ACV

ACV, or apple cider vinegar has been touted as one of the best natural health remedies of all time. Now I know why. I was skeptical, but not anymore.

Recently, my DH caught the flu. He spent most of his time resting for about 2 weeks before he finally decided to see a doctor. We don't know if it was swine flu or not, but it was pretty bad. After seeing the doctor, he came home with a few different meds and a doctors note to stay out of work for another week. When he came home with the doctors diagnosis, I did some research on how I can help keep the rest of my family healthy and found a website that has natural folk remedies. I read up on ACV and decided to give it a try... after all, it's used in cooking... it must be fairly safe. Here's the link: http://www.earthclinic.com/

Anyway, to make a long story short, I caught the flu anyway, but my symptoms are mild, and I didn't get all of the ones he did. No fever, no nausea, no vomiting or runs. Just a cough, some congestion, slight sore throat, and very mild conjuctivitis (which only lasted a day). The conjuctivitis pretty much confirmed that I caught what he had... No one else in the house has it. It's been a couple years since I had a flu shot, so I don't think that has anything to do with it. But here's the biggest surprise. I also have arthritis. My fingers used to be achy, my shoulder joints were sore when I woke up in the morning.. everyday. Today, they don't hurt, in fact, they haven't hurt for several days now...

A few days ago, my DD's eczema started flaring up. The combination of laundry detergents and softeners (DH did some of her laundry before he got sick) and DOVE soap with some kind of fragrance (we usually use only the sensitive skin or regular one) and the pre-storm heat and humidity, made her arms and torso flare up with itchy eczema patches.

She applied it directly to her skin, full strength, before taking a bath. She said she wasn't itchy anymore, but she still has the bumps. Of course, this was only the first treatment... We made a pitcher full and drink it throughout the day. At first, she said "ewww. it smells like toe jams..." But when she tasted it, she agreed that it was drinkable. When I told her it was also good for her complexion, she drank it down happily.

I told my mother about my aches being gone, and now she wants to give up her "Mona Vie" expensive health drink ($30.00/bottle). I'm going to need more ACV for our home, so I'll get some for her as well. The bottle we bought last time cost a little over $7 for 32 oz. (1qt). Considering my DH paid about $60.00 in copay fees for meds and the visit, I think we got a good deal. Now I'll have to figure out how to get some into my son before he catches it. Orange juice maybe... he likes that.

NOTE: in order to get the benefits of ACV, you need to buy an unprocessed ACV. Stuff in the grocery store has all the good stuff filtered out. Look for Bragg, "with the mother" ACV.