I guess our Dutch doctors have had the same education regarding antibiotics. The overuse of antibiotics is one of the biggest threats in today's medical world. People getting prescribed antibiotics for viral illnesses is so stupid.

Oh, regarding treating a cold, we have a saying: if you go to a doctor it takes a week, if you dont it takes seven days. 😅 Another old family recipe for nearly any kind of illness is eating a good homemade chicken broth. 😄

When I went to my doctor with severe flu symptoms, he asked me what shade of yellow my nasal mucus was. I couldn't answer that, so he pointed to the folders on the shelf in his practice and asked me to point to a similar color. After I did that, he said, "Good, no bacterial infection. We don't need antibiotics." - I love doctors like that. And when I said that I could go back to work the day after tomorrow, he said: "Absolutely not! - You stay at home for another week so that you don't infect your colleagues."

In the early eighties, I remember, a French police television drama series was aired in Sweden. Dark, cold, foggy, raining all the time. There was always someone coughing, and the advice mostly given - see the doctor to get some antibiotics to treat your cold. I remember thinking: 'That won't work. It's a cold. A cold is caused by a virus. Penicillin don't fight viruses. He'll only get an upset gut.' So we had been taught in 4th or 5th class. It was common knowledge.

Antibiotics only help against bacteria, not viruses. However, most of the colds we have are caused by viruses and antibiotics are useless. Nevertheless, antibiotics are prescribed in such cases in many countries which is simply pointless. Herbal tea or warm drinks ensure that the warmth makes the viscous sputum in the lungs more fluid and easier to cough up. So it helps the body/immune system to deal with the virus infection more quickly. Prescribing antibiotics only makes sense if the doctor is very sure that it is a bacterial infection, otherwise the doctor prescribes rest and tea, maybe some paracetamol or similar for fever. And the advice if it is not better in a week to come back because a virus infection is usually done after a week. Great video...

It is actually quite simple to explain Quark. Most people simply don't know what it is. Quark is essentially cream cheese, that hasn't been squeeze as much. As a result, there is much more of the acidic liquid part. This makes Quark slightly acidic, much softer and more moist than regular cream cheese. This also means, that Quark lends itself much more to sweet dishes, as the fat content is much lower and the acid balances out the sweet.

There's probably 3 reasons doctors are reluctant to prescribe antibiotics: - antibiotics help against bacteria, not viruses. However, most colds and similar illnesses are caused by the latter. So the demand/expectation of the patient is irrelevant. Luckily, the doctors aren't getting paid by the patient but by the health system. - antibiotics do not target the specific bacterium causing an infection, they target all bacteria... including the 3% of your body weight that are helpful bacteria that you need to survive - patients tend to not follow the prescription plan. It is essential that when you have started taking antibiotics, you make sure that 100% of the bad bacteria are being eradicated. But people tend to stop taking the pills once they feel better (probably because of the aforementioned side effects) which creates conditions that make it easier for the bacteria to develop immunity against the antibiotics. Over the past decades, this has rendered more and more antibiotics useless and the number of effective ones has become really small. They should be reserved for cases when a patient is really really ill. Btw, it's not just eager/pleasing doctors and demanding/irresponsible patients who are to blame here. In many places the animal farming industry is also feeding the animals in a "preventive" manner with antibiotics which is beyond irresponsible and gives bacteria two opportunities to become immune: Once in the living animal, and once when you eat the antibiotics-soaked meat.

I have always used Quark to cure mastitis, and I never needed anything else than that. Quark wraps help with many types of inflammation. My mother used to say that quark takes out the heat. I always try it first for joint pain or sprains. Quark also relieves the symptoms of sunburn and mosquito bites and provides a nice cooling effect.

Quark really works. Once I was in the hospital and had surgery on my breast. After the surgery the breast turned a bit red and warm. The professor in charge of the ward said that the nurse should get quark from the kitchen. It really helped. He said "no antibiotics". And he was right.

Herbal tea, chicken soup, maybe Zwieback and Salzstangen when you are feeling nauseous and feel like/have been vomiting. Works for many common types of sickness.

Doctors here in Germany have been reluctant to prescribe antibiotics for decades. Tea helps, even black tea (maybe with a little rum;) ), often it just helps to drink a lot of warm liquid to support healing. Starting with broth and any type of tea you like. And if there are signs of possible breast infections while breastfeeding, an anti-inflammatory ointment is more likely prescribed than the antibiotic pill/juice, as these are passed on to the baby through breast milk and the more often and regularly you take antibiotics, the more likely there is a risk that the body will become resistant and the conventional antibiotics will no longer help.

When my sons were little they only had antibiotics twice in their childhood. The overuse of antibiotics is s real problem.

In Poland cabbage leaf is often used a natural product to calm down inflammation by breast feeding. At least women in my family recommended it. When I or my son catch cold I like to have a Erkältungsbad (a very gernan thing) or inhalate water with thyme/pine oil. My mum also gave me a recipe for homemade onions/honey/lemon/ginger syrup It works miraculously. Regular "Nasedusche" (that is nose irrigation) was a peace of advice given by my HNO doctor, sth I haven't heard about living in Poland.

In Deutschland sagen wir: Abwarten und Tee trinken 😁 In Germany the motto is: wait and drink tea 😁

You'll be ok in 7 days with pills and in one week with herbal tea. That's what my old doc used to say in such cases. Most respiratory infections are caused by viruses, and antibiotics do help against them exactly zero. What they do, though, is damaging your intestinal flora, with often lifelong consequences that can range from immunological deficiencies (even autoimmune deseases like MS seem to be caused at least in part by a disbalance of bacteria in the colon) to effects on your mental health (yes, some forms of depressions have their roots there). Not to speak of side effects like, for instance, obesity. A few kilograms of every person's body comprise tens of thousands of different bacteria species living in symbiosis with their host, the human body. No wonder antibiotics can have a very disruptive effect on them... And, of course, there is the risk of breeding superbugs and loosing more and more options to fight them by making them resistant against more and more antibiotics. The important point in this whole business is to know when antibiotics make sense and when they don't. Unless somebody has severe symptoms, antibiotics shouldn't be given without having made a proper and thorough lab test. Take care!

One salad/dessert I enjoyed since childhood is 3-4 carrots, grated together with an apple, with the juice of a lemon as a dressing to keep the apple from turning brown. No need for additional sugar, the natural sweetness of the apple and carrots usually is sweet enough.

"Die Dosis macht das Gift." True for everything, also sweets, junk food and Apfelschorle. 😊

Cold cabbage leaves work wonders but it will reduce milk supply quickly. Use with caution. My midwife had me use the quark too with my first child. I learned of the cabbage online from the US la leche league. I happened to speak with the reading/writing specialist at our Gymnasium. He stressed to teach my children their native second language, or even third. It would only help them in all languages including German. Too many parents make the error of ignoring their native language.

When you said you were prescribed herbal tea when you thought you needed an antibiotic it came to my mind that different to you I simply didn't grow up learning that I needed antibiotics for minor (often viral) infections. And my dad works as a GP so it wasn't off the radar but just not necessary. As a consequence I only took antibiotics on three occasions: a kidney infection when I was a child, pneumonia when I was 19 (after my CRP count was checked to make sure it was the right thing to do) and a severe bladder infection a few years ago. All three times antibiotics were absolutely the right decision but I will never forget how much worse than a cold these infections felt.

As a German (with friends, who are parents with not-German as mother tongue), I have heard all of that. I have also heard all the reasons as well. Regarding herbal tea: Plants are often the origin for medication. For example Aspirin is just a industrially made, stable version of an acid found in willows. I forgot the correct name, but there’s actually a part of medicine and pharmacy, that’s just about plants as medication. Maybe you have heard about Hildegard von Bingen or the term „Kräuterhexe“ for someone, who knows what plant/herb helps with certain illnesses. Herbal remedies were rather common in earlier times and still work today.

Wait... it's not common to drink tea when you have a cold in New Zealand? I'm really surprised by that, cos that is the default in Germany.

Quark is probably a superfood in Germany, especially lowfat quark. The distribution of the amino acids in Quark is nearly perfect. In addition, Quark's protein contains predominantly casein. The digestion of casein is extremely slow. That's the reason why many Athletes consume casein before going to bed. This way the body is supplied with protein for up to 8 hours. Quark also has a lot of glutamine that supports the body's regeneration over night.

Top. Ja Quark zieht die Hitze aus der Haut. / Gewebe. . Hilft auch super bei Sonnenbrand. Liebe Grüße aus dem Sauerland 🎄🏔️🎄.

as many people here said, antibiotics only work against bacterial infections, never viral ones, and should be prescribed sparingly in general. *however,* once they are prescribed you have to make sure to use up that _whole_ prescription! people often discontinue their antibiotics once they feel better, but that's not a great thing to do - there'll still be bacteria in you that haven't been eradicated, and a higher proportion than usual will be those that are resistent so you should continue the rest of the antibiotics and kill the non-resistent ones so your immune system can concentrate on the restistent individuals; if you don't, the non-resistent ones will bounce back quickly (they don't have to produce substances to help them resist so they are usually quicker to replicate) and keep your immune system busy while the resistent ones quietly thrive, plus there are more non-resistent ones that can potentially receive resistance-giving genes via horizontal gene transfer (which bacteria are unfortunately very good at) unfortunately i _have_ heard of the occasional doctor prescribing antibiotics for flu-like symptoms, but yes, it is not common at all. from what i gather the gold standard is really only to prescribe them if you identified the bacteria, and preferable even have an antibiogramme, a culture of the bacteria that shows which antibiotics they are susceptible to. only exceptions to this is probably when you have like seriously immunosuppressed patients and/or the patient is in such a severe condition that you risk losing them before you can identify the exact pathogen.

I don't know if you have heard of calf wraps against fever. It was a common thing when I was a child. Most parents use fever medicine for their children when they have fever. Recently, fever medicine for children has been sold out everywhere and parents were in panic. There is an old granny recipe that really works: 1) Check whether the feet are warm. If the feet are cold, do not apply a calf wrap. Usually not a problem with children, but elderly people may have circulatory problems in their feet. Instead, try to wrap the lower arms. 2) Take two dish towels and make them wet with cold tap water. 3) Squeeze them well and wrap each calf in a towel. 4) Wrap the legs together in a bath towel or a wollen blanket for insulation. The heat has to be drawn from the body, not from the room, and the bed stays dry. 5) Feel from time to time whether the dish towels are getting warm. If they feel warm or at the latest after half an hour remove the wrap and check the fever temperature. 6) If the fever is still high, make a new wrap, but *not* a third one. Wait some hours until you start again. But usually after the first wrap the fever will be significantly lowered.

Thanks so much for yet another great video! Interesting to hear your take on your doctor and the advice you received in regards to Quark. A few months ago, we moved from the Black Forest to the northern part of Germany, and we needed to find a new family physician. Living so close to the Danish border, I had the option of signing up with a Danish doctor - something quite a few Danes elect to do. I told the receptionist at the praxis that it was very important to me to get a doctor who was educated in Germany - all other attributes were secondary for me. I signed up with a German physician who was educated in Germany - the absolute BEST combo - for me, anyway. My reason for making that choice was simple: many, many German doctors prefer to start out with "weird" advice, such as herbal teas and such - and that was exactly what I was and am after. I am at the age at which serious health issues might pop up, and I had a major issue come up two weeks ago. Herbal tea was not prescribed: it was straight to the hospital, where I got excellent care. So to anyone suspecting that herbal teas and Quark will be prescribed for just about anything, I can only say that for me, that has not been the case. After 30 years in the US where antibiotics are often haded out like candy, I really appreciate the German approach to health and health care. Now, if I could only find someone who could fix the January-February weather...!

How bad sugar is for your teeth largely depends on how long it (and its residue) remains in the mouth. For every other health aspect it's about the net amount you consume however.

Last time I got antibiotics was 10 years ago with a bacterial throat infection and a high fever. As everyone else here is saying, antibiotics do not work on viruses anyway (which made covid so hard to treat).

I am very happy that more and more doctors are only prescribing antibiotics when absolutely necessary. Unfortunately, I took a lot of antibiotics in my childhood (1960s) and, according to my doctors, I probably owe a good part of my current autoimmune disease to this fact. Unfortunately, people didn't know any better back then

My OBGYN prescribed me to apply natural yogurt to combat a fungal infection. It worked wonders. I've been using grandmother's recipe for coughs for years: chop an onion and put it in a clean jar with a lid. Sprinkle generously (at least a tablespoon, more for larger onions!) SUGAR and leave covered for several hours. DO NOT put in the fridge but keep it as cool and dark as possible. Use the resulting juice one tablespoon at a time as cough syrup. After 3 days at the latest, prepare the mixture again and dispose of the old residue. To date I have never had to make a second mixture, not even for bronchitis!

I say to you Kräutertee is a very good medicain against avery form of illness.

I once got subscribed a herbal tea from my GP with a recipe describing every single component. I could only get in in the pharmacy next door. It helped. I looked up the ingredients and found "Ysop" which seems to bee an organic plant with antibiotic effect. Meanwhile the GP has moved to a different location, but the pharmacy still offers his herbal tea on demand. Helps me out every cold season.

Your strategy of speaking with your kids is exactly what we do in our house and it has worked out well. Aussie father, German mother with 3 kids and our kids are now teens. They are able to speak both languages quite fluently. What's funny though, when the kids need help explaining German grammar, their mother sends them to me 😂

Yes, as few antibiotics as possible and just as much as absolutely necessary. I will have to refer to this video according to the house remedy.

Here in Austria (but probably in Germany too) we have a saying: "Without doctor a cold lasts for 7 days, with treatment it lasts for a week." Most colds/respiratory infections in winter are caused by viruses and there aren't really any good meds to stop viral infections without the risk of severe side-effects. In most cases the immune system is perfectly capable to deal with simple viral infections - given enough time and rest (i.e. the aforementioned 5-7 days). Antibiotics are not only useless for viral infections (as they only target bacteria), but even counter-productive (because they often _weaken_ the immune system even more; our gut bacteria are part of it!). Plus the unnecessary overuse of antibiotics literally _breeds_ multidrug-resistant bacteria strains. So unless there is an actual risk of a (secondary) bacterial infection, doctors should _never_ prescribe antibiotics right away. Herbal teas are a good way of treating flu-like symptoms in multiple ways: 1. fundamentally they provide hydration, which is essential for a functioning immune system, as the body somehow has to get rid of the toxins and by-products generated when the immune cells fight the intruder (which it does mostly via urine and sweat); 2. the warmth helps to physically relax the airways and soften the mucus (hydration also helps with that, obviously); 3. several contents of various herbs also have anti-inflammatory, mucus-dissolving, mucous membrane decongestant and muscle-relaxing properties. So while not targeting the virus directly, it still helps the body to deal with it and lessens the symptoms.

My old GP prescribed chicken broth for everything related to flu or a cold

I as a German with lately more of an average share of doctor's appointment obviously cannot comment on all possible infections, but the last time that I remember having been prescribed an antibiotic was more than twelve years ago when after having been bitten by a tick, an erythema migrans developed which might have turned into Lyme borreliosis, which was stopped by doxycycline. But other cases I don't really remember, and I'm in the second half of my sixties. As an aside, I really enjoy your Kiwi accent. I was in NZ in 1987 and 1993, and it is one of the few countries I'd have a desire to visit for a third time if it weren't so bloody far away. But in trying to explain to non-German (but some-kind-of-English) speakers how a German long E is pronounced, I'm sometimes successful by pointing out how New Zealanders pronounce "nEver", "sEd [said]", "tEn", "elEven and so on.

I remember as a child, I'm 77 now, when I got a cut or an infected fingernail margin my dad said you a brad/milk poultice. Soad bread with milk, squeeze out the excess mild, pack it around the infected area, wrap with gauze and tape it on the finger. It actually worked! Don't know why or how but who can resist success.

I also spoke Germano my son in a French-speaking city! It was considered completely normal and desirable to pass on your mother tongue to your child. Whilst he preferred French lateron it gave him a solid grounding in the language plus the culture and became a springboard to English which is now his everyday language in the UK.

I agree antibiotics when you don't have a bacterial infection is very bad . Antibiotics for colds just produces resistant bacteria. If you had had mastitis, quark wouldn't have helped and you would have had serious problem.

It's always about the herbs, no matter if in tea or cookies...😉😂

There are indead teas that help with bronchitis and asthma. Herbs like anise, linden blossom, thyme and mint have antibacterial properties which can greatly help to ease the cough and soothe the throat. Mint and eucalyptus also have lung expanding properties. Our bodies normally can and should fight a cold and even something like a bronchitis on its own. You should only get on antibiotics if your condition persists or gets worse and you can not get rid of it with out antibiotics. Otherwhise bed rest, drinking teas and eating soups, like chicken noodle or other bone broth based soups should do the trick. Using antibiotics a lot is killing your immune system piece by piece which can have severe consequences on to your body. You get infections and other illnesses much quicker because your body can no longer build up enough natural resistence and you can even die from a cold especially in older ages much easier because your body will build up a resistence against antibiotics until the effect the antibiotics provides is completely gone. Therefore using home remedies like teas before anything else are strongly advised.

With Apfelschorle what my parents (and now siblings with their children) were doing is they always mixed Apfelschorle with extra Sprudelwasser. The Apfelschorle is already juice mixed with water so they just mixed in a little more water so that it is even less Apfelschorle but still enough for children.

Quark is magic! Helps a lot when you have an inflammation as well as on sore muscles❤

On the AB Topic. What most people don't understand is that antibiotics should only be used when life is in danger or it will cause damage on the patient. Feeling sick and having fever is not causing damage. It is your body fighting back. We need to keep the AB's for severe cases otherwise bacteria get resistent and it won't work anymore if REALLY needed. A good example for this is India. In India you can get a lot of antibiotics for free or on the black marked. People tend to overuse it, use the wrong kind or use it too short. That way bacteria can get reistent to the antibiotic. Germany has pretty good (low) rates of resistent bacteria cause they usually, only are given if really necessary.

My standard for a good family doctor has always been "do they only give antibiotics when needed". Of course I want to get them if I really need them, but often times you body can handle it on it's own, you just need to give your body the time and rest to do it. When I have a cold, all I want is some pain medication and a nasal spray. Not a big fan of herbal teas but even if they don't help, they certainly don't hurt either. And at least it is a healthy drink because it has little to no sugar in it. I always add honey, helps with a sore throat as well in my experience.

Quark is also recommended in case of a severe sunburn 😂

Lol. I have carried and I still carry chamomile tea wherever I go wherever I travel backpacking or luxurious travel. Cures upset stomach and other stuff. Also the herbal tea for coughing must’ve been Heumann Bronchialtee. And yes, I take it over antibiotics any time. 👍

Colds and flu are viral infections that cannot be treated with antibiotics anyway. So prescribing antibiotics would not help and would only contribute to the spread of antibiotic-resistant bacteria. Herbal tea can in fact boost your own immune system, relieve symptoms and help you find sleep, which is after all the best medicine.

I would say raw cabbage leaves definitely helps on swollen blocked breasts

The herbal tea is useful because of the essential oils that you inhale while drinking it. And it has a moisturizing effect on the throat and the entire respiratory tract. Especially in winter it is usually too dry indoors. Some people pour the tea into a bowl, put a towel over head and bowl and inhale the vapors for some time.

I think the word you're searching for is curd. I tried to explain it to a canadian and ever since I learned the word^^

when feeling the beginning of a mastitis it's good to practise warm wraps around the breast - very helpful

Old estonian medicine that works wonders on me everytime if you have flu symptoms and your throat hurts is you mix fresh ginger, fresh garlick, honey and vodka into a liquid paste and you eat it. It tastes bad and hurts to swallow but makes you sweat like a pig and sleepy, next morning you are all better as it has a combination of things it does to your body and the virus. Sometimes need to do it a couple of days if its hit you hard, its also good to just inhale the vapors it gives off into your lungs. If that does not work then its propably bacterial and a Dr is needed.

Great video. I was wondering, do your children speak English with a German accent or do they sound like real Kiwis? (I hope the term Kiwi isn't offensive to you -- I'm not sure.)

Quark is such a allrounder. My mom uses it for sunburns and sore throats among other things.

A lot of people think antibiotics can cure most of the infections one can get, but if your infection is viral, not bacterial, antibiotics don’t help at all. Instead they destroy your flora of the intestine and the excessive use of antibiotics may lead to the patient getting resistant to them. And this is really a big concern if you get a disease you need to take antibiotics for being cured.

Some time ago I had a lumbago, I think, I'm not sure. The most hurting pain I've ever experienced. I thought I would never be able to get out of the flat or call for help, because I would need to get up and use my back to do so. I wasn't sure what was causing the pain, vertebra, nerves or muscles. Relaxing the back wasn't a good idea either. It repeated the pain attacks without no caution. It took me two days to get on my feets again with a lot of thinking and a lot of try and error how to not strain your back. Walking to the doctor made it better and better, I was able walk faster and faster. At the doctor it was difficult to explain the symptoms because I walked there. The doctor never told me his diagnosis. I went to physio therapy for some weeks with a diagnosis as "lumbago-like" I guess. In hindsight, I think, no doctor was needed to be involved. You can heal a lumbago on your own. It's a shortened, and because of that, torn back muscle, I think. The other hindsight is, stretch all your muscles. Stay flexible.

We always use camomile and sage tea when we have a cold. It's really recommendable, because sage has a kind of antibiotic effect and camomile is good against inflammations.

Such great advice.

10:46 herbs Herbs have been used for healing and medical treatments for ages. If you're experiencing symptoms like fever, cough, and bronchitis, tea made from thyme or mint and eucalyptus essential oils can help to thin the mucus and clear your lungs. Your doctor may have recommended this type of tea to help you feel better.

Tea and enough sleep is great when you catch a cold, i personally like to use gelomyrtol, that is basically a Gel capsule with eucalytus oil. But i agree with the others here Antibiotics are way to overused causing issues of imunity when you actually need them.

Of course the german advice is different to new zeeland. it's upside down afterall :P It is indeed surprising, what tea and enough sleep can do for your body, when you are sick. If the nose is clogged, then you can even use it for inhalation, although I persenally prefere eucalyptus for that. Basically I'm running on Bepanthen for injuries, Wick for the nose and and tea + sleep for most of the rest. So far, it almost always is enough. That being sad, it's great, that you had such a good experience with our healt care providers. You seem to have found a group of very qualified doctors indeed.

I think the herbal tee just gives you to good things that help the immune system: warm water (enough liquid to wash out infections) and essential oils and other healty chemicals that support the immune system. The idea is to privide your body with what it needs to heal by itself, rather than disrupting the process by harsh poissions (such as antibiotics). You can even get a personased mix of tee at the phamacy if you want /need.

Regarding the answer to the ability of speaking english or arriving at a scheduled time and so on. Maybe it depends on the different meaning of "Yes" and "No" in German and Anglo-Saxons. In German, a "Yes" is unconditionally. So if you ask a German, if he can speak English, unless he is absolut perfect, will answer "No, but a little bit...", when you ask a German, "Can you meet me at 5.00 p.m.?" he will answer "No, but I can arrive at 5.05 p.m." An American will answer "Yes!", but will never show up. This is one cause, why Germans are regarded as rude, because they frequently answer with "No".

Next time, you should try Bronchipret

Alles gute und Liebe! 😊

Thanks for sharing these and ur views

Here in Belgium doctors will also only prescribe antibiotics as a last resort. In your last example throat ache is often viral so antibiotics will not help anyway. My doctor will also recommend to drink tea with some honey and if my throat is really painfull some painkilling mints. And sirop if I have a wet cough. In Belgium we also have quark and call it "witte kaas" (which means "white cheese" in Flemish/Dutch). I was also raised with 2 languages, Flemish/Dutch and French. My mom always spoke French to me and my dad Flemish/Dutch. In my first year of speaking I mingled both languages and then I guess I realised that they were 2 different languages and spoke them seperately. Although my mom's Flemish/Dutch was really good by the time I was 5-6 and she had barely an accent I always spoke French with her. If I was having a conversation with both my parents and I looked at my mom first and then my dad, I would switch languages midsentence.

Hello from Switzerland, you definitely got a doctor to my liking, as long as there is an acceptable and sensible natural option, use it instead of resorting to medication straight away. I remember a few years ago I had a severe flu with frontal sinus suppuration (which I wasn't even aware of), a doctor gave me advice on the phone (this is common with some health insurance models in our country, although a visit to the doctor would also be possible), she named me some medications, when I asked her whether home remedies (alternative methods) could be used, she immediately and without further ado switched to giving me ginger tea (Grate the ginger yourself with a cheese grater) with honey, inhaling with salt water vapors, etc. All of this worked, perhaps more slowly Medication, but I was completely happy with it. I think, wherever possible and sensible, you should first see whether you can combat the cause with alternative means and avoid doctors who immediately prescribe antibiotics without really knowing the cause (unfortunately, this type of treatment has become commonplace very common in recent years!). I also think the tip regarding German/English is absolutely correct. If you also send your child to a playgroup or daycare center, he or she will also learn German from other children and even more so later during school time. My grandchildren are growing up more or less with three languages, with each part simply speaking to them in their own language, and the rest comes naturally. Not only do they absorb everything like a sponge, I love hearing how and what children think, how they come to certain conclusions, a very interesting thing that we should keep in mind from time to time, because the simple way of thinking can be amazingly clear and logical from their perspective. Remember, TV remote controls and other things, they will soon know better than you 🤣.

My priority to get well is naturophathy like " Kneipp`sche " applications, finnish sauna , complete nutrition, light and air baths and other options. I didn`t need antibiotics last 20 years 🍒🍓🥑🥦

My grandma (born 1933) used to be a primary school teacher in mountain villages of northern Italy. She told me some parents would try to teach Italian to their children without speaking the language properly. It was then much harder for her to re-teach Italian to these pupils rather than start from scratch with those only speaking the local dialects 😊 Very different situation, very similar "life lesson"!

In my town we had a doctor called "Dr. Zitronentee", was a very good doctor.

I had a broken angle this Summer, after a whole the ancle was still swollen. The doc recommended leaves of cabbage to pack around and wrapp it with foil, than put socks over. And it helped.

Yeah the Herbal tea thing I hear about a lot XD. Tea only really helps with sinus congestion or maybe some throat soreness especially if you add honey or lemon. Other than that it's not doing anything lol. If it's the common cold or the flu you don't need antibiotics cuz it's not a bacterial infection. I'm also pretty shocked about the first scenario. Just apply this yogurt like substance to your breast.... XD I think I would've thought they were crazy but I'm glad it worked. And it makes me wonder if other dairy products would work.

Quark, like many other dairy products in the EU, is fairly rich in natural bacteria that change the texture and flavor of milk. The bacteria count (of beneficial bacteria) for dairy products in the EU is quite a lot higher than in the USA (or probably even Canada). How it compares to New Zealand, I can't say. On a very technical base, Quark is a type of cream cheese. Compare it to Philadelphia in texture, but more moist, and tiny, fine sand-grain sized kernels in it (yes, these are actually curd). So while I also have never heard of Quark being used for mystitis, I can completely see how the bacteria in a DAIRY product might improve the bacterial environment of milk ducts, or even the milk glands if applied as a topiary. Especially if the breast and the milk ducts are cleared before, it might allow easier ingress of these beneficial bacteria into the body, thus fighting off whatever inflamation is currently in the breast. The cooling effect however is irrefutable. Applying a Quarkumschlag, a Quark compress, to an inflamed or sore throat as a topiary treatment definitely has a soothing component. If that has any MEDICAL effect, I have no idea. However, soothing effects MAY assist in the patient FEELING better, which may result in faster recovery. Placebo effects also may apply as well. Again, I don't know for certain. The Schorle (any kind of sparkling water mixed with any other kind of drink, be it juices, or even wine) CAN be detrimental to small childrens teeth, as shown by my youngest niece (who is now fully grown). During her earliest years she LOVED guzzling on Apfelschorle in her bottle. It may have been the pacifier, it may have been the sugar content, it may have been genetics; I don't know the full answer. But in any case her baby teeth developed cavities very quickly, and it even affected the teeth developing in her jaw. So she went on a strict non-sugar drinks 'diet' from then on. Again, I won't say that this WILL happen to your child if you allow them to drink Apfelschorle. Probably most will be fine with a reasonable amount on a regular basis (but not exclusively). Just know about the possibility; no matter how small or significant the chance, that it MAY affect your child potentially. Hot teas help a lot in softening and loosening mucus. This allows the body to get rid of mucus in inflamed tissue easier, giving it a fighting chance in getting rid of infections on its own. Some teas even have soothing properties like salvia for rough, sore areas in your throat. Which is also a place where infections are more likely to spread. So while the tea itsself doesn't help fight off the infection itself, it does assist the body in secondary ways. Antibiotics should NOT be prescribed unless really, really necessary. The overabundant prescription of antibiotics for any issue has led to the medical community finding that there are a load of multi-resistant strains of bacteria. In many cases ony a small number of antibiotics actually work for these multi-resistant bacteria; in some cases it has gone down to two or even one antibiotic that still works. These antibiotics are usually those that are NOT normally used due to their incredible list of side effects. But in severe cases doctors will break out these versions when the choice is bad side effects vs either permanent, chronic illness, or maybe even death. But doctors are reluctant to use them, as there is always the chance that among the billions of bacteria cells in any infected area a significantly large number have evolved to be resistant to those last few antibiotics. Which may result in developing a strain that is resistant to ALL antibiotics. THAT'S when things get dangerous, because at that point there is nothing effective doctors can do to fight off an infection anymore. In those cases they have to break out simply supportive medical care and basically hope for the best; ie the patient's body fighting off the infection on its own. If these completely resistant bacteria now spread to other patients we get epidemics/pandemics. Imagine something like the whooping cough returning, without any methods to treat it.

I have a German mother and an American father, I was raised totally bilingually and except for a few "gemischte pickles" it worked really well.

The Quark also helpd with joint pain. Put Quark on a piece of cloth, put it on the joint and the wrap it with plastic , like cling film, so it stays where it is put. Leavi it on over night - the joint will be much better in the morning!

This is just so real! 😅 The german remedy Kräutertee!

The most important point is, to be able to say to the children how mutch you love them. And this you can do in you natural language. The local language the child will learn when you interact with locals. If you do not do this, this will give problems...

Quark ist the First step to produce cheese...

It’s not only the opportunity to speak more languages - it’s also about the emotion you give to your child. You can only real transport emotions in your mother tongue. Therefore for a good bound it is necessary to speak in your „heard language“. Love from Austria 🇦🇹

I am shocked you consider doctors not prescribing antibiotics a quack. Antibiotics can be really damaging to your health.

The advice about how you speak to your children actually goes beyond the profession of (most) Dr. med.s, but they were totally right in giving it! Also the reasoning was correct: you have to learn one language fluently on a native level to learn another language on a similar level. So that is the "academic reason", but you actually mentioned another reason: You mentioned that even now and even more so 10 years ago, you had a have a hard time to express your emotions and feelings in German. And I think that is the best reason for any parent to talk in their native language to their children, because it would be so horrible to take that away from a parent to properly communicate their emotions to their children! I am actually wondering, if there was research done on that yet, because I think it might be possible, that it not only has an effect on the children's ability to use language, but also on their emotional maturing, if the parents never properly can communicate their feelings and emotions.

My advice to you for the next flu or viral infection: stay at home, give yourself a good rest, tea, chicken soup, hot water bottle AND MANUKA HONEY 😅 and when you're in NZ for holidays: buy it from there as it is very expensive. That is New Zealand 's gold.

20 years ago doctors did prescribe antibiotics easily but with multi resisting germs coming up that changed qickly and they´re only used for certain infections, otherwise they recommand to use things which naturally have antibiotic attributes like chamomile, oinions etc.

We have a lot of "Hausmittel" from our mothers, grandmothers, that are passed down in the family. The quark compress is an ancient home remedy and, due to its cooling effects, is used against a variety of complaints that are accompanied by pain, inflammation and/or swelling. My daughter once asked me how I knew all this and I said from my mother and she knows from her mother and now she knows!

I used also Quark when I have had pain while breast feeding. It worked well. I use Quark also by knee pain.

If you make Apfelschorle from scrage, it's even better (Apfelsaft and sparkling mineralwater ), because in the bought stuff is so much other stuff in it and I thing it's a waste of money😀

Of course herbs are very beneficial. I would trust such a doctor so much more! I mean for thousands and thousands of years herbs was all humanity had to treat diseases - tribes and even animals use them still - so why shouldn't we? Staying as close to nature as possible is definitely much better than bombarding simple germs with harmful chemicals. Besides, antibiotics are quite bad for the body and have negative long-term effects. You only need to know what herb does what, because they are quite different.

to the last point about the herbal tea: antibiotics only help, if it's a bacterial infection. if the doctor can rule that out, you will not be given antibiotics. for a viral infection, you basically have to ride it out. some tee blends made in apothecaries are good for the lungs or soothe your throat. also, it's a warm drink. that will help as well.

A friend of mine is using Quark if she has a light sun burn! Aplying it on the skin has the same effect than you used it for your breast! It`s cooling of the heated skin !

We just had tea with lemon and honey for colds. When I was getting chemo I sipped on seagrams gingerale all day and for me it worked better than ondansetron that was prescribed for nausea. The reason for the brand name is some gingerales aren’t made with real ginger and those won’t work. Bundaberg would also work and you can see the bits of ginger at the bottom of the bottle, and it is a soft drink not beer as in the name(ginger beer).

Very good advice,my mother spoke german with us and know i can‘t talk to my relatives in my mothertongue,when they can‘t german i feel very left out…

quark does actually count as a sort of cream cheese... ithink the most similar products are curd, skyr and maybe ricotta...

For viral infections, antibiotics won't do anything and the overuse of antibiotics is already a massive problem. The tea won't do any miracles, though it may make you feel a little better (and be it just because it's warm). If you have a cold, it will usually go away within about a week, the doctor could just as well tell you to just rest and let your immune system fight off the infection on its own but a lot of people feel better if they can do *something* and the tea at least doesn't have any unwelcome side-effects.

There are some old treatments, which are pretty effective, if the doctors knows them and dares to utter them. I had a stalled digestion and got treated with hard-medication until I went to a doctor on the country side. He prescribed me white spirit (Schnapps) and roasted toast with strawberry jam each time I had hunger or felt the urge to consume something to eat, and it worked pretty well! Okay, I was pretty smashed the first 3 days but stull it was a great improvement. 10:15 I agree on the estimation that kids need to be confronted with junk food every now and then to "harden" them against abuse of that stuff when being adults. I noticed it pretty early that wine gum and liquorice were a topic for my kids. So they get it every now and then like McDononalds crap just to raise the resilience and also waken the appreciation of good food. 1 Example: I make Currywurst and Pommes. To make thesauce takes ~2 hours and it improves the perception of good and bad food, but it also raises the joy of food IMHO 12:00 Tea is one of the greatest thing to recover from sickness. Especially when your respirational system is involved.

Excellent language advice! Some parents just switch to the language of their host country, thinking it's easier for the children, they won't be confused. This is nonsense, young children pick up languages very easily. My brother (German) and his wife (German) emigrated to the UK when their daughter was 9, she spoke perfect German when they left, but on arrival in the UK they decided to speak English at home, "because they were in an English-speaking country" - now the daughter and her younger brother speak no German. Years ago when we emigrated to South Africa from Germany (I was 5), my father wanted us to speak English at home, but my mother insisted we speak German. I'm eternally grateful, as I'm now fluent in German, English and Afrikaans. I don't even remember learning English and Afrikaans, it just happened. However, at my current age I now find it a lot harder to learn Russian. Antoinette, in closing, here's something your husband will enjoy: shortly after arriving in South Africa my mother tried to strike up a conversation with an elderly Afrikaans woman, looking at my mom she said, "ek is doof", to which my mom replied, "nein, sie sind nicht doof" ("doof" in Afrikaans means "deaf"). Years ago before I met my wife she visited Germany during a heatwave, she was uncomfortably hot, which she translated as, "ich bin heiß". 🙂

In the USA my doctors are much more reluctant to prescribe antibiotics than they were when I was young that is for certain. When I was a kid every cold or flu we got we would run to the doc and they'd give out antibiotics. Not anymore they make sure you actually have an infection first and most of the time recommend natural remedies like Saline solution, rest, time, and maybe cough drops. I am interested in the quark solution to the clogged duct I wonder if it would work the same with our yogurt or something else that is very fascinating. Also, my feelings on the subject of sweets for children are much the same teach them to use moderation and judgment there is no bad food but there are foods we should have with mindfulness. Like for example here in the USA we are just after Halloween so we have. a ton of candy in the house my strategy with it has been to keep it out of reach but readily give it in small amounts and if they have anything else super sweet explain they had enough sugar in x they don't need to have more.

throwing antibiotics at every little thing you have makes sure it won't work when you really need em. when they're useful, utilize them AND DO NOT stop before you used up the entire prescription (that leaves antibiotica resistant bacteria behind)