Home Remedies from Amish Country

Home Remedies from Amish Country
Revised 5th Edition
Published by Abana Books, Ltd.
6523 Township Rd 346
Millersburg OH 44654


I purchased my copy from the Amish bulk store. It is available used from Amazon for a couple of bucks (+shipping at $3.99). It is a very interesting book, heavy on the use of apple cider vinegar, which is all around great stuff. Garlic is big in the book as well. And there's lots and lots of home remedies, all submitted by Amish folks.

The copyright info does say that no part of "this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form ... except for brief excerpts in reviews." I'm including these short paragraphs in my review here as it is a very good synopsis of how disease, toxemia, germs and and unhealthy body work. This section is called Body Cleanser I:

Cleansing the soul if just as important for good health as cleansing the body. Man has been held in the bondage of misery and suffering with negative, destructive influences from licensed and unlicensed witchcraft. [Wonder if the author of the quote is talking about mainstream medicine here?? HM]

Cleansing the body is basic for the elimination and correction of every kind of disease. When we become sick of being sick, then we will learn the truth and it will teach us that we can be free from any disease. Deficiencies in the raw materials our bodies assimilate and use for cell building produce deteriorated cells which in turn will produce toxins. Disease, aging and death are the result of accumulated toxins and congestions throughout the entire body. Germs and virses exist in excess only when we provide a breeding ground in which they can survive and multiply. They are in the body to help break down acculmulated toxins and congestions. Do you think that a microscopic microbe which will make you sick when you are well and strong, that you will ever become strong enough thereafter to throw it off? Infection and fever are not caught; they were created to burn off the excess wastes and toxins our bodies have accumulated. With this understanding, all diseases are varied expressions of the one disease called toxemia. This is briefly defined as a saturation of toxins and congestions in the body. As a person reaches of limit of what the body can tolerate, a good house cleaning is started, and one of nature's most effective methods is to start loosening and eliminating these toxins and congestions with bacterial or viral action. As this action progresses, we become sick and feverish, and the body's other resources kick into action to clean us out as fast as possible. As disease-producing toxins are expelled from our bodies, deficiencies must be restored. Thus a cleansing diet must also incude the proper material for building healthy cells.

.....

Lemons and limes are the richest source of vitamins and minerals of any food known to man. This lemon juice diet has been in use by many thousands of people since 1940 and may be used with complete safety for every known type of sickness. Other reasons to use this diet are for resting the digestive system, losing excess weight, and better assimilation of nutrients from food. Using this diet 3 or 4 times per year will do wonders for your health. Follow the diet for a minimum of 10 days and up to 40 days for extremely serious conditions. All the nutrition needed during the cleansing period is supplied in the diet. This diet does not have any dangerous side effects. Do not substitute any ingredients and make it exactly as shown.
2 Tablespoon lemon or lime juice from fresh fruit only (about 1/2 lemon)
2 T pure maple syrup (less if more weight loss is desired)
1/10 tsp cayenne powder (may start with a dash and increase amount)
Combine the above ingredients and add enough medium hot or cold water to fill a 10 oz glass. Pure sorghum may be used as a lesser substitute when maple syrup isn't available. About 6-12 glasses per day are sufficient. Extra water or mint tea may be taken if desired. When you get hungry just have another glass of lemonade. No other food, vitamins or supplements should be taken during the full period of the diet. If you do, you may defeat your efforts at cleansing the body.

End quote. Also recommended is a herbal tea laxative every morning, aiming at 2-3 bowel movements a day. To come off the diet, drink a glass of orange or grape juice for the first 2-6 meals, adding raw and cooked veggies in small portions after that.

I can vouch for this fast (I call it a fast, they call it a diet) as being very beneficial. Your body will rid itself of toxins, which will make you feel pretty sickly: headaches, dizziness, weakness, vomiting might occur. This is a sign that the fast is working--as your body dumps toxins into the bloodstream on route to elimination, you feel sick--that's the toxins being kicked out and released. Be patient, pray, and let your body do what it knows will work and rid you of excess rotten crap in your system.

The book carries the all important disclaimer that this information is presented only for historical and educational purposes: it is NOT medical advice. Readers should always consult with their physician before trying any home remedies, and etc. That disclaimer applies to this blog as well.

The book is divided into Baby Care, Health Care, Weight Loss, Salves, and an Index. A majority of the remedies include one or more of the following: apple cider vinegar, lemons, onions, garlic, cayenne pepper, honey, and baking soda. The herbs include: ginger, feverfew (for migraine), plantain, boneset, red clover blossoms, goldenseal, echinacea, aloe vera, and more.

Here's a typical remedy that is repeated by many Amish in the book:

The way to stay healthy and alert, well into old age, is to combine one teaspoon of cider vinegar, one teaspoon of honey, and a full glass of water. Take this tonic three times a day, 1/2 hour before meals. Sylvia Shetler

Here's another one, also repeated many times:

1 tablespoon [baking] soda in a glass of water for 3 day, never more than 3 days, the body would become too alkaline. The body is in an acid state when flu strikes. Simon S. Schwartz

The body's acid/alkaline balance is very important. Disease strikes when your system becomes too acidic. Assisting your system to become more alkaline is important.

Here's another remedy for kidney stones:

Wash six ordinary size red beets. Do not slice them. In 3 quarts of water, boil them slowly so as not to boil the water away. After an hour, strain the water and bottle it, placing it in the ice box to prevent souring. Drink 3 glasses of this a day. The drink simply dissolves the stones, and you don't even pass them. Mrs. Lloyd Kuepfer

In our household, we use a lot of home remedies. We do not have health insurance and tend not to use the mainstream medical system much. For one, it has priced itself out of our range. For another, we don't agree with allopathic methods or theory. It is not enough to supress symptoms. Far more important is to get to the root cause of the problem. So Home Remedies from Amish Country is a natural for us, and we have used and will use many of the suggested remedies.

This is an excellent little book, full of interesting ideas. For about $5, used from Amazon, it can't be beat. Then all you have to do is follow the educational and historical non-advice. :)
HM