500 Time-Tested Home Remedies and the Science Behind Them: Ease Aches, Pains, Ailments, and More with Hundreds of Simple and Effective At-Home Treatments

by Linda B. White, Barbara H. Seeber, Barbara Brownell Grogan

This is your down-to-earth, complete manual for achieving great gardening results with your own rich, organic soil! How do you recognize healthy soil? How much can your existing soil be improved? What are the best amendments to use for your soil? Let Building Soil answer your questions and be your guide on gardening from the ground up! Fertilizing, tilling, weed management, and irrigation all affect the quality of your soil. Using author Elizabeth Murphy's detailed instructions, anyone can become a successful soil-based gardener, whether you want to start a garden from scratch or improve an existing garden. If you want methods that won't break your back, are good for the environment, and create high-yielding and beautiful gardens of all shapes and sizes, this is the book for you! Create classic landscape gardens, grow a high-yielding orchard, nurture naturally beautiful lawns, raise your household veggies, or run a profitable farm. A soil-based approach allows you to see not just the plants, but the living system that grows them. Soil-building practices promote more ecologically friendly gardening by reducing fertilizer and pesticide use, sequestering greenhouse gases, and increasing overall garden productivity. Building Soil is a simple book full of practical, up-to-date information about building healthy soils. Simple methods perfect for the home gardener's use put healthy, organic soil within everyone's reach. You don't need a degree in soil management to understand this book; you only need a yard or garden and the desire to improve it at the most basic level.

Genres: Nonfiction, Health

512 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2013

About the author

B.S. and M.S. in biology, Stanford University
M.D., University of California, San Diego

Faculty, Integrative Therapies Program, Metropolitan State University of Denver

Blogger, EverydayHealth.Com http://www.everydayhealth.com/columns...

Freelance writer for "Mother Earth Living," "Mother Earth News," and other magazines devoted to healthy living.

Reviews

[Cindy · Rating 5 out of 5]

I was so happy when Fair Winds Press (Quayside Publishing Group) sent me a copy of 500 Time-Tested Home Remedies and the Science Behind Them. I am all about using homemade remedies for several reasons. First, you know exactly what is in the solution. There are no names in the ingredient list that you are unfamiliar with, and you know exactly what each ingredient does for your body. Drugs are the exact opposite. They have so many chemical names and there’s always a huge list of possible symptoms you may experience as a result of using that product. Not so with homemade remedies. Second, it’s so much more affordable and gives you the opportunity to practice frugal living! You may end up spending $20 for a drug that lasts only a month, whereas if you treated it naturally you may end up paying pennies a month. It also gives you the opportunity to stock up. And third, it teaches you to be self-sufficient. You do not have to rely on pharmaceutical companies to provide the products you need to stay healthy. You are able to be independent and responsible while maintaining better health than you would have if you were taking pharmaceuticals.

Just perusing through the book, I immediately fell in love! Author Linda White, along with co-authors Barbara H. Seeber and Barbara Brownell Grogan, go much more in depth than just listing various homemade remedy recipes. They explain in the introduction part of the book that people in this day and age are living longer lives than in the past, but they aren’t necessarily living healthier. Chronic conditions are on the rise in children and in adults. It seems that almost everyone we know is taking and relying upon at least one medication every day. These illnesses are for the most part curable, but no one seems to be finding that cure. Something is obviously wrong. The authors go on to explain the importance of old-fashioned, self-sufficient, healthy living. Specifically, they list 6 pillars of good health:

1) Eat Healthy Foods

2) Move Your Body

3) Manage Stress

4) Cherish Sleep

5) Go Social

6) Nourish Your Spirituality

These pillars are so often neglected in this modern age because it is time consuming, inconvenient, and requires sacrifice and a lifestyle change. It’s quite possible to be cured of whatever ailment you are battling, but unless you are willing to make changes in each of these categories, you will not be able to reach your full health potential.

There were several things I really liked about this book. First, the authors explain that fat (minus trans-fat) and cholesterol are good for you. I am a huge advocate of foods containing fat and HDL cholesterol. Second, it was very helpful seeing the various tips and helpful information throughout the book. For example, when deciding whether or not to buy organic produce, the authors provide a list of the top 12 most pesticide-laden fruits and veggies, and also a list of the 15 cleanest. Third, the authors include recipes containing foods that help with certain health conditions. For example, certain types of fish (salmon, tuna, sardines) are helpful for people who have asthma. This is because the omega-3 fatty acids in fish have anti-inflammatory properties.

There were a couple of things I disagreed with in this book that I will mention briefly. First of all, I didn’t like everything the authors said about the 6th pillar, Nourishing Spirituality. I did agree with one part of what the authors were trying to convey in that section– that it is important to make time to get away from your everyday busy and noisy life and just have time to think and relax. I do believe that can help you physically. And second, the authors recommend soy consumption. Soy, unless fermented, has been linked to cancer and therefore should not be consumed.

Overall, I enjoyed reading this volume. It’s the kind of book that I will always keep available as I have need of a home remedy. I also look forward to experimenting with various remedies. Thanks so much, Fair Winds Press!


You can find this review and others on my blog: www.differentkindofliving.wordpress.com.

[Darcie · Rating 5 out of 5]

A fabulous resource, it's my go-to source for natural remedies.

[Anne · Rating 5 out of 5]

Alphabetically ordered reference book for the kinds of things all parts of our bodies regularly call our attention to. Dr. White distills the wisdom of our grandmothers backed up by meticulously researched science. She directs us to herbs, obviously, but also to pen and paper (writing also can cure what ails us!) and a pair of walking shoes (stopping to smell the roses-you'd be surprised by the extent of their curative powers.)

[Davida · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great, especially the recipes: pumpkin, taratoor, broccoli.