7 Health Lessons From The Irish

Tomorrow is St. Patrick's Day, a holiday that's earned itself an unhealthy rap by encouraging binge drinking and over-eating. But at the root of the March 17th celebration is an opportunity to honor the history of Ireland -- whether it's part of your heritage or not. It's a day to spend time with friends and acknowledge our own histories. And believe it or not, there are also great health lessons to be learned from the Irish.

When we asked around the Huffington Post newsroom, one editor (who estimates she's, well, 15/16ths Irish) told us she remembers a tradition of using garlic to ease an earache. Another editor, born in Ireland, says there was no hangover a raw egg and some water couldn't cure (don't try this one at home -- raw eggs can be a health hazard.)

Here, seven pieces of advice we gleaned from our Irish friends. Enjoy the tips and share your own from the Emerald Isle.

Comments

[dpkjj]

11:47 PM on 03/17/2012

When I saw the headline, I thought the article was going to say "A six-pack and a potato. Sorry, I couldn't resist.

[elcerritan]

02:03 PM on 03/17/2012

Note to HuffPost photo selectors: A shamrock (with THREE leaves), not a four-leaf clover, is the appropriate visual for a St. Paddy's day themed story.

[mlm2005]

09:30 AM on 03/17/2012

A shamrock only has 3 leaves. LOL Get that clover out of here!

[elcerritan]

02:04 PM on 03/17/2012

Oops didn't see your comment before I posted mine. Heh.

[Lily P]

07:45 PM on 03/16/2012

Who drinks ONE beer? OMG.

[Teri Knauer-Schafer]

06:02 PM on 03/16/2012

Binge drinking will give us a headache. Although when life gets to stressful you can get up then land back down for an assessment of being.

[bahkey]

04:34 PM on 03/16/2012

Don't kiss the Blarney stone, All the locals urinate on it then laugh at the tourist with their
"I kissed the Blarney stone" T- shirts.

[kevinmac200]

08:09 PM on 03/17/2012

Should probably get a shirt that says 'I pissed the Blarney Stone'.

[bahkey]

08:35 PM on 03/17/2012

"On" , LOLOL I pissed A Blarney stone sounds painful. Tilt a pint for me.

[sammysaw]

04:26 PM on 03/16/2012

A lot of things here are comically false/in dire need of an update. Has the person who wrote this been to Ireland in the past year? Point me in the direction of one person in Ireland who has only one drink when going to a pub. That's something that simply doesn't exist. As historyaccessdotcom posted below, Ireland is a binge drinking culture.

Also, to suggest that mainstream Ireland subscribes to natural beauty practices is like saying the same of Los Angeles. In Dublin, for instance, Irish people spend more on (chemical) hair treatments, makeup, and beauty procedures than most Americans do. This isn't even taking into consideration their widespread addiction to fake tan (pick a young girl out of an Irish crowd at random - chances are her skin colour will be orange, not white).

And last but not least: "the luck of the Irish"?? The poor Irish people have been royally screwed over time and time again by oppressive cultures and more pertinently now, their corrupt government. The national spirit is effectively broken because of horrible things that have happened to them that are beyond their control. It's terrible, and talking to an Irish person about their culture's so-called "luck" will provoke peals of laughter, nothing else.

[Chuck Bluestein]

03:52 PM on 03/16/2012

What makes potatoes so good for blood pressure is that it is one of the hgihest sources of potassium. A medium size potato has 800 milligrams of potassium. Americans consume too much sodium (from salt which is not a food) and not enough potassium. The ratio for Americans is about 2:1 sodium to potassium.

40% of Americans over the age of 40 have high blood pressure. Wherever in the world where the ratio is 5:1 potassium to sodium, the number of people with high blood pressure is less than 1%. http://bit.ly/vMHEOm So people should consume more potassium and less sodium. Webmd has an article saying that cutting down on salt is as good for the heart as quitting smoking.

[historyaccessdotcom]

03:37 PM on 03/16/2012

Sure, yeah, I supppose it's possible there's some good advice in this piece. On the other hand I would note the following for the record: (1) Ireland has the second-highest cancer rate in the world; (2) "Ireland's death rate from heart disease is one of the highest in Europe" - www.heart.ire; (3) "A binge-drinking culture could be behind Northern Ireland's high rates of heart disease." - Irish Medical Times; (4) "A third of the Irish population now smokes....it is the highest smoking rate recorded here in 11 years." - Irish Independent, 2009; (5) Headline: "The Disgrace of Ireland's Blood Pressure Statistics." - Irish Medical Times 5/08. Etc. Etc. Etc.

[sabelmouse]

02:36 PM on 03/17/2012

i live here. atrocious diet and everybody smokes and drinks. i don't know anybody who uses natural beauty products either , except myself and the people in the health food shop of course.
this seems like typical american old country sentimentality.

[ncyim]

10:07 PM on 03/17/2012

How's the GMO situation in Ireland? I was in Dublin 2 years ago and didn't get sick with food allergies once, where I'm always sick going out to eat in the states.

[m5d7]

01:37 PM on 03/16/2012

Cute story, good advice

[elcerritan]

02:06 PM on 03/17/2012

Nothing to do with Ireland, though.