DVD!
Olympic Gold Medalist, Lindsey Vonn
Lindsey Vonn by tkellyphoto, on Flickr
Behold the Power of Cheese
By Peggy Webb, Local Nourishment blog
When people from all over the world get together, we have a unique opportunity to learn. The Olympic Games offer us a glimpse into other cultures, including how these cultures deal with injury. Olympic athletes are tested for drugs, some of which are designed to improve performance, others that might improve performance but are taken primarily to reduce pain and inflammation. World-class athletes, who have trained their entire lives for this singular moment, generally will not risk a positive drug test but instead will find other methods of dealing with injury.
Lindsey Vonn, alpine skier on the US Olympic team, while training, suffered a bad bruise to the bone and muscle of her right shin that could have ended her Olympic hopes. She used castor-oil massage and wrapped her leg with Topfen, a soft, un-aged Austrian cheese, to reduce the swelling. Doctors who were interviewed about Vonn’s unique regimen tended to pooh-pooh the medicinal properties of the cheese, though some did make the point that if Vonn thinks the treatment has value, then it may indeed help her.
There is much to be said for the role faith plays in health. We might not understand the science behind many of these traditional remedies (yet), but just because a remedy comes from our kitchen or garden instead of a pharmacy doesn’t automatically make the remedy of no medicinal value. There is some evidence that the Topfen Cure has been used successfully by people in pain, even as an in-hospital treatment.
After her first training run, Vonn said her shin “felt perfect” and that it was doing a lot “better than anticipated.” Even though Monday’s practice run on the gruelingly bumpy course left her in terrible pain, on Wednesday, Vonn earned a gold medal in the Women’s Downhill—the first for the United States. That’s Gouda enough for me! (Sorry, I had to throw in one bad cheese pun.)
We have been conditioned to think of Western medicine as the pinnacle of health care, of our pills and potions as the ultimate cures. But many home remedies, some practiced for thousands of years, offer relief from pain and suffering without the risk of side effects that can be worse than the original problem.
Of course, home remedies do not take the place of a doctor’s advice, but they certainly can be effective weapons in the arsenal of a healthy home.
Peggy Webb
Peggy Webb is a homemaker, mom of six and blogger. She’s not a doctor, nutritionist or other health care professional, just a student nutrition and herbal health. Her articles are not to be construed as medical advice. Please consult your own trusted healthcare professionals about your concerns and questions. Visit Peggy’s blog at LocalNourishment.com.
Today is Natural Cures Tuesday on Hartke is Online! Do you have a sports injury that was helped by a folk remedy or diet? Please share it with us in the comments below! Bloggers can send related blog posts to kim dot hartke at gmail.com.
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6 Comments
Wow, castor oil and cheese. Who’d have thought! Thanks, Peggy. I would have missed this great story if you didn’t share it here!
.-= Melissa @Cellulite Investigation´s last blog ..Lymph Drainage Therapy as a Cellulite Treatment: Interview with Dr. Bruno Chikly (Part V) =-.
What a great story! I have an injured tailbone and hadn’t thought of a hot castor oil pack. Hmmm….
Thanks, Beth
.-= Beth´s last blog ..Caves Mini-Unit =-.
I think since Topfen is called fresh cheese, it may be a raw cheese. Here is something I found on the raw-milk-facts.com website:
Lactoferrin also works to regulate specific members of a group of
substances called cytokines- the ones responsible for causing
inflammation. Cytokines are a broad class of smaller proteins that control
communication among immune system cells as well as regulating growth,
damage repair and cellular development.
Boosting the immune system is yet another of lactoferrin’s functions. It’s
believed to stimulate or trigger phagocytosis, the engulfing of foreign
organisms and waste material by specialized immune cells like macrophages
and granulocytes. Additionally, it influences the number, maturity and
activation of numerous other immune response cells, such as T-lymphocytes-
specialized white blood cells key in protecting the body from pathogenic
attack.
Judith S. in Facebook comments:
Quark or Topfen is a fabulous remedy against mastitis!! Just put it on the inflamed parts of the breast and rest. Within hours the inflammation will reduce. Works wonders with no side effects. Even if the quark is based on pasteurized milk.
Would you consider a hemp a natural remedie? I am beginning to think so. I have been reading where certain strains help people with SAD and if I could get some I believe Id try it. Anyone else?
Interesting. More and more people these days have been turning to home made hygiene products because of the harmful toxins that are sometimes included from marketed hygiene products today. My wife just mixed a home made deodorant for me. It works better than deodorants in the market. Health Safety Training Courses
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