My upcoming book is called What Would Hippocrates Say? It is about the 2500 year-old wisdom of the ancient health practitioners of our Western heritage, a wisdom that has been essentially ignored in modern times. This tradition dates back to Hippocrates in 460 BC who said:
"... food and exercise, while possessing opposite qualities, yet work together to produce health” (Hippocrates, Regimen 1, Chapter 2).
The importance of this statement is immense! The truth that diet and exercise are vitally important for our health has only recently been rediscovered in the last few decades. Hippocrates, writing 2500 years ago, was already telling people that diet and exercise were the keys to health. We've lost a lot by not listening to this ancient wisdom.
This tradition has much in common with other ancient health practices such as Traditional Chinese Medicine, but it is also very unique. It carries the weight of European history and is a major part of the foundation of our modern world. We would be wise to heed some of their ancient advice. Today, I want to share one of the ancient methods for preventing head colds.
Even here in southern California, the winter is a cold and moist time. The cold and moist weather affects the head and can easily cause the fluids in the head to thicken and congeal, leading to a head cold. If we can keep the fluids warm and thin, then we will be far less likely to end up with a cold.
One way to warm and thin the fluids in the head is to gargle with mustard. Place about a teaspoon of ground mustard in a cup and fill it with about 1/2 cup of water. Swirl it around so that the mustard is evenly mixed into the water, and then gargle with this for about 20 seconds before spitting it out. According to the ancient tradition, mustard is a hot and dry herb which helps to overcome the cold and moist weather, keeping the fluids in our heads thin and less likely to congeal into a head cold. You'll probably find that you need to blow your nose a bit after doing this, but that's a good thing. It's keeping the fluids thin and runny, instead of allowing them to create blockages.
None of this is to negate the idea of a virus causing a cold. We can imagine this as a way to make our heads less hospitable to viruses. Warmer and thinner mucus is harder for viruses to make into a home.
This mustard gargle is just one of the many ancient ideas worthy of our attention. People did this for centuries to prevent colds.
This tradition has much in common with other ancient health practices such as Traditional Chinese Medicine, but it is also very unique. It carries the weight of European history and is a major part of the foundation of our modern world. We would be wise to heed some of their ancient advice. Today, I want to share one of the ancient methods for preventing head colds.
Even here in southern California, the winter is a cold and moist time. The cold and moist weather affects the head and can easily cause the fluids in the head to thicken and congeal, leading to a head cold. If we can keep the fluids warm and thin, then we will be far less likely to end up with a cold.
One way to warm and thin the fluids in the head is to gargle with mustard. Place about a teaspoon of ground mustard in a cup and fill it with about 1/2 cup of water. Swirl it around so that the mustard is evenly mixed into the water, and then gargle with this for about 20 seconds before spitting it out. According to the ancient tradition, mustard is a hot and dry herb which helps to overcome the cold and moist weather, keeping the fluids in our heads thin and less likely to congeal into a head cold. You'll probably find that you need to blow your nose a bit after doing this, but that's a good thing. It's keeping the fluids thin and runny, instead of allowing them to create blockages.
None of this is to negate the idea of a virus causing a cold. We can imagine this as a way to make our heads less hospitable to viruses. Warmer and thinner mucus is harder for viruses to make into a home.
This mustard gargle is just one of the many ancient ideas worthy of our attention. People did this for centuries to prevent colds.
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