6 Answers

There's a story about a guy who called his grandmother the first time he cooked a roast. "I did it just like you used to. First, I first lopped of the ends of the roast, then seasoned it, added onions and carrots, and put it in the oven for two hours. It was perfect."
"You cut off the ends?" she asked.
"Didn't you?" he countered.
"Only when the roast was too big to fit the pan," she said.
Old wives' tales are like that. They may have been useful at one time and may have some truth to them -- but it's probably gotten garbled in translation from one generation to the next. After all, many of these "old wives" were midwives and healers who were valued medical practitioners. We shouldn't be surprised to find some science in their advice.
Other beliefs and practices that stem from old wives' tales, on the other hand, are closer to superstition. Accepting them gave people a sense of control over situations they couldn't control or didn't understand -- and it still can today. This is especially true concerning the serious matters of health and illness, subjects that were more even mysterious to our ancestors than they are to us.
We've collected 10 myths about health on the following pages. We'll try to ferret out the falsehoods, but also uncover any legitimate basis and modern research that make those old wives look like prophets. As in the story above, just because we don't understand why our grandmothers (and grandfathers) did something, that doesn't mean they didn't know what they were doing.

http://science.howstuffworks.com/life/human-biology/5-old-wives-tales-health.htm

11 years ago. Rating: 9
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My great gram use to make a hot syrup of onions and honey for colds, do not know if it actually was curative, or the onion smell kept people away from each other and the colds did not spread...  And honey does stop coughs! 

11 years ago. Rating: 5
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An apple a day, keeps the doctor away.

11 years ago. Rating: 2
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Old wives don't have tails, but old husbands do.

11 years ago. Rating: 2
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one of em is........If you sweep under the feet of an unmarried girl, it'll mean that she'll never get married.

 for home remedies for  health---- I agree with Bustie about the onions for bad chest colds. My dad once told my mother to fix an antidote that his mother fixed for him. He said to fry onions, like in butter, then put them in a paper bag......and squish the bag flat. Then put them on your bare chest. It was supposed to break up the congestion. I got a lot more wives tales and home remedies, but I g g n.

11 years ago. Rating: 1
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the Federal Drug Administration.

 

11 years ago. Rating: 1
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