Learning your own home remedies
Get your pots and pans ready because it's time to make some home
remedies. Not home remedies based on superstitions or hearsay, but
effective remedies using methods which have been scientifically proven
to have healing effects.
Professor Abdulkerim Alp=FDnar, an expert on medicinal herbs, offers
"home remedy" lessons to those who are interested. These lessons are
full of information about various herbs and formulas that you can
prepare at home to keep yourself and your loved ones healthy and free
from illnesses.
Almost everyone has heard about alternative medicine, but what are
these home remedies anyway? The only person in Turkey giving lessons
on herbal remedies that can be prepared at home is Alp=FDnar, who
teaches interested students about this topic at the Zeytinburnu
Municipality's Merkez Efendi Botanical Gardens. The students in his
course come together every Sunday to learn more about the world of
herbs, and to study various methods that rely on these herbs to treat
illnesses such as the common cold, indigestion or imbalances in the
nervous system. The real aim is to teach people techniques to cure
illnesses in the comfort of their own homes without having to turn
their bodies into depots for medicines. Alp=FDnar, who has a degree in
pharmacology and is a recognized expert in the area of curative herbal
therapies, introduces people who attend his course to herbs they can
easily obtain, explaining the properties of each one and how they
should be used. All of the remedies taught by Alp=FDnar have been proven
in scientific experiments; none of them are suggested based on hearsay
or unproven techniques.
The use of curative herbs is referred to formally as "phytotherapy."
Alp=FDnar offered courses on phytotherapy for many years at universities
in Turkey and has carried out a great deal of research on the subject.
He says his aim now is to share this knowledge with the general
public. We attended the very first lesson offered by Alp=FDnar on
curative herbs and the world of herbs in Turkey. And in the process,
we discovered that much of the information that we had picked up over
the years was actually wrong. So if you too would like a chance to
learn more about the interesting and im****tant world of curative
herbs, and would like to join these lessons, call the Zeytinburnu
Merkez Efendi Botanical Gardens at 0212 664 41 55 or 0533 206 23 38
for more information.
One suggestion from Professor Abd=FClkerim Alp=FDnar is to rely on anise
and fennel for problems involving the digestive system. If digestive
problems are rooted in imbalances in the nervous system or with anger,
he recommends herbs such as chamomile or lemon balm. But how are these
herbs meant to be ingested? This is where the real secret lies. For
herbs like chamomile or linden, only the flower should be used. Take 3
grams of dried chamomile and pour one cup of boiling water over this.
After letting it sit and steep for a while, the hot water should be
strained. This tea can be sweetened with honey. If you drink three
cups of chamomile tea made this way each day, you will no doubt find
that it really helps a digestive system frayed by nerves and stress.
We have become accustomed to seeing linden sold alongside all its
leaves and stems, but according to Alp=FDnar, the leaves and stems of
this powerful herb actually prevent the flower from being as effective
as it might be. In other words, when you make linden tea with all the
leaves and stems included, you waste the herbs potential. What's more,
as with flowers from all other herbs, linden flowers must not be
boiled. Instead, they should be prepared in a manner similar to the
chamomile tea described above; they should be steeped in hot,
previously boiled water.
Another factor to note is that the herbs used in herbal teas should
always be as fresh as possible; herbs left over from the previous year
should not be used.
Just as linden is great for the common cold, teas made with echinacea
and rosehips are also very effective.
For people with gas problems, anise is very helpful. If you take the
flowers from the anise plant, let them steep in hot water, then strain
them and drink them, you will find this helps with gas.
Strong tea is very helpful for diarrhea. In fact, it may even cause
constipation.
There are a wide range of herbal teas that have appeared lately on
the markets, each promising to help with a different problem (women's
tea, babies' tea, tea for new mothers, etc.). But are these teas
really as effective as they say? Alpinar doesn't think so. He notes:
"They are not. In one herb, there are hundreds of different elements,
and most of these teas are mixtures of five or six herbs. This means
that you are talking about incredibly varied mixtures of different
elements and ingredients in each of these teas. Has anyone looked into
how these herbs affect each others' performances? And secondly, are
they really the herbs the companies claim they are? Are we really
sure? As I always say, these are herbs which, when ground up, have
ingredients which break down. Their shelf lives are very short. Are
these things considered in the preparation of these teas? And by the
way, are they really clean? In any case, we can deduce from all this
that you should really chose well-known teas brand when you are buying
your tea. Stay away from the teas that promise five to 10 different
kinds of herbs in them. There should be at most two to three herbs in
each tea. If you cannot find such teas, collect herbs yourself, and
prepare your own tea at home."
09.11.2008
G=DCL=DDZAR BAK=DD
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