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9 natural tips to stay healthy

If you feel a little sick, wait before you rush to the doctor! Perhaps your illness is easily cured by one of the natural tricks you can do at home without even spending a penny.

Here are some natural remedies for everyday worries that are not very serious. An important message to pregnant women however: some remedies are inappropriate during pregnancy or when you are nursing.

The hangover

For this classic, it is absolutely necessary to re-hydrate your body: drink water of course, but also fruit juice, because it contains natural sugars that eliminate alcohol. Tomato juice in particular will give you a good dose of antioxidants, a banana smoothie will rebuild your potassium reserves, and coconut water will fill you up with electrolytes of all kinds. If you fancy a hot drink, opt for a herbal tea with honey, lemon and ginger, which will prevent you from having nausea.

Eat what you want to regain strength, unless you have diarrhea: then some rice will do, but the important thing is to not be hungry any more!

Sunburn

To soothe the burn, try compresses soaked in cold water with a tablespoon of baking soda until you get better. If you do not have baking soda on hand, you can try a compress of plain yogurt or beaten egg whites - full of protein, they will help to rebuild your skin.

To hydrate your skin, apply honey, aloe vera, tomato slices or calendula oil, all substances with moisturizing and soothing qualities. Caution if you have hypersensitive skin however, clays to be used as face masks that are sometimes advertised on the net can aggravate your burn!

Mosquitoes

Someone may have already told you about lemongrass and its miracle effects (which you believed before you realized that it did not work that well). Fortunately, there are other solutions!

You can make a mosquito trap with naturally sweet and sticky substances... buuuut you may not want to harvest a whole bottle of dead mosquitoes. Otherwise, you can try aromatherapy with essential oils of lemon, eucalyptus, ylang-ylang or lavender in a diffuser. If you are a botanist in your spare time, start a small indoor garden: prefer basil, geraniums, and mint.

If it is already too late, try two drops of essential oil of lavender, a natural anti-inflammatory that is also used for burns. Apply them gently on your stings, without rubbing, and repeat as soon as the itch begins again. For children, beware! The essential oil of lavender must be diluted in vegetable oil.

Headache

For headaches, first try to go to bed: if you can fall asleep, when you wake up it is possible that everything will have gone back to normal. If you cannot sleep, you can try to massage your temples or apply an ice pack on your forehead.

Still doesn't work ? Well, let's move on to more serious things: inhalations. Inhalations of rosemary, mint or lavender all have soothing properties for the headache. Complete this treatment with a sweet tea of marjoram, verbena or jasmine for even more effect.

Last solution: mix cinnamon powder with water to form a paste that you will apply to your forehead until the pain disappears. You shouldn't feel any more pain, and when you'll be done you'll smell like a Christmas cookie.

Remove a splinter

A splinter may be nothing to look at while putting you in a lot of pain. To dislodge it, nothing better than a home poultice with the help of baking soda and lavender essential oil.

Wash the painful area with soap so that it is clean.
Mix one teaspoon of baking soda with a few drops of lavender essential oil.
Add just enough water to make your mixture a thick paste.
Apply the paste to the splinter and keep it in place with gauze and a dressing.
Leave your splinter alone for an hour or two in the dough. After that, get the tweezers! :O

Unclogging the nose

To unclog the nose, try inhalations with essential oil of thyme or eucalyptus and finish off with a good thyme tea (even if you feel like you're drinking your mother's roast chicken in liquid form).

For stubborn clogged noses, you can try a mustard seed poultice:

Mix a few tablespoons of crushed mustard seeds with a cup of wheat flour and a little water.
Put petroleum jelly on your chest, then apply the poultice. Be careful not to leave it for more than 15 minutes, you could burn yourself!

Care for foot blister

If it is a small blister that does not hurt and you do not intend to repeat the activity that caused it, do not do anything: it will resolve itself.

On the other hand, if it is a big bulb that hurts very badly, it must be pierced:

Take a sterilized needle (which you can heat with a lighter or dip in 90° alcohol), and pierce the bulb in the side with great care. Leave the skin, which will serve as a natural dressing.
Apply the thin skin found between the slices of an onion on your blister with a dressing, which you will renew morning and evening. Onion is like a natural healing salve! You can also wash the blister with white vinegar, a natural antiseptic.
Protect your blister with a cotton sock if you have to go out, otherwise let it breathe in the open air.

Smoothies against diseases

To give a boost to your immune system, ease digestion or improve blood circulation, you need to fill up on antioxidants.

These antioxidants are found in fruits and vegetables. Nothing could be easier to consume the recommended 5 servings of fruits and vegetables a day than to make smoothies and other energizing drinks stuffed with vitamins. Try a honey and ginger grog for sore a throat and runny nose, or a dandelion coffee for a little health break.

Herbal teas of all kinds

Before going to bed, you may have trouble relaxing or falling asleep. A hot tea in the evening or in the morning can bring you innumerable benefits, as infusions are as varied as they are useful. Not to be confused with tea, herbal teas and infusions do not contain caffeine, which is an stimulant. However, if you want to cure yourself of small inconveniences such as nervousness, arthritis or nausea, infusions can help.

Soothing herbal teas contain alkaloids and essential oils, and are most often sedatives and natural hypnotics. To sleep well, prefer lime, chamomile or valerian. By combining several herbs such as lemon balm and valerian, you might get the same result as taking benzodiazepines ... without the side effects!