Free The Passionate Olive by Carol Firenze Page B

in Rome, eating out with friends always involves drinking wine. She shared with me her secret for reducing the effects of alcohol. She told me always to take 2 teaspoons of olive oil before going out on the town and drinking. The olive oil prevents alcohol from entering your bloodstream so quickly. “It acts like a cork to the stomach,” Joanna told me. This tip was verified by the Global Hangover Guide , which also suggests swallowing two spoonfuls of olive oil before drinking. This guide rather humorously notes: “But that leaves all the alcohol you drank for naught (if getting drunk is, in fact, your objective).”
    On the Outside … External
36) TREAT EAR COMPLAINTS
    Whenever I mention my passionate interest in the uses of olive oil to my friends or relatives, they invariably tell me, “My mother used to put warm olive oil in my ears when I was a child to help with earaches.” This natural oil soothes the pain.
    Olive oil can be used to clear “stopped-up” ears or for painful earaches. To clear ears, put a few drops of warm virgin olive oil in the affected ear. Lie down for a few minutes, affected ear upward and with your head on a terryclothtowel, then turn over so that the olive oil can seep out onto the towel. Or you can use a favorite remedy from Nonna Jenny—the garlic oil ear remedy.
Garlic Oil Ear Remedy
     
Crush a couple of garlic cloves into some virgin olive oil or olive oil
Let it sit for several hours at room temperature then strain
Keep the oil in the refrigerator and warm just a little of it as needed
Put a few drops of the warm garlic olive oil in the ear canal
Plug the ear loosely with a piece of cotton
This mixture will keep in the refrigerator for one week
    A caution: Never put anything liquid in your ear if you think there is any chance at all that you may have a perforated eardrum or any other serious medical condition, and never ever treat a child or infant without medical advice. Check with your doctor or pediatrician immediately!
37) USE FOR A SOOTHING ENEMA
    What a subject … but one that is sometimes necessary to discuss. Assuming that there is no underlying medical condition, an olive oil enema may help soothe the intestinal lining, and it can also be useful in the overall cleansing of the colon. An important caution: If you have a gastrointestinal condition, such as irritable bowel syndrome ( IBS ), Crohn’sdisease, ulcerative colitis, or any other chronic intestinal tract disorder, do not attempt this remedy except on the advice of your physician. In any acute situation, where pain is significant or is accompanied by fever, redness, or swelling, or where appendicitis is suspected for any reason, you should call a doctor immediately.
An Olive Oil Enema
     
Pour into an enema bag 1 cup of extra virgin or virgin olive oil and 1 cup of organic aloe vera juice
Or
Try an enema made from 5 ounces of olive oil and 20 ounces of boiled water (cooled to lukewarm)
Slowly insert into the rectum
Hold for 3 minutes; then eliminate
38) KILL HEAD LICE
    It is hard to think about olive oil and head lice in the same sentence. However, olive oil is the main ingredient in a well-accepted program for this all-too-common problem. In the United States, lice attack more than 12 million people a year. Head lice are easily transmitted from person to person through direct contact—by the sharing of combs, brushes, hats/caps, and linens. While the most commonly prescribed treatments for head lice are pediculicidal shampoos and cream rinses, these products contain harsh insecticides. A more effective and safer way to eliminate head lice is through the Head Lice to Dead Lice Treatment Program, atreatment that uses olive oil to smother and kill active head lice. Entomologists at the Harvard School of Public Health have confirmed the safety and effectiveness of this treatment, which consists of a series of olive oil treatments applied to smother chemically resistant lice. The treatments are timed specifically