Remedies against the following warning signs:
Bladder infection: If you feel some burning while peeing, start to drink a lot. Like A LOOT. The heavier the burning the more you should drink. When it happened to me once, I forced myself to drink 6 litres of nettle tea. Nettles are great for releasing whatever doesn’t belong in your body. Once it happened to me in Asia when there were no nettles around. I found out that it also works with bamboo. And it worked! (in most cases, wherever you are, there are either nettles OR bambu not too far, so you should be safe. Just make sure you collect some a bit further away from the path to avoid dog pee and wash the harvested greens well). If it is too late and the bacteria have settled in too comfortably, you need to see your doctor, like RIGHT NOW. It is crucial to get antibiotics now to prevent that the invaders move upwards towards your kidneys.
Cough: Cut an onion and cover it with honey or cane sugar. Let it sit for a bit, best overnight. The next morning, you will have some homemade anti-cough-medicine. Take a spoonful of this juice every other hour (it does not taste bad at all). The caramelised onions you could later use for some cooking. Combine this medicine with some thyme or elderflower tea.
Cold/Sniffles: Fill a pot with a lot of chamomile (like 4,5 tea bags or 4,5 full spoons of loose chamomile). Add some water and bring it to a boil. Once boiling for some minutes, take the pot to a table and get a big towel. Put your head above the chamomile tea and put the towel above. Inhale this for 15-20min. It is not only powerful against the cold but also magical for your skin and against stress. Also, drink as much tea including honey and ginger as possible.
Eye infection/stye: Make some chamomile tea and use the teabag afterwards to press on your infected eye. Over the sink, press the remnant tea out of the teabag to rinse the eye with it.
Menstrual pain: Tea of Alchemilla (also called ladies’ mantle) or/and monk’s pepper tea.
Mosquito/nettle bite: Get some plantain (ribwort), squeeze it in your hands and spit on it and press it on the bite.
Mosquito/nettle bite: Get some plantain (ribwort), squeeze it in your hands and spit on it and press it on the bite.
Sunburn: Aloe vera
Throat: Drink some ginger tea (most effective if you rasp the ginger and let it boil for some time). Also cloves are great. If you eat one it might be a bit intensive but very effective! Also a spoon of honey with a piece of raw ginger that you then chew on is great. (If you have some ginger pieces leftovers after many tea-sessions, you can caramelise the ginger in cane sugar or honey – a kind of healthy little sweet). Also, I always have some plantain medicine at home for those cases. See the recipe below.
Preventions/Immune system boosts
Morning rituals: In autumn, to prepare for winter, I set up a little portion made of apple vinegar (preferably unfiltered) and a lot of antibiotic ingredients. Basically whatever you find – I mostly put fresh ginger, turmeric, dried chilli, a bay leaf, a cut onion and 3,4 cloves of garlic, cardamom, clove. I let the closed jar rest for some time (at least 3 weeks). Then, when time is ready, I sieve the infused vinegar and put just the liquid back into the jar. You give your immune system a great boost, if you take a spoon of this liquid every morning. The remaining solids I use for cooking, e.g. for Indian curries or soups like a minestrone.
Fresh lemon water in the morning is another little addition of Vitamin C as a little boost.
Other remedies I always have at home:
Dandelion honey: Harvest some fresh dandelions in spring and cover the flowers with honey or cane sugar in a jar and let it sit for some time (weeks/months). You will get a very nice remedy you can take a spoon in case you feel a bit weak or ill.
Garlic in honey. Peel some garlic cloves and put them into honey in a jar and let it sit for 6 months. You will get a very potent antibacterial remedy.
Plantain in honey: Plantain (ribwort) contains a lot of beneficial properties -it is like a all-rounder, for example against mosquito bites or against throat itchiness. Put a layer of plantain, then cover it with honey or cane sugar another layer of plantain and so on. Do this for 3,4 layers and let the closed jar rest for some time. The plants will release a liquid that is a great medicine.