Winter is the season of common colds, chapped skin and Christmas bloating. But it doesn't have to be this way, says homeopath Jo Evans, who explains that cure for winter blues may be under your runny noses – in the kitchen cupboard

When you're feeling run down or ill, forget spending a fortune on over-the-counter drugs: healthy food is the safest medicine money can buy.

Good quality foods have countless benefits and none of the side-effects of synthetic drugs. This is because foods are broken down by the body's metabolism, and their special components are used in different ways to maintain health.

Long term, we know that adding the right ingredients to our diet (such as garlic, which is rich in antioxidants) helps prevent chronic illnesses such as heart disease and cancer. And some foods, like potatoes, honey and oats, even have healing properties that can bring instant relief to ailments.

Ancient kitchen cures
The earliest records of kitchen pharmacy go back 5,000 years. The ancient Egyptians used herbs, nuts, spices and other foods as remedies for health and aids to beauty - the most celebrated being Cleopatra, who famously bathed in milk and honey.

Plant medicine was virtually the only medicine available until the sixteenth century, when chemicals began to replace herbal cures. Today, we've gone full circle, and modern scientific research tends to confirm what ancient civilisations already knew: food has powerful medicinal properties.

First-aid food
You can transform food into first aid with common supermarket ingredients. Teas, soups, tinctures, gargles, baths, compresses, juices, steam treatments, massage oils, medicinal honeys and syrups can all be easily made at the kitchen table.

Try some herbal kitchen recipes:

• Decoction for Colds and Flu
  
• Honey and Cucumber Facial Cleansing Milk
  
• Soothing Oat Bath
  
• Rosemary Massage Oil
  
• Potato Burns Paste

Then read the iVillage A-Z of kitchen cures – almost every ingredient is available at your local grocers or supermarket.

Please note: With some medical conditions, herbal tinctures, teas or essential oils should not be taken internally or applied externally. Always seek medical guidance.

The iVillage A-Z of kitchen cures

• Almonds: Useful for convalescence, coughs and colds, strengthening the nervous system and increasing sexual vitality. Externally, sweet almond oil and pastes made from the crushed nuts can help dry skin conditions.

• Basil: Balancing effect on the nervous system and hormones. Useful for headaches, migraines, colds, sinus congestion, coughs, indigestion, wind and cramps. Externally, diluted essential oil can be useful for acne and insect bites. Note: Essential oil is not suitable for pregnant or breastfeeding mothers.

• Cranberry juice: Prevents - and aids the cure of - cystitis and other urinary tract infections.

• Cloves: A warming, soothing spice that's antiseptic, anti-viral, and anti-fungal. Helpful for toothache, colds and flu, nausea, hiccups, depression, hay fever and diarrhoea. Clears phlegm, relieves wind. Apply externally for toothache and athletes' foot.

• Egg: Egg white soothes the stomach and bowels and is therefore useful for heartburn, indigestion, diarrhoea and constipation. Externally, egg white (beaten to fluffy stage) is useful for soothing minor burns and inflamed skin.

• Ginger: Has antioxidant, antiseptic and expectorant properties. Promotes perspiration in a fever, cleanses the digestive tract in cases of diarrhoea, lowers blood pressure and thins the blood. Useful for indigestion, nausea, motion sickness, morning sickness, coughs, colds and flu.

• Garlic: Antibiotic, anti-microbial, cleanser and antioxidant. Helps combat colds and flu symptoms, sore throats, coughs, candida, worms, high blood pressure and digestive problems. Use externally as an infusion in oil for sprains, joint problems, fungal infections, earache and chest infections. Note: Some may find the odour off-putting.

Over the page: Honey to potatoes

• Honey: Acts as an expectorant for coughs and catarrh, sinusitis and hay fever. Antiseptic and preservative properties help prevent food poisoning and relieve diarrhoea and vomiting. Externally, honey is a wound and burn healer, and has the ability to draw out bacteria and pus. It soothes mouth ulcers and is reputed to bring a boil to a head.

• Lemon: Anti-acid in digestive problems, liver tonic, antiseptic, anti-fungal, cleanser and diuretic. Helpful for hiccups, heartburn, nausea, constipation and worms. Externally, it can help stop bleeding, is useful for rebalancing greasy skin and, as an essential oil, is recommended for verrucas.

• Lettuce: Cooling, anti-inflammatory, antispasmodic and expectorant. Useful for ulcers, gastritis, colitis, irritable bowel syndrome, constipation, insomnia and anxiety. Externally, use as a poultice for swellings and bruises.

• Mint: Anti-inflammatory, antiseptic and stimulant for the heart and circulatory system. Useful in chills, fevers, coughs, colds, flu, hiccups, colic, wind, nausea, diarrhoea, constipation, and irritable bowel syndrome. Use externally for cuts, grazes and sores, and the oil can help in toothache. Mint vapours can be inhaled to relieve the effects of a cold.

• Oats: Thought to help reproductive disorders, high cholesterol, heart disease, high blood pressure, varicose veins, haemorrhoids and low blood sugar. Helpful in convalescence, may help prevent bowel cancer, and calms the nerves. Apply externally for soothing inflamed, itchy or cracked skin.

• Parsley: Tonic, blood purifier, diuretic, appetite stimulant and breath freshener. Helps alleviate wind, fluid retention, colic, indigestion, cramps, eczema and anaemia. Use externally on abscesses, wounds, cuts, toothache and head lice.

• Potato: Useful for easing indigestion, colic, gastritis, ulcers, and constipation. Externally useful for minor burns, sunburn, inflamed skin, skin infections, chilblains and even headaches.

Over the page: Rice to yoghurt

• Rice: Has a balancing effect on the intestines. Brown rice is useful for treating indigestion, wind, bloating, ulcers, colic, constipation and diarrhoea.

• Rosemary: Antiseptic. Stimulates the circulation and detoxifies the system. Useful for weak memory, poor concentration, muscle and joint problems, coughs, colds and flu. Externally, the diluted essential oil is useful for aches and pains, and as a hair tonic. Rosemary tea is useful for candida and as a gargle for sore throats. Note: Not suitable for pregnant or breastfeeding women, or those with high blood pressure.

• Salt: In moderate doses, taken with food, a cleanser and purifier. Externally useful as a gargle (one teaspoon in a glass of water) for sore throats, tonsillitis, mouth infections and inflamed gums. Sea-salt baths are recommended for detoxification.

• Tea: In moderation, a useful nervous-system stimulant. Regulates breathing, digestion and circulation. Useful for diarrhoea, sinusitis, flu, herpes, and teeth cavities. Green tea, and to a lesser extent black tea, is believed to have powerful anti-cancer properties. Externally, useful for stopping bleeding, healing sores and as a mouthwash for ulcers.

• Vinegar: Anti bacterial, anti-fungal, cooling and decongestant. Aids absorption of calcium. Can help in cystitis, digestive problems, sinusitis and hay fever. Use externally for spots, acne, bruises, sprains, rashes, insect bites and sunburn.

• Watercress: Detoxifies the blood and warms and stimulates the system. Aids digestion. May be helpful for those prone to kidney stones, arthritis, gout, rheumatism, eczema and psoriasis. Recent reports suggest it may protect against cancer. Helps clear catarrh in chest infections. Externally can be helpful for wound healing, boils, ulcers, cold sores, haemorrhoids and rashes.

• Yoghurt: Useful for combating stomach upsets and food poisoning, and restoring balance in the digestive tract after antibiotics. Use externally for thrush, inflamed skin and sunburn.

What's your secret remedy? Share your kitchen cures on the All About Food and Drink message board