Some traditional remedies

IN the final part of Home Hints, we feature more traditional remedies for common ailments:

For diarrhoea

1. Take a handful of raw rice and heat it without oil.

Take a handful of pucuk jambu batu and mix it with the heated rice in a glass or bowl of boiling water.

Cover the bowl or glass for several minutes until the pucuk jambu batu is well softened.

Drink the liquid, and your diarrhoea should stop.

2. Take some akar pokok getah and scrape it, adding some boiled water at the same time. Drink the water, and your stomach problem should improve. For muscle twist

1. Press your hurt big toe on the ground (for Muslims: the toe should be in the position similar to that when sitting between two prayer prostrations). This should alleviate the pain.

2. Add a glass of water to some green beans and bring to the boil.

Remove the green beans before they break up. Cool the beans.

Take them in the morning, and also before sleep.

When in bed, put your feet up on some pillows for 10 minutes.

Do this every night. The leg muscle pain should go away. To stop bleeding

1. Take a few leaves of daun senduduk. Chew or pound the leaves. Put the ground leaves on the slight wound and bandage it.

Leave the bandage on for a few minutes. The results should please you.

This treatment is recommended for jungle trekkers and hikers who suffer minor wounds. For kidney stones

1. Take a young coconut (green) and remove the husk. Burn the coconut for about 10 to 15 minutes.

Then take the water and flesh of the coconut, mix these with three eggs (from kampong chicken or ayam kampung) and drink the resulting mixture.

2. Cut a young coconut at the crown, until the level of water inside it.

Put in some lump sugar, alum, jadam (a kind of medicine) and daun sinar pagi into the cut coconut and heat the base of the coconut until the water inside it boils.

When the water has boiled, sieve it before drinking. Repeat with three different coconuts for three consecutive days.

3. Take some sunflowers together with their stems and roots (1 1/2cm in length). Wash them very well, and boil in some water until enough water to fill one glass is left. Cool the water.

Strain the liquid before drinking it. Do this over one week or until the pain disappears. - These tips were translated from the book Petua Jelita published by Berita Publishing Sdn Bhd. Available at Berita Book Centre.