Natural Cold, Flu and Maintenance Mixture
This easy to prepare garlic, honey, lime, ginger and green apple mixture is a great preventative remedy for the whole family. It’s excellent for colds, flu and overall maintenance. A spoonful goes a long way.
Sometimes babies get sick...don’t beat yourself up.
My first son was born during Harmattan season in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso, West Africa. Harmattan is the cool season and it typically lasts for a few months. December to February are the coolest times. Compared to the U.S., sure it’s far from what we consider ‘cold’, but for a tiny baby fresh out of the womb, even the slightest breeze with the dust can be a threat to their health.
My boy happened to catch a cold during this time and I remember feeling so bad that I couldn’t do anything to it in the moment. I think When my little guy was just a few months old, he caught a cold. He didn’t have a fever or any severe condition, but just to see him sniffling and having mucus made me feel so bad for him.
I remember wishing I could do anything to transfer it to me and make it all go away from him. Fortunately, many of the day to day illnesses or ailments our children may come across can be dealt with using items you can find right in your kitchen.
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Fortunately, for those of us who seek an alternative, there’s always nature to turn to. For every obstacle we encounter, we can always look to nature for the solution to overcome it. All of the chemical based ingredients we find are simply attempts at copying what nature produces already.
Traditional Healing Baths pt. 1
This article is a collection of questions I posed and the responses I received by the elder women who supported me and taught me how to care for my newborn son. Bathing is one of the most important occurrences in the life of an infant and throughout their childhood. In the Tem culture of Sokode, Togo, bathing is done very thoroughly.
Simple, made from home remedies:
Cold & Flu – Cold’s aren’t too harmful, but the mucous build up can make it difficult for them to have a clear passageway when they want to nurse. This was the case with my son when he was just an infant. I gave him a teaspoon of honey with a small squeeze of lime every night for a few days and that helped tremendously.
I also made sure to bundle him warmly and keep his nostrils lubricated. I used plain shea butter, which kept him from inhaling a lot of dust and prevented his nose from becoming dry. This is also a helpful tip if it happens to be winter and you keep space heaters around.
Even central heat can put a dryness in the air that consequently dries out the nostrils, especially if your baby has a runny nose. If the air is too dry, their runny nose will turn into a stuffy or mucousy situation that will make it difficult to breathe and get a good rest. A couple times throughout the day, I would give him just honey without the lime. I would put a dab on my index finger and put some on his tongue.
I know, in modern medicine, giving honey to infants is strictly prohibited, but it did absolutely no harm in my experience. Obviously too much of anything will be harmful to any child, but in this case, a small portion of honey was very helpful in keeping his throat soothed. Just be sure that the honey you use is pure and raw. In Burkina Faso, where we live, honey is a locally produced commodity and very high in quality.
As they get older, like one year and up, there is another remedy that is very helpful for sore throats and cold symptoms.
All you need are the following:
Honey 4oz.
Cinnamon ¼ tsp
Clove oil (or powder) 4 drops. ¼ tsp if using powder.
Turmeric ¼ tsp
I usually mix everything to taste, putting mostly honey. If you’re using clove powder, I’d suggest about half a teaspoon. Stir it all together in a bowl and then transfer it to a small bottle that will allow you to pour the contents onto a teaspoon.
I used an old 8 oz. squeeze bottle of honey, and it worked out really well. It’s excellent for children because you won’t have to force them to consume it. The honey keeps it mostly sweet tasting, but the other ingredients, are very useful in fighting bacteria as well as soothing and, reducing inflammation of the throat.
You can give a teaspoon 3 to 4 times a day depending on the severity of their symptoms.
In the case of coughs/chest colds, sore throats or stuffy nose, I make and excellent product that is useable for children over 1 as well as adults. Sent by the Sea’s Menthol Muscle Rub will be available for purchase soon, but in the meantime, check out my post on the Benefits of Menthol. There’s a DIY vapor/menthol rub you make inside. It can be modified for children and it works wonders!
For children, simply take a small amount, and rub it on the chest and throat as well as the in between the shoulder blades, where excessive coughing tends to put some wear and tear.
My suggestion is to apply after each bathing (morning and evening), for adults it can apply it more liberally.
Mucus & Coughing
They’re so tiny and helpless, that we often forget that when our babies get sick, it’s something that will naturally be a part of their lives. It doesn’t automatically make us bad parents, it simply gives us the opportunity to heal them which is an experience every mother will become more and more familiar with as we go. Even now, my son is a year old and I certainly have an overload of compassion when he’s not feeling well. But, the reality is, it’s fine.
Even we know that them getting sick is a part of their growth and development. Having exposure to different bacteria is what allows their immune systems to gain a memory of how to fight of different foreign agents and actually helps them to have a stronger and more resilient immunity. However, there are some key things you can do to ensure that as parents, we aren’t contributing to illnesses in their body unnecessarily.
This means limiting their consumption of sugar and processed foods as well our own, in the case of nursing moms. Meanwhile, for those inevitable moments when they are under the weather, there are some simple solutions that you can use with what is in your kitchen.
This remedy is a sure way to prevent and treat coughing, bronchitis and even pnemounia. With the cold season approaching, this mixture is really handy for all cold and flu symptoms.
In the case of mucous and wet coughs, all you need is a green apple, a few cloves of garlic and a couple ounces of honey. Remove the skin of the apple, peel your garlic and then, what I like to do, is blend it with the honey in my nutri-bullet. If you prefer, you can simply dice the apple and garlic very small.
But, if you’re going to give it to a small child, it may be easier to puree it. Make sure to add a good amount of honey. You don’t want the garlic to be too overpowering, but it should definitely be present in the taste. You can also give them warm water with honey and lime throughout the day. If they have a bottle or sippy cup, you can just put it in there and as long as it’s sweet, you can even add a little ginger or garlic. Any combination, really, of these three ingredients will be tremendously helpful for children and adults. The ginger and garlic help to fight bacteria, while the honey is soothing and antioxidant. Not to mention sweet…
All you need are the following:
1 Green Apple
A few ounces of Honey
1 Head of Garlic
2 tbsp of Ginger
1 Lime
This remedy is a sure way to prevent and treat coughing, bronchitis and even pneumonia. With the cold season approaching, this mixture is really handy for all cold and flu symptoms.
In the case of mucous and wet coughs, all you need is a green apple, a few cloves of garlic and a couple ounces of honey. Remove the skin of the apple. Peel your garlic and ginger. Then, what I like to do is blend it thee ingredient first in my nutri-bullet. Or, you can simply dice the apple, ginger and garlic very small.
However, if you’re going to give it to a small child, it may be easier to puree it. Make sure to add a good amount of honey once the mixture is blended, or chopped. You don’t want the garlic nd ginger to be too overpowering, but it should definitely be present in the taste. Add your honey to taste nd your lime to the mixture and stir.
You can also give smaller children warm water with honey and lime throughout the day. If they have a bottle or sippy cup, you can just put it in there and as long as it’s sweet, you can even add a little ginger or garlic. Any combination, really, of these three ingredients will be tremendously helpful for children and adults. The ginger and garlic help to fight bacteria, while the honey is soothing and antioxidant. Not to mention sweet…
Watch Below for a traditional recipe that's excellent for Hemorrhoids, Anemia, General Fatigue, Immunity, and Blood Cleansing
Find more Recipies here
Also, this remedy along with many others can be found in The Sidereal Calendar. The Kemetic Calendar published by Firefly Production. For more recipes, you can purchase your very own through The Earth Center.
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