My Hungarian aunt used to drink fresh lemon juice in hot water every night for her digestion. My mother swears by rubbing the business side of a squeezed lemon on her hands to make them baby soft.

Lemon, or Citrus limonum, is used in European herbology as a digestive, heart toner, skin cleanser, styptic for cuts, anti-viral and anti-infective. It aids in wound healing and reduces a high fever. It can be used to treat headaches and dizziness. Lemons are a natural medicine as well as one of the true joys of the culinary world. They are also an excellent source of vitamin C.

In her classic book Herbal Medicine, herbologist and natural medicine expert Dian Dincin Buchman extols the virtues of lemons. She writes that lemon juice is used in traditional medicine as a sedative and can ease heart palpitations. It enhances bile activity as well as cleansing the system during menstruation, and may actually slow the blood flow.

My aunt was wise to drink hot lemon juice every night. Lemons are an effective treatment for gas, nausea, heartburn, constipation, and even worms. You can also drink lemon juice in the morning as a digestive system tonic. If you’re constipated, drink two glasses of cold water right after arising and then lemon juice in water after that. Lemon purifies and helps eliminate waste. Sucking a thin piece dipped in salt will treat heartburn.

Just drinking diluted lemon juice can make you feel psychologically better during a fever or flu, and lemon juice at any time can improve your mood.

In its role as blood purifier, lemon juice can eliminate skin problems such as boils. Are you embarrassed by blackheads or acne? Try rubbing lemon juice on them. Add salt and make into a paste to rub off dead skin cells on the elbows and thighs. If your finger is sore or infected, heat a lemon in the oven or microwave, cut a narrow opening in the center, sprinkle with salt and bury the finger in the hole until it no longer hurts.

For colds, the juice of a lemon can be squeezed on the palm of the hand and then sniffed into the nostrils for a strong but cleansing inhaler. Lemon juice in herbal teas is excellent for colds also. A cotton ball soaked in lemon juice and applied to the nose is said to stop nosebleeds.

For coughs, wash a lemon, place it uncut in a dish of honey and a handful of cloves and soak overnight. Cut it in half in the morning, squeezing the juice on the honey. Drink it, adding hot water if it’s too strong, throughout the day.

Lemons decongest the liver and promote healthy bile activity. They may help in hardening of the arteries, with fragile blood vessels, bad circulation, distended veins, and high blood pressure.

Lemon relieves scrotal itching, and because of its high vitamin C content, prevents scurvy.

Lemon juice can be used to detoxify arthritic and rheumatic patients, and traditional Chinese medicine uses them to relieve the pain of neuralgia. Lemon juice can control bladder and kidney infections.

Lemon is a wonderful treatment for many maladies, but be sure that you sip the juice through a straw, drink it so that it doesn’t have prolonged contact with your teeth, or rinse out your mouth afterwards with water, because lemon, like any acid, can cause damage to teeth by eating away the enamel.