Mama’s Home Remedies

Red beets have been known as powerful food and medicine for many centuries. Ancient physicians knew them for healing intestinal complaints, anemia, fever, nettle rash and many other ills. Our great-grandmothers, grandmothers knew about health benefits of beets too. Our mothers know about it today.

Modern science has confirmed what the ancients knew–that beets, preferably organic, contain a number of biogenetic acids which increase peristalsis of the intestines, betain, which helps break down protein, and also helps form choline, which improves liver vitality.

Do you want to keep your yourself and your family healthy and prevent illnesses? Make these amazing fresh juices which will purify your blood and detoxify your body better than any heavily advertised “Detox” pills. Use only organic fruits and vegetables.

• Blood Purifier Juice

1 medium size raw beet

1 cup baby carrots

Make at least three times a week 1/2 glass fresh beet juice mixed with 1/2 glass of fresh carrot juice and drink it before breakfast.

Rejuvenation Juice

1 medium size beet

1/2 cup baby carrots

1 leaf kale

1 leaf collard

1 celery stick

several stems parsley leaves

a small piece ginger root

1 Granny Smith apple

Run all ingredients through the juicer, and voila! You made delicious fresh juice. Enjoy! Do it during one month and you’ll see how step by step you’ll loose weight and fat will disappear around your waist. Your skin will glow. You will look refreshed, so don’t be afraid to look in a mirror.

• Our family recipe, Red Wheels Salad.

This absolutely fabulous and nutritious salad is so easy to make. You can include it in your lunch or dinner menu. Eating three to five ounces of cooked beets before breakfast, helps with constipation, liver diseases and indigestion.

• Cook two medium organic red beets (skin on) in two cups water until soft. Cool, peel and grate them. In a bowl, combine the beets with two cloves crushed garlic, two tablespoons chopped walnuts and a pinch of sea salt. Add two tablespoons organic nonfat sour cream, vegetable mayonnaise or olive oil. Mix the salad and enjoy! You can use raw beets instead of cooked. It is even healthier.

I spoke with many people about beets and they told me that they don’t like beets . Unfortunately they were never introduced in a proper way to this amazing vegetable. All they remember is a glass jar  with cooked beets which their Mom bought in a grocery store and used as a garnish or an addition to soups. These mass-produced beets are not real beets, but processed ‘dead’ vegetables. If you will try fresh, organic beets, you’ll have a great, new and healthy experience.

• Run them through the juicer and make fresh juice.
• Steam them, let cool and use as a side dish together with other vegetables
• Make a Cool Red Salad. Grind 2 raw beets, add 1 tablespoon olive oil, squeeze a half of lemon. Mix all ingredients and eat. 

It is proven by many European doctors for centuries that the best kept secret of red beets is their ability to prevent and treat tumors, in addition to diuretic, laxative, anti-inflammatory and pain reducing benefits. Thus, get to know these wonderful vegetables, test the benefits they can provide. Beets are our bodies, don’t ignore them!

You can find more healthy recipes in the book, Mama’s Home Remedies, ISBN:978-0-9791758-2-4

If you wish to use copyrighted material or articles from this blog for purposes of your own that go beyond ‘fair use’ or  republish it, please credit as follows: by Svetlana Konnikova, MA, AN

Mama’s Home Remedies has been nominated in Health/Wellness and Multicultural Non-Fiction categories for the 2008 Next Generation Indie Book Awards.

Vividly descriptive and nurturing, this ultimate natural home remedies book will help you change the way you live and think about life’s dilemma–how to improve and maintain your health and happiness for many years to come. Colorfully written with all-inclusive artist’s palette, Mama’s Home Remedies presents to the reader a spectacular kaleidoscopic tapestry woven of centuries-old herbal remedies, timeless techniques and concepts, intellectual rigor and joyfully recounted anecdotes and folk tales, women’s wisdom, family values and traditions, artistically rendered illustrations and an abundance of humor–all that we hold sacred in life.

Many years ago Mama would gather “the girls” (medical professionals like she was) for tea each Friday in her fragrant, blossoming garden in Moldova. Under a canopy of trees filled with birdsong they’d strengthen their bond of friendship and share stories of the success they’d achieved using natural remedies to treat and heal their patients and neighbors. As each woman recounted her experience, Mama’s daughter, 12 year-old Svetlana, sat attentively on a bench recording in her journal “recipes” for teas, tinctures, infusions and poultices.

Mama’s Home Remedies is a collection of the abundant knowledge of natural health and healing that the young Svetlana garnered in Mama’s tea garden, interwined with her Grandmother’s fairy tales, family vignettes, legends and herbal lore. Filled with easy-to-make, natural healing recipes for common ailments and illnesses–such as allergies, headaches, stress, fatigue, insomnia, asthma, and respiratory problems–this all-encompassing guide to wellness offers a holistic approach that blends alternative treatments with folklore, psychology, philosophy, and spirituality to foster optimal health and joyful living.

The Indie Book Awards Contest was established to recognize and honor the most exceptional independently published books in 70 different categories for the year and is presented by the Independent Book Publishing Professionals Group in cooperation with Marilyn Allen of Allen O’Shea Literary Agency in New York.

According to Catherine Goulet, Awards Administrator, along with the other Finalists, author Svetlana Konnikova, MA, AN achievement will be published at www.IndieBookAwards.com

Mama’s Home Remedies will be listed as a Finalist in the 2008 Next Generation Indie Book Awards catalog which will be distributed at Book Expo America in Los Angeles later this month.

Contact us at info@aurorapublishers.com for a sample copy or Press Kit. Complete information is available in downloadable Press Kit in the Media Room at www.aurorapublishers.com

If you life is empty and you have nothing to do in your spare time, you become bored and mislabel your condition as stress. And indeed, being bored can lead to distress. Stimulate yourself intellectually. Maintain a consistent process of self-improvement and you will find your life is full. The remedies for boredom are simple:

• Don’t devote too much of your time to watching TV. Its alarming drama can add to your tension.
• Read an interesting story or an uplifting article and stimulate your imagination.
• Keep a rendezvous with a friend. Meet for lunch every week and communicate.
• Indulge your interests by doing to the theater, a concert or art exhibition.
• Choose what you like and make it part of your relaxation regime.
• Read a good book and satisfy your soul’s starvation.
• Form a book club and meet with other people once a week to read and critique a short story or book.
• Go to conferences and meet other people to boost your intellect.
• Listen to music or discuss the latest news events with your family or friends.
• Exchange your ideas and broaden your scope of interests.
• Every day explore new impressions and acquire new knowledge.
• Plant seeds in your garden and watch them grow.
• Select flowers to fill a beautiful bouquet.
• Keep fresh cut flowers and plants in your house. They will greet you every morning and will bring beauty to your life, along with freshness, fragrance, good feelings and a fine mood.
• Allow yourself to take time off from your responsibilities, relax and have fun!

Don’t have enough time? You are not alone complaining about it. Here is a solution: give yourself a gentle push past your inertia to satisfy your soul’s desires.

The only way to minimize the negative effects of stress is to manage stress before it manages you. You can devise your own personal methods to gain control over it. It does not have to be difficult to manage stress. Simple guidelines and tips will help you to turn your stress into ”a good exercise for heart and soul,” to recover from distress and rebalance your internal, psychological health. Interpret these concepts in your personal way, add new ones of your own, and minimize the harmful effects of stress on your well-being. 

Practice proper nutrition

Scientists and physicians confirm that eating a balanced diet, low in fat and rich in vitamins, is a powerful defense against the toll that stress can take on you. Make sure you get enough of magnesium, an important mineral that relieves muscle cramping and strengthens blood vessels and the heart. Dizziness, high blood pressure, trembling, and itching of the fingers can be indication of a magnesium deficiency in the body. To ensure that your body has sufficient magnesium, try these simple remedies:

• Drink a good quality mineral water.
• Eat plenty of fresh fruits and vegetables.
• Grate two-three organic carrots, add a minced onion and olive oil. This salad will give you a daily dose of magnesium.
• At least twice weekly make a glass of fresh carrot juice and drink it before breakfast. It’s a strong blood purifier. It will help you to cleanse the body of physical and psychological impurities.
• Mix thyme, sage and linden. Make a hot, herbal tea and drink it.  It will “relieve the soul of tension.”

Create a joyful family time

• Make a fresh and healthy dinner for your family. Create delicious homemade meals. Keep a pleasant conversation. Let your husband and children enjoy your culinary skills and each other!
• If you, your husband or your children have problems, disappointments or any requests, talk it out after dinner.
• Think positively. Love, inspire, amuse, and believe in them. It is mutual. You’ll get the same treatment back.

(more…)

 Stress is additive and cumulative. This “phenomenon” of our century has its negative effects on individuals, organizations and societies. Workplace stress continues to grow. More than ever before, employee stress is being recognized as a major drain on their lives, on corporate productivity and competitiveness. Experts at the Centers of Disease Control and the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Healthcare found that $300 billion is spent annually in the United States on stress-related compensation claims, reduced productivity, absenteeism, health insurance costs, direct medical expenses, and employee turnover.

Statistics from a recent global stress study show that increased stress is felt worldwide, and stress affects women differently than men. Women who work full time and have children under age 13 report the greatest stress. Nearly one in four mothers who work full-time and have children under age 13 feel stress. Globally 23 percent of women executives and professionals say they feel “super-stressed.”

Can you prevent stress and its negative effects on your well-being?  Yes, you can. At first, you need to know how to differentiate between healthy stress and distress. Then you can develop simple practices to control your stress and make it working for you. (more…)

Part 2

After I read a slogan “Make Your Mouth Water” on Dasani bottle of water, I became curious about how can I make my mouth water? It sounds simple, just drink it, but there is  much more…

Pepsi’s Aquafina finally decided to let us know that its H2O comes from public water sources. Nestle company promised to indicate on Nestle’s Pure Life bottles whether water comes from deep well, public or private sources. The Coca-Cola company, owner  of Dasani brand,  will not make any changes of the label itself. Company informs us on its website that it draws Dasani water from local water. It is good to have this confirmation, if you are going to buy Dasani bottle.

Tip 1. Think at first before you buy a heavily advertised brand. Look at description on the label. If there’s no explanation of the source and the process, don’t buy it. (more…)

Today I was in supermarket buying spring water. I put in my cart two gallons of Zephyrhills spring water. A woman in her late thirties grabbed from the shelf two gallons of Zephyrhills drinking water, smiled and said to me,

“I see, you buy Zephyrhills spring water. Why? What is the difference?”

“Spring water comes from a source as a natural spring.” I answered her. “Drinking water” is tap water. So why do you buy this water if you already have it in your house?”

“Good question.” She replied.

She was very surprised and immediately put back her gallons with drinking water and took instead two gallons with spring water.

“Thank you for telling me,” she  said. “I never thought about it. I tried to save money by buying the drinking water instead of spring water. Now I know.”

Pennies in savings will not make you rich, but good quality, pure water can help detox your body and prevent sicknesses. (more…)

Tired of heavily promoted over-the-counter concoctions like Vicks, Nyquil and a range of cold medicines hawked by the aspirin makers ? Want to try something new and helpful? Now you have a choice. You can make your natural medicines in advance and keep them in your refrigerator or herbal medicine chest. When you need them, these natural wonders are at your service, ready to heal you from sneezing and struggling with a cold.

Some are very efficient, especially when you use vodka or wine as one of important ingredients in creating natural remedy for colds or flu. It works and you’ll be surprised, but some of them taste really yummy! (more…)

Are you struggling with a cold and wish you had something tasty that would take soreness and sniffles away? There used to be a full range of hot toddies, milled ciders and meads that would have done the trick, but they seem to have disappeared over the years, replaced by a range of over-the counter concoctions like Vicks, Nyquil and a range of cold remedies hawked by the aspirin makers. 

Now you have a choice. Thanks to an endless treasure of natural healers coming from centuries of wisdom and good practices developed by our grandmothers and mothers who nursed us back from sickness. Thanks to many doctors who also used herbs, food and love as a remedy. Thanks to all people who acquired an authentic knowledge of natural pharmacy. Thanks to all curious minds around the world who did research  and brought to us this invaluable treasure. Thanks to all who have not forgotten that the simple things are at the center of soulful nurturing…

Treat your colds and other illnesses in a wise way without polluting your body with an endless flow of chemicals. By reading this blog and becoming a member of our Healthy Club, you get access to old Eastern European remedies again. These time-tested natural treatments worked for many generations and can help you to prevent your illnesses, to improve and maintain your health and happiness for many years to come (more…)

Today you can read thousands of Health News and other  articles about the  flu and colds that make people really sick. How these articles resolve our health problems? We learn that this week,  44 states reported widespread flu activity, up from 31 last week, and US flu season is getting worse. However, vaccine only protects 40 percent of circulating flu bugs. It means that vaccine has been performed poorly. Officials at the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention confirmed last week that the flu shot is a good match for only 40 percent of this years’s flu viruses.Let’s we’ll compare this statement with some statements from another research. If you will read an article “Study Shows Why the Flu Likes Winter” (by Gina Kolata, New York Times, December 5, 2007) about the study conducted by flu researchers in New York, you will learn that the infection spreads primarily in the winter months. This study states, it has to do with the virus itself and the exact conditions for much of the flu season: cold and dry air where virus is more stable and stays there (in the air) longer.Researchers in New York believe they have solved one of the great mysteries of the flu. Again how this statement can help us if we are already sick or can get sick sooner or later? Dr. Peter Palese, the lead author of the flu study, professor and chairman of the microbiology department at Mount Sinai School of Medicine in New York does not suggest staying in a greenhouse all winter to avoid the flu. He suggests the best strategy is a flu shot. What about recent statistics from the U.S. Center for Disease Control and Prevention that “…the flu shot is a good match for only 40 percent of this year’s flu viruses?” Definitely in 2008 we should examine closely what is our best strategy. A flu shot or some natural alternatives? (more…)