It is so hot.
it’s hot out there…
And like so many people up and down the East Coast, I’ve spent the last three nights without electricity. I must confess, for all of my fantasies of being a wild woman who can survive with her knowledge of herbs and her love of adventure, I’m a complete air conditioning addict! It’s been a struggle for me to stay cool enough to sleep, eat and exercise normally. I’ve also become a lot less patient with the people in my life!
Based on the aggressive driving and short tempers I’ve seen in DC these last three days, I have the distinct feeling that I’m not alone. So, I’m interrupting your regularly scheduled blog content to bring you some emergency remedies to help keep as cool and calm as possible—both during this extended power outage and for the rest of what promises to be a record-breakingly hot summer.
Healing food strategy: keep it cooling. Cooling foods include most fruits (especially tropical fruits), green leafy veggies, and juices. Keep your diet light and easy-to-digest, and focus on fruits & green leafy veggies. Part of the advantage of these foods is that they’re packed with water and help to keep you hydrated while being easy to digest.
Rehydrate. You can rehydrate without flooding your body with the sugar, artificial colors, and other not-so-natural ingredients in commercial sports drinks. Put down the Gatorade and try one of these healthy options to rehydrate & replace your electrolytes, naturally. Coconut water may not be less expensive than sports drinks, but it’s got an electrolyte profile that perfectly matches humans’. With some naturally-occurring sugars, this is a great choice if you’re on-the-go and need to pick up something while you’re out. Or, make a homemade electrolyte drink.
Here’s the recipe:
12oz water
juice of one lemon, lime, or orange
1/8th tsp of sea salt
Stir and drink!
If all of this heat is starting to get your temper flaring, use a cooling nervine (nervine = herbal remedy for the nervous system & emotions) like Scullcap (Scutellaria lateriflora) to help calm down. You can certainly make a strong tea and drink it iced, or just use 10-20 drops of the tincture, as needed. (Tincture = alcohol extract of an herb.)
Soothe a sunburn. Of course, it’s much better not to get burned in the first place, but if your skin gets scorched, try this remedy to relieve pain and heal faster. Black tea is hands-down the best sunburn pain-reliever in the world. It’s also the first herbal remedy I ever tried, as my (very conventional) Mom would always make this for my sister and I when we spent too many hours in the sun. Here’s how:
Sunburn Remedy
1. Brew a lot of very very strong black tea. Just put 5 or 6 teabags in a heat-safe container (a pot or Pyrex container will do) and cover with water from a recently boiled kettle. (You can also do what my Mom did and pop the teabags & water in the microwave, though this isn’t my preferred method!) The larger the affected area, the more tea you might like to make.
2. Cool the tea completely in the fridge.
3. Soak a washcloth in the tea and apply to the affected areas for immediate relief. Remember, tea stains! So don’t do this while lounging on your expensive white couch.
4. Extra credit: you can add some pure lavender essential oil to your tea mixture for added healing power. Lavender can also be applied directly to the burned areas after you’re done with your tea compresses. (And if you’ve got lavender tea but no essential oil, just add a lavender teabag or two to your brew.)
Lastly, have some plantain salve on-hand to help take the “bite” out of bug bites and stings. If you don’t have any salve, you can use clean plantain leaves as a poultice. (A poultice is just a fancy word for mashed-up herbs. You can mash the plantain with your hands, chew it with your teeth, or use a mortar & pestle.)
Stay cool, everyone! And please remember to keep an eye out for elderly neighbors who struggle even more in the hot summer months—especially when the power goes out.
What are your favorite tips for coping with the heat?
