Readers Digest - Home Hints & Timeless Tips: 2,635 Tried-and-Trusted Techniques for Everyday Troubles

A READERS DIGEST BOOK

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ISBN 978-1-62145-490-8 (ppb)

ISBN 978-1-62145-489-2 (hc)

ISBN 978-1-62145-491-5 (e-pub)

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NOTE TO OUR READERS

The information in this book should not be substituted for, or used to alter, medical therapy without your doctors advice. For a specific health problem, consult your physician for guidance.

WARNING

All do-it-yourself activities involve a degree of risk. Skills, materials, tools, and site conditions vary widely. Although the editors have made every effort to ensure accuracy, the reader remains responsible for the selection and use of tools, materials, and methods. Always obey local codes and laws, follow manufacturers operating instructions, and observe safety precautions.

Almost every day, newand usually expensiveconsumer products appear that promise to make our lives easier and simpler. But are they all really necessary? Despite their initial hype, few of them live up to expectations.

Our grandparents generation had abundant knowledge about how to solve everyday problems easily, inexpensively and effectively, without running to the storewhether the issue was storing fresh produce, making skin look younger, relieving headache pain or getting laundry whiter. Wouldnt it be a shame if all that expertise was lost to future generations?

To prevent that from happening and to preserve yesterdays top tips for todays busy families, we have gathered a wealth of traditional wisdom to create this book. Home Hints and Timeless Tips is a comprehensive collection of the best time-honored solutions from past generations. From your medicine cabinet to your freezer, your vegetable patch to your morning shower, here are clever suggestions and solutions that show you how to apply the good old ways from the good old days to improve the way we do things now.

Its not about harking back to a nostalgic past, but about presenting old-fashioned ideas in such a way that they can easily be used in todays world. It makes the wealth of our collective experiencebuilt up over generationsaccessible to people who need a helping hand today. Its advice that is proven, timely, economical and environmentally friendly.

And all these clever solutions, useful hints, practical tips and helpful remedies from days gone by have been researched and tested for their practical applications in the 21st century. They can offer alternatives to expensive products or the use of chemical additives and youll often find the ingredients close at hand in your kitchen cabinets.

Organized into six chapters that focus on health, beauty, home management, cooking, home decor and the garden, this book is packed with more than 2,635 practical hints and tips that our parents and grandparents trusted and relied on. Every tip is guaranteed to help make life easier as well as less expensive. And each entry is presented alphabetically within each chapter, making the solutions easy to find.

Home Hints and Timeless Tips takes a step back into the past to help you achieve a more rewarding way of living today because many of the old ways still work best!

Note to readers

The creators of this work have made every effort to be as accurate and up-to-date as possible. Many traditional home remedies use plant substances. Plant-based products (infusions, tinctures, capsules, essential oils) may cause immune reactions and should therefore be used with care. Pregnant women and anyone taking prescription drugs or undergoing surgery should consult a doctor before using herbal medicines. Essential oils should not be used by children under the age of two. For a specific health problem, consult your physician. Health advice in this book should not be substituted for or used to alter treatment without your doctors advice. The writers, researchers, editors and publishers of this work cannot be held liable for any errors, omissions or actions that may be taken as a consequence of information contained within the book. The mention of any products in this book does not imply or constitute an endorsement by Readers Digest.

Most of us regularly use over-the-counter pills and potions to treat our illnesses. In the past, people turned to plants and natural products for relief. Today, clinical science supports many such remedies, confirming that a variety of ailments will respond to natures help alone.

The searing pain of heartburn can be brought on by eating spicy, fatty or acidic foods, or just by eating too much too quickly. Luckily, it is easy to combator to avoid altogether.

G OOD TO KNOW

Causes of acid reflux

A trapdoor of muscular tissue called the lower esophageal sphincter usually keeps stomach acid just where it belongsin the stomach. However, heartburn occurs when the sphincter allows the contents of your stomach to flow back into the esophagus, causing a burning pain behind the breastbone. This is known as acid reflux.

When stomach acid backs up into the esophagus, you feel the burning pain of acid reflux. At the first sign of heartburn, try one of these natural solutions.

• Baking soda can neutralize excess stomach acid (dont use it if you have high blood pressure). Stir 1 teaspoon (5 ml) in a glass of warm water and drink.
• Try a tonic: Steep 1 tablespoon (15 g) each dried gentian root and dandelion root in 1 cup (250 ml) of boiling water.
• Drink ginger tea: Boil 1 teaspoons (7 ml) fresh ginger or teaspoon (2 ml) powdered ginger in 1 cup (250 ml) water for 10 minutes before drinking.
• Chew a licorice tablet before meals. This encourages mucin production in the esophagus, providing a protective barrier against stomach acids.
• Seasoning food with fennel seeds or peppermint makes it more digestible and soothes heartburn.
• Eat a piece of dry white bread or toast to neutralize stomach acids, or 1 tablespoon (15 ml) dry oatmeal.
• Sleep with your upper body slightly elevated at night to prevent acid from entering the esophagus.

• Eat sensibly, avoiding foods, drinks and combinations you know give you heartburnperhaps fatty or acidic foods, chocolate or wine.
• Avoid alcohol, nicotine and caffeine; they increase gastric acid secretion, which can cause heartburn.
• Eat slowly and always opt for smaller, more frequent portions.
• Watch your weight. If you are carrying excess pounds (kilos), this increases pressure inside your stomach, which can lead to acid reflux and heartburn.