simon the scribe

Nature's First Aid Kit

Global pharmaceutical companies control our diets and medicines and governments are bringing in legislation to ban many dietary supplements. What better time to get back to the earth and turn out your medicine cabinets in favour of Mother Nature's healing foods? This is a great time to source our own foodstuffs wherever possible?

Onions are made for coldsNatural preventions and solutions to illness are more popular than ever as people recognise the toxic side-effects inherent in all pharmaceutical drugs and many of our foodstuffs. There are many traditional therapeutic uses for foods, herbs and spices. With these you can try natural first-aid treatments for a variety of ailments, and introduce preventative medicine into your diet. The healing powers of good food prepared properly are becoming well-known and are your investment in a chemical-free lifestyle. New research is finding health promoting 'nutraceuticals' and 'botanics' in common plants and herbs. 

Simply by combining the right foodstuffs, herbs and spices you can make natural remedies that help you eliminate noxious pharmaceutical chemicals from your medical cabinets, foods, homes and bodies. Simply by including appropriate herbs and spices in a sensible diet you can help to prevent illness and keep healthy. As long ago as 1980 the National Academy of Sciences Committee on Dietary Allowances (who established R.D.A.’s or Recommended Daily Allowances) found no scientific evidence for nutritional benefits from vitamins, minerals or trace elements in dosages greater than those supplied by a balanced diet. Pharmaceutical industries with generous advertising budgets persuade many people that it is better to have ‘expensive urine’ than be at risk to disease through lacking the right vitamin or mineral in a diet, mainly because so much food is now 'de-natured' and overprocessed.

Since some of the global chemical companies are now involved in producing our food, its become quite difficult to source ' a balanced diet'. Unadulterated food that is still chemical free and that contains the neccessary elements for human health in a balanced diet can be difficult to find. But Mother Nature is out there - waiting for us to come back to the garden, so why not start straight away ? Make it a mission to get more contact with nature by hunting down wild or organic food or medicine to its source.

Instead of reaching for the aspirin or painkiller which promotes acidity and irritation in the stomach, why not try one of the many plants with Salicin (on which aspirin was based), like White Willow Bark ? Make is a mission to go out into the countryside and (responsibly) collect some.

Fennel and digestion Digestive problems ? Commercial 'tummy settlers' often contain chemical constituents such as aluminium and chalk. Why not use Fennel or Dill, natural digestive herbs used long before the Romans used to march chewing roasted dill seeds ? These naturally occuring 'digestifs' are powerful stomach tonics.

Got a cold ? A combination of the right foods, herbs and spices can knock days off it and speed recovery time by supporting your immune system with what it needs, the right food medicine. 

Common herbs are easily grown, even in a window box. Others can be purchased dried or picked from the wild and stored. Many herbs grow successfully indoors and bring a world of new tastes and qualities to fresh food. Spices are widely available and other common kitchen items have many uses in first-aid treatment. In addition to herbs and spices, examples of common kitchen items that are useful for first aid are listed below: 

          Almond oil                                Salt 
          Bicarbonate of soda                Hot water bottle                        Springwater 
          Black pepper                            Microwave oven                        Vinegar 
          Blackcurrant jelly                      Mustard powder 

          Apples                                       Lemons                                      Potato 
          Corn on the cob                       Oats                                           Yoghurt (live) 
          Garlic                                         Onions 
          Honey                                        Oranges 

     Other useful items with which to complete your natural first-aid kit include: 

          Bandages                                    Garlic oil capsules
          Sticking Plasters                          Witch hazel 
          Calendula ointment                     Lavender essential oil                           Herbs and spices
          Cotton Wool                               Lint 
          Dr. Bach’s Rescue Remedy         Peppermint essence 

Nature's gifts are truly versatile. Aches and pains, bites, burns and scratches, stomach upsets, tiredness, bloat, insomnia, colds and flu - you name it there is already something in your kitchen that will help. 

Secrets of the Green Kitchen by Simon MitchellSECRETS OF THE GREEN KITCHEN by Simon Mitchell
One way to a greener lifestyle starts at home – in the kitchen! Here’s holistic thinker and wild food enthusiast Simon Mitchell with a radical new book that celebrates the awesome power of natural foods for managing health.

Here is the WHY and the HOW of reaching for a holistic lifestyle from the heart of your home. Discover for yourself the power of Mother Nature’s Gifts – a real integrated medicine working for you from your very own kitchen. Hiding in your meals, is a whole FOOD MEDICINE for health, for healing – and for fun!

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