Natural and Sustainable

Honey is one of naturals great natural remedies. It can help you get a boost of energy; make your cough subside as just give you that special sugary treat when you need it. But, did you know that honey can also help with burns and even sinuses? Here are three ailments that honey can help with.

• Sinus Issues: Honey can help kill off just as much bacteria than over the counter antibiotics cane when dealing with a sinus infection or sinusitis. Of course antibiotics are best with a full blown infection and you should consult your doctor before trying the honey cure, but adding a bit of honey to some warm tea while taking antibiotics can also help spread up the cure.

• Burns: Burns have always been smeared with honey in my house, mainly because I was raised that way as well. It can help the burn heal faster and help in some ways to relieve the pain associated with a burn. Now for more severe burns you should always get treatment from a professional right away but monitor burns and even bug bites can use a good coat of honey for sure.

• Coughing: I remember as a child having a horrible cough one evening while lying in bed and my dad brought up a glass of lemon juice, honey, warm water and tea warmed in the microwave and I drank it up. It quieted my cough quickly and I loved the way the honey coated my throat almost immediately. A teaspoon of honey to children over the age of one can help with coughing as well. It can work better than cough medicine too.

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Honey comes in several forms from flowery to earthy and it can be enjoyed in a variety of different ways as well.

Honey comes from the ancient Hebrew meaning “enchant”. It has long been used for sweetener for everything from as sugar substitute to a sweetener in a glass of tea. The treatment with honey is known as apitherapy and is said to replenish energy, enhance physical stamina and strengthen the weakness by illness or stress related issues within the body.

Honey helps relieve indigestion, help with sleep and also treat cardiovascular disease and respiratory issues. Honey can be used to treat minor cuts and scraps and also help soothe the throat when you have a cough.

Honey consists of simple sugars such as fructose and glucose, water, pollen, organic acids, enzymes and various other proteins. Although honey is great to add to the diet of an adult as well as older child, it should never be given to children under the age of 2. Mainly because it contain type of bacteria that can be dangerous to the younger children’s body.

When shopping for honey, the different kinds and different flavors can tell you a lot about how it was made. The most popular kind of honey is clover, but look for honey that is made by beekeepers where they don’t feed their bees’ refined sugar and where they don’t use harmful pesticides. Here are five companies that you should try:

1. The Savanah Bee Company Honeycomb

2. Really Raw Honey

3. J.P. Berger Lavender Honey

4. Sabatino Tartufi White Truffle Honey

5. D’Arbo Clover Honey

If you have insomnia you can mix 2 oz. of honey with 5 drops of lavender essential oil and heat it in the microwave for 30 seconds. Add this to your bathwater and relax in this mixture for about 15-20 minutes before you bedtime.

Honey is one of nature’s gifts to us. The honeybee is the one insect that can produce honey in the quantity that they produce it in. With the disappearing of the honeybee our honey quantity will soon disappear with it by a process called Colony Collapse Disorder.

*Natural and Sustainable Living Tip: Help protect the honeybee.

As you may know, major pharmaceutical copmpanies have pulled their cough and cold medicines from children under the age of two. Although, it’s easy to assume that medicines that help adults will work for children, this is often not the case, because kids’ hormones and metabolisms are fundamentally different. Oral decongestants, antihistamines and cough suppressants don’t have proven beenfits under age of six, and there is risk associated with them as well. So how to treat your child’s cold you may be thinking.

Opt for remedies that have demonstrated effectiveness in children, or are at least unlikely to do any harm. Honey may be one good solution. Honey has been proven to reduce the number of coughs, and also reduces the severity of coughs, reducing the bother of coughs and increasing sleep in both kids and parents. Honey is significantlt better than no treatment at all. The dose should be a half teaspoon 30 minutes before bed for kids two to five, a full teaspooon for kids six to 11, and two teaspoons for kids 12 to 18. Infants who have not reached their first birthday should not be given honey. And darker honey should be the choice because it contains more bioactive compounds than the lighter counterpart.

For other symptons, consider nose drops made from saline saltwater solution that can loosen virus-laden mucus so it’s more easily removed with a bulb syringe. Saline may also have an antiviral effect. Chicken soup has shown to help some cold symptoms because of the salt content.

Believe it or not, but simple gravy can also help treat congestion. Swelling of the nasal lining may decrease if kids lie with their heads a bit higher than their hearts. For thick mucus, try a vaporizer or humidifier. Mucus becomes thinner as it pulls in the moisture from the air, and this makes it easier to dicharge. (Source: Some information pulled from Kiwi Mag. 2007)

Homemade Remedy To Try:

Cold-Medicine Drink

Two cups of hot water combined with the juice of one lemon, zest from half the lemon, 1/2 cup tart cherry juice, 1/8 teaspoon cayenne pepper, two cloves of chopped garlic, and inch of chopped fresh ginger and dark honey to taste. Pour through a strainer and drink warm.

**A new headache center has been benn built in Indiana. It’s a new medical center devoted to the treatment of headaches and migraines — the St. Vincent Headache Center. And over at Dealing With Headaches, Rena Sherwood has the particulars. Read about it here.**

*Natural and Sustainable Lving Tip: Join a community supported agriculture (CSA) program. Visit Local Harvest to learn more.