Food & Drink Remedies
Thousands of years ago, Hippocrates said Let food be your medicine. Foods and beverages provide relief from an amazing number of common ailments.
Are There Natural Remedies for Constipation?
Constipation is a very common complaint. While doctors rarely become concerned about constipation unless the patient seems to have obstructed bowels, sufferers find that this problem really affects th…
Study Shows No Need to Shun Coffee to Keep Heart…
Coffee has a bad reputation when it comes to irregular heart rhythms. Doctors often tell patients to avoid caffeinated coffee to keep their heart rhythm regular. A new study contradicts that conventio…
How Often Do You Get Up to Pee at Night?
Do you have to get up to pee several times a night? Many people report that this is a problem, especially as they grow older. Having to urinate several times during the night is a major factor interfe…
Can You Lower Blood Sugar with Cinnamon?
You've no doubt heard that type 2 diabetes has reached epidemic levels in this country and many others. That means that millions more people have pre-diabetes, blood sugar that is headed in the wron…
Does a Daily Cup of Coffee Reduce Your Risk for …
Last summer, you were probably wondering how to reduce your risk for COVID. What we could offer back then were the most obvious tactics: stay at home as much as possible, don't be indoors with lots of…
How to Choose Whole Grains for a Longer Life
Nutrition experts have long been advising us to eat whole grains, and epidemiologists have evidence that getting three servings of whole grains daily can reduce the chance of an early death. In fact, …
Mustard For Cramps Has Amazing Scientific Explan…
We have been writing about strong flavors for combatting muscle cramps for more than 30 years. Initially, we were told that the quinine in tonic water was the best strategy for overcoming these painfu…
Is Coffee Really Bad for You?
Health professionals just can’t seem to make up their minds about coffee. Is it good or really bad for you? They have been arguing about the pros and cons of coffee drinking for at least half a cent…
Will a Mediterranean Diet Help Your Psoriasis?
Following a Mediterranean style diet with lots of vegetables, extra-virgin olive oil, whole grains and fruit is good for your heart and your metabolism. A French study suggested this way of eating mig…
Will Curry Alleviate Alzheimer’s?
Could natural foods have an impact on cognitive capacity? Most specifically, could curry alleviate Alzheimer's disease? There are numerous spices in various curry dishes, but turmeric is a constant. S…
Gut Microbiota Linked to Stroke Severity
We have been hearing increasingly about connections between the brain and the gut microbiota. Now, research from the Cleveland Clinic demonstrates that the denizens of the digestive tract impact the s…
What Is the Benefit to Eating Black Walnuts?
Have you ever seen black walnuts? When they fall off the tree, they are surrounded by large green fruit husks that are very tough. Both those green balls and the leaves have a pungent aroma. Is it wor…
Will Apple Cider Vinegar Cure Your Heartburn?
Do you get uncomfortable after a big meal? A burning sensation under the breastbone after eating is common. If you have ever suffered from this type of indigestion, you may want to know how to cure yo…
Pickle Relish Will Do in a Pinch Against Leg Cra…
Over the years, we have collected quite a number of home remedies for sudden painful muscle cramps. Often these are leg cramps, but occasionally muscles in the hands or arms cramp as well. One favorit…
Can Tonic Water Banish Your Muscle Cramp Pain?
What do you do for muscle cramp pain? Some people use massage, and others swallow a spoonful of yellow mustard. By far the most popular preventive used to be quinine tablets. At one time, doctors woul…
How a DASH Diet Can Protect Your Heart
The DASH Diet—Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension—has been shown to lower blood pressure. Numerous studies since 1997 have demonstrated its effectiveness against diabetes and depression as wel…
Unusual Remedies for Hiccups
We have been collecting hiccup remedies for 40 years. We thought we had heard of all of them, from swallowing a teaspoon of granulated sugar to breathing into a paper bag. But recently we heard about …
Will a Diet of Mostly Plants Help Your Kidneys?
Chronic kidney disease has been increasing in the United States and now affects 14 percent of adults. This might be explained by the widespread use of medications such as NSAIDs or PPIs that can cause…
Beet Juice Was Better Than a Drug for Lowering B…
Some natural products have an impressive ability to affect human physiology. Among these are vegetables naturally high in nitrate, particularly beets (referred to in England as beetroot). Research sho…
Will A Banana Peel Ease Inflammation and Itching…
People are sometimes surprised that they can go decades without developing a skin reaction to poison ivy. Then one day out of the blue they develop red, itchy blisters after exposure to this nasty pla…
Will Natural Sugar Substitute Xylitol Raise Bloo…
If you have been told your blood sugar may be too high, whether or not you have diabetes, you may be looking for foods that could lower it. Sugar, honey and maple syrup all raise blood sugar. What abo…
Will a Potassium Salt Substitute Lower Your Bloo…
When epidemiologists and cardiologists give advice about hypertension, they often recommend that we cut back on salt (Journal of the American College of Cardiology, Oct. 11, 2016). Strict salt restric…
BIG Book Sale from The People’s Pharmacy!
Do you still appreciate holding a book in your hands? If so, we have a great deal for you. We are offering a BIG book sale of 30% off on some of our most popular books! Do You Have Stiff, Painfu…
Do People Who Eat Nuts Live Longer?
Were you ever told not to eat too many nuts because they are so high in calories and fat? Perhaps instead you have heard that nut consumption is associated with longer life. Do people who eat nuts rea…
Diet and Exercise Can Help You Manage Diabetes
Being told you have a chronic health problem like type 2 diabetes can be frightening. It often triggers a cascade of prescriptions intended to manage diabetes and keep blood sugar under control. Using…
Why Are Gin-Steeped Raisins in the New York Time…
We were astonished to see a home remedy we have been writing about for 27 years show up in the New York Times (Feb. 23, 2021). Most people laugh at the gin-steeped raisin remedy. Many dismi…
What Is the Best Breakfast to Lower Cholesterol?
When you see your doctor for a routine checkup, do you have blood drawn? Lab tests often include measurements of total cholesterol, LDL cholesterol (LDL-C) and HDL cholesterol (HDL-C). These blood lip…
Can You Use Dark Cocoa to Overcome Constipation?
Our readers are ingenious. They sometimes discover remedies we would never have guessed. One person wrote to us recently about a novel use for dark cocoa. Cocoa to Help Ease Constipation: Q. I r…
How to Mix Certo and Grape Juice for Arthritis
One of the oldest home remedies in the People’s Pharmacy pharmacopeia is a combination of Certo and grape juice for arthritis. Most people have never heard of Certo. That’s because home canning ha…
Will an Allergen-Free Diet Help Your Joint Pain?
Would you like to find a way to reduce or control your joint pain? One of the fundamental principles for people with arthritis is to keep moving, but that can be hard when your knees creak or your hip…
What Happened to Archway Coconut Cookies?
For years, readers used to tell us that they used Archway Coconut Macaroon Cookies as a remedy for diarrhea. Donald Agar was the first to discover this and share it with us. Many others agreed with hi…
Where Can You Find Vitamin C in Food?
Are you getting your vitamins? Trying to stay healthy to avoid infection with COVID-19 is prompting some people to take a closer look at their diets. Do you need to make some changes to ensure you are…
Is a Green Mediterranean Diet Healthy for Your H…
Many previous studies have shown that following a Mediterranean diet has cardiovascular benefits. Such an eating pattern leans heavily on vegetables, fruits and whole grains and is light on meat and s…
If You Are a Vegan or Vegetarian, Are Your Bones…
Many people choose not to eat meat because of environmental, ethical or health considerations. At least one study has shown, for example, that people on a vegan diet have lower levels of inflammation …
Walnuts are Good for Heart Health!
There is growing awareness that chronic inflammation contributes to cardiovascular disease (CVD). We recently reported that anti-inflammatory foods can reduce the risk of complications from CVD (Journ…
What Should You Eat for a Healthy Heart?
How important is diet in the prevention of heart disease? And what exactly should you eat for a healthy heart? Cardiologists have long emphasized the importance of avoiding cholesterol and saturated f…
Do Tomatoes, Citrus and Chocolate Make Skin Prob…
Acne rosacea (aka rosacea) is an inflammatory skin problem that affects some 16 million American adults. People with this condition (which is especially noticeable on fair skin) may start with easy fl…
Will Eating Tuna Make Shingles Worse?
Shingles is a nasty condition in which the chickenpox virus triggers a painful rash many years later. The varicella zoster virus (part of the herpes virus family) can lie dormant for years after a you…
How Does Baking Soda in Water Fight Swelling?
A half teaspoon of baking soda in water is a time-honored simple home remedy for indigestion. Many people with occasional heartburn find that this inexpensive approach works well. We have also heard f…
Will Olive Oil Raise Your Good HDL Cholesterol?
Many medications can lower cholesterol. but not all cholesterol is the same. One type, HDL (high-density lipoprotein) carries cholesterol to the liver so it can be eliminated. Scientists think high le…