“Apple Cider Vinegar (ACV) is an effective natural bacteria-fighting agent that contains many vital minerals and trace elements such as potassium, calcium, magnesium, phosphorous, sodium, sulfur, copper, iron, silicon and fluorine that are vital for a healthy body.” – Home Remedies Web

Organic Apple Cider Vinegar

I have to share with you a true superstar for your health that resides front and centre in our pantry. Apple Cider Vinegar.

Since childhood this unassuming tonic sat quietly, modestly, in the family cupboard, a humble remedy handed down over generations. It was dipped into for sore throats, phlegm, colds, general aid to digestion and taken directly after consuming suspected dodgy food. There is a plethora of other touted health benefits but I can only share with you what it has helped my family with.

Attack of the killer throat

An example of the speed of relief: I have a very clear memory of my 14 year old nephew coughing, coughing, coughing….and coughing, coughing, coughing….and coughing annnnnd coughing when I visited my sister a few years ago. He said he’d had it for a week and was so tired of it! It was one of those really spiky harsh throats with an uncontrollable cough. I shook my head and wondered how my older sister could forget about Apple Cider?! I made my nephew a glass and he sipped it all down and I promise you, within 10 minutes his coughing had halted in its entirety. He gave me a big hug and shook his head. “Why didn’t mum help me?!!” lol Give it a try and reserve your judgment till then.

Try this out next time you or your children have a scratchy, sharp sore throat or one of those intolerable persistent coughs or generally feel a cold coming on. Fill a short glass (no more than say 40mls) with 50/50 cold water and Apple Cider Vinegar and sip on it slowly being sure to coat every corner of your throat. Don’t make it too strong for your first time or it will put you off the experience and be sure the water is cold or it’ll make you feel a little green. (I can even tolerate gargling it now but that’s after years of conditioning) I even give our girls 5mls of a slightly weaker mix in one of those Panadol applicators for their sore throats!

The sites below recommend a few teaspoons in a glass of water but personally if I’m feeling sick, I want to hit it hard. So for adults a 50/50 vinegar/water is my chosen firepower. You can REALLY feel it attacking the bugs in your throat. The throat eases, coughing halts and the instant results speak for themselves. I think a few teaspoons in water is a good idea for an everyday health maintenance dose.

Tape Worms

Apple cider vinegar kills bacteria in your strep throat or dodgy bugs in your stomach AND intestines. While pregnant I once again ran to the aid of cider vinegar because I had a sneaky suspicion I had worms (there was a 100kg so-called pet ‘pot belly’ pig on our street) and of course, I couldn’t take Combantrum while pregnant. I sipped apple cider every few hours for 2 days and in the end (pun intended) it did flush something from my body that I believe was worms. I believe it because I was so freaked out by it! I went to the GP describing what I had seen and sent some 2′s off to QML Pathology. It came back that I was zero for worms OR their eggs. Now, I’m 34 years old and grew up on a farm so I know the familiar bottom itch which subsequent to drinking the vinegar, was gone. But to have the results confirmed by path tests that I was no longer bothered by worms puts a great big golden seal of approval on Apple Cider Vinegar as a natural slayer of worms! Why overload your body or your children’s bodies with a chemical killer like Combantrum that is so potent you can’t take it while pregnant? Reach for a glass of vinegar instead! Make it a change for your whole family.

Feel better

A nice side effect of the cider was it also helped me with bowel movements while I was pregnant. Toilet visits became easy events and almost instantaneous after a glass. Carrying twins (and even singles) puts a real strain on your organs so any natural relief you can get that works that well, and that fast, is a Godsend. You don’t need to be pregnant to benefit. If you suffer from constipation, try it.

As for all of the other health benefits….it really wouldn’t surprise me! The most interesting to me being a blood thinner and migraine relief and controlling blood sugar levels for Diabetes sufferers. It also touts to be slimming which makes sense if it aids/speeds up digestion.

Melrose Health ( A very interesting page )

Homeopathy Plus – Cold Remedies

If you can lay your hands on organic Apple Cider all the better. Usually it’s a lovely cloudy mix rather than the clear brown super distilled and refined looking stuff you get from the supermarket. But without a doubt, either one will help you.

Have a happy winter!

( Apple Cider Vinegar devotee for Life )

Our girls both had sniffly blocked noses at 2 weeks of age that I tried to clear using a baby nasal aspirator. It worked quite well on liquid snotty gobbles but not so well on hardened ones. I always moistened the soft insert with water before putting it in their nose. Tip: I found that holding one nostril closed briefly while sucking the other really helped to pull the muck out. It helps seal the escaping air. The aspirator we bought had a stopper which was the right length for their nostril taking the guesswork out of it but if it’s your first baby it’s still a scary thing to attempt!

I was a pro by their second winter at around age 1. Leila really hated the ‘nasal invasion’ experience (I don’t blame her!) and Kaia although hating it submitted herself without protest because she knew she’d feel better afterwards. She had this “Urgh okay if you must. Come on, get it over with” look on her face. ha ha. That difference in their personalities (being identical twins) has permeated throughout their lives. Kaia is sort of a tough cookie SAS-type that rarely whines or complains and Leila manages to find the drama in everything! I’m sure she will have a great career in acting.

If your baby is born with little hair (or loses some shortly after birth) remember in winter how cold his/her head can get in an unheated room, or especially outside and how much body heat is lost via the head. Our babies constantly pushed their little beanies off during the night and I was constantly putting them back on (adding to my sleeplessness). Exposed hands also get a chill so mittens are a must. If you can’t lay your hands on mittens, baby socks do just as well.

Good luck to all those nervous new mums attempting to poke a rubber snotty gobbler up their baby’s nose for the first time. Remember you’re not alone and it gets easier the more you need to do it.

Oh, another tip. Have a tissue laid out ready next to you so you can squirt the snotty straight onto it and go back for more if needed. The last thing you want to do is have to run around finding one with a cranky baby squirming in your arms! Get it all done in one sitting and go on with your day…with a happy snot-free baby.

Bepanthen Saved our Girls' Butts!

If you have Sudocrem in your baby’s bag of tricks and your baby is still getting (even slight) nappy rash put it back in the cupboard or in the recycling bin. I used Sudocrem at every nappy change for the first 12 months (we also tried Paw Paw ointment and 100% pure Emu Oil) with our twins and they were still getting nappy rash. Mum used Sudocrem for my little brother and sister so I suppose it was a familiarity thing. Like reaching for the same brand of peanut butter purely because you recognise the colours on the pack! It didn’t seem to be working for my girls though so I was pedantically changing them almost every hour or two but it just wasn’t helping. The final straw was when Kaia developed a really severe bout of nappy rash and it actually blistered all over her bottom and spots of skin brushed off leaving a raw exposed layer of dermis. I went to the chemist and bought Bepanthen and NEVER LOOKED BACK! 7 months on and with only one application a day (at night after baths) neither of the girls have had a nappy rash since. Bepanthen has a gentle antiseptic in it to avoid infection so it also helps with skin irritations and apparently cracked nipples while breastfeeding. Not sure how great it is to be in baby’s mouth though really. I only switched to it after I finished breastfeeding. Lansinoh was wonderful for my cracked nipples. Oh, there’s yummy mummy tip #3!