Cucumbers and egg whites for burns

The long holiday brought us to our knees for prayer and reflection on the meaning of Christ’s death and resurrection. It also took us to gardens, farms and spas for physical refreshment. We had time to read long-neglected emails.  For this morning’s column, I’d like to share messages sent by friends that have to do with natural and simple healing treatments. As many of us are health buffs, these notes should be of great interest, and worth applying in our effort to stay healthy and happy.

Our long-time and dear friend Flor Quebral forwarded a forwarded (to him) message on the “little gem (that) the cucumber is.”

Cucumber contains most of the vitamins we need. Every day, just one cucumber contains Vitamin Bl, Vitamin B2, Vitamin B3, Vitamin B5, Vitamin B6, Folic Acid, Vitamin C, Calcium, Iron, Magnesium, Phosphorus, Potassium and Zinc.

We should put down the caffeinated soda we’d long been advised to stop drinking in order to stay healthy, and instead, pick up a cucumber that is a good source of B vitamins and carbohydrates that can provide that “quick pick-me-up that can last for hours.”

The cucumber also is a household cleanser, would you believe. If you’re tired of your bathroom mirror fogging up after a shower, try rubbing a cucumber slice along the mirror. The cucumber will eliminate the fog and provide a soothing, spa-like fragrance.

Cucumber is also a great pesticide. This, I will try in my garden in Cavite and at home in Pasig. If you’ve noticed slugs ruining your planting beds, place a few slices of cucumber in a small pie tin. This will free your garden of pests. The chemical in the vegetable react with the aluminum to give off a scent undetectable to humans but drive garden pests crazy and make them flee the area.

Now, cucumber, according to Flor’s welcome “lecture,” can also remove the unhealthy look of cellulites. Try rubbing a slice or two of cucumbers along your problem area for a few minutes. The phytochemicals in the cucumber cause the collagen in your skin to tighten, firming up the outer layer and reducing the visibility of cellulite. It’s supposed to work great on wrinkles too!

Want to avoid a hangover or a terrible headache? Eat a few cucumber slices before going to bed and you wake up refreshed and headache-free. Cucumbers contain enough sugar, B vitamins and electrolytes to replenish essential nutrients the body lost, keeping everything in equilibrium, and especially in the morning after loads of cocktails and wine the night before. You won’t have a hangover or headache.  

Flor’s message notes that if one is looking to fight off that afternoon or evening snacking binge, try biting into cucumbers. Cucumbers have been used for centuries and often used by European trappers, traders and explorers for quick meals to thwart off starvation.

The cucumber — again, you will have to see to believe — is a shoe polisher. So, you don’t have time to polish your shoes, and you must before you step out of the house any time of the day. Just rub a freshly cut cucumber over your shoes. The cucumber’s chemicals will provide a quick and durable shine that not only looks great but also repels water.

If you feel stressed out and don’t have time for a massage, facial or visit to the spa, here’s what you do. Cut up an entire cucumber and place it in a boiling pot of water. The chemicals and nutrients from the cucumber will react with the boiling water and be released in the steam, creating a soothing, releasing aroma that has been shown to reduce stress in new mothers and college students during final exams.

After a business or social lunch, you realize you don’t have gum or mints, and you’re conscious about bad breath. Take a slice of cucumber and press it to the roof of your mouth with your tongue for 30 seconds. The phytochemicals will kill the bacteria in your mouth responsible for causing bad breath.

Here’s a “green” way to clean your faucets, sinks or stainless steel. Take a slice of cucumber and rub it on the surface you want to clean. Not only will it remove years of tarnish and bring back the shine, it won’t leave streaks and won’t harm you finger or fingernails while you clean.

If your door hinge is squeaky, take a cucumber slice and rub it along that problematic hinge. Voila, the squeak is gone!

If you used a pen and made a mistake, and don’t have a magic eraser, don’t worry. Take the skin of a cucumber and slowly use it to erase the pen writing. This is also supposed to work great on crayons and markers that kids use to decorate the walls.

Flor’s advice: “Pass this along to everybody you know who is looking for better and safer ways to solve life’s everyday problems.”

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I’m passing along another helpful guide. This was forwarded to me by another friend.

A young man sprinkling his lawn and bushes with pesticides wanted to check the contents of the drum to see how much pesticide remained in it.

He raised the cover and lit his lighter to have a smoke; the vapors ignited and engulfed him. He jumped up and down, screaming.

His neighbor came out of her house with a dozen eggs and a bowl.

She broke them, separating the whites from the yolks.

The neighbor woman applied the whites onto the young man’s face.

When the ambulance arrived and the emergency team saw the young man, they asked who had done this.

Everyone pointed to the lady in charge.

They congratulated her and said: “You have saved his face.”

By the end of the summer, the young man brought the lady a bouquet of roses to thank her.

His face was like a baby’s skin.

The egg white is a natural collagen that stops burning of the skin and regenerates it.

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