Wednesday, December 4, 2013

Victorian Remedies, Then and Now

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With Thanksgiving Day past, Christmas Day to come, and New Year's Eve to follow, the aftermath of the holiday season brings more than fond memories of festive meals. The traditional Christmas dinner in particular, going back to Victorian England (stuffed poultry of some kind, mashed potatoes with gravy, and cranberry sauce, plum pudding, fruitcake, and perhaps mince pie), much of which we still cook today, can leave indigestion in its wake. 

Today we might take a Tums or an Alka-Selzer or some other over the counter antacid to settle our stomachs. But in nineteenth century England, these remedies weren’t available. The famous Mrs. Beeton (Mrs. Beeton’s Book of Household Management, published in 1861) suggested Hepar Sulph (calcium sulphide) for chronic indigestion. For indigestion produced by overeating, she recommended nux vomica (strychnine). She also supported Dr. John Cook Bennett’s recommendation of the curative power of the tomato, “almost a sovereign remedy for dyspepsia and indigestion.”

While modern homeopathy today includes small amounts of nux vomica to treat indigestion as one remedy, most medical doctors would be loathe to recommend strychnine. And calcium sulfide figures in today’s homeopathic remedies for infections rather than for indigestion. As for the curative power of the tomato, its high acid content often triggers indigestion rather than curing it.

Overeating can also cause headaches, according to Dudley Delany, R.N., M.A., D.C. (Winter, 1986/87, issue of Health World). For headaches caused by indigestion, once again, Mrs. Beeton recommends nux vomica, a cure also accepted in current homeopathic practice for this type of headache. But few of us today would be comfortable doctoring our families with strychnine or want to follow the helpful hint in an 1882 issue of Girl’s Own Paper to “Sponge the head all over night and morning with water as hot as you can bear it, and rub it dry with a coarse towel.” ( www.mostly-victorian.com?GOP1882/medicus03.pdf)

Today’s over the counter medicines usually treat either headache or indigestion, not both. Antacids provide digestive comfort, but can cause headaches. The caffeine in aspirin can aggravate indigestion and the acetaminophen in Tylenol can cause an upset stomach. However, according to the editors of Rodale’s Illustrated Encyclopedia of Herbs (1987 Rodale Press, Inc., p. 384), mint, especially peppermint, is a home remedy that really works for both indigestion and headache. A mint infusion is recommended for indigestion or upset stomach. Freshly picked, crushed mint leaves applied to the forehead can relieve a headache. 


Would any of Mrs. Beeton’s remedies be useful today? Perhaps her hot liquid cure for a cold—raisins, stick licorice, sugar candy, rum, and a bit of vinegar, boiled then simmered and drunk warm at bedtime—would partially pass muster. The Mayo Clinic Staff agrees that warm liquids make a patient more comfortable and suggests that warm lemon water with honey can loosen congestion and prevent dehydration (www.mayoclinic.com/health/cold-remedies/ID00036 ) while a cold runs its course. The staff also recommends bed rest, saltwater gargles, and over the counter medications to relieve discomfort, since a cold cannot really be cured—a fact that would surprise Mrs. Beeton. Of her own cure, Mrs. Beeton promises, “The worst cold is generally cured by this remedy in two or three days; and, if taken in time, is considered infallible.”

14 comments:

Optimistic Existentialist said...

This post made me hungry lol. And now I wonder if me eating all the time is the cause for all my headaches lol

Elizabeth Varadan, Author said...

Hi, Optimistic, just don't take strychnine for your headache, no matter what Mrs. Beeton says. :-)

Jon said...

I especially love the festive aspect of the holidays and all the wonderful food. Some of those old Victorian remedies sound plausible (not all, of course)- - but I'd prefer to take a Tums rather than "the curative power of the tomato."

Cathy said...

The remedies all sound so quaint and odd to me, but it does show that people got headaches and indigestion even back then, when they were eating so much healthier than we are now. (In general.) People ate real food, rather than most of what passes for food in the supermarket these days.

Rosi said...

Fascinating. I, too, would be loathe to recommend strychnine for anything! It's amazing the human race has survived.

Elizabeth Varadan, Author said...

Jon, Yep, me too. I'll take a Tums any day!

Cathy, that was such an interesting insight. We keep hearing about our unhealthy eating today. But, even though they didn't have additives, they had a lot of other miserable conditions in England at that time.

Rosi, I'm with you. How did we ever make it through all those centuries?

Sharon Himsl said...

With the cost of medical services today, we may have to resort to these old remedies. But sometimes waiting a day and flushing the body with water is the best cure of all for indigestion.

Elizabeth Varadan, Author said...

Hi, Sharon, that is such an interesting remedy. I've never heard of it.

Unknown said...

Absolutely fascinating! Thanks, Elizabeth :)

Elizabeth Varadan, Author said...

Hi, Wendy. Yeah, I thought those old remedies were interesting, too. Scary. But interesting. Thanks for stopping by.

Rick Watson said...

I just popped over from I just popped over from the Optimistic Existentialist blog.
I see you're an author too. My stuff is non-fiction.
Rick, your latest follower.

Elizabeth Varadan, Author said...

Hi, Rick, thanks for stopping by and following my blog. I'll go check out yours.

Connie Keller said...

Fascinating. When I read this (especially the strychnine stuff), I couldn't help but wonder what medications we take will be met with gasps one hundred years from now.

Elizabeth Varadan, Author said...

Hi, Connie, you are so right. My husband has to watch his cholesterol, and medical experts have changed their minds several times about what is good or bad. At one time he wasn't supposed to eat eggs at all. Now they are okay. Avocados were bad. Now they are the miracle veggie. And so it goes.