instead. So over the years, practice has shown that these 3 remedies work the best to fight off a disease:


#1 – Garlic – Yes, simple as that, garlic does wonders to fight off viruses and bacteria and the good news is that there’s no need to feed it to your children but what I do is take about 2 garlic cloves, peel them and then cut them in half and place them somewhere near the child’s head during sleeping. When the cloves dry up then just peel and cut new ones.

#2 – Vodka and water mixture – This is a really old remedy that even my mother and grandmothers have used. Works well to take down the fever a few degrees. So what you need to do is mix together half a cup of vodka and half a cup of water and apply it to your child’s skin (all over the body if needed) with a cotton pad. The water and vodka mixture helps to cool down the body a bit when the fever gets too high. I usually start doing this when the fever hits 39,5 degrees.

#3 – Eucalyptus essential oil – Works like garlic by killing the bacteria and viruses and is especially good for stuffed nose. Either put a few drops into an oil lamp or humidifier or drop up to 2 drops straight onto your child’s pillow. Another trick you can try is rubbing a few drops of pure eucalyptus essential oil on the soles of your child’s feet, works well for coughs, stuffed nose and fever.

Essential oils shouldn’t be used on very small babies, it should be ok to start using them for babies 6 months and older. The other 2 remedies can be used on smaller babies as well.


October 20, 2012Permalink Leave a comment

More Natural Ways To Cure Vaginal Yeast Infection

Since my kefir tampons post has become surprisingly popular then I guess that many more people besides me are dealing with vaginal yeast infections (especially during pregnancy) so I’ll write here about some other natural remedies as well to get the yeast under control without having to turn to the doctor to get medications.

So the best thing you could do when trying to fight off yeast infection is to pay attention to what you eat, sugar and wheat are the main things to leave out because they are feeding the yeast as well. And try to add garlic to your dishes as much as you can, both cooked and raw versions. Also eating foods with probiotics is a good idea (kefir, buttermilk, plain yogurt).

Another remedy that is recommended to help cure the vaginal yeast infection is apple cider vinegar. Add one teaspoon of apple cider vinegar (use organic version with “mother” if possible because that will have the most beneficial enzymes in it) to one glass of water and drink it first thing in the morning. It will help to make the internal pH balance unacceptable to the yeast. Drinking apple cider vinegar water is also especially recommended during pregnancy because it only doesn’t help to fight off the yeast but also strengthens the placenta and improves the blood flow to the uterus.

Externally you can also try applying olive oil to the infected areas because olive oil helps to destroy the spores of the yeast.

You can also try another quick fix method by clicking here.

May 13, 2012Permalink Leave a comment

Acne Treatments That Really Work

About a year ago I was one of those who was still struggling with acne although I’m not a teenager anymore. It wasn’t too severe but still annoying enough. So I discovered 2 recipes for myself that made my skin look much better and for some period got rid of acne altogether. Why I’m saying that only for some period is because a year later I am convinced that acne can be completely cured only by watching what you put in your mouth and by avoiding foods that cause breakouts (in my case dairy products and chocolate for example). Now I’ve been trying to eat raw foods as much as I can and my skin is absolutely glowing without any topical acne treatments. But if you don’t want to make drastic changes in your diet yet then here are the acne treatment recipes that worked wonders on my skin:


#1 – Lime juice and peanut oil mixture – mix together 1 tablespoon of fresh lime juice and 1 tablespoon of peanut oil. Add it to your face with a cotton pad before going to bed, after washing your face. It leaves the skin a bit oily but it’s worth a try. The mixture should last for about few days if kept in a refrigerator.

#2 – Aspirin and apple cider vinegar toner – mix together 50ml of water, 15ml of apple cider vinegar and 5 uncoated aspirin tablets. Crush the aspirin tablets with mortar and pestle first before mixing with water and apple cider vinegar, otherwise the toner is going to be quite grainy as the aspirin doesn’t dissolve completely. Although even when it’s grainy it should still work, just make sure you shake it every time then before applying. You can use it at mornings and evenings as a regular toner after washing the face. The aspirin is good in treating pimples because it contains salicylic acid and the apple cider vinegar balances the pH of the skin, plus it has antibacterial and antiseptic properties. This mixture should last for about 1 month if kept in a refrigerator.

To find out more about ways to treat your acne holistically check out this link.

May 7, 2012Permalink Leave a comment

Soap Nut, Clay & Neem Powder Shampoo

After making the dishwashing liquid and laundry detergent out of soap nuts I didn’t want to stop just there yet because I still have loads of soap nuts left and after doing some research I found out that they can be used for so many more things. For example you can make shampoo out of them. Shampoo made out of soap nuts is said to work very well in treating and preventing dandruff and hair loss. Since so far I’ve had really good experience with washing my hair with clay (read more about it here) then I decided to add clay to my soap nut shampoo as well. But not only clay, I also added chamomile, neem powder and lemon essential oil.

So first what you need to do is make the soap nut liquid by boiling about 10 whole soap nuts in 3 cups of water on a medium heat for 30 minutes (read more about making the soap nut liquid from here). For making the shampoo I also threw in 1 chamomile tea bag into the boiling soap nut liquid. I chose chamomile because it gives lighter hair really nice shine. If you don’t want to use chamomile then stinging nettle, rosemary, peppermint and basil are good for promoting hair growth. Raspberry leaf and sage highlight darker hair. Comfrey, marshmallow and calendula are good for dry hair. Yarrow and witch hazel bark are good for oily hair. So the choice is yours. When the liquid is ready then let it cool a bit, strain the soap nuts and the tea bag out of the liquid and add about 2 tablespoons of Rhassoul clay and 2 tablespoons of neem powder to the soap nut liquid.

I chose Rhassoul clay because it has the most purifying properties of all clays but so far I’ve been using French green clay as a shampoo with great success so if you don’t have Rhassoul then I think that any other clay would work fine as well. I also added the neem powder because it keeps the scalp healthy and also prevents dandruff and hair loss. You can use ready-made neem powder or make your own by grinding whole dried neem leaves with mortar and pestle. After mixing the soap nut & chamomile tea liquid with clay and neem powder you should have something like this:

Now pour the liquid into a container (I chose a plastic bottle with a pump for easier application) and add about 10 drops of some essential oil of your choice. I chose lemon essential oil because of its smell and because it highlights lighter hair. Basil, rosemary, burdock and fenugreek essential oils all promote hair growth for example. Lavender essential oil is soothing to the scalp and hair. Peppermint essential oil helps to stimulate blood flow to the root of the hair. Sage essential oil works to deep cleanse the scalp. Tea tree oil works to treat dandruff.

Note that this shampoo won’t be creating very much foam because of the all natural ingredients so make sure not to use too much as the soap nuts can dry out hair when used excessively.

May 2, 2012Permalink 2 Comments

DIY Dishwashing Liquid and Laundry Detergent Out Of Soap Nuts

Recently I have rediscovered soap nuts. I have used ready-made soap nut liquid before as a laundry detergent but this is the first time that I made my own from scratch! So basically all you need is whole soap nuts, water and some essential oil of your choice (optional).

Bring 3 cups of water to boil, add about 10 full nuts to the boiling water (it’s better to break them into smaller pieces first) and boil on a medium heat for about 30 minutes. Then set aside and leave the liquid to cool.

Strain away the nut shells and pour into a container of your choice, then add the essential oil if using.

Note that the soap nut liquid will be more watery than your regular dishwashing liquid and laundry detergent and not as foamy so it takes time to get used to it. At first I used way more of the liquid than was necessary but once you master it you’ll see that it works just as fine : )

April 25, 2012Permalink Leave a comment

Raw Kitchen Corner: Cocoa And Coconut Pudding

Here’s one dessert recipe that I find myself making over and over again because every time I make it, it gets better and better : )

You’ll need: 1/2 cup water, 1/2 cup Cashew nuts, 1 tbsp pine nuts, 3 tbsp cocoa powder, 1 tbsp whole cocoa beans (or if you don’t have the cocoa beans at hand then you can put 4 tbsp of cocoa powder), 3-4 tbsp dried coconut flakes, 1/2 cup coconut oil, ~1/3 cup raw sweetener of your choice, dash of salt.

Place all the ingredients into a blender, blend well, pour to serving glasses, refrigerate for at least 1 hour before eating and serve with some fruit pieces/berries and coconut flakes : )

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April 12, 2012Permalink Leave a comment