I’ve always been interested in natural remedies and informative facts; that’s why I include the Did You Know column in our monthly newsletter. I am now going to include a Did You Know in this blog.
Valuable information about sauerkraut:
Sauerkraut, a fermented cabbage, has been a worldwide folk remedy for centuries. The lactic acid in sauerkraut is said to encourage the growth of friendly bacteria and helps destroy the harmful bacteria in the large intestines. Additionally, it is also rich in vitamin B6, which can also help ease the symptoms of burns.
I have aloe plants around my house and have used them for burns for many years, but after reading about the wonderful healing remedies of sauerkraut, I decided to try it on a minor burn and was amazed at the results.
A while ago, a friend frantically called to tell me that her sister had severely burned herself when a cup of scalding hot tea fell on her legs, and she wanted my help. Unfortunately, her leggings held the scorching heat against her skin. When I arrived at her house, she was sitting in the shower, spraying cold water on her legs to counter the extreme heat and pain from the burn. Her knees and thighs were bright red, with some localized blistering.
We discussed her options…If she went to the Emergency Department, she would have to stop applying the cold water to her legs, and the burn would become even more intense, or she would continue to stand in the cold shower and wait it out.
Then I remembered about applying sauerkraut to a burn, so I immediately went to the store to buy some. We applied sauerkraut to the large areas of the burn and wrapped it with a towel to hold it in. We kept pouring some of the fermented juice onto the towels to keep it moist and to cool the burn down. After around 15 minutes of the sauerkraut application, most of the burning pain began to subside, other than around the area of the blisters. We rechecked it half an hour later. Although there was still a small area of extreme redness and pain around the blisters on the inside of one thigh and knee, the redness was almost gone. On most of the other leg it was lightly pink; therefore, we continued to applied a new batch of sauerkraut…
The bottom line is that the sauerkraut worked! Other than the pain around the area of the blisters, the rest of her legs felt like she only had a mild sunburn. The redness was gone except in just some localized spots. When I spoke with her the following day, she was amazed at how well she felt and what a miracle sauerkraut was. She swears by it now and will always keep some on hand.
Note: From what I’ve read, if you are ever burned by a hot iron or something that is scalding, spray cold water on it immediately. If you are wearing clothes, go into the shower with your clothes on before taking them off. The reason is that it may stick if it has already blistered or broken skin and the clothes have attached to that opened area. The water will immediately cool your clothes and skin off and detach themselves from each other.
Also, remember to seek medical attention for major blistering or broken skin.
I hope you will never need to use this wonderful doctor-approved folk remedy, but just in case, have sauerkraut on hand. Please share this with others.
Make kindness a habit.
To Your Success,
Peak Performance Coach