According to the great philosopher Hippocrates, “Let food be thy medicine and medicine be thy food.” As more and more people turn to healthy living and eating whole and clean foods, the more they also turn to foods as medicine. In fact, like most doctors would recommend “prevention is better than cure.” There is plenty of food from your kitchen that works like a medicine. There are those that can provide instant relief and there are those that can provide you with immunity through constant consumption. So, here is a list of common kitchen ingredients and their possible uses as medicines.
#1. Honey
Honey has been used in medical practices for as far back as 4,000 years ago. In fact, it was used to treat imbalances in the body and indigestion in traditional Ayurvedic medicine. Currently, modern medicine is proving once again the varied medical uses of honey. If you have heard of food as medicine, honey can be a great substitute for sugar because it does not carry the negative health impact that table sugar har. Another benefit of honey is that it can be used as a cough remedy but do remember that it is not advisable for children under one-year-old to consume honey. Here is a quick list of honey’s potent medicinal properties:
- Can fight infection from a bacterium that causes severe diarrhea.
- It lines the stomach and esophagus thereby reducing acid reflux.
- Honey can be used topically to treat wounds.
#2. Garlic
Garlic has potent medicinal properties. In fact, in a study published in the American Family Physician, the regular consumption of garlic decreases an adult’s susceptibility to colds. But, garlic does not have an effect on the duration of the cold once it sets in. Thus, it is only useful as a preventive measure.
Garlic is well-known for its anti-microbial properties. In a study published in the Journal of Antimicrobial Chemotherapy, garlic was found to be multiple times more potent than two popular drugs against intestinal infection. Garlic contains diallyl trisulfide, a compound known to protect the heart from damage. Here’s more of garlic’s medicinal benefits:
- Eating raw garlic at least two times per week lowers a person’s risk of developing lung cancer by 44%.
- Identified as containing a promising compound that controls the malignant growth of human brain tumor cells.
- Helps combat osteoarthritis in women.
Related: How To Prepare Medicinal Pickled Garlic
#3. Lemon
Well, you probably know that lemons are rich in Vitamin C which is a potent antioxidant. Antioxidants are substances that have the capacity to increase your immunity, stabilize mood disorders, increase memory, provides heart protection, and prevents eye problems. Lemons are also known as a natural antiseptic. It can be applied on the skin to ease pains from bee stings and sunburn. It also posses anti-aging properties like helping in the removal of blackheads, improves skin elasticity, and even cures eczema and acne. Other lesser known medicinal benefits of lemon are:
- It can dissolve callous and corns.
- Drinking lemon juice helps control dizziness, blood pressure, and heart problems.
- It has antibacterial properties and helps fight throat infections.
#4. Cinnamon
If you are a baker, then you definitely have cinnamon in your cupboard. It’s a great spice for your cookies, bread, and pies. It is also a great addition to your morning coffee. Cinnamon contains polyphenols which are powerful antioxidants and we already know the various health benefits of these substances. Another great medicinal benefit of cinnamon is its anti-inflammatory property. It has been shown that chronic inflammation in the body can have deleterious effects and just by ingesting cinnamon regularly you are lowering your risk for diseases related to inflammation. Further, cinnamon has the capacity to reduce the levels of triglycerides and LDL cholesterol—lowering your risk for heart disease. Here are more medicinal benefits of cinnamon:
- It has an anti-diabetic effect by improving sensitivity to insulin and thereby lowering blood sugar levels.
- As part of its antioxidant property, cinnamon adds protection to your brain against neurological disorders like Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s disease.
- It has immune-boosting properties that protect you from diseases.
#5. Turmeric
The active ingredient found in turmeric is known as Curcumin—which is believed, by medical researchers, to give turmeric its various health benefits. It has an anti-cancer and anti-tumor activity. In a study conducted on myeloid leukemia, it was reported they have concluded that turmeric curcumin has anti-tumor effects that can be contributed to its cell-death inducing activities, wherein cancerous or tumor cells where observed to disappear. Another great medicinal benefit of turmeric is its ability to lower the risk of brain diseases and improve brain function. In a study conducted, it showed that curcumin can increase the levels of Brain-Derived Neutrophic Factor (BDNF) which is a growth hormone linked to many common brain disorders. Low BDNF levels have been connected to Alzheimer’s disease and depression. It is also suggested that BDNF helps improve memory. Here are more Turmeric medicinal benefits:
- Curcumin contains both antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties that are therapeutic enough to combat various pathological conditions.
- A study has concluded that turmeric curcumin supplement suggests a biologic effect in the chemoprevention of cancer.
- Provides Pain Relief for Knee Osteoarthritis.
#6. Ginger
Ginger is one of the major components in Chinese as well as traditional Asian medicine. It is used to treat different maladies. Ginger root is used to treat symptoms of motion sickness. Intake of ginger tea can help relieve a person suffering from symptoms like vomiting, sweating and nausea. Ginger is also known to relieve from arthritis. It can also use to treat rheumatism and osteoarthritis. Creating a poultice made from ginger and putting it directly on the affected part can relieve pain. People who suffer from gastrointestinal problems like heartburn and bloating can take advantage of ginger as it is known to strengthen the gastrointestinal tract. More ginger medicinal benefits below:
- Studies have shown that ginger has the capacity to slow down the growth of various cancer cells.
- It has the capacity to reduce soreness and muscle pain.
- Ginger possesses anti-inflammatory properties which have a positive effect on osteoarthritis.
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Red pepper (cayenne) powder stops bleeding, and also should be taken if having a heart attack. Stops bleeding internally and externally. I keep a jar of organic cayenne VERY handy in my kitchen! Also, if you get heart palpitations, put a little in water and drink it. Cayenne is GREAT for your heart!
Sorry fee, but I have to disagree here. Capsaicin, the active ingredient in cayenne pepper, is a blood thinner (so it won’t stop internal bleeding – it will make it worse), so in theory it could reduce the damage caused by a heart attack. However it’s also a very powerful irritant, and if you take enough to have any effect it’s likely to cause vomiting. Do not take cayenne pepper if you’re having a heart attack; take aspirin.
Hey! Check with any of your favorite herbalists, and see if they encourage cayenne for heart attacks. Most of them do; it was actually ONE of the first things I learned about herbs! Cayenne is also really good for shock as well. All of the herbalists I have read say to use cayenne to stop external bleeding, and say it is an astringent and is good for circulation. Cayenne is also one of the favorite cardiac tonic herbs. Please check this on Google and with the herbalists, because it is one of the most friendly herbs there is, for so much. (It is also an herb that is good to mix with other herbs; it is a carrier herb, that carries whatever other herbs you are taking thru the body. When learning about making herbal remedies, using a carrier herb was one of the things they taught.) Oh, also, not sure about when you’re actually having an attack, but I have heard that aspirin is not good to take DAILY in order to prevent heart attacks, like they used to advocate. Kind of like the way all soy products were advocated for health before they determined that was hogwash, and same with canola oil. And GMOs and glyphospate (RoundUp) and margarine! There is a really good article on Dr Christopher and how he started on cayenne, if you go to herballegacy.com and look up cayenne. Cayenne belongs in all medicine cabinets, kitchen cabinets, prepper supplies and bug out bags!
hey fee – as a cardiac survivor and unless your herbalists are also licensed and board certified cardiologists I believe Claude’s response is very accurate – every cardiologist and hospital will tell you in case of the beginning of a heart attack or stroke to take a regular size aspirin and be sure to tell the medical personnel –
Fee you are right!
I’m not an expert or know it all on any subject, but one thing I know quite a bit about is Cayenne pepper, Capsicum, Capsaicin. In my practice I have used cayenne extensively for many uses. It is good for trauma, shock, and heart attacks, internal and external wound healing, it can be poured on bleeding wounds to stop bleeding. It is used for pain, poor circulation, congestion, fever, infections, colds, and will help to stabilize all vitals after serious injury, such as a gun shot wound. I’ve used cayenne to dissolve ulcers, heal kidneys, cleansing livers, it will even keep your feet warm when you put it in your boots or shoes.
Marci, being licensed and board certified means nothing. You are not licensed or board certified, and neither is Claude, you expect people to believe what you have to say. Whether or not you believe or understand what Fee said, her information is correct. Claude can disagree all he wants, Fee is still right and he is wrong. He doesn’t know what he is talking about. Cayenne pepper DOESEN’T thin the blood, it purifies and cleanses the blood. It will coagulate blood when applied topically.Theories, that’s all they are, theory.
Just because doctors and cardiologist recommend asprin, doesn’t mean that God didn’t give us something natural in the form of an herb or mineral that will do the same thing as an over the counter drug, and do it better. More doctors are learning this.
You put so much importance and emphasis on what doctors say and recommend,and the average doctor doesn’t even live as long as the average couch potato. The average doctor only lives to be 58 or 66 depending on which study you look at. The average couch potato lives to be 77 and half.
Doctors receive very little training in med school on vitamins , minerals, and essential nutrients necessary to keep the human body healthy and prevent things like cardiac arrest. That is why they tell you to take asprin for heart attack, because they don’t know about the alternatives.
Every doctor takes a Hippocratic oath, and Hippocrates said ” let food be thy medicine and medicine be thy food “. What do you think he meant by that? It’s not hard to understand. He never mentioned asprin or any other kind of drugs.
Today doctors tell you to take whatever they are paid to tell you to take. Yes, they get a kick back on every prescription they write. Yes, they get a kick back on every mammogram, MRI, or Cat Scan they prescribe. Doctors are in business. Why would they tell you to use an herb that they know nothing about or that would put them out of business? I know they don’t get a kick back on asprin, but look at the whole picture.
The chief, head cardiologist in one of the biggest cardiology centers in the United States, had a cardiac arrest and fell over dead in his own hospital. He couldn’t even keep himself healthy and alive. Do you want to take his advice? Be careful who you listen to. Long before there were licensed , board certified, chief specialist of any kind, there were herbs herbal remedies and herbal medicine. I’m still learning because there is so much we don’t know.
Unfortunately there will always be plenty of Claude’s,and Marci’s , uninformed skeptics keeping the majority of the doctors in business and writing things that they know very little about. ” Always Remain Teachable “.
Hi Doc! You are so right! My sister died from a board certified doctor! Doctors that told her that if you have cancer there is no problem with eating sugar; eat all you want! never understood that, because it is mainstream in lots of places now that sugar feeds cancer. BUT! Not according to head oncologist and the DOCTOR of Nutrition (as she didn’t fail to tell me was what she was)! You have to research everything and figure it out on your own, especially in health care. We do NOT usually get steered in the right direction from many of the health care providers. Although some of them are wonderful. Some of them are the opposite, and we have to take responsibility ourselves to find out who you can trust and who you can’t. It can be extremely dangerous to your health to just blindly put your trust in someone who has letters and certifications after their names. OH! One other thing about cayenne! It works VERY quickly and effectively for heart palpitations (I know this firsthand), and also, my sister and both used it when we would get auras (prior to migraine), and it would make the auras go away and keep the migraine from developing. Took longer to do that though, than to take palpitations away! Extract in some water was the best way for the palpitations (fastest way I mean)!
Thanks Fee.
I’m sorry to hear about your sister. I’m sorry to hear she was given bad information. Sugar is so bad for all of us in so many ways. We have to avoid it as much as possible. I like a good piece of carrot cake with cream cheese frosting, just as many of you do. I just don’t make a habit of it. There is too much evidence supporting how bad sugar is, for us to continue to abuse our bodies the way we do. Sodas alone are enough to take away our good health and a quality of life that we all would like. You hear people say, ( even doctors ), ” Moderation in all things , and in most cases this is a good rule of thumb. In many things pertaining to our health and diet, ” little or none, complete abstinence is better “. No smoking, no alcohol, no drugs, very little white sugar, very little if any high fructose corn syrup. This in no way is meant to be an all inclusive list. It’s only a sample. Only the tip of the iceberg. Just as the things I mentioned that cayenne pepper is helpful with was not a complete list. In my 46 years of practice, I’ve tried to educate my patients about various treatments. Then they can decide which choice they want to follow.
Obesity in my opinion is the biggest epidemic facing our country and the health of Americans. Our rising generation is being raised on the poorest diet of any generation this world has ever seen.
Cancer is an 80 Billion dollar industry. I have been trying to educate those who have cancer about B 17 and wheat grass and wheat grass juice. I first learned about these 2 natural remedies in 1978 and have been using them ever since, even to treat my own cancer. You can research them for your own benefit.
I grew up on a farm and my dad used to say, and still does, ” you can lead a horse to water, but you can’t make him drink “. This old adage holds true in medicine as well. Remember, “Always Remain Teachable “, and share what you know to be true with others. Don’t preach, just share and then let them decide.
I have been doing some research and listening to summits and info on the microbiome, and am just stunned at all the info that is starting to trickle in! The glyphosphate is going to do the whole world in, it looks like! I had no earthly idea what all the gut bacteria do for the human body. The glyphosphates decimate your good gut bacteria. This not only allows the bad to proliferate, BUT it takes away all the many good things that the good bacteria do for you! As in producing serotonin and minerals you need; and this is totally the tip of the iceberg. Monsanto said that the glyphosphate does not injure the human body, but it didn’t say anything about whether it injures the microbiome/gut bacteria. It is also looking like the harming of the microbes is causing most of our diseases, including obesity and diabetes (1 as well as 2), and autoimmune diseases! If you look up Jeffrey Smith and the Institute for Responsible Technology (as in anti GMOs), you can find info on these doctors who are researching all this and find out more. I am starting to fail some with my mental acuity and need to work on everything (which I am). This is an absolute goldmine to find out about. Of course it is all coming in fairly slowly as it is being currently researched. There was a doctor named Kiran Krishnan who spoke at the Summit; he has been in Microbiome research for 12 years; he had SO much fantastic info! This information will turn the health world on its ear, for real! The summit is still going to be on for several more days, and you can still register for free at healingfromgmos.com I’m sure they will replay the ones that have already happened later, but this info is just SO worth it to anyone who has health problems, or family with health problems. Dr Klinghardt and Dr Krishnan had a lot of info I didn’t know. Dr Bush has a lot, but I had already heard his talk before. (We were doing things to try and help my sister, but unfortunately, her pain was so bad that she had to go along with mainstream oncologist to get the pain medications she needed. And you know once they have you, they will do you in! With all the alternative therapies I know about, none of them helped with the pain. Then later I found out (from my microbiome studies) that the hand sanitizers (which they made her and everyone around her use constantly) are frickin HORMONE DISRUPTORS, and she had a stage 4 hormonal cancer! You don’t have to be Marcus Welby to know how well THOSE two things will mix! Sheeeeesh! I had to retire from my job her last month, so I could spend time with her (they would not let me off work for non-paid family leave, because she was my SISTER and according to the gov doesn’t qualify as family. (Even though she is the ONLY person in the world that had the exact same genes as I did. Genes don’t count with family according to govt!) But now I have time to do more research, which I didn’t have time to when I was working. But I feel I owe it to her and to my whole family to find out all I can so I can help. Actually, it was my doctor who taught me about the microbiome (and I brought him a copy of the book Grain Brain (this was after it first came out). He was so impressed with it that he bought one for all his employees! I actually have a doctor who is pretty well versed! (But then again, he doesn’t have as much time to research as I do now!) (Oh, by the way, JS’s website is responsibletechnology.org in case you aren’t already familiar with him!)
What do you think aspirin will do? It’s a blood thinner. Cayenne pepper works to both thin and thicken your blood, depending on what’s needed. It will thin your blood, but if it finds a “leaky” area, it will fix it too. Please be sure before you make recommendations that are incorrect!
I enjoyed your article about medicinal foods. I do wish to add a first hand observation to the article on garlic. You said “But, garlic does not have an effect on the duration of the cold once it sets in. Thus, it is only useful as a preventive measure.” I would have to respectfully disagree. I have used garlic the majority of time once a sore throat/cold has set in, and successfully treated those as well as ear and chest infections by swallowing chopped raw garlic every 2-3 hours. Nursing mothers used to ingest raw garlic to dry up their milk, and it works for drying up mucous secretions in much the same way, besides the anti-bacterial & viral properties it contains. It is my go-to response for every flu type sickness, with the exception of the stomach flu. (It can be hard on the stomach, but can be helped with some starchy companion like potato.) It is very effective to combating colds, etc.
I’ve often used raw honey to treat injuries. It only takes a drop or two, depending on the size of the injury being treated, at each bandage change. I don’t know if the pasteurized stuff found in grocery stores works or not. I’ve only used raw honey.
I also take bee pollen from a local apiary for both allergies and rheumatoid arthritis. I started taking the pollen for the allergies since I can’t take allergy meds (too many bad side effects) but quickly found it helped the RA too, plus it is inexpensive compared to the biologic the doctor had me on. He was amazed at the difference in my joints, especially my hands, before and after taking the pollen. Thank goodness, he’s got an open mind when it comes to alternative treatments.
Also sprinkle cinnamon on your eggs.
I don’t want to criticize this article because it contains much useful information but, would in be possible to have someone proficient in the English language and grammar to proofread before publishing? Misspelled words, obvious words left out of sentences and grammatical errors send me into a head spinning space in my brain.
I look forward to reading each article when they are posted but it would be much more enjoyable to read without the teeth-gritting symptoms that go hand in hand with the mistakes.
Thank you, in advance, for providing error free information.
Someone should have proof read your response.
Want some cheese to go with that?
Then don’t read it
Then don’t read it, if it stresses you out that bad
Someone should have proof read your response.
I don’t need anything. You are the only one wining. I mearly pointed out that your complaint, (comment) , was in need of the very thing that you were complaining about. Too bad you have to be so childish. The truth hurts, and when that shoe fit your foot, you didn’t like it. The word is full of people who won’t take responsibility for their own mistakes and actions. Grow up.
Then please take some responsibility for your mistakes: “wining” when we think you meant “whining”,
“mearly” when you obviously meant “merely” and lastly “word” when you meant “world”. There’s a couple more mistakes but I won’t trouble you with them.
Tex , you are absolutely correct. I did mispell all three of those words, I don’t make excuses for my errors. I actually questioned the spelling of the first two words because they didn’t look right to me. I should have looked them up, before the email was sent. I did look them up afterwards, but it was too late to make a correction. I don’t know how I mispelled the word world. I’m just glad you were smart enough to know what I meant. Thanks for your corrections. Rustyspurs
Cayene will congeal blood ; asprin will thin blood.
I use raw sugar to stop bleeding on open sores or cuts. Especially bad with my Lab pups when I come home and since I am on blood thinners since my quad bypass. Sort of got lucky with that went to the hospital with pneumonia and they found some blocked vessels in the heart. I had a quad bypass when I got over pneumonia. Spent a total of 25 days in there helped me break my three pack a day addiction. I have not had a smoke since and that was in spring of 2016.
At a minimum we know from the diplomas hanging on his office wall what college the doctor attended. We know from the certificate of completion at what hospital his residency was completed. We know from checking with the Medical Board whether his medical license is current. If he is board certified we know that at a minimum he has completed the requirements that the particular board has set up to issue its board certification. Whether they are high enough standards is something for someone with more knowledge of the specialty to decide. It is beyond the knowledge of most of us to make that kind of judgment.
In spite of all those qualifications, while some doctors take on god-like airs and medical workers lower down in the hierarchy may treat them as deities, the fact of the matter is that they are human and subject to all the frailties of we humans, whether they like to admit it or not.
Sometimes, even though they provide every correct treatment and are seriously concerned about the welfare of their patient, patients die through no fault of the doctor.
As a court reporter I have reported medical malpractice cases and I have reported more medical malpractice depositions. I think I have had far more exposure to med-mal as the lawyers like to call it than most of the posters to this site. I feel qualified to comment on the quality of medical care at least in California.
The standard used to judge whether a doctor has committed medical malpractice is the standard of care common in the community in which the doctor practices. The general practitioner is not held the the standard of care that is practiced at Johns Hopkins or USC Medical Center. If he practices in Alturas, CA, the standard of care generally practiced in Alturas by the doctors practicing there is the ruler one uses to see if his care has measured up.
I don’t know about other states, but in California in order for the doctor to be held liable for injuries resulting from his substandard medical care, his shoddy performance must have made a difference in the outcome.
I reported one case where a man died of influenza. While it is atypical for a man in his midlife, otherwise healthy, to succumb to influenza, that outcome is unfortunately, all too common. The doctor’s care in the case I have in mind met no one’s standard of care, not even in some third world country. HOWEVER, the defense was able to show by very highly respected and qualified physicians locally that only by the hand of God would the deceased have survived. His influenza had so ruined his lungs that no medical treatment would have saved him. So it didn’t matter that the doctor had gone off for the weekend on a ski trip. His patient would have died if he had bern in constant attendance
24-7.
So against the qualifications that I have outlined, we have two individuals who have not disclosed their own qualifications offering medical advice that is, at least in the opinion of the owner of this list contra-indicated.
When I write a column or a reply to a post, I try to list either the source of my information or my own personal experience to lend gravitas to the opinion I am espousing. Too frequently we have people who make no such disclosure offering opinions that are of at least questionable reliability, often times in strident tones and they act quite offended when folks have the audacity to question their proffered unsubstantiated opinion.
In my opinion, that often time is the attitude taken by someone who is unsure of the information he is offering and attempts to cover its inadequacy by strident tones and injured attitude.
In any discussion about the curative powers of any substance always bear in mind that the placebo effect has been proven time and again to be 30%. To break that down, it means that any treatment from a witch doctor shaking a gourd rattle to just plain offering up audible prayers in the presence of the afflicted person, three out of ten will recover with just any protocol. That’s why drugs to be accepted for sale to the public must have a cure rate higher than 30%.
Also bear in mind that we are a country of approximately 350 million different individuals with significantly different ethnic backgrounds and vastly different life styles. So a drug may be incredibly efficacious for me and not work on you because of my ethnic background as compared to yours and my lifestyle as compared to yours. Even a difference such as the region of the country where we spent our youth may affect the efficacy of a particular drug.
So I hope that readers of this list will judge the responses and the advice rendered by some of the posters in light of the criteria I have outlined and the results that all of us can expect from educated, licensed medical professionals.
Don’t misunderstand my post. There are truly some medical professionals who are dangerous and should have their licenses pulled for a variety of reasons. One, they don’t spend enough time to make an accurate diagnosis. Two: they haven’t kept current with recent trends. Three: They are just sloppy in their work.
We know there are craftsmen in every trade and there are apprentices in every trade. A union journeyman plumber may not know a plunger from pipe caulk. Another union journeyman plumber may be like watching a symphony in action. There was always somebody at the bottom of the medical school class either because he attended class just enough to not get kicked out or through just plain inability to grasp the subject matter. Med school diplomas do not list class standing which is a very good thing for doctors; not so good for patients.
Sorry for the long post but I am frequently alarmed at some of the medical advice that is offered by folks who have no known background or their background is anecdotal at best. Standard medical advice presently if one feels that one is have a cardiac episode is to chew, not take with water, a standard aspirin and get to an emergency room as quickly as possible.
If you want to disregard that advice and chew some unknown quantify of off-the-shelf chili pepper of questionable purity and shelf life, I would strenuously recommend that you run that protocol past your g.p. and see what he has to say about it.
I would suggest the same course of action with regard to sprinkling non-sterile chili powder into any kind of serious wound. Run that by some emergency room physician the next time you are hanging around an E.R.
That’s my medical advice for this topic and I will buttress that with the statement that I probably have attended more medical lectures in deposition and courtroom testimony than 99% of the people reading this. I have written down every word of several medical examiners as they went through their autopsy in murder cases in minute detail, describing the path of the bullets and the tissue damage they caused and its effect of the viability of the deceased. I have written down every word of medical doctors and other personnel in a variety of assault cases. And, of course, lots of medical testimony in the sundry medical malpractice cases I reported. So there are my bona fides.
I know enough medicine to know that I don’t know enough medicine. I would rather deal with a guy who knows he isn’t the brightest bulb in the chandelier than someone who is too stupid to realize he is stupid.