How To Stock A Natural Medicine Cabinet

In the earlier days, the pantry, or larder, and the medicine cabinet was often stocked from the same kitchen garden.

Food was both nutrition and good medicine. Some preventative and some curative, but never disassociated in the way we tend to think if them today.

Now, when we walk through the grocery stores we think of potential meals rather than apothecary supplies.

Similarly, our fields, woods and gardens have become ornamental rather than functional.

Modern-day science has reaffirmed what our ancestors knew about apples, cranberries, chicken soup, vinegar, herbs and countless other foods.

Yet, we are told to fear using those same natural medicines. Instead admonished to only trust those in pill form, supported and pushed by doctors.

Doctors who are taught from medical textbooks written by the same giant corporations, whose sole purpose is profit, that make those “recommended” medications.

We used to know how to properly treat and dose using these plant remedies. Nowadays we are so far removed and rely on synthetic versions that our bodies don’t adapt to as well.

I’ve been using solely natural remedies for over a decade for my health and that of my family’s. It works.

Simple home remedies and a little bit of know-how. I’m going to give you a peek inside my family’s natural medicine cabinet and show you how to stock your own.

But first…

What is natural medicine?

Natural medicine, also know as traditional medicine is the original medicine.

No really. Medicine as we know it today is based off of thousands of years of use of traditional plant medicine.

The healers, the midwives, the eventually scorned “witches” when modern day doctors came on the scene.

Natural medicine is using the body’s innate ability and supporting it using natural, plant remedies.

What is conventional medicine?

Conventional or “modern” medicine are “miracle drugs”that are derivatives or synthetic versions of age-old remedies that can then be sold to the masses for immense profit.

Cortisone mimics an ingredient in sarsaparilla (ginger ale and Coca Cola were originally medicinal too); digitoxin (use to treat cardiac conditions) comes from the foxglove plant.

Morphine from the opium poppy, and quinine from cinching bark; and another coronary drug duplicates the effects of red clover.

Even common aspirin is a synthesized version of silicon, obtained mainly from willow and popular bark and many other herbal sources.

Both traditional and modern healthcare systems span from surgeries, every day ailments, broken bones , and mental and emotional health.

Although its gotten better over the last few years, conventional medicine is more symptom-based management whereas natural medicine takes in the body and its warning signs as a whole and looks for a cause to treat.

Cannabis

Take the present-day example of cannabis.

It was banned and demeaned a long, long time ago but people still secretly used it for its healing properties (and recreational).

Synthetic versions have since been developed and sold as medication, once more and more spoke out about the positive effects the plant was having on their health.

The natural plant you cannot grow yourself. Instead you must jump through intense hoops to even be allowed a special license with doctor approval and all sorts of legal jumbo, to grow a few natural plants for medicinal use.

But you can get the new synthetic pills made by those for-profit pharmaceutical companies, with way less hassle.

There’s also so much more that the hemp plant provides like sustainable building materials, renewable clean energy, food, textiles and clothing and more! An amazing all-purpose plant that could change -and was- changing the world for the better, was vilified and banned.

Now, conventional medicine isn’t all bad.

Emergency Medicine

By now you’re either nodding along with me and getting fired up because you know, or you may feel a bit confused.

One of the questions I often get (after the surprise that I’ve lived this long without going to the pharmacy for cold or pain medication), is, “do you still use conventional medicine?”
The answer us yes but with a caveat: for emergencies.

General, every day issues can be solved quite readily using natural remedies, and often better.

For the more infrequent things like comes and headaches, also use natural remedies.

For something like broken bones, that needs conventional medicine for xrays and potentially a cast. Pain management could be dealt with naturally though for the most part.

I have a friend who swears up and down she’d be addicted to opioid pain medication after a serious injury if I hadn’t shown her how to use essential oils effectively.

A deep wound, well you’d need stitches but wound care can again be handled using natural remedies – WITH a dose of common sense.

If you’re chopped off your arm, that is not the time to be hitting the apothecary. Once you’re stitched up though, you can use natural remedies to keep away infection, clean the wound regularly, and promote healing and reduce scarring.

Again, common sense and a bit of knowledge.

Why have a natural medicine cabinet

Why not?

Late night runs to the pharmacy because of a cough that’s keeping you up. Kids constantly sick. Rounds of antibiotics that never seem to do much. Fevers, ear infections, and a medicine cabinet that seems to overflow with everything.

But what if you knew a simple tea, made with ingredients you have in your house right now, that could nor only soothe your cough enough to sleep, but also made your cold go away faster?

Your kids seem to pass through colds with ease, barely getting a sniffle while the rest of their peers are headed to the doctor again.

Less ear infections, no more rounds of antibiotics, and a medicine cabinet you’re not afraid to send your kids to because there’s nothing in it they can’t be taught how to use themselves.

Feeling empowered at how easily you can take car if your family’s ailments and how much more enjoyable it is to do so!

Heck, you’re going to live when your kids ask for your natural cough syrup every time their throat tickles, even when it’s just from shouting too much!

Gosh, mama! Can you imagine not having a natural medicine cabinet after that?

What you will find

You heal faster, your body becomes stronger as it’s being allowed to fight off colds, etc. Using the body’s natural systems, rather than toxins masking symptoms and making the body weaker.

You are able to understand and hear your body’s warning signs. You recognize when things are shifting or you’re starting to feel unwell, and you know how to shift the tides back to health quickly, and easily.

You have knowledge and skills that will help not only your family but you can help empower others as well.

You save money and time.

Your kids are sick less, you are sick less. (In combination with a healthy diet and non-toxic products. Eat processed foods and your immune system is tanked to begin with. Gotta clear it out!)

What to Stock in a Natural Medicine Cabinet

With these items you can either use them solo or make custom products for your use. Now this is just a brief snippet of some must-haves in my books.

There’s an abundance of ways to increase health through food, exercise, yoga and meditation, and removing the toxins from your house and environment.

• Elderberry syrup: natural cough and cold syrup that is great for the flu
• Witch hazel: astringent to disinfect and cool
• Calendula ointment: soft, healing ointment for cuts, rashes, eczema, or other skin issue. Calendula is also very calming.
• Apple Cider Vinegar (with the mother): disinfectant, great for the gut, acne, digestive issues, sunburns and sore throats
• Essential oils: used for everything.
• Beeswax: can be made into lotions and creams or lip balm
• Honey: infections, sore throat or cold, burns
• Shea butter: dry skin, eczema, make into lotions and creams
• Magic bag: fabric bag with dried beans or rice that can be heated or cooled to use as a compress for pain and inflammation management.
• 100 % Aloe vera: sunburn, skin irritation, acne – real aloe, check the ingredients or use it directly from your own aloe plant
• Rose ointment: cuts, burns, acne, skin irritation

Conventional First Aid Items

You should still have some emergency management tools that can assist you with every day needs. Or until you can get to a hospital.

• Band aids
• Gauze
• Safety pins
• Sling
• Tensor bandage
• Sport tape
• Scissors
• Tape
• Splint
• Tweezers
• Hydrogen peroxide
• Aspirin for heart attack
• Small forceps

As we learn more about the foods and herbs that nurture our bodies and spirits, it becomes evident that even the basic rudimentary herbal know-how is can transform our lives.

Allowing us to concoct our own recipes and make bath preparations moves us toward healthier, more independent and a more ecologically responsible way of life.

Far from being snake oil and quackery, home remedies are, for the most part, a simple matter of choosing a purposeful and healthful diet, knowing how to eat locally and seasonally, and recognizing that a few topical healing agents (such as aloe, garlic, onion, essential oils, and witch hazel) should be a part of any household’s first aid kit and prevention program.

Educating ourselves about how to prevent and ease illness doesn’t mean abandoning the healthcare system but instead assisting it by taking better care of ourselves.