10 Essential natural remedies that are a must for your Holiday 1st Aid Kit.

We all hope there won't be an emergencies but best be prepared in case there is:

1.  Rice or Barley grains.  Perfect to boil up and drink the water for an upset tummy.  Just add a small handful of the grain to about 2 cups and water and simmer.  Drink the cooled water. Excellent for calming the tummy.  If you can't boil or simmer the water then boiling water from the kettle would do.

2. Echinacea tablets This is included because it’s just so  useful. Echinacea helps support a healthy immune system. It also has antibacterial and antibiotic properties. If you start to feel something coming on, dosing yourself with echinacea is a good way to help you stay healthy. At the very least, you won’t stay sick as long. It works well in conjunction with vitamin C Your bonus item.

3.Ginger.  Stomach troubles are one of the most common issues among travelers. Ginger is adept at soothing stomach upsets. It works with remarkable speed and  has properties which actually aid your body in digesting. Ginger is good for combating motion sickness and nausea, so great to suck on the plane if you buy the sweetened natural ginger lumps.

4. Aloe Vera Gel  Getting sunburned can ruin your holiday, especially when you have to carry a backpack on those firey red shoulders. Rub some aloe vera on: - it promotes healing and relieves that burning sensation. Your sunburn will ease into a tan faster.

5. Calmomine Tea Bags.  Very calming and relaxing to drink but don't throw the bags away.  Wait until they cool and then pop them onto your eyes to calm the area around your eyes or pop them onto any particularly stinging sunburn patches.

6. Arnica Gel and  homeopathic tablets.   The gel, when used externally, is wonderful for removing bruises, bringing down puffiness or swelling, and easing deep aches. Internally, it can be used to alleviate headaches and help your body recover from trauma.

7.  Zinc lozengers:  If you're on a plane the air conditioning is the worst it has ever been and any germs being carried by your fellow passengers are circulated time and again through the stale air.  More people get sore throats after being on a plane journey than ever.  Take some zinc lazengers.  Zinc is a powerful immunity enhancer and sucking the lozengers help stop the absorption of the germs into your system.  They taste a bit urg but not that bad.  WE sell practitioner quality Zinc tablets and zinc lozengers.

8. Mint Tea Bags:  Mint is really good for settling the stomach for also for dispelling built up gases.  Air density changes in the plane, plus different food and water often create more gases than we are used to and it can be uncomfortable.  Make sure you have the mint tea to help your digestions.

9. Tea Tree Oil:  Tea tree is a great astrignent and discinfectant.  You should always dilute in water.  Helpful in cleaning scratches and cuts, as a mouth rinse and mosquito repellant.

10.  Liquorice Tea: Liquorice tastes delicious, is naturally sweet, and is super if you have a sore throat. It has mucilaginous properties that help keep dry throats from being scratchy, especially useful when traveling through smog and pollution. The tea can also be used to help get your digestion moving if the change of diet proves a little binding.  In it's natural form, a root, it is very useful for chewing on the plane to overcome smoking desires.  You can also buy the concentrated extract which comes in the form of solid black sticks.  You can break a bit off and add boiling water to drink.  The sweets and other products (even those sold in the 'health shops' are really only confectionery and have so many other ingredients that they cannot be counted for these purposes)

The key to using herbal and alternative medicine while traveling is to be prepared. Plan to use more than you would at home. Remember that some things are hard to find when you’re far from home. Knowing the Latin names of certain plants is a good practice to get into.  When using a herbal tea as a medicine it is worth knowing that you need to make a stronger brew than normal (at least 2 bags) and once you have added the hot water it is best to cover  the cup for 10 minutes so that much of the properties are not able to escape with the steam but drip back down again.