Tales relating to natural remedies have been passed down from generation to generation and, in the face of medical advancement, are often looked on as old wives tales.
However, scientific experiments have shown that foods such as honey do indeed have health-healing benefits and are now even being re-introduced into hospitals.
Herbalist Anna Hill, from the Complementary Medicine Centre in Glasgow, says you can find a lot of materials to help cure minor ailments in your kitchen cupboard and believes they are a great money-saving way to get rid of your winter sniffles.
“They are not old wives tales,” she said. “There have been a lot of experiments done now on these things that we think of old wives tales and we are finding out that they are useful.”
If you get ear ache, then onions are just the ticket for reducing the pain and infection: “All you do is slice an onion in half, put it in a handkerchief and put it up against your ear,” Hill explains.
“Onions are anti-inflammatory and they also have some anti-bacterial action so if there is a little bit of an infection, it will help with that.”
General aches and pains can easily be reduced with a potato and a sock, a remedy that has been passed down many Scottish households for generation.
“Get a hot potato, smash it on the table to break it open and then pop it on the neck or area you want to keep warm, it makes a poultice.”
Vinegar and brown paper have also been used for decades to help cure sore throats and Hill believes that the condiment stills has it place alongside medical treatments.
“What you want to do is soak the paper in vinegar and then place that on the area you want to treat.”
If you don’t like the idea of vinegar, then a glass of sage and water will also help cure a sore throat and can even work as a mouth wash.
“There are lots of very localised remedies,” Hill explained. “We don’t actually have the time and the money to go and do scientific investigation into all of them. So try them and see.”
For more information, visit woodlandherbs.co.uk
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