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The slippery way to treat stomach ache...
5th December 2008
* The slippery way to treat stomach ache...
* Want a Porsche? Then join the NHS
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I feel like a cyborg today...
Half man, half robot.
Or to be more precise, half lazy writer...half
incompetent nurse, because as I speak (sorry, type),
Lara is upstairs in bed nursing a sore tummy.
And let me tell you, if it's bad enough to send Lara
to bed, it's BAD.
If I'm suffering, I tend to tell everyone about it
instantly (and splinters CAN be painful - I don't
care what anyone says). But Lara could be hit on
the head with a meteorite half way through being
mauled by a tiger and still tell everyone to stop
fussing when they rushed over to help her.
So for the best part of the day, I've been looking
after Lara, and giving her this brilliant natural
tonic...
The slippery way to treat stomach ache...
Ulmus fulva, or Slippery Elm, is really powerful
when it comes to tackling digestive pain and
irritation. When the powdered bark of the elm is
added to water it produces mucilage - a powerful
glycoprotein that acts as a balm for the irritated
area, soothing the inflammation. Tannins found in
slippery elm also help reduce swelling and heal
damaged tissue.
Mmmmm.... tree bark. There's nothing quite like a
little treat when you're feeling under the weather is
there?
Lucky Lara.
Naturally, before we take any unusual herb or
remedy in the Collins household we always run
things past our GP, and you should do the same.
Here are a few more natural substances that can
help fight stomach aches... |
- Two of my favourite things... as Mary
Poppins (or was it wassername from The Sound
of Music) said 'I simply remember my favourite
thiiiiings and then I don't feeeeeeel soooooooo
bad'.
Well, I remember them, then remember to take
them. I'm talking about lemon and honey, and
personally this sorts out my stomach ache every
time. Simply let 3 slices of lemon steep in hot
water for 3 minutes, add some honey, and
drink. Even my caveman sensibilities can cope
with mixing this up. It's a marvel I tell you - so
give it a try.
If you want to discover dozens more ways to
use these two natural wonders, take a look at
these two books:
HGV miracle
The Lemon Book
Seriously, every household that has more than
one human being in should have a copy of each
of these, because they can help you sort out of
sorts of little problems.
- Another drink to try... mix 1 teaspoon each
of mint juice, ginger juice, lime juice, add a
pinch of back salt, and knock it back. Mint has
been used for centuries as an aid to digestion (I
usually have a cup after mint tea after every
meal), ginger keeps nausea at bay like nobody's
business, and lime is from the same family as
lemon - so that's three blows against stomach
ache in one gulp!
- Fresh sage... a teaspoon of sage herbal juice
every day can fight gastritis and enteritis,
thanks to its astringent properties.
- An idea Mr Bassett may not have thought
about... using licorice roots to make a tea can
help settle upset stomachs, but this remedy
comes with a warning...
An overindulgence in licorice has been known
to raise some people's blood pressure due to the
presence of glycyrrhetinic acid. So go easy. Or
better still, hunt down DGL, or
deglycyrrhizinated licorice. Apparently this has
the same powerful properties but without the
damaging acid. But as ever, check things
through with your doctor before embarking on
any new course of natural remedy. |
And finally...
- A ginger remedy you DON'T drink... if the
idea of drinking any tea that isn't Tetley's
doesn't appeal to you, then try this...
Chop up a piece of ginger, grate it, then squeeze
the juice from it and rub it into your belly. That
is if it's YOUR belly that's aching. I've not
heard of this one before, but I'm going to try it.
And talking of rubbing ginger juice on your belly...
Errr... actually I haven't got anything I can link this
to. It's just a sentence that I'm never going to get
the chance to use again. I couldn't resist.
Here's something that caught my eye this week
(and it had nothing to do with ginger OR bellies)...
Want a Porsche? Then join the NHS
Earlier this week I read that a nurse working for the
NHS broke through the £100,000 salary barrier.
'Great!' I hear you cry. 'She deserves it. They
should all be earning big money.'
And I couldn't agree more. But is this REALLY
the way the NHS should be going...?
Take a friend of mine and Lara's, confusingly
named Laura.
Laura is a nurse who's works in one our local
hospitals here in Bristol. Lara's known her for years,
and she's a lovely, lovely person who's brilliant at
her job.
A while back, she told us she was earning pretty
good money after years of struggling as a student
nurse. I can't remember the exact figure, but it was
around £3,000 take home.
Which the accountant in me works out is £1million
before tax. All right, the accountant in me should be
fired. He's hopeless at maths. But it must be
somewhere around the £50K mark.
And she more than deserves it. But it's not the
amount she's earning that bothers me, the amount
she has to work to get it that's my concern...
Laura works 6 days a week, often doing double
shifts and working 14 hours a day, sometimes with
a break, sometimes with no break.
Now, even I've managed to work out that's 84
hours a week - more than DOUBLE the number of
hours that a standard office job demands.
So, she's earning £50K, but effectively she's doing
two jobs to get it.
Surely that's wrong. I mean I get tired after an
HOUR'S work, so after 84 hours I'd be amputating
somebody at the neck when I should be giving
them an aspirin.
Isn't it about time we looked after our doctors and
nurses properly - especially the ones who work
crazy hours on wards?
Just something that struck me. But still, good luck
to the nurse who's making £100,000. I don't know
what she'll spend it on but I doubt it'll be a bed.
So wouldn't have time to use it.
That's it for today. I'll be back again on Sunday -
and don't miss it!
Why? Because I've managed to wangle you
something that I'm 100% sure you'll love.
So between the roast dinner and Antiques
Roadshow, make sure you join me back here on
Sunday. |
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