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Soothe your eyes with tomato and silver
1st September 2006
For some reason, Lara's taken a keen interest in The Good Life Letter recently.
She stands behind my shoulder, humming… occasionally tutting… and pointing out spelling or grammatical mistakes.
It's quite annoying.
So this morning I used my favourite George Orwell quote.
“Correct grammar is of no importance,” I declared, “so long as one makes one's meaning clear.”
“Hmmm…” she folded her arms. “So what does Mr Orwell say about CHEATING?”
“What do you mean?”
“Well, you're supposed to research stuff about good health and happiness. Then you write about it so other people can improve their lives, yes?”
“Right,” I said.
“But it seems that you write about MY bad health. Then your readers all write in to tell YOU what you should do.”
She's talking, of course, about my letter from last Friday where I discussed her conjunctivitis. And I suppose she's right. Instead of telling you how to treat the problem, I just waited for you to tell me!
But why not? I am but one man, and you are many.
And perhaps this could be a new revolution in email newsletter writing…get the READERS to do it!
Besides, my inbox filled with some great tips…
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Natural remedies for conjunctivitis
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According to quite a few readers, conjunctivitis can be treated with Euphrasia, a homeopathic remedy prepared from a herb commonly known as 'eyebright'.
You can get it as a tincture for bathing your eyes. Or you can make it up as a tea… half to drink and half to use as an eyewash.
Another reader says you can use Rose Water. But only the 100% pure form. Often the stuff available in pharmacies and even natural food stores is synthetic rose oil and water, with added preservatives.
Pure rose water is, literally, the distilled water of roses. It is usually made by stream distillation, and it should smell delightful.
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One email I received had this tip for people with eye problems:
“When I was training to be a master herbalist we were told that an eye bath containing 1 drop of cayenne pepper tincture was the best cure. Hurts like hell, but feels wonderful afterwards, helping to stimulate the flow of blood to the eyes and clearing toxins and bacteria.”
Another reader agreed…
“A amazing solution is cayenne pepper, used as an infusion i.e. 1/4 teaspoon 3x daily, increasing by 1/4 teaspoon after 3 days. Pour hot water over the cayenne letting it steep for 3 minutes and then let it cool down before putting in eye glass and wash the eyes.”
And this one made me laugh:
”Try cutting a tomato in half and using the natural juice for conjunctivitis. Have heard this works wonders, but so for have never needed to try it for myself. Might be worth looking into (sorry about the pun).”
Please don't apologise for the pun. I believe punning is the punniest form of wit. (Groan!)
And finally, many of you suggested that Lara apply a good brand of Colloidal Silver, using an eye bath. Colloidal silver is a natural antibiotic, which kills the bad bacteria and leaves the good, unlike allopathic antibiotics, which kill everything.
Talking of which, J.H adds this piece of advice:
“Whenever you take allopathic antibiotics, you should ALWAYS accompany them with a course of good probiotics to replace the good bacteria that they have killed off.”
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A final tip for the IBS debate
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Now, I know I said I wouldn't mentioned IBS again for a while, but I've been getting many more emails about this.
Thanks for these, it's been a really interesting debate.
From the sheer number of comments I've been getting since I first wrote about this topic, it's clearly something about which people have many strong and varied opinions.
Unfortunately, I can't really devote much more time to it for a little while, until I come across some new research… otherwise I'd have to rename this the “Ray Collins Bad Bowel Bonanza Letter”.
I'm not sure it's quite as catchy.
But if you're worried at all about diverticulitis, constipation, wind, indigestion and so on, then I'd like to recommend a fantastic book called “Internal Health: The Key To Eternal Youth and Vitality”.
The writer is Ron Gellatley, a naturopath, clinical nutritionist, medical herbalist and homeopath. There's nothing he doesn't know about the workings of the human gut - and he's also very, very funny.
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A great read, and packed with masses of information:
Internal Health
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Heal your skin with honey
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I'll finish with a little breakthrough that you may have come across in the mainstream press recently.
It's another story that backs up everything the Good Life Letter is about: how natural foods and herbs can heal and protect us from illness, just as well as the latest expensive scientific discoveries can.
For centuries, honey has been applied to wounds to heal them quickly, even back in Ancient Egyptian times.
In the last two world wars poultices with honey were still being used to heal wounds. But somehow, as the 20th century “progressed”, we forgot all about this powerful natural remedy.
Instead we relied upon antibiotics. So much so, that now antibiotics are beginning to fail us.
Elderly people in hospital are now threatened by many potentially deadly bacteria, and antibiotics simply aren't protecting them.
So honey is making a comeback.
'In hospitals today we are faced with germs which are resistant to almost all the current antibiotics,' says Dr. Arne Simon. 'As a result, the medical use of honey is becoming attractive again for the treatment of wounds.'
Experts from the University of Bonn have discovered that even chronic wounds infected with multi-resistant bacteria can heal within a few weeks when honey is applied.
Honey can heal thanks to a combination of several factors. Its acidity is low enough to hinder the growth of bacteria. Honey can also absorb water from a wound, depriving bacteria of the moisture they need to thrive.
When honey is diluted (for instance, with fluids from a wound) an enzyme is activated, which produces hydrogen peroxide. This is a great antibacterial agent.
Honey has also been shown to reduce the inflammation and soothe the pain of deep wounds and burns.
So there you have it. Bees could be the answer to the threat of killer bacteria in the 21st Century!
Who'd have thought it?
Yours, as ever
Ray Collins
The Good Life Letter
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