¡Fantástico! Top Folk Remedies from Around the World

We asked Reader’s Digest editors at our international editions to share their popular home health treatments. Here are the ones that check out with scientific research.

1 PORTUGAL

Garlic for Warts, Corns, and Calluses

In Portugal, garlic isn’t just for flavoring food. Many people use it to get rid of corns and calluses (the thickening and hardening of skin at pressure points on the hands and feet) and warts (the small growths caused by the human papillomavirus, or HPV, that can occur anywhere on the body). In fact, research from 2005 published in the International Journal of Dermatology showed that all warts treated with garlic extract disappeared within two weeks, and corns disappeared for 80 percent of subjects after three weeks. Garlic capsules could also provide some overall antibiotic protection.

Evidence It Works: The main component of garlic, allicin, is said to have topical antibacterial effects. But be careful not to allow raw garlic to touch healthy skin for prolonged periods, as it can cause burning and irritation.

2 FRANCE

Vinegar to Aid Digestion

French folklore has it that during a plague in the 17th century, a gang of four thieves would rob corpses yet never catch the plague themselves. Supposedly, rubbing a concoction of vinegar and herbs (including garlic, rosemary, sage, cinnamon, mint, camphor, and more) on their heads and hands protected them. Today, the French vinaigre desquatre voleurs (“four thieves’ vinegar”) has many uses, including as a type 2 diabetes treatment and an appetite suppressant.