Back-Yard, Front-Yard, No-Yard Garden Series

Dengue Remedies Straight From The Garden

The government has been issuing numerous notices about dengue, and parents have been calling my office about remedies for this ailment, which is also called “breakbone fever.”

“Breakbone,” they say, because you get so debilitated by it, whether you are a child or an adult.

Symptoms can appear four to ten days after infection and may include a rapidly rising fever; soreness in the eyeballs; severe pains in the hands, the lower back, and the joints. Most people recover well, but, unfortunately, some don’t.

I gave the parents who called me some natural remedies, which I want to share with you.

Firstly, you must ensure that you are dealing with dengue and not some other type of virus. This is critical. The patient should be kept in bed and on a very light diet, drinking lots of water and coconut water.

LAXATIVES, LEAF OF LIFE, FEVER GRASS

If there is constipation, they can get a laxative just to remove the waste from the colon. You can try cascara sagrada, senna, or buckthorn bark. Use one teaspoon to eight ounces of boiling water to make a tea, strain it off, and serve four ounces in the morning and another four in the afternoon.

If the fever goes above 103 degrees Fahrenheit, sponge down with a cool bath. Add one tablespoon of fever grass to eight ounces of boiling water, let it boil for three to four minutes, steep for five, add a little honey, and sip. In addition, use the leaf of life plant: take six to seven leaves, blend them in some freshly squeezed orange juice or coconut water, strain, and drink.

GOLDENSEAL AND ECHINACEA

Continue to keep the patient as cool as possible. Goldenseal and echinacea are natural antibiotics and blood tonics. They are excellent for viral infections. You can serve a quarter teasp

oon of the goldenseal root powder, mixed in two ounces of warm water and taken on an empty stomach, about 10 to 15 minutes before breakfast. Then, in the afternoon to evening, you give the echinacea. I prefer to use the liquid form, especially when dealing with an emergency. Some brands do a goldenseal-echinacea-combo, of which you would give a quarter teaspoon, twice a day, to a child.

What if you have dried echinacea? Place one teaspoon in a pot of water, let it boil on low heat for about four minutes, turn off the stove, steep for five minutes, strain, add a little honey, and then drink.

FLU BOMB

Many people know about the flu bomb recipe, which was not originated by me, but I sent it around the world during 2020 to 2022. I have been to different places and had people tell me that when they were going through COVID-19, they did the flu bomb that they heard me talking about, and COVID didn’t take them down.

For this flu bomb/flu shot, you put a quarter cup of lemon juice in your blender, a quarter cup of honey, a half teaspoon of turmeric powder, two inches of ginger, one small onion peeled and cut into pieces, four or five drops of eucalyptus oil, and four or five drops of peppermint oil (make sure you buy your essential oil at the health food store).

You blend everything, pour it into a glass jar, and store it in the fridge. You take three tablespoons for an adult in the morning and three tablespoons in the afternoon. For children, serve them one tablespoon in the morning and the same in the evening. Children under the age of one should not be given honey, so you omit that from theirs and give them only about a quarter teaspoon of the mix.

OIL OF OREGANO

Oil of oregano is very, very good for viral infections; just add seven to nine drops three times a day (even up to 12) in some water, juice, or coconut water, and you sw

allow quickly. Remember that oil and water don’t mix, so once you stir, drink immediately. I find the oil of oregano a little bit too harsh, when taken alone. If you’re serving a child who is under the age of six, you can give them four drops three times per day.

When I got sick recently, I took all of these things, and in two days I was back on my feet.

NATURAL REPELLENTS

A natural repellent can be purchased from the health food store, or you can make your own. You can try neem oil, which is from the neem plant that is all over Jamaica. Mix the neem with a carrier oil like avocado, coconut, or olive oil, and you simply apply it to the skin. Neem has a very strong smell, so you need to use only about two to three drops. If you have the plant itself, you can crush the leaves and then just rub the juice from the leaves on the skin; of course, testing a small area first for possible irritation. Castor oil is also a repellent; again, you can mix it with a little olive oil and apply it to the skin.

You can also use:

• crushed leaves from the balsam plant or get the oil from the health food store
• broom weed (found right here in Jamaica)
• a few drops of eucalyptus oil, added to castor or olive oil
• the Jamaican dogwood bark—you just simply boil one tablespoon of that in about six ounces of water and make it boil down until it gets to about two ounces. Cool it, and you can actually mix that with some of the eucalyptus-castor oil and apply it to your skin.

DIET

While you’re going through the dengue phase, you have to keep the body cool and the immune system boosted. Avoid all flesh foods (no fish, eggs, cheese, milk—nothing from animals), sugar, or highly processed foods.

You can get your zinc, copper, and selenium from your vegetables, fruits, whole grains, nuts, and seeds, and if the person’s appetite is totally gone, have them sip on green vegetable juice. Make your own using the leaves of three or four dark green vegetables like kale, spinach, broccoli, callaloo, and celery. You can also pick a few leaves from the avocado and mango trees, blend them with coconut water and a little ginger, and just drink slowly throughout the day. This will boost the immune system.

Vitamin C is essential during this phase, so you can either go to the health food store and purchase some, or you can make fruit juice using any three to four of the following: oranges, grapefruits, tangerines, cherries, berries, strawberries, bell peppers (especially the red, yellow, and orange ones), and pineapples.

Vegetable soup is beneficial, too. Get some pumpkin, carrots, lots of garlic, thyme, onion, and scallions; boil everything, then blend into a puree.

Bear in mind that when you have a fever, it is a sign to the body that something is wrong inside, so you now have to work with your body and help it to get over this drama.   Ask the LORD to teach you how to care for your body so that when sickness comes, you are in a position to fight it and recover.

As you are building back the body’s defence system, you are praying and trusting the LORD that He will take you through this episode with this illness.

LET US PRAY

Father, thank You so much for Jesus. Thank You, LORD, for wisdom, knowledge, and understanding. Thank You for Your Holy Spirit and Your angels. We believe that You are our healer. We believe that You are Jehovah Rapha, and Lord, we turn to You now. When these mosquitoes come and they are biting children, biting adults, we thank You, LORD, that You have taught us the natural remedies so that our bodies can get over the health crisis and regain health under Your power. 

Thank You, Abba Father for Your love, Your blessing and Your mercies. Help those who are struggling with unbelief in Your darling holy Son, Jesus. Help, Thou, their unbelief is our prayer. With thanksgiving, in Jesus’ name. Amen.

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Contact Dr. Debra Williams (naturopathic doctor) at Life, Health & Foods Wellness Centre – Shop 7, 4 Springvale Ave., Kgn 10. Tel. 876-878-8867/876-326-4650, email: [email protected], website – www.debrawilliamsja.com. She is author of two books: “Recipes for Optimum Health – Healthful cooking” and “When Faith in God is Bigger than the Fear of Cancer.”