Healing Tools You May Not Know Yet!
Number One: Oil of Oregano
My girlfriend was sick about a year ago and ordered me to pick up a bottle of oil of oregano at Whole Foods. She was miserably sick and chicken soup wasn’t cutting it. Neither was fresh cut garlic taken with lemon juice, our other usual remedy. So off to Whole Foods I went, where I found a $20 bottle of oil of oregano. After the oil was under her tongue for 2 seconds, my girlfriend shot up in bed like she’d been doused with water. She felt better immediately. After a year of experience – both my own and those of people whom I have recommended it to – I can safely say oil of oregano is an almost magical remedy. Take it when you feel you’re getting sick, and you won’t. Garlic and lemon juice and chicken soup are great, but nothing beats oil of oregano for vanishing a cold. You’ll find that some brands are more potent than others; you need to hold the oil under your tongue for as close to 15 seconds as you can, and the most potent oil will make you feel like there’s molten lava under your tongue.
My girlfriend also swears by colloidal silver, another expensive Whole Foods goodie, which she claims builds your immune system gradually. Again, you take it under the tongue and hold it. I’m not yet convinced it’s any more potent than cough syrup, but it has many strong supporters.
Number Two: Tea Tree Oil
As I began writing this article, I felt a cold coming on. I happened to be fresh out of oil of oregano, but I did have a bottle of tea tree oil. I brought some water to a boil and poured in some tea tree oil, then breathed deep through my nose and mouth. I feel much better. I am certain the oil has helped me stave off a cough that was developing. I could feel the oil working in my throat and my nasal passage. It was an airy, spicy feeling, very difficult to describe. You’ll know it when you use it.
Number Three: Toothpaste
Like an idiot, I touched my hot stove top with my pinky finger the other day. I should have realized that the irons which had been boiling my soup for the last two hours had probably heated the metal stove top also….buuut I didn’t. Lucky for me, my sister told me about the healing powers of toothpaste a while back. I slathered some toothpaste on my pinky, and what would have been a serious burn faded to nearly nothing. A small spot of numb. There is no better burn relief than toothpaste, and believe it or not, that might not be the best use for toothpaste besides cleaning your teeth. My girlfriend showed me that toothpaste clears up pimples too. She ordered (I know, again with the orders; she’s very forceful) me to coat my face with toothpaste before bed one night. When I peeled the toothpaste off in the morning, my pimples went with it. Toothpaste is secretly the greatest invention in the world. It cleans your teeth, heals burns, and clears your skin. We should seriously rename it Jesus Gel.
Number Four: Lentil Soup
Lentil soup will not heal your cold or unclog your pores. However, it is a wonderful proactive way to lose weight and live healthier. Lentils are chock full of protein, and eating less meat is a great way to eat less fat. For me, substituting lentil soup for meat once a week was not just a health decision, it’s also based on how delicious the soup is. Here is the easiest recipe in the world – Lentil Soup.
Fill a big pot until it’s nearly full of water and add a dash of salt.
Boil the water, then dump in a package of lentils (12oz).
Turn the heat down a notch and add three big squirts of Bragg’s Amino Acids.
(The MVP of this recipe, Bragg’s could be its own entry on this list.)
Add a good amount of curry powder and cayenne pepper, and a bay leaf if handy.
Let the soup boil for an hour and a half, until the lentils have spilled their guts.
When the soup is nice and thick, serve it over rice or just enjoy!
Number Five: The Shakti Mat
I play basketball. A lot. When I get home, my back is frequently killing me. When that happens, I lie down on the Shakti Mat for 15 minutes and I feel worlds better. It’s an acupressure mat, meaning it has hundreds of plastic needles that release endorphins in your body when you lie on them. I got mine for $70, and it was worth every penny. Sadly, I’m not getting paid for this.
I do in fact have more Healing Tools You May Not Know Yet ! TM (not really) TM b ut that’s enough for now. Those are my favorites, the ones I use most frequently, and the ones I think you might put into practice the fastest.
As a final note, this column reminded me that any advice you give to someone else, you will immediately need to use yourself. I was massively ill after starting this column, and I used everything on that list above to get better. Even the toothpaste…on my teeth anyway. I recovered after a single terrible day.
