Homeopathic remedies are safe, effective medicine that is easy to use and easy to store, making them perfect for people who want to be prepared for a crisis situation or simply to care for their family at home.

I learned the power of homeopathy firsthand, first in my own life and then in caring for my family. I raised my three now-adult sons with nothing but homeopathy and dogged determination to maintain control over my family’s health choices. I eventually became a homeopath myself. My mission since that time has been to empower caregivers with the knowledge and confidence to become the healers of their family.

Knowing how to use homeopathy can give you the self mastery and independence you seek and the confidence that you can care for your family’s health even when doctors are not readily available.

Homeopathy is greatly misunderstood in North America but is widely accepted in Europe, India and South America. This form of medicine was actually quite popular in North America during the late 1800s and early 1900s. At one time, the United States was home to more than 100 homeopathic hospitals and 22 homeopathic medical schools. Homeopathy had an outstanding reputation for curing epidemics, such as the Spanish Flu of 1918. Unfortunately, with the introduction of antibiotics, the so-called miracle drugs, and a massive campaign by the American Medical Association and the pharmaceutical companies, homeopathy fell out of favor.

Over time, however, we learned that conventional drug-based medicine simply masks symptoms, usually without getting to the root cause, and as anyone who has seen a TV commercial for one of these drugs knows, most drugs have many harmful side effects. Homeopathy gets to the root of the illness by triggering the body’s own healing process to return the body to a natural state of well being, with no side effects. And it has no fads or fancies. The same homeopathic remedies used in the 1800s are still used today to treat the same diseases. What could be better or more powerful than that?

And here’s another great advantage of homeopathy: if properly stored, homeopathic remedies will last a lifetime. When you buy remedies, they often have an expiration date for legal reasons, but I discovered firsthand that these dates can be ignored.

While doing research for my first book years ago, I frequented the University of Buffalo’s Medical Library, where they archived homeopathy medical books and remedy kits used in Buffalo homeopathic hospitals from the 1800s to 1940s.

One day, while in the throes of exploration in an old section of the library, I contracted a monumental headache, likely from the moldy and dusty surroundings. Before me sat a homeopathy kit circa 1900. I asked myself, “Am I stealing by taking a dose or is this furthering my research?” Whether it was the call of science or the pain in my forehead (I can’t say which was more compelling), I took a dose of Kali bichromium 30, and within 20 minutes, the pain melted away. The pills were at least 110 years old, yet they were just as efficacious as the kit I keep in my linen closet!

Can you think of anything like this in modern medicine?

Yeah, me neither.

Have I convinced you to give homeopathy a try? Let’s take a look at a few easy-to-use remedies that every household should have: