Wives & Mothers as "Keepers of the Health"
From the day their children are born mothers have a natural instinct to care for these little people that have been gifted to them. It is not only our job but our deepest desire to feed them, clothe them, bathe them, and shower them with affection, love, training and, when necessary, discipline. This has been the role of the mother since Eve.
Somewhere along the way, however, the role of wife and mother as "keeper of the health" has gone out the window. Perhaps it was when the majority of women left their home careers for a career elsewhere, or when we blindly accepted large companies as the source of our food, or maybe when we were backed into a corner of fear by the medical community.
Which ever way we got here, it is clear that we need to get back to being the "physic" for our families, as Laura Schenone writes in A Thousand Years Over a Hot Stove:
During the 17th century, food and medicine did not reside in the separate spheres they do today. Before the rise of professional medical schools (exclusively for men) during the 19th century, the job of healing, or "physic," naturally belonged to women. Most doctoring came from the kitchen and its gardens, and you were as likely to eat or drink something for your ailments as to take a specialized medicine.
Much of the knowledge that our foremothers held has sadly not been passed down. If you are like me you get married, have children and then wake up and realize that you are either too afraid or uninformed to help heal your family of even the most minor of ailments.
That needs to change.
The first step is prevention and with a nourishing diet we can give our families a head start. But there is so much more that we can do for our families, with the right knowledge and support.
That is why I would like to explore simple methods of treating ailments with foods, supplements, alternative medicine, and herbs that we can grow in our own backyard. I am hoping that by putting my explorations out there it will keep me from putting off further research.
Also I know there are many of you out there who are knowledgeable about healing our families. If you would like to guest post or contribute in any way please comment or contact me. Your knowledge and experience could help so many of us.
So what do you think… are you interested in learning more about "doctoring from the kitchen"? What, specifically, are you looking for? Have you already learned and put to use certain practices to prevent or treat illness? Please share in the comments.
Yes, I’m interested. The three examples I put to practice most often are:
– homemade chicken soup made from especially gelatin-containing bones (like chicken feet) result in a soup that is full of nutrition and very helpful for a a troubled digestive system – or a cold/upper respiratory infection
– Ginger is also good for soothing a tummy
– Avoiding dairy during upper respiratory infections since it is mucus-producing.
I love this post! I can totally relate to the ‘getting married…and being too uninformed and scared to take care of my family’. I remember realizing that very fact last year and I was so sad and overwhelmed!
I am just getting to where I feel our day-to-day diet is healing instead of hurting us. And the next step is learning food-based remedies and tonics that heal ailments, etc.
I read on the DNT group about 2 tonics-one for asthma and one for plagues/blood circulation, etc. that I want to try. And a liver cleanse also that I want to try. All food-based.
I look forward to learning more things like that to help me take care of myself and my family the way God intended me to. Can’t wait to learn more from your blog!
I can’t wait to hear more! One area I’m interested in is growing herbs. I have a number of perennial cooking herbs growing in my garden that I dry for the winter. I also have other more medicinal ones like lavendar, mint and ecchinesia (sp?), but I’m not sure what to do with them. Oh, and horseradish, too.
I find that I need to absorb the information in small amounts. I read through Nourishing Traditions, but felt overwhelmed. Reading Nina Planck’s book helped me digest more information, and now I feel more prepared to delve into Nourishing Traditions. I also have Healing with Whole Foods that my bil gave me several years ago, but again, I got overwhelmed. I probably should go back and read it now that I have more information.
Very nicely said. I’d love to do a guest post. I can do something on herbs or food. Give me a date, and I’ll have something ready. Do you want it for kids & adults or more for kids? You can contact me and let me know more specifics. Your blog is really lovely!
Diane
I’m definately interested in healing from the kitchen. I love learning about herbs and other things I can grow in my garden that I can use when we get sick, and also just to maintain healthy bodies and immune systems. One of my biggest areas of concern is convincing a skeptical husband and family that these ideas are GOOD and they WORK. I’d love any suggestions in this regard.
Thanks for such an inspiring post! I’ll send you an email with an idea for a natural remedy I’ve been wanting to share. It involves sprouts 🙂
I thought of another two kitchen remedy:
– Consume raw/unfiltered LOCAL honey to combat seasonal/pollen allergies!
– Chewing on parsley after a meal helps to combat bad breath!
I’m not qualified to give a guest post – but I’d be sure to read.
And, you should know that you were very instrumental in my “life change”. Your comments on my blog spoke louder than you realize. So, thanks for that.
And, I’ve been here. I just have not always left a comment : )
It wasn’t until I “came home” (ie., left paid employment outside the home) that I realized I hadn’t been doing the job I wanted to be doing with my family. Now that I’ve been home 11 years, I feel that I learn more and more each year. One thing that has always interested me is the idea that health is normal and that a strong immune system is our best defense against so many of the threats to “normal”. I love the idea of incorporating more and more of this preventative-by-being-healthy idea into my life.
“my life” = my home and everyone in it.
I, also have enjoyed following your blog as I am a mom who wants the best nutrition for my family and myself.
I love this topic. Some things that have been passed down to me are:
1- eat food with pits (prunes, apricots, figs, etc) for constipation
2- give fish oil and whole fat foods to kids- higher fat content helps coat nerves and promote brain development. (My husband and I eat whole fats too)
3- eat food in the least processed way possible (ex. raw nuts instead of toasted and salted, plain whole yogurt instead of one that has been added to with sweeteners and flavourings)
4- soaking grains (a Nourishing Traditions trick that aids digestion)
I would love to hear more. I’m especially interested in how to treat gout as my fiance is suffering a lot from that (as well as being diabetic and having bad allergies).
Mmmm… it is interesting that you consider that women have lost the role of keepers of health.
I am happy to report that my experiences are different in this way: when I lack energy, I eat iron. I figure out what contains iron, and for lunch and that evening, we eat spinach. For example.
It is actually easy to heal, however, you are right, a certain amount of focus on it and knowledge of food is required. I’ll be glad if your blog will write more on this topic.
I already have some articles on, for instance detoxification through food, on our blog, We Are One World Healing. It is a simple, to the point, article that is practically useful as all you have to do is; EAT !! ha ha..
I suffered from stomach pain and burning mostly, couldn’t sleep well and just hated those extra pounds I couldn’t get rid of no matter what I did. Now I stumbled upon this system that is easy and it doesn’t require expensive medication or difficult exercises.
I’ve been working more on this lately. This year we’ve been really trying to use some homeopathic medicines when sick and I’ve been using poultices for cuts/scrapes. Here’s one I made earlier this summer: http://chiotsrun.com/2009/08/05/homegrown-medicine-comfrey/
I’ve been trying to learn to include more spices/herbs in our diet since they’re so healthy and generally boost the immunse system.
It’s something we really need to learn more about. I’m sad that this knowledge has been lost instead of being passed down as it was for so many generations.
Thank you so much for this blog, I thoroughly enjoyed its content. My husband is part-way through naturopathic medical school, learning a ton about homeopathy and natural alternatives to things like the H1N1 vaccine. Much of what he is learning is exactly in-line with what you said about preventative care.
So much of our present day ailments are related to the care (or lack thereof) of our bodies- and diet is such a big component! I would be VERY interested in learning more from your blogs about doctoring from the kitchen. Thanks in advance!