My informant was born and raised in Ibarra, Ecuador until she left to live in the U.S. when she was sixteen years old. Whenever she and her brothers had a cold or a sore throat, her mother made a drink for them made from lemon juice, a little bit of orange juice and honey. Her mother would then heat it up on the stove, which my informant says helped a lot since the steam would reduce congestion and the warmth would relieve sore throats. She also says that you have to drink it with a straw or it will ruin your tooth enamel. The remedy has a long tradition in her family: her grandmother prepared it for her mother, her great-grandmother prepared it for her grandmother, her great-great grandmother prepared it for her great-grandmother, etc. She says, “Everyone in Ecuador does it… I think [laughs]… Or a lot of people I knew did it.” It provides a lot of Vitamin C as well so it offers a cheaper and more natural alternative to medications. The honey not only cuts the acidity of the lemon juice, but also adds anti-bacterial elements into the “cocktail.” “Unless we were really sick, we didn’t go to the doctor… Especially not for simple colds.” To this day, she still prepares the remedy when she is feeling under the weather. When I asked if she would do the same for her children, she replied: “Of course, it’s a family tradition!”
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Saudi Hiccup Remedy
Press a wet newspaper against the center of your forehead.
Who ever consults a medical textbook when they get a case of the hiccups? There must be more methods of curing the hiccups (or at least attempting such) than for any other frustration that ails the human body, and it seems everyone has heard and tried at least one of these folk remedies. I have heard of many supposed hiccup cures myself: scare the person with the hiccups, gulp down water rhythmically (seven times in one particular variant), rub your earlobe with your fingers (this one has actually produced results on me – perhaps there is some real nerve connection there or perhaps it is the placebo effect), drink sugar water, hold your breath.
Recently, my roommate (Lebanese) and I, along with a friend of his from Saudi Arabia (my informant), were driving to buy food, and my roommate began hiccuping quite forcefully. Predictably, everyone began reciting the hiccup-cure ideas they had learned growing up. Since my roommate was driving, he unfortunately had to suffer the hiccups (and did for quite some time) until they passed. I asked the informant how he would cure the hiccups back where he used to live in Arabia, and his method was the most unusual I had ever heard. He said his mother used to soak a newspaper and press it against his forehead. The informant did not know why this worked, but claimed it did. Perhaps the cold, wet sensation triggers a reset button in the nerves and stops the spasms, or again, perhaps it is just the placebo effect – and it is doubtful that any medical guide would ever confirm this for us or would address the effectiveness of these traditional remedies.