Farmacy: the medicine in your kitchen

 As we hurtle into sickness season, here are a few reminders of the remedies you have in the kitchen. In other words, these foods work as medicine.  As long as humans have been around, food has been the go-to for cures and since much medicine is still based on substances derived from food plants, you might as well stick with the source.  

What follows is the food wisdom people have passed down for generations. It is not FDA approved and all that jazz.

Garlic

The reason it makes your breath smell is because garlic never reaches the stomach. It goes straight into your lungs where the sulfur in it that emits those strong odors goes to work killing bacteria and viruses. In ancient times garlic was considered "killer of demons". 

Ginger
A very old remedy for nausea. That's why even back in the '50s hospitals gave post op patients ginger ale.

Cardamom
Chewed, the seeds in the whole pods give off a camphor burst that can help clear sinuses. Not as powerful as horseradish but a daily dose of a pod or two can help.   

Bitter foods like arugula, broccoli rabe, dandelion greens, bitter melon, cranberries and artichokes to name a few can help open sinuses if you eat a decent amount every few days. There seems to be a connection between bitter food on the tongue and sinuses.

Honey is an antibiotic.  So a teaspoon of it can help with a sore throat.  It can also help if you cut yourself in the kitchen and can't find an antiseptic fast enough. I recently rubbed it on a troubled gum.

Prunes are the traditional and still best remedy for constipation or anything close to it. 

Yogurt--it has to be natural without lots of sugar and say on the

package "contains live cultures" -- is probably the oldest known wonder medicine for an upset stomach, diarrhea and an irritable bowel.  It is also a must for anyone taking an antibiotic because it     restores the good bacteria those pills indiscriminately wipe out.  Another yogurt trick: when you go abroad anywhere  try to eat some locally made plain yogurt as soon as you can. This introduces the local bacteria safely into your system to ward of nasty bouts of "tourista" and "Delhi belly."

Edamame. miso and tofu along with broccoli are estrogen rich enough to  sustain a basic level of the hormone after menopause. They can also ease some symptoms of menopause.  One healthy serving of each one once a week does it.                   
                
Seaweed provides iodine that can help jog a sluggish thyroid. 

 Dark chocolate, bananas and cooked rice can stop up or slow down loose bowels.  


Sauerkraut, pickles, kombucha and other fermented foods can help balance gut bacteria, especially if you're taking antibiotics or recovering from diarrhea. 

 

Turmeric has antibiotic properties.  In South Asia it's often rubbed on the skin of raw chicken to kill any bad bacteria on it.  It's also an anti-flatulent, which is why in South Asia it's always included in bean recipes.  

Ajwain seeds have been dispensed by grandmas in India for centuries to dispel a slightly upset stomach or the bad breath it induces or just as an aid to digesting a heavy meal.    

Cranberries and possibly blueberries are known to be acidic enough to kill bacteria that cause urinary tract infections. But you have to swallow the whole bitter cranberry either raw or juiced with nothing added except maybe some water or a squirt of lime. (Lime is a powerful killer of bacteria too: think ceviche.)  

Walnuts are used in Chinese medicine to restore chi, or energy. It's thought a handful eaten raw will energize the kidney, storehouse of the body's chi, or life force.  Eating a few on a winter salad does the same trick.