FOODS, RECIPES, AND HELPFUL TIPS TO HELP YOU WHEN SICK
When a person is sick in bed, they cannot eat what they would normally eat when well. The system of a sick person cannot tolerate the same foods that a well person can. If anyone ever needed to be pampered by another person, it is when they are sick. Even the healthiest people still get sick occasionally. Listed below are some recipes, foods, and helpful tips that will get a person feeling better fast. They have always worked for me and my family.
MOTHER'S MAGIC POTATOES
This is a recipe that helps anyone who is sick feel better fast. It is very nourishing to a sick person.
Peel eight large potatoes. Wash them. Dice them into a large cooking pot. Barely cover them with water and boil for 20 minutes, adding 1/2 stick butter, salt, and pepper to suit tastes. When the potatoes are cooked, pour 1 pint heavy cream into them, and stir well. Reheat and serve. This only gets better if you have any leftovers. Just keep them covered in the refrigerator and reheat as needed.
Never boil milk or cream or it will curdle. Never add lemon juice to milk or cream, or it will turn it into buttermilk. Any citrus will curdle milk if it is added to it.
Del Monte and Walmart now makes diced potatoes in a can for those who cannot cook. They do not taste as good as diced fresh potatoes but will work for this recipe. Fresh produce will always taste better in any recipe.
CHICKEN AND RICE SOUP
Pour a can of real chicken broth into a pan and heat it. Don't use the bouillion cubes or powder in this recipe. Stir in 3 Tbsp. Uncle Ben's Ready Brown and Wild Rice that has been microwaved for 90 seconds, and one teaspoon each of garlic powder and onion powder, and serve warm in a large mug. It is very quick to fix when you are sick with a cold or flu.
Garlic is known as "the poor man's Penicillin." While sick you can take up to 5 garlic capsules a day until you get better. No garlic is truly odorless, but if you take the capsules, buy the Kyolic Odorless Garlic, 1200 mg. Your perspiration will still smell like garlic regardless, but until you get well again and can smell, you probably won't mind. For people who cannot take prescription meds, this is an excellent natural antibiotic to use.
At the onset of a cold or the flu, begin taking 1548 mg. Vitamin C and 1200 mg. Kyolic Garlic and 1548 mg. Lysine to knock it out faster.
GATORADE
In a one gallon pitcher, place one package lime Kool-Aid mix, 1 cup sugar, 1 tsp. salt, 1 cup orange juice, and fill remainder with water. Mix well, and serve. Two glasses of this will stop a headache. It replenishes electrolytes in the body when a person is dehydrated for reasons such as diarrhea, dysentery, too much sun, or vomiting.
SOUTHERN CORN BREAD
Mix 1 cup self-rising buttermilk white cornmeal, 1 egg, 2 Tbsp. oil, and mix it with 1/2 cup milk, buttermilk, or water. Pour into a butter-sprayed 8-inch skillet and bake in a preheated 400 degree oven for 20 minutes until golden brown. Remove and slice in wedges. Serve.
PINTO OR GREAT NORTHERN BEANS
Buy several cans of Luck's Pinto Beans or Great Northern Beans and keep on hand when you are sick. Open and pour into a saucepan. Add some water and stir well. Heat and serve with cornbread.
If you feel your system can handle it, slice a sweet Vidalia onion and eat it with your beans and cornbread.
SALMON FILETS AND RICE PILAF
If you feel like cooking for a few minutes, you can fix a nourishing meal for yourself fast by purchasing a bag containing Schwan's Alaskan Salmon Filets to keep in your freezer. They cook up fast in a skillet with some butter or oil.
You can make a really fast rice pilaf by putting 1 cup water into a pot and 1/2 tsp. turmeric, mixing well. Bring to a boil, and add 1/2 cup Instant Brown Rice. Cook for ten minutes covered on low heat. Add 1 cup frozen English peas and diced carrots, and salt and pepper to suit your taste. I like to add a capful of lemon extract also. Toss together and serve on a plate with the cooked Salmon filets on top.
GARLIC NOODLES
Keep some Ramen Noodle packages in your food pantry. This is good to eat when sick or well. Cook a package of Ramen Noodles in boiling water for five minutes. Drain off the water. Add 1 tsp. garlic powder, 2 Tbsp. butter, and the seasoning packet. Mix well and enjoy.
EGG DROP SOUP
Open two cans chicken broth and heat in a saucepan to boiling. In a cup place 1 Tbsp. cornstarch and dissolve it with some cold water, stirring well. Add the cornstarch mixture to the broth and stir well until thickened. Add salt and pepper to suit your tastes. Beat one egg. When the broth is boiling, turn off the heat, and stir in the beaten egg with a fork very fast. Add some chopped chives, mushroom slices, and green onions, if desired. Serve hot with Chinese noodles. You can find this recipe and Chinese Noodles on my free Chinese Recipes website. The Chinese Noodles can be made in advance and stored in a large plastic zippered bag.
PUREED BANANA
For each person, mash one banana. Add 1/2 tsp. lemon juice and 1 tsp. honey. Mix well. Serve as a dessert when sick.
RICE PUDDING
1 cup Instant Brown Rice
1-1/2 cups heavy cream
1/2 cup Splenda
1/4 tsp. salt
1 egg, beaten
2/3 cup golden raisins
1 Tbsp. butter
1/2 tsp. cinnamon
1 tsp. pure vanilla extract
In a saucepan, bring 2 cups water to a boil. Add rice and stir. Reduce heat, cover, and cook for 10 minutes.
In a larger saucepan, combine 1-1/2 cups heavy cream, the Splenda, the salt, and the cooked rice. Stir constantly over medium heat until thick and creamy, 15 to 20 minutes. Stir in the beaten egg and golden raisins. Cook 2 more minutes, stirring constantly. Remove from heat. Stir in the butter, cinnamon, and vanilla. Serve warm.
FREE HOMEMADE CREAMED SOUP RECIPES
HELPFUL TIPS:
If you don't have a lot of freezer space to store fruits and vegetables, try using freeze-dried fruits and vegetables instead. They are shelf-stable for years and you can buy them online and have them delivered to your home. Try www.nutsonline.com or www.healthyharvest.com or www.beprepared.com or www.honeyvillegrains.com
You can buy groceries online at Buy The Case.net or Net Grocer or Hometown Favorites or dried fruits, nuts, spices, coffee, tea, and candy at Nuts Online.
You can buy coffee, tea, creamers, Splenda, Crystal Light, True Lemon, True Lime, True Orange, cookies, popcorn, syrups at Discount Coffee.com
You can buy meds and supplies at Drugstore.com or vitamins, herbs, and homeopathic remedies at Vita Cost.com Vita Cost sells quality products cheaper than any place I have found online and shipping charges are only $4.99 regardless of the size of your order. You can buy Celestial Seasonings teas there cheaper than at the local grocery store.
Remember that once you get sick in bed, you are not going to feel like going out shopping for supplies to get you through it all. So it's very wise to keep your food pantry well stocked, and if you can afford a small freezer, stock it as well. If you have a mate or friend who can help you get better, that's wonderful! So many people only have themselves to depend upon. Try to keep at least two week's supplies in advance, or a month's supplies are even better to have on hand. That way, if you get sick in bed, you will not have to go without anything.
Never take any medicines with grapefruit juice. It has an enzyme in it that will cause a double-dosage effect with meds.
Be very careful when taking over-the-counter meds as they can cause a serious reaction to some prescription meds. Always check with your pharmacist to make sure what you are purchasing will not react with any meds you are taking.
Drink lots of pure water to keep your body hydrated, and the toxins flushed from your system. To know how much water you should drink each day, divide your weight by 2. That is the number of ounces of water you need to drink each day. Example: If you weigh 180 lbs., then you need to drink 90 oz. of water each day.
To keep colds and flu viruses away from you and your family, teach everyone to do a daily routine of cleaning out their ear canals and nostrils with Q-tips dipped into a bottle of 3% hydrogen peroxide. Gargle with it, then spit it out in the lavatory or commode. Place ten drops in a glass of pure water and drink it. People who do this claim they never have any colds or flu. It really does work. It's a very inexpensive way to prevent colds and flu, as it only costs fifty-five cents a bottle at most Dollar Stores. You can buy the Q-tips at Kmart or Walmart or any supermarket or pharmacy.
Pure cold-pressed sesame oil is another product you need to keep on hand. It is an antiviral, antifungal, antimicrobial, and a germ killer. You can take it internally, rub it on your body externally, and swab out your ear canals and nostrils with it to keep from catching colds and the flu. You can use it to help heal a sore throat, massage it on places that ache, use it for a personal lubricant, and rub it on burns, sores, and abrasions to heal. It is said that a woman who uses pure sesame oil on her skin will never need to wear makeup as it keeps the skin soft, supple, and smooth.
Another good preventive maintenance tip is to drink a cupful of hot water with 2 Tbsp. pure lemon juice mixed in it first thing in the morning to keep your system healthy.
It is said to drink a glass of pure water first thing in the morning with 2 Tablespoonsful of lemon or lime juice mixed in it, and it will help you to lose weight.
Drink Celestial Seasonings Tropical Acai Green Tea, or Acai-Mango Zinger tea four cups daily to give your immune system a boost. Green teas are loaded with antioxidants that are good for maintaining a healthy system.
Take Acai supplements daily to keep a healthy immune system, and to help lose unwanted pounds. You can buy them online at www.VitaCost.com
Vita Cost.com also sells NSI Mangosteen, Pomegranate, and Noni supplements which help keep the body healthy. NSI is their brand and is always high quality but reasonably priced.
Homemade foods are always better for anyone than processed foods. Purchased foods usually contain preservatives and chemicals to make them last longer. The fresher the foods you ingest, the better they are for your health. Just make sure they are cleaned properly so you avoid contamination. Frozen foods are the next best to use, then canned foods last.
Any time you ingest any food that contains nitrites or nitrates or any other carcinogenic chemicals, you should drink a large glass of orange juice to counteract the effects those chemicals have in your body.
Any dairy products ingested can produce more phlegm and mucus in your body when you are sick.
Be aware that your body may not be able to tolerate the same foods when you are sick as when you are well. Sometimes the same foods can make you sick or nauseous just smelling them.
Parmalat makes a very delicious milk that will keep on the pantry shelf without being refrigerated for several months at a time. It needs to be refrigerated once it's opened. It comes in quart boxes for around $2.30 per quart when not on sale. You can buy this shelf-stable milk online at www.NetGrocer.com or www.buythecase.net. This milk comes in handy when you run out of your regular milk unexpectedly. I always like to keep a case of it on hand in my food pantry. Buy the ones with the longest expiration date stamped on the top of the package. Local Walmart Super Centers sells Parmalat milk cheaper than any store that I have found so far.
Keep saltine crackers and peanut butter in your pantry, as both are nourishing and easy to tolerate. Even when you are nauseous, you can usually keep saltine crackers down.
Keep a large box of Total cereal in your pantry, as Total contains a lot of vitamins that your body needs. You could exist on Total cereal and milk, until you get to feeling better. Crispix is another good cereal to keep on hand.
I like to keep Schwan's Pork Eggrolls and Potstickers in the freezer for occasions when I am hungry but don't exactly feel like cooking a meal. They also have many delicious pouch meals, like Philly Steak 'n' Cheese or Ham and Cheese, which can be microwaved in 1-1/2 minutes.
Schwan's Frozen Foods has so many wonderful precooked frozen foods that can be delivered straight to your door. The deliveryman will even bring your order into your home and put the products in your freezer for you, and haul away the empty boxes without extra charges. They have Black Angus meatloaf that is already cooked. All you have to do is warm it in the microwave and eat it, and it's very tasty. They have precooked chicken legs and chicken breast strips and fully cooked hamburger patties and hickory bacon and sausage patties. I highly recommend Schwan's Frozen Foods to anyone who has a problem getting out to buy food. You can go to their website and setup an account for a regular delivery schedule for them to come to your home twice a month to deliver what you order online. If they do not deliver in your area, they will ship the foods to you, although you will have to pay for shipping charges. Most cities does have a yellow Schwan's Delivery Truck. You can go through their free catalog online at your leisure, and click the items you like, to save to your Favorites for ease in ordering each time once you register with Schwans. The registration process is free. They will send you a free catalog by regular mail as well if you request it online. By the time you factor in the cost of gas for your car and the time you spend in supermarkets and loading and unloading what you buy, including how many germs you inhale while at the supermarket, Schwan's prices are not higher, and their foods are delicious and guaranteed! They will even accept EBT cards (Food Stamps) as payment. They carry a variety of juices, drinks, breakfast foods, soups, fruits, breads, vegetables, entrees, snacks, appetizers, ice creams, pizzas, and desserts.
Did you know that supermarkets are one of the worst places to catch a cold or flu? Always wash your hands after visiting a supermarket. People are always sneezing and coughing in the aisles, and you don't even like to think about how many sick people handle those shopping carts each day. Some stores now provide free disinfectant wipes for their customers to use to wipe off the shopping carts before you shop. Look for them beside the shopping carts, and use them.
Keep clear waterless hand sanitizing gel (Purell, Germ-X, or something generic) on hand and use it regularly to kill germs your hands come into contact with daily. Other uses I have found for Purell is it will heal burns and stop itching. Remember to always use it after going to the bathroom, after you wash your hands with an antiseptic liquid hand soap and warm water.
Keep Kleenex Viva white paper towels in your bedroom and bathroom when sick. These are strong yet very soft, and can be used as disposable washcloths as needed. They are great for cleaning up any type messes made. They outlast all the other popular brands. You can buy them at www.Drugstore.com online.
Wipe your countertops daily with a mild bleach cleaner to kill germs on them. Always use a mild bleach cleaner on countertops or cutting boards after handling raw meat or poultry. Always wash your hands thoroughly as well with antibacterial hand soap and warm water. Rinse a cutting board thoroughly after cleaning it with a mild bleach and warm water mixture, then dry it thoroughly.
Keep extra toilet paper, Kyolic garlic capsules, Vitamin C 1000 mg. capsules, orange juice, chicken broth, instant brown rice, garlic powder, onion powder, sesame oil, 3% hydrogen peroxide, Q-tips, soap, hand gel sanitizer, antiseptic liquid hand soap, Lysol spray, Clorox wipes, paper towels, tissues, straws, disposable cups, plates, silverware, and napkins, as well as any personal or cleaning products you might use when sick stocked in your pantry.
Use a local pharmacy that will deliver your meds and any over-the-counter products to your home that you will need normally or due to an emergency sickness. This can be of so much help to you if you have no one else to depend upon. Some pharmacies still offer free home delivery, while others feel they must charge a nominal fee for home delivery. You will have to go to the pharmacy at least once to set all this up. They can get all the necessary medical and health coverage information to call your doctor when your meds need refills. Some doctors will require another office visit to them before giving refills, depending upon the meds needed.
Keep individual servings of flavored and original applesauce in your pantry, as they are good to eat on toast, or when sick in bed. Applesauce is good to eat when you have diarrhea. White House Fruitastics brand is the best. They make a delicious peach applesauce as well as other flavors, like banana, strawberry, pomegranate, and berry. Ask your grocer to stock this brand. They have an online store at www.whitehousefoods.com.
Keep individual containers of diced fruit in your pantry. You can find many different fruits available at your local grocery stores. Fruits contain a lot of vitamins for your health, and these individual servings are an easy way to get the amount needed each day. I especially like diced peaches and diced tropical fruit to eat every day as a healthy dessert.
Keep some raisin cinnamon bread on hand and some Neuchatel cream cheese to spread on it. Germs won't grow on anything with cinnamon in it. So it just might be wise to eat something with cinnamon in or on it every day.
Start using cayenne pepper on your foods each day. Cayenne is good for your system! It acts as a catalyst to carry nutrients to their proper places to assist the body's different systems.
You can drink 2 oz. pure kosher blackberry wine to stop diarrhea. Most wines are only flavored, so read the label carefully, or it won't work.
If you are constipated, you can mix up a recipe called GO PUDDING which consists of 1 cup applesauce, 1 cup prune juice, and 1 cup Bran Flakes or Total cereal. Keep this mixture in the refrigerator, covered, and eat 2 Tbsp. of it daily for regularity with your bowel movements.
Eat five dried but soft prunes daily and you won't have a constipation problem.
If you have Restless Legs Syndrome when you are in bed, put a new bar of Ivory Soap under your fitted sheet, and it will stop the jumpiness. This really works! Replace the bar of soap every three or four months.
When stocking your food pantry, keep lots of canned soups in it that you enjoy eating, for those times you just don't feel well enough to cook a meal or when you get sick in bed.
Chicken broth really does help a person feel better. There are enzymes in it that heals. You can buy real chicken broth or chicken stock and keep it on hand as needed. You can also use the chicken broth powders or bouillion cubes. You simply mix the powder or cubes with hot water, and it really does taste like chicken soup. It flavors homemade soups wonderfully. When one cannot digest anything else because of sickness, they can usually drink a cupful of warm chicken broth. Even if you have to take a teaspoonful of warm chicken broth or chicken stock at a time to keep it down, it will give you the strength to get better. Homemade soups can be made easily and quickly, so prepare a large batch when you feel great, and store them in small plastic containers and freeze them so you have them should you need them if you get sick.
Keep lots of Campbell's Chicken Noodle Soup in your pantry as it's very nourishing to eat when one is sick in bed. Keep a large gallon plastic zippered bagful of tiny oyster crackers to go with the soup as needed. Almost every supermarket carries these in their own generic brand.
Keep both real chicken and beef broth on hand to use as needed when sick or well. The canned kind is fine. Swanson Chicken Broth is excellent to use. Campbell's Soups makes double-strength chicken and beef stock. It is very nourishing to drink when nothing else can be kept on the stomach. Science has proven that chicken broth really does contain healing enzymes that help heal a cold or flu much faster. Buy low-sodium if you have a problem with salt. Saltine crackers are also good to keep in the pantry, as they can usually be tolerated by an upset stomach.
Adding garlic and onion powders to broths, helps heal colds and flu.
Keep a box of flexible disposable straws in the pantry for times of sickness. If you have to eat in bed, straws makes it so much easier to drink those much needed beverages and broths. Using disposable straws, napkins, bowls, cups, plates and silverware also helps to prevent passing viruses, bacteria, and germs to the other family members or re-infecting yourself.
Another good thing to have on hand is a folding table tray that can be set up beside your bed, or a lap tray that you can eat on while in bed.
Keep a digital thermometer with the disposable sheaths on hand to take your temperature. You can re-infect yourself with your own germs. Even better are those new thermometers that you simply move across the forehead without actually touching it. Normal body temperature is 98.6 degrees. Anything lower than 95 degrees and you are going into hyperthermia. Anything higher than 99 degrees should be reported to your medical doctor.
Keep a good book, some magazines, Sudoku puzzles, word jumbles, crossword puzzles, paper and pens, coloring books and crayons around so that when you are feeling better, you will have something to occupy your mind and time until you feel good enough to get out of bed again. Keep your eyeglasses nearby if you need them to read. If you have a TV in your bedroom, keep the remote near your bed. When you are sick, your body will automatically require more sleep than normally, so get all the sleep you feel you need. Don't feel guilty at all.
Keep plenty of your favorite frozen juice concentrates in your freezer, so you will always have juice on hand when you need it. You can run hot tap water over the exterior of the can to thaw it quickly.
Welch's Frozen Juices are great to buy and keep on hand in your freezer. I love their Passionfruit Juice. I drink it to calm my frazzled nervous system. I also like to drink warm Passionfruit Tea. Passionfruit tea can usually be found at herb stores. You can buy it online at www.adagioteas.com
Keep some quality Ginger Ale in the refrigerator to drink when you get sick or nauseous. A second choice would be a good lemon-lime soft drink. Chilled cola soft drinks sometimes help stop nausea. Saltine crackers are also good.
Keep fresh gingerroot in your freezer or ginger teabags in your pantry to brew some ginger tea when you are feeling nauseous. Ginger works better than Dramamine without making you sleepy. You can also take 4 ginger capsules every four hours to stop the nausea. Ginger teabags or capsules can be found at any local herb store or online. You can find pulverized gingerroot in tubes in your produce section of your supermarket.
Drink a cupful of hot, strong, very sweet black tea to bring a person out of shock.
Keep Jello in the pantry to make when you get sick, as it is nourishing and healing, and can be eaten when sick in bed. Gelatin can also be purchased in individual containers already made in supermarkets. Buy the real gelatin by Jello, not that stuff that tastes like silicone that needs no refrigeration.
Keep yogurt on hand in your refrigerator to eat even when you are well. I like Breyer's individual containers in different fruit flavors the best. Always purchase a yogurt that has live cultures in it, as this is what makes them so healthy to ingest. Read the label to find the ones with active cultures. If you don't like yogurt you can always take Organic Acidolphilus capsules to put the good bacteria back into your system. This is especially important to do after taking prescription antibiotics. Antibiotics kill all the bacteria in your system, so the good ones have to be replenished. You can buy Organic Acidolphilus at any good herb store or online at www.VitaCost.com. Natural antibiotics do not kill off the good bacteria in your system.
Yoplait makes some very delicious Yogurt Whips. They are like a fruity yogurt mousse and come in a variety of flavors. Yogurt is a good probiotic food that helps your digestive system function properly. You especially need to replenish the good bacteria in your system after taking prescription antibiotics.
Keep Uncle Ben's Instant Brown and Wild Rice in your pantry, as it cooks in the microwave in only 90 seconds and is loaded with B-Vitamins which will help calm your nervous system.
Eat a cupful of cooked spinach every day if your nerves are bad to help keep your nervous system calmer. Frozen chopped spinach can be placed in the microwave in its package and microwaved for 5 minutes on high. Mix in 1 tsp. powdered garlic and 1 Tbsp. butter and eat it.
Puffs Tissues, with Lotion and Vitamin E added, keeps your nose from getting all red and irritated when you have to blow it so much.
Keep a jar of Vick's Vapor Rub close to your bed. Rub it into the hollow of your throat to stop a cough, or at the base of both nostrils to breathe better. For a sore throat, rub the entire throat area with it and place a warm scarf around it to keep your throat area warm. Vick's Vapor Rub is also good to stop fingernail and toenail fungus. Just apply the salve to the nails on a regular daily basis. To stop a cough, rub the bottoms of both feet of the person coughing with Vick's Vapor Rub then put on a pair of clean socks over it. Go back to bed, and the coughing should stop.
You can spray pillow cases with peppermint oil to calm a cough at night or when in bed sick, or just drop a few drops of peppermint oil onto the pillow cases to inhale the peppermint vapors. This really works!
When someone is sick, let them sleep all they want and need. The body heals itself during REM deep sleep. Just make sure they have nourishing foods or broths, pure water, juices, and healthy beverages three times a day at least.
Line your bathroom and bedroom trash cans with two or more thick garbage liners just in case you have to throw up and cannot reach the commode fast enough. It makes it a lot easier to clean up later when you are feeling better. When sick, always keep one beside the bed. Those laundry detergent plastic cans with lids make excellent receptacles when empty for this purpose.
If you have a sore throat drink lots of pure Pineapple Juice as it is very healing to the body's membranes.
Keep fruity ice cream bars on hand in the freezer. Schwan's makes some great ice cream bars using strawberries, peaches, mangoes, and blueberries. Nothing tastes any better when you feel feverish than something ice cold. They also sell individual frozen desserts by the box to keep in your freezer. Eating real ice cream may not be tolerated by your body when sick as dairy products can create more mucus and phlegm when one is sick.
Drink a cupful of very warm Sleepytime Tea from Celestial Seasonings with heavy cream added to it to make you relax before bedtime. Most local supermarkets carry this tea.
If you are having trouble sleeping, take two dissolved aspirin and drink a small glass of whole warmed milk an hour before going to bed. You will sleep like a baby, waking refreshed in the morning. This works as well as a sleeping pill but has no drug hangover in the morning.
If you suffer from insomnia regularly, try taking Dyphenhydramine 25 mg. (Generic Benadryl), one tiny pink/white capsule about an hour before going to bed with a glass of water. Outside of the above-mentioned aspirins and milk, this is the next cheapest remedy to use for an insomnia cure. You might have a drug hangover in the morning with this, whereas you won't with the aspirin and warm milk. Beware of taking too much Dyphenhydramine as it can affect your organs.
Ignatia Amara 30X, a homeopathic remedy, will help you deal with grief, and sleeplessness, along with irritability. You can purchase it at www.VitaCost.com and it really does work.
Calms Forte is a homeopathic remedy that helps with insomnia. Take two capsules with water and soon you will be nodding off to sleep.
Instead of buying expensive Thera-Flu, make your own by mixing 3 Tbsp. pure lemon juice to a cup of hot water, adding two aspirin, stirring well, and drinking it. Go to bed and cover up, and you will sweat out your cold.
Drinking Ginger Tea stops nausea. Keep some Ginger Teabags on hand for those times when you get sick. To make it add one teabag of Ginger to a cup of boiled water. Let it steep for six minutes, then drink it as often as you feel the need. You can sometimes find Ginger Tea at supermarkets, but usually can find them easily at local herb shops.
Drinking red raspberry tea helps during pregnancy for morning sickness. Buy it at the herb store. It also strengthens the uterus to prevent a miscarriage. Drink three or four cups a day as needed.
Drink a warm cup of double-strength peppermint tea if you have Irritable Bowel Syndrome for relief as needed. It is very soothing to the digestive system. To make tea double-strength, just use two teabags instead of one to a mug of hot water.
To stop severe stomach cramps caused from eating contaminated food, take 3 Tbsp. apple cider vinegar. If the cramps have not stopped within five minutes, take another 3 Tbsp. apple cider vinegar. If that second dose does not stop the cramping, then go to your local Emergency Room to get your stomach pumped immediately.
At the first sign of the flu, begin taking 2 Tbsp. Black Elderberry Extract every hour or two, and it will knock out the flu much faster than normal. You can find this at GNC or any herb stores.
At the first sign of a cold, begin taking 2000 mg. Vitamin C every two hours, until you get diarrhea. Cut back to 1000 mg. every two hours until the cold is gone, which should be within 24 hours. You can also drink pure orange juice, Not From Concentrate. Don't worry about getting too much Vitamin C or it becoming toxic to your body. It is one vitamin that will just pass on out of your elimination system if your body gets too much of it.
The B Vitamins Complex are needed to help the nervous system function properly. B12 is known as the energy vitamin. Spinach and brown rice contain B vitamins. B12 is another vitamin that just passes out of your body if you take more than your body needs without being toxic.
Eating fresh cherries or dried cherries daily will help you sleep better and not ache so much.
For a sore throat, keep zinc lozenges to suck on. Buy the kind with elderberry and Vitamin C in them that you can find in an herb store. They knock out a sore throat fast. You can suck on up to five of them in one day if you need them when you have a sore throat. Zinc can become toxic in the body when too much is taken, so don't ingest over 105 mg. per day.
Some vitamins you buy never dissolve, so make sure they are either liquid vitamins you take or powder them in a mortar and pestle before you swallow them in some water or juice. If you want to prove this, drop one in a glass of water to see if it ever dissolves, so you will know for sure.
Be careful of taking too many vitamins as some can become toxic to your system and harm your body. If you take potassium supplements be very careful if you also eat potassium-rich foods, as too much potassium in the system might induce a heart attack. You need to read all you can to learn about vitamins. When you feel better, do research online to increase your knowledge of vitamins.
Pure honey is said to heal any type sores.
Keep fresh fruits on hand, lots of juices, and fresh vegetables when sick. You can eat and drink them as needed to feel better faster. Frozen ones are almost as good. Dried fruits are good too. You can buy them online at www.nutsonline.com or www.preparedpantry.com
Potatoes, crackers, chicken broth, honey, lemon juice, garlic powder, onion powder, diced peaches, diced tropical fruit, applesauce, Jello, and Ginger Ale are all good items to keep on hand in your food pantry for times of sickness, as all of these can usually be tolerated by a person who is sick.
One of the best soup recipes that helped me most when I had the flu, was to take a can of heated chicken broth, add some garlic powder to it, and some onion powder, and stir in one microwaved package of Uncle Ben's Ready Brown and Wild Rice. It was as if my body needed those particular nutrients. You add whatever amount you feel your body can handle of the garlic and onion powders. Garlic and onions are from the Allium family and will definitely help heal the body when it has a cold or the flu, or when you have to be outside in the cold. Dollar General sells both garlic and onion powders, two bottles for a dollar.
It is said to eat an apple a day to keep sickness away, but in truth, you need to eat two apples a day to do this, or two bananas would work just as well. The Food Pyramid says we need to eat five servings of fruits and vegetables every day to stay healthy.
Drinking a cup of good cold buttermilk will cool down a fever.
Drink chilled Coconut Water to cool a fever. This can be purchased in cans like soft drinks at supermarkets. I don't like the taste of it by itself, so I mix it into juices I make from concentrate. It is good mixed with pineapple juice which soothes membranes inside the body.
Drink freshly made lemonade when you are sick, as no germs can live in pure fresh lemon juice. Sweeten it with honey.
Cold drinks help lower a fever.
Warm drinks help soothe a sore throat.
Sucking on slippery elm lozenges soothes a sore throat.
Take two calcium-magnesium tablets to relieve pain, every six hours. They will help you get some rest. Your body heals when you are sleeping, so you need extra sleep when you are sick.
The herb Mullein helps relieve aches and pains. Take two Mullein capsules every four hours as needed for aches and pains during a bout with a cold or flu. You can buy Mullein capsules and teabags at any good herbal store. To make a cup of Mullein tea, use one teabag per cup of boiled water. Let it steep for six minutes and remove teabag and drink. If you need it sweetened, add some honey and stir well, then drink it.
Dollar Stores sells a lot of generic over-the-counter medicines that are just as good as the expensive name brands, but are a lot cheaper to use. Their cough suppressants are great for stopping coughs. Be careful when buying cough syrups as some are expectorants which makes a person cough more if they need to expel phlegm from the respiratory system.
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