Food With Curative Powers

[Pan]

I'm glad you're feeling better, Mabelline.

By the way, Tryska, when I have normal congestion (i.e. not an incapacitating flu), a favorite thing for me to do is go to a local south Indian restaurant, and order rasam and a chili utthapam with extra chilis of the small green variety. The chef/owner has known me since I started coming about 2 weeks after he opened, and is always happy to honor my request for extra chilis.

[Mabelline]

HOT ginger ale was the other thing my SO drank. I had a couple cups and it did have a nice effect. I'm so discouraged with this flu thing. We in Montana were finally put on the list of states with epidemic stages of it, yet our hospitals here have been in quarantine for over three weeks.

[tryska]

I'm going to see if I can stumble to the kitchen and make some of this. I have a bad, bad flu and it sure couldn't hurt. How would it be without the tomato? Or would canned be all right (no running out to the store for me right now).

it's fine without the tomato as well - but my mom used canned - i think perhaps sauce, in hers every once in awhile. for some reason i have an aversion to cooked tomatoes - so for me, using the fresh chopped and bringing it to a boil and turning it off results in the tomatoes not cooking too much and staying firm.

it will result in a thicker "soup" if you use sauce - i've never used chopped canned tomato, but i don't see why that wouldn't work as well. I'd use maybe a half cup? i typically add 2 roma chopped roma tomatoes or half of one large franken-tomato from the grocery store to 2 cups water.

[Mabelline]

Thanks, Pan. Tryska, there must be a true therepeutic effect, because the pioneers were very familiar with asafoetida. They even wore asafoetida bags around their neck(eeuuhh), but my gram used to say that was just to keep people away from them! Bet it worked.

[morela]

I've been trying to get over this cold, and I think a trip to good old Pho 75 last night finally did the trick. The people I was with gave me a hard time at first because I ordered the 'chicken noodle' (sounds too American) pho, but everyone settled down when we all realized that it was the same good pho we've always known.

Mmm. That broth and that chicken, with all that basil and Jalapeño to put in there...and hot sauce and plum sauce. Makes you feel so alive.

I'm all better now!

Leave it up to the Pho Master General to cure you.

Edited December 17, 2003 by meaghanfitzgerald (log)

[tryska]

HOT ginger ale was the other thing my SO drank. I had a couple cups and it did have a nice effect. I'm so discouraged with this flu thing. We in Montana were finally put on the list of states with epidemic stages of it, yet our hospitals here have been in quarantine for over three weeks.

are you still sick mabelline? was it prednisone they gave you for the congestion?

and pan - i think the food and aggressive spicing explain why you very rarely see sniffling indian people. *lol* of course the traditional cure in india for nausea (at least with my paternal grandmother who was apparently soem sort of village medicine woman) was chewing ginger, and for the runs - nimbupani with salt and sugar (gatorade) and tapioca. (i think that might gum up the works, and that's why it works so well)

[tryska]

Thanks, Pan. Tryska, there must be a true therepeutic effect, because the pioneers were very familiar with asafoetida. They even wore asafoetida bags around their neck(eeuuhh), but my gram used to say that was just to keep people away from them! Bet it worked.

huh...look what i found mabelline:

http://www.theepicentre.com/Spices/asafetid.html

[Mabelline]

No, I am finally getting over it, but the kicker is I got my flu shot on Monday, and by Thursday was flat out. But I'm assured that this is not the flu I was inoculated for. The steroids were indeed prednisone. 444,333,222,111. That's the dosage for the course I took. They are some scary chemicals, I tell you...but they work.

[tejon]

Wow. Just made some up and am sipping away. It's hitting the spot so far - have to report back how I feel a bit later.

[tryska]

wow tejon, just that quick, huh? definitely report back!

mabelline - yeah prednisone is some scary stuff. and you ahve to love that puffy look it gives you. so they are saying it's not just a bad reaction to the vaccine? i refuse to take the flu vaccine myself - i haven't (knock wood) had the flu since i was in 4th grade, and i'll be dammned if i give it to myself just as a precautionary measure. you might want to try a course of goldenseal tea for a week or so if you're not on the antibiotics still. it's great for upper respiratory stuff, and works like an antibiotic, minus the yeast infections.

[Mabelline]

Thank you. The link was fascinating - those singers had to really be serious to eat a spoonful of asafoetida with butter. I shall indeed do the goldenseal.

Edited December 17, 2003 by Mabelline (log)

[tejon]

Oregon Grape Root is also a great sub for Goldenseal, if you have trouble finding it.

[tryska]

yeah i know....that's dedication. apparently it also kept them from being gassy so i guess it served a dual purpose. love that that article refers to it as "stink finger". *snicker*

[tryska]

Oregon Grape Root is also a great sub for Goldenseal, if you have trouble finding it.

have you had good results with oregon grape root tejon?

my trinity is goldenseal, echinacea and myrrh. but goldenseal has been getting harder to find these days, it seems, or you pay an arm and a leg for it.

[Mudpuppie]

Warm Coke is also good for upset stomachs.

*urp*

This reminds me of what used to be -- and maybe still is -- a Texas wintertime staple: Warm Dr. Pepper. It was served at football games, outdoor festivals, etc. Ugh, my stomach turns just thinking about it.

Note: Not a curative foodstuff. The opposite, actually, for me.

[tejon]

have you had good results with oregon grape root tejon?

Very good results - I have sucessfully fought off bronchitis several times with Oregon Grape Root. It's action is very similar to Goldenseal. Raw garlic is also an incredibly antimicrobial (as seen in your rasam, where it's almost raw!).

I'm feeling much less congested, though still hurt like crazy all over. But the soup definitely helped

[tryska]

well i'm glad it helped with congestion! if you have some left drink it tonight before you go to sleep. that usually helps me by the next morning. don't know what to say about the pain tho - that's the suckiest part of the flu - and unfortunately not much you can do about it, but keep adequately hydrated. i hope you feel better soon!

as for the oregon grape root - next time i make an herb run i will pick some up - do you use the capsules, the tincture or the tea?

[hillvalley]

Aaaahhhhhhhhhh misery loves company!

I am on day 10 of the stomach flu and think I remember what solid food feels like. It has been nothing but chicken soup and rice for what feels like forever. (yes, the song is stuck in my head too.)

Other than Jewish penicilin I have eaten a lot of umeboshi (picked plums) with my rice. With some flat gingerale thrown in for variety. That's about it.

I would love any suggestions for what I might be able to eat. Feel better everyone!

[tryska]

which end is causing you problems hillvalley?

[Cusina]

This is way off the flu topic and not exactly curative, but the most welcome relief I've ever had was brought on by drinking strong raspberry tea with almond extract. Supposedly brings on labor if you are at the very end of a pregnancy and just want your body to be your own again, finally, please and now. Hard to prove if it actually worked or not as I'm sure I was likely to deliver anyways, but it sure tasted good.

hillvalley, that doesn't help you any I suppose. Raw almonds are supposed to have anti-nausea effects. Maybe those would be good? Also, my mom always made me peppermint tea when I felt yishy. Get better!

[tryska]

just thought i'd update after looking at my mom's recipe, the exact measurements for her rasam, it's flexible, and can be adjusted obviously, but this is what works for knocking out congestion in me:

1 tbsp peppercorns cracked, 1/2 tbsp of all the other spices, except turmeric powder (1 tsp), and asafoetida (pinch), 6-7 garlic cloves, and 1/2 a bunch of coriander. she also mentions 1 can tomato sauce.

[KateW]

Sunday I felt awful. I couldn't stand up for more than a couple seconds before feeling dizzy. Thank goodness I had made chicken soup with rice (don't know the song but I think there is a poem, chicken soup with rice is nice) a couple days before, so I finished that off and had lots of grape juice which was less acidic on my sore throat than my usual cranberry juice.

Monday, I wasn't as dizzy anymore but it had progressed into a cold. Nothing tasted good. I just kind of grazed until I left for school. I was still in the mood for soup so I had some canned stuff. More grape juice. I was still a little dizzy so I had to force myself to eat a power bar in the car (and more grape juice) so I would make it to school. At school I had some split pea soup. It was really good.

Tuesday and Wednesday I just had a nagging feeling from the stuffy nose, and the sore throat, which was a little better, but still tickled, causing me to cough a lot. Last night I went to see LOTR:ROTK and had to nurse a large drink to fight the coughing fits.

Last night as I was falling asleep I felt really congested but didn't feel like getting up to take anything. I'm paying for that today.

Oh, Theraflu rocks. Especially the drowsy type.

In conclusion, I have no fancy cures or methods. I'm just glad I'm well enough to go to school.

[fifi]

Mumble years ago, I dated a guy that had this honkin' big sport fishing boat. We are talking 2 bedrooms, 2 baths and a regular kitchen... er... galley. Invariably, if we took one of his clients out into the Gulf, someone would get seasick. I always carried plastic baggies of small cubes of fresh ginger. As soon as the victim started to look a little green, I would have them quickly crack a couple of cubes with their back teeth and chase it with water (so as not to scorch the tongue). The reaction was invariably immediate, followed by exclamations of "That is f***ing amazing!"

Neither powdered ginger in the capsules nor ginger ale ever had the same effect.

Prednisone... ACK! I took a very low dose of that once upon a time for a hormonal condition and that stuff messed with my head. VERY scary.

[hillvalley]

Kate, you have my sympathies. Being at school, whether you are the teacher or the student, is less than fun while sick. It makes a desk job sound kind of good. Chicken soup with rice is a poem written by Maurice Sendak and turned into a song, I think by Carol King.

tryska, your kind for asking. I'll spare you the details but lets just say I am sick from head to toe.

Yesterday a coworker suggested steeping some raw ginger in my chicken soup. It seemed to work for a little while, better than the drugs they gave me anyway. Granted my taste buds forget what food actually tastes like, but it tasted good too. I wonder how much ginger you actually need to reap it's benefits?

[tryska]

that was an excellent idea actually. did you use ginger slices or greated ginger? if you added grated ginger - maybe an amount the size of your fingernail, that will help.

for nausea chewing little chunks of cangdied ginger work for stopping it. unfortunately for the other end of the spectrum - the foods that will help that, won't help settle your stomach.

so you need to just keep well hydrated and let it run it's course.