HONEY A VALUABLE FIRST-AID REMEDY FOR BURNS AND HEARTBURN

By:  Dick Johnson, Windham, NY

Two of the simplest healing uses for honey are seldom publicized, although they are easy to domonstrate.  They have been used worldwide for thousands of years, but these and similar remedies that predate comtemporary medicine have been largely ignored by modern culture.

Burns:

Nothing on the market comparies with the simplicity of promptly applied raw honey.  Because speed of application is essential for maximum therapeutic benefit, it's a good idea to keep a honey "squeeze bear" with an opened spout in the kitchen, where most household burns occur.

Applying honey to any first-degree burn area within one minute effectively prevents blistering, relieves pain, and promotes faster healing.

Second and third-degree burns, where the injury is far more serious, will benefit from first aird application of honey but should also be treated by a health care professional.  Even in these cases, if the proper honey protocol is follwed, prompt healing is promoted and scarring is eliminated.

As honey is applied to the burn, warm skin temperature may case the honey to run from the affected area.  A loose gauze dressing will help keep the honey in place.  When serious "bare flesh" burns are treated with honey, the tissue is kept from adhering to the dressing.  The honey coating allows dressing change without the usual pain, and this also promotes healing.  Try it the next time a family member gets a burn.  It works!

Heartburn:

This makes you feel as though your entire upper GI track is "on fire" after a big meal.  Actually it's just a simple, predictable, chemical "acid" event that is easy to treat.  Heartburn is your stomach digestive acids that "forgot to turn off" after you have eaten. Surplus acid moves up your esophagus and sometimes even up to your throat, where the tender tissue feels like as though it is burned.

Also called a reflux action, it is usually treated by "pill popping" with anti-acid, alkaline lozenges like Tums or Rolaids.  Neutralizing the stomach acid gives only temporary relief, as the stomach acid-producing glands simply produce more acid and cause the condition to return.

The best heartburn remedy is easy to prepare with honey and vinegar.  This simple mixture was call "Honeygar" by that famous Vermont doctor, D.C. Jarvis, who wrote a best seller 80 years ago.  Measure about two tablespoons of raw honey and warm it with the same amount of apple cider vinegar to mix thoroughly.  You may add a couple of ounces of water or a few ice cubes to taste.

When heartburn occurs, simply simp this "sweet and sour elixir" as you would an after-dinner aperitif!  You will find that the heartburn symptoms are relieved at once.  The vinegar tells the stomach that no more acid is needed, and it doesn't make any more.  The honey helps lubricate the iritated tissue and makes the mix taste better.  I find that it goes down better if chilled, and so I take it "on the rocks"!