A Healthier and More Sustainable Life

I discovered the power, convenience and sustainability of using home remedies to cure common health concerns that each one of us experience every now and then, not as serious to compel us to go to a doctor or clinic but enough to cause us suffering. Personally, I have always found it difficult to make time to go to a hospital because of my hectic work life, coupled with being a single parent and completely reliant on public transportation. The goodness of rubbing warm mustard oil in which few garlic pods have been fried for relief from cold, indigestion and body ache has been tried, tested and passed down to near and dear ones over the years. So, I am the last one to “pop a pill” at the hint of a headache, diarrhoea, fever, common cold or skin rash even though a complete annual check- up and doctor consultations for something serious and recurrent are non- negotiables.

I felt I found a treasure when I found Living Without Medicine, a 30700 strong supportive community on Facebook with fourteen local communities on WhatsApp and experts in different fields of medicine and wellness and people who have taken charge of their own health. Started by Gauri Sarin, an Agripreneur based in Gurgaon, Art of Living enthusiast and an advocate of simple, natural, organic food choices and lifestyle, the group serves as a platform for dissemination and discussion on healthy chemical free foods, recipes, tips, traditional cuisine with focus on organic and natural while promoting Ayurveda and natural cure and permitting sales and purchase of organic and ayurvedic items for good health. Members enjoy talks and webinars on wellness, consultations and coaching by experts, knowledge on eating right, home remedies, experience sharing, community support and access to organic food sellers.

What I enjoy the most on Living Without Medicine is the rich collective knowledge on health and well- being that the members seem to have retained from their families, communities or others perhaps over generations and are now sharing them with others in response to health- related queries.

Website: https://www.livingwithoutmedicine.com/

Facebook public group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/178942589415659

The queries posed by people in the group are varied and so are the solutions offered by others. For phlegm in the throat, solutions suggested included drinking turmeric milk, applying mustard oil in the nostrils before sleeping, stopping dairy consumption, sniffing mustard oil from a spoon to clear nasal passages, salt and black pepper water gargling, drinking water boiled with clove for two weeks, avoid eating rice and dairy and intermittent fasting.

For blocked nose and continuous sneezing on waking up in the mornings, there was a huge volume of responses which suggested to avoid late nights and sleeping through the day, manage stress, not to live in closed environment but well ventilated spaces, cause to be low metabolism, eat roasted chana or yellow grams twice a day, 50 grams before breakfast and after dinner (increases immunity), breathing exercises, chewing local honey comb, an old folk remedy for pollen allergies and hay fever, eat kelp and Irish sea moss, skip dairy products,  eat Vitamin-C supplements daily for improving immunity, home remedies like consuming black pepper powder, ginger, turmeric powder with honey in the mornings, drink boiled fig in milk, apply raw mustard oil in the nostrils before sleeping, burn camphor and clove in the room before sleeping so it can be inhaled, eat Chawanprash daily and so on.

Some of the talks that left a lasting impression on me were “Managing Anxiety During Covid Times” by Yogini Arora, a Life-mind coach, “Ayurveda For Healthy Living”, a 10-session course on understanding the ancient Vedic wisdom of health and disease, and “Cooking with Millet”.

All the remedies may not be medically authenticated but they are certainly part of the wisdom of the community deserving further exploration, trials, practice and propagation because there is no harm in trying out solutions that are natural, easily available in every household and reduce our reliance on medicines and pumping in harmful chemicals inside our bodies. During a raging pandemic when the last place people want to go to is a hospital, Living Without Medicine may be an effective alternative.

For further queries contact livingwithoutmedicine@gmail.com

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The author is a print journalist and columnist and recipient of several journalism awards like UNFPA National Laadli Media Awards for Gender Sensitivity, World Pulse Story Awards and Youth Ki Awaaz Awards 2019 held in New Delhi. She is a member of Network of Women in Media India (NWMI) Bangalore Chapter.