Grandma’s remedies
1. Hair treatment
2. For face
3. Common ailments
4. To lose weight
5. Ladies problems
HAIR TREATMENT
Home Remedies for Dandruff and Hair Loss
1. Fenugreek is very effective in preventing dandruff, hair fall and baldness.
• Soak fenugreek seeds in water overnight and grind it into a fine paste the following morning.
• Leave this paste applied on the scalp for 30 to 45 minutes and then wash it with a mild shampoo.
• Do not allow your hair to remain wet for a long time. Leaving the scalp wet for a long time facilitates growth of dandruff.
2. Dandruff is a common scalp problem where white flakes are shed by the scalp and often causes itching. There could be many causes of dandruff;
here we give you solutions to get rid of it.
• Methi is known as a common natural ingredient that can delay the graying of hair and is also the perfect antidote against stubborn dandruff.
• Soak methi seeds overnight in water and then grind them into a paste.
• Apply this on your scalp and leave it for a few hours and then wash your hair with shampoo.
• Curd or dahi is in known to have health and skin benefits. Curd has anti-fungal properties which help banish dandruff and other hair and skin problems.
• Mix curd with white pepper and apply on your scalp.
• Keep it on for 30 minutes and wash off. Here are 7 quick and easy ways to cure dandruff.
For silky hair :
Healthy hair looks and feels soft. If your hair has become too dry and brittle, it has probably lost the natural oils that your hair uses to lock in moisture.
• Olive oil is not only good for health, but for beauty as well. It is known as a solution to various hair problems and stimulates hair growth too.
• Mix a few drops of honey in your olive oil and then massage it well into your hair.
• Keep it for half-an-hour before rinsing it off with a mild shampoo.
• Curd or dahi is also known as a natural conditioner for the hair. Here’s what you can do for smooth, silky hair.
• Mix together curd and an egg yolk.
• Apply on your locks and keep for 30 minutes.
• Rinse off with a mild shampoo.
Hair Conditioner :
1. It is important that our hair needs to be conditioned after every wash. Homemade natural herbal conditioners are always better than the chemical ones. Dry and damaged hair needs to be conditioned regularly. There is a very good grandmas home remedy for dry and damaged hair. Leaves of Hibiscus plant commonly known as shoe plants.
2. Leaves may be ground to a smooth paste and applied on the shampooed hair and left for a few minutes. Then it has to be washed thoroughly. Washing may be very difficult as the minute particles of the leaves cling to the hair. There will still be some small particles left on the hair even after repeated washing. These will fall off once the hair is dried and combed. The process may be a little tedious but it is worth it.
FOR FACE :
Home Remedies for Dark Circles
There are a lot of home remedies which will help your dark circles to disappear. Glance quickly at some of the home remedies for coping with dark circles.
• Cutting cucumber slices, putting it on the eyes and relaxing for about 20 minutes is a very effective method to prevent dark circles.
• Try to drink 8-10 glasses of water every day as this will help your dark circles to fade away.
• Make a paste of turmeric powder and pineapple juice. Now, apply this paste on the dark circles and keep it for some time.
• Crush the leaves of mint and then put it on the eyes. This is an effective way to reduce dark circles.
• A good sleep of 8 hours is very necessary in prevention or reduction of dark circles. It is a recommendation for avoiding dark circles.
• Daily consumption of tomato juice with mint leaves, lemon and salt is considered very helpful. Also it can be a good remedy.
• Make cucumber juice or potato juice and put it under your eyes with help of cotton balls. It proves to be very effective.
Blackheads home remedies :
• Steaming is also beneficial as it opens and softens the pores for easy removal of blackheads.
• Make a scrub of salt, lemon and honey; yogurt can also be added to it. Scrub the face for 5-10 minutes and later wash the face and pat it dry. Good Home Remedy for Blackheads
• Warm honey and apply on the blackheads, wash the face after 10-15 minutes.
• Application of undiluted lemon juice 2-3 times a day on the affected areas will remove blackheads.
• Apply grated potatoes as paste for 10 mins to remove blackheads.
Acne :
Acne is an everyday problem, especially if you are blessed with oily skin. In order to get rid of them, you could try these face packs.
• Turmeric or haldi is known to have many medicinal properties. Being a natural cosmetic, it is also used to beautify skin.
• Take turmeric powder (haldi) and add a few drops of water and lemon juice to it.
• Apply it on the acne and leave it for 15 minutes before washing it off with cold water.
For glowing skin :
For years, mothers and grannies have used besan or gram flour to treat minor skin problems, even though many cosmetic products are available in the market today.
Besan – Good for all skin types, along with other ingredients, adds that perfect glow to your face, here’s how.
• Make a pack of gram flour (besan) with turmeric, lemon drops and some milk cream (malai).
• Apply this over your face and keep it on for 15-20 minutes
• Wash off with tap water and pat dry.
• It’s a known fact that orange peels do more good than the orange itself. Another way to add radiance to your skin is by using orange peels with
ground pink dal (masoor ki daal)
• Add a little honey or curd to orange peels and dal and grind well to make a paste.
• Apply this paste on your face and keep it for 20 minutes.
• Wash off with tap water and pat dry.
For dry, itchy skin :
Bathe in your breakfast. Although oatmeal is a centuries-old skin soother, researchers only recently recognized the avenanthramides in oats as the key compounds that calm inflamed, itchy skin. Put whole oats in a clean, dry sock. Seal the open end with a rubber band, and then drop the sock into a warm or hot bath. Soak yourself for 15 to 20 minutes.
COMMON AILMENTS :
Cough :
Ginger juice mixed with honey is one of the most common remedy advised by grandmother for cough.
• Take a piece of ginger and remove the skin
• Extract the juice using a mixer grinder
• Leave this extract undisturbed for about ten to fifteen minutes
• Drain out the juice.
• You will find a white paste-like deposit at the bottom. Discard this deposit
• Mix a spoonful of honey (or sugar) and drink
Cold :
Cut a lemon in half and squeeze the juice from one half into a cup. Studies show that vitamin C taken before the onset of a cold shortens its duration and severity. Drop the lemon half shell into the cup. Add boiling water and a teaspoon of organic raw honey, an immunity booster that also coats painful throat tissues. Breathe in the healing vapor to open sinuses, and sip a cupful two or three times daily to fight the bug.
Stomach ache :
For stomach upsets and loose motion, take a tablespoon of fenugreek seeds and swallow it with drinking water two or three times in a day, which normally cures stomach upset and loose motion. Curd rice or rice kanchi (Rice Cereal with lots of liquid) is the menu during stomach upsets.
Acidity and Gas Problem :
• Half a fresh lemon
• One teaspoon of baking soda
• Salt to taste (optional)
• One glass of drinking water
Squeeze out the juice from the lemon. Add salt and lemon juice to the glass of water. Add one teaspoon of baking soda, stir and drink the bubbling water immediately.
Mouth Ulcer or Oral Ulcer :
Mouth or Oral ulcer is a common problem. Traditionally it is believed that mouth ulcers are an indication of possible ulcers in the stomach and grandmas home remedies gives you relief from these painful ulcers.
• The leaves of Solanum nigrum or more commonly known as the black nightshade is a good cure for mouth ulcers.
• A handful of fresh leaves are to be plucked from the plant, washed and eaten raw. This has to be repeated 2-3 times for at least 2 days.
• Alternately a tasty Indian dish commonly known as the “dal and greens leaves” can be made and eaten with rice. The leaves of this plant have to be cooked with mung bean (green gram). Salt and asafoetida are to be added as per taste and seasoning of mustard seeds is optional. Incidentally mung bean also has the property of healing ulcers. This too has to be repeated for 2-3 days.
• Any of the above 2 methods result in the reduction of painful mouth ulcers and cures in 2-3 days time.
• Mung bean or green gram is available in all Indian supermarkets.
Sinus :
An age old grandmas home remedy for sinus is an oil bath.
The oil is made by a very simple process. A small quantity of sesame oil is heated in a pan and 2-3 red dry chilies are added to it. The fire should be removed before the onset of the browning of the chilies. Once the heat subsides oil has to be massaged on the head and a hot water bath after 30 minutes is a great relief to sinus. This home remedy should not be followed when there is sinus related cold. A hair wash during a cold is never recommended.
Stomach ache or pain :
Many a times we get a normal stomach ache that could be due to various reasons from eating something that does not suit us to over eating of a spicy food. Grandmas home remedies are in plenty for stomach pain. Try this before you panic and go the doctor.
One and half teaspoon of fenugreek seeds and a glass of butter milk will do the magic. Just put the fenugreek seeds into your mouth and swallow them with the help of butter milk. Those who have an aversion for milk products can swallow the seeds with the help of water. You must be alright almost immediately, say within 15-20 minutes.
Castor Oil : Just in case the pain is a little more than bearable, apply castor oil around your stomach in addition to the fenugreek seeds that is swallowed. You are sure to get rid of the pain which is an ordinary one due to a stomach upset. You can also feel gas relieved. This is a handy remedy for kids and adults this works very well in children.
For bad breath relief :
Gargle with a small cup of acidic lemon juice to kill odor-causing bacteria. Then eat a bit of plain unsweetened yogurt, which contains beneficial Lactobacillus bacteria. These so-called probiotics compete with and replace the reeking bacteria. The lemon-yogurt combo instantly neutralizes odor and lasts 12 to 24 hours.
For Stiff neck :
A stiff neck results from slowed circulation and lymph flow to muscle tissues. Use contrast hydrotherapy, a quick blast of hot, then cold water—to get the blood pumping again. In the shower, first run hot water over your neck for 20 seconds to increase blood flow, then switch to cold for 10 seconds to constrict blood flow. Alternate three times, always ending with cold. When you get out of the shower, your body will send the blood back out to the skin, which results in a final dilation of blood vessels and looser neck.
For Hiccups control :
Swallow 1 to 2 teaspoons of sugar. The dry granules stimulate and reset the irritated nerve that is causing the spasms of the diaphragm. Any coarse substance, such as salt, can work in a pinch, but sugar tastes best.
Sore throat :
Gargle twice daily with a solution of six pressed garlic cloves mixed into a glass of warm (not hot) water. Follow the regimen for three days. Research shows that fresh garlic juice has antimicrobial properties that fight pain-causing bacteria. The warm liquid soothes inflamed tissue.
For burns :
If you grazed your skin with a hot-from-the-oven cookie pan, apply Aloe vera gel to the burn as needed. The soothing and anti-inflammatory gel creates a second skin to protect it from air, which irritates exposed nerve endings.
How to lose weight and how to lower cholesterol ?
(from: http://grandmas-remedies.blogspot.com/)
Traditionally it is thought that horse gram is a big cure for weight loss and slimming. Grandma’s recommendation to an obese lady would be horse gram in any form. Horse gram is a popular south Indian bean and it promotes weight loss and slimming when taken continuously is any of the
following forms. It is also very good in controlling and reducing cholesterol , like the popular flax seed.
1.Horse gram rasam popularly known as kollu or kulith rasam in south Indian languages is a soup made with horse gram. Refer to south Indian cookery websites or blogs to learn the procedure to make it. This can be eaten with rice or just as a soup in a soup bowl. Incidentally kollu rasam is very good for cough and cold also. It is a great relief. (Refer to my post on cough and cold for home remedies for cold)
2.Horse gram sprout is another way of consuming it. Just like any other bean, soak in water and sprout. Sprouts always have more vitamins. If it is difficult to eat a bowl full of plain horsegram sprouts, then some salad veggies can be added to it along with salt and pepper. This is best for controlling and reducing cholesterol.
3.There are so many other ways in which the horse gram can be consumed. Refer to the internet for various recipes.
4.If you do not like the taste of any of the recipes, then just dry roast a small quantity of horse gram. Roast it till you get the nice aroma of the horse gram. Grind to make a fine powder. Eat 1 tablespoon of this with just water or mix it with a soup or just mix it with any food of your choice.
Ladies problems :
Periods (Menstruation) getting slightly delayed- How to get periods on time?
It is due for your monthly periods, but you still have not got it and you are having slight stomach ache only i.e., there is a slight delay of periods (menstruation).There is a simple grandmas home remedy to get your periods, almost immediately within a day. Sesame and jaggery are the magic home medicines. There are 2 ways in which one can consume this. -Sesame seeds for delayed periods and sesame seeds and jaggery
1.Sesame should be dry roasted in a frying pan, ground with jaggery and eaten. This has a very a yummy taste and it is really unstoppable. You don’t need to stop. You can simply eat 5 to 6 tablespoons in a day and if you have still not got it, you can eat the next day also.
2.Sesame and jaggery are mixed and sold as nutri bars (popularly known as chikki in India) in many supermarkets which can be readily eaten.
Caution:
A word of caution to expecting ladies. Women who doubt if they could be pregnant should avoid this before confirming pregnancy. If it is confirmed that they are pregnant, then they should stay away from this.
For cramps and bloating :
To warm water add little asafetida powder (Hing), salt and lemon juice. Mix well and drink slowly. This reduces bloating and cramps.
To control Nausea :
Try frozen ginger chips. First, infuse fresh ginger in hot water. Strain, then freeze the concoction in ice cube trays. Crush the cubes and suck the icy chips throughout the day to provide your tummy with a steady soothing dribble. Ginger’s anti-nausea properties are particularly effective during pregnancy or after surgery.
