Home Remedies: All They're Cracked Up to Be

Editor's Note: These suggestions are home remedies and not medical advice. Please consult your physician about any health matters discussed here before trying the tips below.

Just inside my paternal grandmother’s cellar door hung a whole ball of ages old garlic. All these years later I found out it does much more than simply ward off unfriendly spirits.

Last week I was feeling a winter bug coming on—achy, stinging throat and crackling ears, congestion at night, chills—and was, frankly, too cheap to pick up an over-the-counter fix.

So, of course, I “Googled” it and found that none other than the bewitching bunch itself is a natural home remedy for the common cold. You can eat it whole, crushed, diced, chopped, pressed, roasted, in sauce, and even in pill form, and the stuff crushes the oncoming ailment.

In a dish? Roast a whole bunch in pieces (see above) and combine them with cherry tomatoes (halved) and quarter size balls of mozzarella cheese. Add 5 large, shredded leaves of fresh basil and a tablespoon of Italian salad dressing. Mix.

Flavorful food

Perhaps you’re healthy on the outside, but in another vein, something’s off. How often does your doctor remind you to watch your blood pressure, cholesterol or triglycerides? That’s what I thought.

I’ve never had blood pressue problems, but they do run in my family. My dad had exploratory surgery when he was younger to correct high-as-the-sky blood pressure. And he’s still got it bad. So I worry.

Recently my doctor told me my blood pressure was a bit higher than she’d like. The home remedy? Just what you wouldn’t think—sea salt. Check out more details about this on Dr. Ronald Wichin's website for weight loss and wellness. He suggested it to me and it seems to have worked.

Please note, I'm not suggesting that any salt can lower your blood pressure. Sea salt is just one option which some have suggested could have less impact on raising blood pressure. Others note there is no difference between sea salt and table salt.

You can buy sea salt cheap at or one of the other local shopping markets and use it on just about anything. I don’t like salt, but this stuff has me over a barrel. As with any medical changes, you'll want to check with your doctor before trying a new health regimen.

In a dish? Try it at on their amazing fries. Sea salt worked for me. My blood pressure is back within normal range now and food still tastes good.

Wound Wonder

As a basketball and volleyball player, I had a lot of sports injuries—namely broken and sprained ankles. Times 3. On each ankle.

Enter the peas.

Nothing works better than a bag of them wrapped around a swollen, purple ankle. The best part is you can freeze and re-freeze the suckers and not worry about chopping up ice so the pack forms around your injury.

In a dish? Try a 1/2 pound of orzo pasta, one bag of frozen peas, cherry tomatoes (halved), 1/2 pound of shelled popcorn shrimp, 1/2 cup of mayonaisse and 1 tablespoon of dill weed.