Mexican Folk Remedies

Mexican folk remedies emanate from a complex system of maintaining health, preventing disease and illness management. The Mexican culture has at its base the botanical and agricultural advancements of the Aztecs and Mayans, with contributions by the Olmecs. The Moors from Spain and the Spanish conquistadors who then followed their navigation to the New World would later introduce medical advances into Mexican traditional medicine, adding Old World herbs and remedies. Mexican folk healers married the remedies into what is now known as Mexican folk remedies or traditional Mexican medicine.

History

• Prior to the colonization of Jamestown in 1607, the native people of Mexico had established medical institutions that practiced traditional medicines with over 5,000 native herbal remedies. These remedies are recorded in the Badiano Codex of 1552. Mexican traditional medicine is deeply rooted in the connection between the health of the body and a strong foundation of religious beliefs.

Mexican Traditional Health System

• The application of Mexican folk remedies was through a sophisticated hierarchy of positions. According to Dr. Nancy Neff of Baylor College of Medicine, the sick were first treated by the elders of the family, or an elder close to the family. If the condition was beyond the scope of the elder, or if the person required more specialized care, the elder would then refer them to the appropriate health practitioner. These included an herbalist, or yerbero or yerbera, as well as a midwife, or partera, who treated both mothers and children. The need for further medical attention beyond this level of specialists warranted the care of the lay healer--curandero total--who would blend together multiple treatment modalities for the sick person.

Internal Balance

• Mexican folk remedies borrowed from the concept of the humoral balances between hot and cold, and wet and dry. Disease is said to be the state of an imbalance between these extremes within the body. The use of herbal formulas and healing techniques would help to move the body toward balance and wellness.

Herbal Uses

• Some Mexican folk remedies include the use of chamomile for gas, anxiety, as an eyewash and for nausea. Mullein is used as an expectorant, for asthma, coughs and tuberculosis. Passion flower is used for hypertension and anxiety, and oregano is used for intestinal worms, to relieve phlegm and for menstruation problems.

Treating Health Conditions

• Mexican folk remedies extend into many common health conditions. These include folk remedies for high blood pressure, using canary grass, and low blood pressure, using lime juice, honey and garlic. Peyote is used for rheumatism and arthritis, rue for earache and chamomile for eye problems. The array of folk remedies represents the comprehensive approach to health and well-being in traditional Mexican medicine.