EVERYTHING I NEEDED TO KNOW ABOUT CLEANSING MY GRANDMOTHER AND AUNT STU HAD IN THEIR CUPBOARD – CREAM OF TARTAR

My grandmother would use cream of tartar in her yummy specialty chocolate cakes she would bake for us and then she would give it to us to cleanse our bowels, clean the kitchen and wash clothes. Crazy! Cream of tartar or Potassium hydrogen tartrate, has been used in everyday cooking for hundreds of years. Cream of tartar is also a by-product of the wine fermenting process (I know this because my family use to make wine – no not moonshine!). But homeopathic medicine recognizes cream of tartar for a number of health uses as well, some of which pre-date grandmothers chocolate cake:

Urinary Tract Infections

Before and even better than antibiotics, cream of tartar was a popular method to eliminate painful urinary tract infections. The cream of tartar changes your body’s pH level and helps kill the internal bacteria. Grandmother would mix a couple of teaspoons into a half-cup of warm water and just for me, she would pour it into a lead crystal wine glass and have me to drink, one to two times a day. Grandmother would also add a splash of lime juice, to give my body a nice vitamin C boost to stave off the infection.

Nicotine Detox

My great uncle use to smoke like a chimney. He kept a cigarette dangling from his lips, a cigarette behind his left ear and a pack in his shirt pocket. Uncle Jet was notorious for picking up half smoked cigs here and there and just light them up and start smoking.

Smoking is a powerful addiction, and each year people use thousands of methods, from prescription drugs to hypnotherapy, to help them quit. While weaning the body off of nicotine through the use of patches and gum has become increasingly popular, a number of home remedies favor immediate cessation and then a cleansing of the body. Grandmother to the rescue with her concoction of a teaspoon of cream of tartar into a glass of orange juice once a day. The orange juice helps the body fight the withdrawal, while the cream of tartar starts the nicotine detoxification process.

Heartburn

Heartburn, is just another effect of a poor digestive system typically associated with bowel disorders or constipation / IBS / etc. Heartburn is also associated with stress and spicy foods and can be very painful. I remember how Aunt Stu use to grab her pearl necklace and pound on her chest to try to ease the pain. Aunt Stu was such a drama queen. She often grabbed her pearls just for effect.

Aunt Stu was never one to subscribe to doctors orders and she was not about to give up her jalapeño peppers, which she ate like ice cubes. Whenever an attack occurred she would go to the cupboard and immediately mix a half teaspoon of cream of tartar with a half teaspoon of baking soda, and blend into in a warm or lukewarm cup of water. In just minutes she was relieved and her pearls dangled loosely.