Folk Medicine

[MaryN]

I am sure that one of the most important things, post SHTF, will be to maintain a state of good health and what can only possibly be a very stressful and challenging environment. This can also be a bit of a struggle in normal times, and it is my belief that we can all do quite a lot to help ourselves to stay fit and healthy. I say fit – I’ll leave all the body-building stuff to Scythe13 – but I actually mean illness free.

I’ve been a practitioner of a form of “folk medicine” for some years now. I stumbled across the topic some years ago when I read a book on Vermont Folk Medicine written by an old country Doctor. It involved, mainly, the use of apple cider vinegar and honey in the daily diet. I was intrigued and entertained by the folksy style of the book and tried out some of the recommendations. Surprise! Some of it worked very well indeed. I wasn’t exactly plagued by illness, but I found that drinking cider vinegar in a glass of water when my stomach was upset was very helpful, and certainly worked better than the over-the-counter remedies. Better still, I knew what was in my glass. I still drink cider vinegar, and find the tartness very refreshing.

Come forward quite a few years and I still poke around looking for esoteric information – and the internet has made things so much easier – but my wanderings have uncovered more information that leads me to think I have been on the right track. I discovered the pH value of the human body.

Apparently, the pH value for the human body to enable it to maintain a healthy balance is in the range of 7 – 7.45, preferably 7.35 – 7.45. This is a slightly alkaline state. Anything below 7 is heading for acidity and is something that should be avoided. I learned that stress and a restricted diet can result in acidity in the human body, and sickness follows. So, my logical thought would be to try and keep my blood (body) within the nicely alkaline range and hope that this goes some way to keeping illness at bay.
Cider Vinegar is very acidic, and I was certain that it would be an undesirable thing based on the above figures, but apparently the action of the body during digestion results in a nicely alkaline state. Folk medicine : Score 1.

Further research tells me that eating a good variety of vegetables helps with the right level of alkalinity, and most herbs are excellent. Predictably the things you would expect to be on the no-go list – sugars, white flour and all the other goodies of the civilised age – are in the acid-forming groups.

You can do your own research from here!