African Food and Art

Thank you to our latest donor, Tony. Thank you, Tony. We were able to purchase three new stainless steel pots to continue our cooking and teaching heritage.

Want to Naturally Cure a Cough? Try African Traditional Healing

African traditional healers got it right, to naturally cure a cough, use honey.

Using pure honey to cure coughs is a sound herbal medicine. There are two major reasons African Healers use pure honey to relieve a cough making honey good medicine for centuries; first, DMX may be abusive, and secondly, NSAIDs may increase blood pressure.

Honey has long been used as medicine by African traditional healers.

African Traditional Healing to naturally cure a cough.

Honey has long been used as medicine by African traditional healers.

In Zulu societies, the Sangoma is a highly respected traditional healer, and Nyanga is an esteemed traditional herbalist. Men and women take up the profession after a long training period in Southern African society. 

Survival in the face of human assault, natural disaster, or deprivation has been a conscious concern of African healers. These African healers have a wealth of traditional knowledge of apitherapy and the healing properties of bee products. 

Honey is a natural remedy to ease a cough and sore throat. Taking a tablespoon of honey at bedtime helps reduce nighttime coughing in children over the age of 2 years. It works as well as an over-the-counter cough medicine called dextromethorphan. 

Two major reasons are that using pure honey to relieve cough is sound traditional medicine: Western cough syrups containing DMX are sometimes used as a drug, and for people with high blood pressure, taking NSAIDs could damage their cardiovascular health. At normal doses, DXM is relatively safe.

Dextromethorphan affects the brain, specifically the region that controls coughing. However, at high doses, as much as 10 to 50 times the suggested amount, DXM can cause hallucinatory effects similar to those of PCP. Many Western cough and cold medications contain nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs or NSAIDs to relieve pain. 

Pure honey

NSAIDs may increase your blood pressure. Cough and cold medicines also frequently contain decongestants. NSAIDs reduce the blood flow to the kidneys, which makes them work more slowly.

When your kidneys are not working well, fluid builds up in your body, and the more fluid in your bloodstream, the higher your blood pressure. Traditional healing, unlike Western medicine, is linked to wider belief systems and remains integral to the lives of most Africans. 

People consult traditional healers whether or not they can afford medical services. Central to indigenous traditions is an awareness of the integral and whole relationship between symbolic and material life.

Traditional healers over the centuries have developed ritual practices that instill the collective memories of the people and their homeland in individual bodies and minds. 

Honey is safe for children over 12 months of age. However, don’t give honey to younger children because raw honey can be contaminated with Clostridium botulinum spores, which can cause botulism poisoning in infants or young children. This is not a danger for older children or adults.

Honey bee

Honey is a sweet thick syrup produced by honeybees. Bees deposit nectar into honeycombs and seal them with beeswax to preserve the honey. Honey has a fairly long shelf life, microbial activity is restricted, and the product is stable for many months.

  1. Historical African Country Name
  2. Top 20 Largest Countries in Africa
  3. How many countries does Africa have?
  4. Roots of Africanized Christianity Spiritual Songs
  5. Chocolate Processing Facts History and Recipes
  6. Awesome Kenyan Woman
  7. Land is Not For Women in Sierra Leone
  8. African Kente Cloth Facts
  9. Accra the Ghanaian Capital Ultimate Mall Experience


Chic African Culture and The African Gourmet=

Week’s Best African Culture Posts

What is the difference between ugali and fufu

Image
How to make the popular African recipes Ugali and Fufu and what is the difference.  Ugali is a starch dish in Kenya and Tanzania made of fine cornmeal cooked in boiling water into a soft dough. Fufu is a thick, dough-like West African food made by boiling then pounding a starchy vegetable such as yam, plantain, or cassava or a mixture of starchy vegetables. The main difference between fufu and ugali is fufu is boiled first then pounded while ugali is simply boiled. Ugali recipe. Easy Ugali Recipe Prep time 5 minutes Cook time 30 minutes Total time 30 minutes Ingredients 4 cups finely ground cornmeal 8 cups water Directions Heat water to boiling in a saucepan. Slowly pour cornmeal into boiling water stirring continuously. Add more cornmeal if necessary until it is thick as soft bread dough. Serve immediately with vegetables, stew, or any dish you would use a spoon with to soak up the sauce, ugali is purposely bland tasting on its own. What is the difference between ugali and
Learn More About Africa

Top 20 Largest Countries in Africa

Image
African Country by Size List. Africa Which are the top twenty largest, smallest, and territorial country in Africa by land area? 1. The continent of Africa is the world’s second largest based on land area and population just after Asia. 2. Top five largest countries of Africa are Algeria, Congo Democratic Republic of the, Sudan, Libya and Chad. 3. Top five smallest African countries and territories are Mauritius, São Tomé and Príncipe, Seychelles, Saint Helena and Mayotte. African Country from largest to smallest Area sq mile Area sq km Algeria 919,595 2,381,740 Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) 905,568 2,345,410 Sudan 718,723 1,861,484 Libya 679,362 1,759,540 Chad 495,755 1,284,000 Niger 489,191 1,267,000 Angola 481,354 1,246,700 Mali 478,767 1,240,000 South Africa 471,011 1,219,912 Ethiopia 435,186 1,127,127 Mauritania 397,95
Learn More About Africa

Ethiopian Midwest American Hotdish

Image
Our Ethiopian hot dish combines Ethiopian cooking with classic Minnesota Midwest casserole meal. The hot dish’s origins are a product of settlers traditions in Midwest America dating back to the early 20th century. A hot-dish or casserole is a one-pan meal that traditionally includes a combination of starch like potatoes, pasta, or rice, ground meat, vegetables, and a creamy canned soup base, all topped with crunchy goodness like breadcrumbs or tater tots. The concept of hot dish became popular in the Upper Midwest, particularly in states like Minnesota, North Dakota, and Wisconsin, in the 1930s and 1940s. This period was marked by economic challenges, including the Great Depression. The need for economical and filling meals led to the creation of dishes that could be stretched to feed many people using simple, affordable ingredients . Hot dishes became synonymous with potlucks, church suppers, and social gatherings. These events were central to rural and small-town communities, where
Learn More About Africa

Neck elongation rings how to put on and take off

Image
Neck elongation rings how to put on and take off. Idzila are Ndebele wives traditionally wear rings around the neck as a status symbol and wear rings around the arms, legs, and neck. Wearing Neck Rings. For centuries, married South African Ndebele tribes’ women saw wearing heavy rings around their neck as an honored status symbol. Neck rings are any form of stiff necklaces worn around the neck of an individual. The neck rings are usually made of copper or brass. During initiation, girls wear an array of colorfully beaded hoops called izigolwan around their legs, arms, waist, and neck. After marriage, the Ndebele wife would wear copper and brass rings around her arms, legs, and neck, symbolizing her bond and faithfulness to her husband, once her home was built. Idzila rings were believed to have strong ritual powers. Husbands used to provide their wives with rings; the richer the husband, the more rings the wife would wear. These outward symbols can be removed only in ca
Learn More About Africa