Ask a Ukrainian babushka, wise with age and proficient in folk remedies, and you will learn that drinking pepper vodka is a panacea and that eating garlic and onions will help kill viruses. Some also argue that ice cream is good for a sore throat.
The Kyiv Post turned to medical experts in order to distinguish fact from fantasy.
The backbone of Ukrainian folk medicine is pepper horilka, Ukrainian for vodka, which does, in fact, have some virtuous medical properties.
Indeed, while alcohol is generally harmful for one’s health, a shot can help with digestive problems .
“Some doctors think that pepper is good for killing helicobacter, bacteria which cause gastritis. I think maybe this is true,” said Dr. Richard Styles, medical director at the American Medical Centers in Kyiv.
“In this case pepper vodka might be useful.”
Vodka is also a good solution when you’re feeling the chills.
The backbone of Ukrainian folk medicine is pepper horilka, Ukrainian for vodka, which does, in fact, have some virtuous medical properties.
But you should drink it only after getting to a warm place, Styles added.
Alcohol expands the blood vessels, making you lose even more heat later.
A person drinking alcohol outside, especially during the winter, can end up losing even more heat.
People under the influence may not feel their limbs properly and may not notice when frostbite or hypothermia sets in, putting them at risk of death.
Moreover, it won’t help if you already are sick.
“When you have the flu, I don’t think pepper vodka helps at all. I think this is myth,” Styles said. “In fact you should not really drink alcohol if you have any sort of viruses like this.”
If you caught a cold or have the flu, drink hot raspberry or lime tea, another folk remedy says.
Drinking hot liquid will help increase your body temperature and consequently improve your immune reaction, doctors confirm. But that’s not good advice for small children.
“You should not give children hot drinks when they have a fever,” Styles warned. “A child’s temperature is much more difficult to control and [hot drinks] can make the temperature too high. Parents should give them something to control their temperature if it’s very high and give them just warm water.”
According to another widespread belief, garlic, onions, lemons and oranges can help with colds. Winter always sees demand for such products surge, driving up prices.
“Garlic and onions contain a lot of chemical substances which have wide anti-inflammatory and antiviral effects,” said Mykhaylo Radutsky, president of Boris, a local private medical clinic. “That’s why they are very helpful with treating colds and the flu.”
He said that garlic, placed in a small container and hung in a bed over a child’s head at night, may reduce whooping cough. Yet distance quickly dispels this effect, meaning that a plate of grated garlic in the room, as a folk remedy prescribes, will probably not work.
Styles was more skeptical.
“Garlic and onions are generally good for your health because they lower cholesterol. You should eat a lot of them. But they can’t prevent infections. I think this is a myth,” he said. “Maybe they are used a little bit in Germany but otherwise not so much.”
Lemons and oranges are also a subject for debate. Both doctors agreed that they are very high in vitamin C, which strengthens the immune system and stimulates new cell growth and tissue recovery.
Radutsky claimed that the vitamin C in lemons and oranges is not as well assimilated by local people because these plants are foreign to Ukraine. Styles disputed this theory, though.
Both experts, however, agree that visiting a sauna, referred to by locals as the “banya,” or diving into cold water, is healthy as long as one does not have any heart problems. This helps remove toxins and improves immunity.
People should also take care to do it regularly and with moderation instead of making grand gestures after a sickness has already set in. Thus, visiting a sauna while suffering from pneumonia or bronchitis will lead to overheating.
Similarly, taking an icy plunge once sick will only makes things worse.
In general, Styles said, Ukrainians tend to use folk remedies more often than other Europeans, but he admits they have their merits.
“All folk remedies have some basis. They are not all rubbish,” Styles said. “Standard medicine does not have all the answers, and some folk remedies are good.”
Nonetheless, Radutsky warned that self-medication, both using modern drugs and traditional methods, can be very dangerous. Some folk remedies are just plain wacky.
For example, local superstition says that ice cream can cure a sore throat and even angina.
“That’s like saying that the guillotine is the best treatment for a runny nose,” Radutsky joked.
He said this belief goes back to Soviet times when there was a lack of medicines and children were given ice cream after their glands were removed in order to stop the bleeding. The Western equivalent is that drinking Coca-Cola can help children suffering from food poisoning.
“It’s really just about children drinking if they have food poisoning. It’s important for them to have some fluids. And of course children like to drink Coca-Cola,” Styles explained. “But actually I don’t think Coca-Cola is good for your health. It damages the surface of your teeth and it contains stimulants which can be addictive. So I am not a great fan of Coca-Cola,” he added.
Kyiv Post staff writer Oksana Faryna can be reached at [email protected].
