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Folk Remedies That Work

Folk remedies that work take many forms, from herbs, spices and weeds, to food cures, to some that seem to have their origins in superstitions. Folk remedies tend to be medical cures that have been passed on from one generation to the next. The effectiveness of folk remedies tends to be subjective to those who use them.

  1. Spices and Herbs that Cure

    • Using plants to heal, cure and treat illness has been around for centuries. Some of these remedies use garlic. Use this aromatic herb for reducing cholesterol and as an anti-viral. You can ingest it by drinking garlic tea made from steeping six cloves in one cup of cool water for a total of six hours. Other herbs often used in folk remedies are: peppermint, spearmint, chamomile, cinnamon, ginger and licorice, just to name a few.

    Weeds that Cure

    • A common folk remedy using a simple wild plant is for removing warts with milkweed. I have personally experienced the result of removing a wart with a few applications of the milk from the milkweed leaves. Other folk remedies using common weeds are dandelions as an anti-inflammatory, rose hips tea for its vitamin C, mullein in a tea for asthma, and plantain for burns and cuts by putting the crushed leaves directly on the wound.

    Food Cures

    • Foods have often been used to treat certain illness or conditions. Use apple cider vinegar for arthritis, acid reflux, colds, gout, flu, sore throat, sinus infections and heart pain. Baking soda, pineapple juice, papaya, almonds, banana and apples are just a few of the other foods that can turn your pantry into a medicine cabinet. Each one is used to clear up acid reflux, indigestion and heartburn, and are said to bring instant relief just by drinking a glass of water with 1 tsp. of baking soda stirred into it or eating five raw almonds with them. Check out HomeRemedyCafe.com for more information on these remedies and others.

    Really Strange Remedies

    • Then there are those folk remedies that you really have to wonder about, but that are still used around the world. Like putting slices of onions on the bottom of your kid's feet inside his socks to rid him of a fever? If you suffer from leg cramps at night put a bar of soap in bed with you. Kick up a low libido by adding dried, ground-up black ants into the next glass of wine you drink.

    From Folk Remedy to Modern Medicine

    • Some folk remedies have move into mainstream medicine. The use of leeches and maggots are now being used in modern hospitals by educated doctors to treat their patients. If you have a finger cut off and then reattached, it's very possible that a leech or two will be used to aid in your recovery. As the leeches suck up the damaged blood that can settle around the reattachment and they also produce a substance that is a vasodialtor, a anticoagulant and analgesic.

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