Apr 23

Do you experience heartburn, have a bloated feeling? Belching, acidic burps? Feel like throwing up even after consuming small portions of food? You might be suffering from acidity. Acidity can be naturally cured and is easy to prevent. So before you start taking allopathic medicines, you may want to try one of these easy home remedies:

  • Have a banana.
  • Have a glass of cold milk. Be careful while trying this one. Some people find their acidity to get worse with milk. Works for most people I know though.
  • Coconut water, coconut milk have a very soothing effect.
  • Mix a tsp. of baking soda in water and have it while its still fizzing.
  • Popping 2-3 walnuts or almonds helps (personal experience).
  • Yogurt, fresh curd cool the linings and thus help counter acidity.
  • Consume 2-3 dates.
  • Orange juice or lemon juice help in acidity. 

To prevent acidity from occuring, keep in mind these preventive measures:

  • Avoid stress. This is probably the most common reason for acidity.
  • Avoid having meals at irregular timings.
  • Do not go hungry for long periods of time. Keep a protein bar or some biscuits handy. Even if you don’t have time to have a sit down meal, be sure to pop in a biscuit anytime you begin to feel hungry.
  • Avoid caffeinated drinks.

Remember to consult a doctor if acidity persists.



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Apr 16

Warm up 1 tsp. of mustard oil. Make sure its lukewarm and not very hot. Now, using a cotton ear bud or your index finger or a dropper, whatever you find convenient to use, put 1-2 drops of this lukewarm mustard oil in the ear that is aching. It works!

Using Ajwain (carom seeds): Boil 1 tbsp. of milk. When it boils, add ½ tsp. of Ajwain seeds. Filter it once it cools and use as ear drops.

Ajwain, Mustard Oil and Garlic: Add ½ tsp. of Ajwain seeds to 2tsp. of hot mustard oil. Add one or two flakes of crushed garlic. Keep heating oil till garlic turns red. Cool and filter. Use as ear drops.

Ofcourse, consult an ENT specialist if the pain persists.



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Jan 19

Sore throat( tonsilitis) is something I have been susceptible to since I was a child. So whether it is because the virii in the air, or the ice cold water I gulp down at the peak of the hot summers, or the chilled ice creams or spicy pickles I can’t resist, I often get up with a bad throat in the morning. And so I rely on my simple home remedies to cure my sore throat and bad cough that comes with it. They work quite nicely for me, though you do need to have some patience when you try home remedies and not expect them to work like a magic wand. Here’s what I do:

  • Boil half a glass of water with tea leaves. Filter and add a tea spoon of salt to the water. Add some bottled water(at room temperature) to make the resultant comfortable enough to gargle with. Gargling with this works wonders for me. I do this 2-3 times a day depending on the severity of the sore throat.
  • Grind one cinnamon stick, one green cardamom, 1/2 black cardamom, a few peppercorns, 1/2″ ginger and some sweet wood (liquorice or dalchini) - I use mortar and pestle for the job. Add this to a glass of water and heat in a pan. Let the water simmer for 5-10 minutes after the first boil. When the quantity of water has reduced and it has changed its color, strain the mixture.
    To the liquid, add a spoon of honey and drink it. You can vary the quanitities of ingredients used to suit your taste. I find it to be a great concoction - works great for my daughter who is quite susceptible to dry cough!
  • If my throat is too bad to enjoy a good meal, I take Besan Seera. If you’ve never made it, here is my recipe…
    Add a serving spoon of ghee to a pan, add about the same amount of gram flour(besan) to it, stirring continously till the besan turns a nice golden brown. If you don’t stir, it may burn, so be careful. In another pan, simultaneously, heat some water and sugar ( add sugar to taste and water depending on consistency desired). Let the water boil till sugar has completely dissolved. Now, slowly add this hot sugar water to the pan with gram flour and ghee. Remember to add slowly and be careful when you add hot water to the hot ghee-besan mixture. It is good to reduce the flame of the pan with ghee-besan when you add water and keep stirring continously.
    Let the mixture simmer for a while till you get the consistency you want. Now remove from flame. If you like it really thick, put it in a bowl and eat with a spoon - really soothes the throat. I like to have it as a drink though and keep the mixture to a pouring consistency. Having this a couple of times a day soothes my throat. 
  • At bedtime, I have a glass of hot milk boiled with Banapsha (herbs found commonly at Auryeda stores and even at local Grocer’s sometimes). Super for dry cough and cold too.
  • If my throat is dry, I try and massage heated ghee on the neck.  

If my tonsilitis is at an early stage, I am mostly ok by the next day. If the throat is really bad, it takes about 3-4 days for me to get ok with this. Does anyone have any other remedies for common sore throat? Would be happy to hear…



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