For Headaches and Others

Here are a few more notes on health matters and natural relief measures.


A headache can make anyone feel miserable and irritable. One simple remedy is to take 1/4 teaspoon of turmeric, the yellow spice used in mustard. It is inexpensive and works quite quickly to help reduce the pain of a headache.

Turmeric also works very quickly to relieve heartburn. We have found that it works almost instantly.

The easiest way to take the turmeric is simply to place it on the tongue, press it against the roof of the mouth until it becomes moistened, and then to swallow. But since not everyone can swallow powders so easily, like Stephanie, a method she has found helpful is to take a small piece of banana, mash it up with the turmeric, form a small ball, and swallow that. Since I can swallow almost anything except bad theology, I just plop the turmeric on my tongue and swallow.

In the Other category, hemorrhoids, can be a terrible source of discomfort. I recently had a bleeding hemorrhoid. That certainly got my attention in a hurry! I told Stephanie and she ran to her handy copy of Let’s Get Well by Adelle Davis. According to Davis hemorrhoids develop due to a deficiency in Vitamin B6. Since stress causes a body to utilize the B vitamins more rapidly, anyone can develop a deficiency. She suggests taking 10 mg of B6 after each meal. She reports that in every case that she has observed this cured the bleeding hemorrhoids in those who followed this procedure. I did this, and additionally took turmeric twice a day, and applied cold-pressed coconut oil to the area of the hemorrhoid. Within two days the bleeding had stopped completely and the itching and burning had subsided. I actually used a higher amount of B6, but with the B vitamins this is not dangerous unless abused. The point is that the combination worked. The coconut oil gave instant relief from the itching and burning symptoms and maintained the relief throughout the day.

Organic Virgin Expeller-Pressed Coconut Oil can be purchased in many health food stores and has many uses. We purchase ours on-line through Tropical Traditions. We also use coconut oil in our cooking, as a treatment for burns (after icing it soothes the burn quickly and reduces healing time), for treatment of dry skin as a moisturizer that quickly absorbs, even as a hair conditioner (in very small amounts).

For upset stomach, cultured yogurt is very helpful. Cultured buttermilk also works very well. We make our own of both, which saves considerably on the pocketbook.

Extra virgin olive oil also has many healthful uses in addition to being very tasty in cooking.

And don’t forget the benefits of stretching and massaging for relief of many aches, tension, headaches, even depression.

For what it is worth, these are some things that we have found to be very helpful in maintaining our health and comfort. Perhaps you can benefit from some of them as well.