HOME REMEDIES FOR SOME COMMON HEALTH PROBLEMS

Way back before modern medicine was introduced in africa, china and other parts of the world, herbs and other naturally occurring plants were used for healing. Here are some few home remedies that are being used by many, mostly to prevent diseases and illnesses. However, there are some communities that have limited access to health facilities and are therefore still using a lot of these home remedies. People are gradually switching back to nature because they want to avoid chemicals found in some products. Besides, it is also safe and cheap to use. 

1) Cough and colds

The following ingredients are commonly used for cough and colds:

• Turmeric (Curcuma Longa)
• Ginger
• Lemon
• Honey
• Bitter Kola
• Garlic
• Ginseng plant
• Oranges

How to use these ingredients
Add 1 teaspoon of turmeric a table spoon of honey to a glass of hot lemon water. Drink this 3 times a day till you feel relieved. There also exist turmeric supplements that you can take in the absence of turmeric powder.

Add a teaspoon of Ginger, a teaspoon of garlic and a table spoon of  honey to hot lemon water. Drink this 3 times a day. Alternatively you can take supplements that contain ginger.

If you have bitter kola, chew one twice a day till you feel better.

Add a teaspoon of Ginseng plant (root or leaf) to a cup of hot lemon water. You can add a table spoon of honey as desired. Take this twice a day till you get relieved. 

Further reading: Health benefits and uses of Ginseng

2) Burns
Burns are injuries to our skin caused by fire, hot objects and liquids(oil, water, iron, metals, pots etc) or electricity. The first thing you do after a burn can be a great deciding factor as to whether your wound heals faster, slowly or gets infected. Here is a list of common ingredients used at home after a burn:

• Honey
• Aloe vera
• Water

How to use these ingredients
Immediately after getting burned apply a considerate amount of natural honey on the affected area. Studies have also showed that extracts from honey is able to prevent wound infection and promote healing (1). Studies on humans have also demonstrated that honey has beneficial wound healing properties (2).

Studies have also showed that aloe vera gel is able to bring about faster healing in patients with second degree thermal burns than those who were treated with 1% silver sulfadiazine. Those who were treated with aloe Vera gel also had pain relieve earlier than those treated with 1% silver sulfadiazine (3).You can apply aloe vera to burns to help relieve pain and speed up the healing process. 

Water is very essential after a burn. Immediately immerse the area in a bowl of tap water to prevent further damage from taking place. 

Hint: Identifying natural honey. pour honey into a cup of water and observe. Natural honey will settle at the bottom of the cup and not dissolve easily within 30 minutes. Be warned: there are many people manufacturing artificial honey.
Further reading: common mistakes to avoid after a burn

3) Pimples and Acne
Women are greatly affected by acne all over the globe. Thankfully, there are home remedies that you can use to fight pimples. Be low are some common ingredients being used.

• Lemon/Lime
• corn starch
• Aloe vera 
• Clay (popularly called calabar chalk in west and central Africa where it is found in abundance)
• apple cider vinegar
• tooth paste
• Tea tree oil
• witch Hazel
• Activated Charcoal

How to use these ingredients

All of the ingredients above can be used to make a face mask or applied on the affected areas. 

Mix one part of apple cider vinegar(ACV) with 3 parts of water and apply on the affected area. rinse it off after allowing it for 15 minutes. You have to be careful with ACV because excess of it might irritate your skin. 

Apply aloe vera gel daily to the affected area. Leave it off over night and rinse the next day. Alternatively you can rinse it off after allowing it on for 30 mins. 

Clay can be used to make a face mask to get rid of acne and smoothen the face. simply crush it to powder, add a few drops of tea tree oil and witch hazel. Apply it on the affected area and wash it off after at least 30 minutes. Corn starch can be used in the absence of clay. 

Alternatively, you can use products that contain the ingredients above. 

• Zit Zaper is made up of ingredients like witch hazel, zinc sulpphate and tea tree oil.
• Blackhead Removal mask is made up of aloe vera, activated charcoal and oat extract. These products  and many others, made from natural ingredients are found on Le Luna, an online beauty website

Activated Charcoal is used both internally and externally. Externally, it is used for treating acne, body odor and discomort from insect bites. To treat acne, the activated charcoal is mixed with aloe vera gel and applied on the face, to be rinsed after at least 30 minutes.

4 Food poisoning

Food poisoning is caused by bacteria. This happens through unhygienic and or improper handling of food. This food poisoning can cause stomach ache, nausea and vomiting, diarrhea and general body weakness. Even though some people do not wish for this to happen, others do bring food poisoning upon themselves because they cannot control their appetite at weddings, death celebrations and other occasions.
Ingredients:

• Lemon
• Garlic
• Ginger
• Sugar
• Salt
• Activated Charcoal

Adults should take 25 grams of activated charcoal and children should take 10 grams of it when food poisoning is suspected (4). It is advisable to always have a bottle of activated charcoal at home. 

You can get your own bottle of activated charcoal from weight world and open up the capsules to get the powder if you want to use it for treating acne.

Get half of 1 lemon, 6 level teaspoons sugar and ½ level teaspoon of salt and mix in a liter of water and drink. This will be able to relieve the passing out of watery stool caused by food poisoning

Eating ginger and garlic will also help to relieve the symptoms of food poisoning Ginger and Garlic will help because they have anti-bacterial and anti-fungi properties.

5 watery stool

If you have access to a pharmacy, buy a sachet of oral re-hydration solution (ORS) and mix in a litre of water and drink.

If you don’t have access to ORS, squeeze ½ lemon, take 6 level teaspoons sugar and ½ level teaspoon of salt and mix in a liter of water and drink.

6 To get white teeth and get rid of mouth odor
We can use the common ingredients in our home to get rid mouth odor and get a whiter teeth. 
common ingredients used are:

• Lemon
• Sodium Bicarbonate

Step 1
Measure out one level teaspoon of sodium bicarbonate and put in in the bowl.

Step 2
 Squeeze one half lime or lemon onto the plate containing the sodium bicarbonate. You will see a reaction taking place and bubbles will appear after you add the lime to the sodium bicarbonate.

Step 3 
After the bubbles have disappeared, use your teaspoon to blend the mixture. It should not be too watery or too thick. if it is too watery, add a bit of sodium bicarbonate.

Step 4
Use your tooth brush to brush your teeth with the paste. Rinse your mouth with water.  Do this once a week to have a white teeth.

7) Over weight and Obesity
Even though there exist proven weight loss products and supplements like Garcinia Cambogia, there are some products at home that can aid in weight loss. We shouldn't overlook the importance of nutrition and physical exercise when trying to lose weight.

• apple cider vinegar
• lemon/limes
• Green tea

Lemon or lime juice is one of the most used for weight weight loss. This is because it helps in digestion, speeds up metabolism which burns fats and detoxifies the body. Simply squeeze half lemon in a glass or warm water and drink it every morning, preferably on an empty stomach. In the absence of lemon, 2 teaspoons of apple cider vinegar in warm water will do.

There are so many brands of green tea that aid in with weight loss. They help in speeding up metabolism, aid in digestion and detoxify our system. If you are looking for an effective tee to lose weight, we recommend ortte Matcha Green tea, because it is known world wide for assisting with weight loss and detoxification plus it is very affordable.

Visit the Ottre website to get your own green tea to start losing weight.

last updated: 11/07/2017