When you see the word mustard, what usually comes to mind is the yellow stuff that gets plastered on a bun before the hot dog. This is the very substance that could save your life.

There are several different types of this health-giving plant: white mustard, black mustard, and leaf mustard. The white and black are raised for their seeds, and the leaf, as one might guess, is raised for its tender greens. The yellow stuff that comes in bottles with squeeze holes is the ground seed of black mustard, usually mixed with vinegar and a host of secret ingredients. The idea of mustard seed paste is universal, but each and every culture adds its own touch to the mixture. The common ingredient is mustard flour or sinapine; the materials that keep the mustard glued together are what vary from country to country. The French make their mustard with whole berries and white wine vinegar, the Chinese make theirs with rice wine vinegar, and the Americans make theirs with artificial flavorings, preservatives, and yellow dye. By the way, mustard is not naturally yellow, and mustard that is bright yellow is colored with something that probably isn’t a tonic by nature.

Mustard is widely used in South America to induce vigor.

The mustard plant is a relation of cabbage and broccoli, a member of the family that’s had so much press lately as being anticancer. The condiment mustard has its roots in health, and all of the cultures that smear it on their sandwiches originally did so to preserve their well being. The paste was thought to aid in digestion and lead to extra vitality.

Hey, next time you have the mustard out for a sandwich, take your shoes and socks off and smear some on the bottoms of your feet – it’s an old European country cure for bodily debility. Who knows, it may work. Mustard plasters are an official treatment to reduce fever worldwide. I must say that I would never have thought to use mustard on anything other than corned beef, but scratch the surface in the mustard arena, and you will be surprised what you find.

White mustard (Sinapis alba) seems to be indigenous to the southern countries of Europe and Western Asia, from which, according to Chinese authors, it was introduced into China. Formerly it was not distinguished from black mustard. Like black mustard, over which it is preferred on account of its color and mildness, white mustard is an exceedingly popular stimulating condiment.

Black mustard (Brassica nigra) is found over the whole of Europe, excepting the extreme north. It also abounds in northern Africa, Asia Minor, the Caucasian region, western India, southern Siberia, and China, as well as in North and South America, where it is now naturalized. Known to the ancients, it seems to have been used more as a medicine than as a condiment in early times, but in 300 B.C., Diocletian spoke of its use with food in the eastern part of the Roman Empire. During the Middle Ages, Europeans esteemed it as an accompaniment to salted meats. They found that mustard, like mint, aided the digestion. Gerard was talking about eating it with meats in 1696, as we do to this day.

Leaf mustard has been developed for use as a salad and cooking green. It is more widely used in Asia than in the United States, but anyone with a relative in the South has been offered a plate of the mushy stuff alongside fried chicken.

The familiar saying, enough is enough, is quite appropriate in the case of mustard: a little mustard guarantees health, a little too much mustard, and you can plan to spend the day hanging over the john, losing what health you once had. You see, mustard has been used both as a tonic and as a purging agent. The rule of thumb is that if you’ve taken too much, your stomach will most kindly fill you in.

Like vomiting, constipation is an ugly experience, and in the Tennessee hills where, as in other rural parts of the United States, wild mustard is a traditional spring tonic herb, every mother has a number of tricks up her sleeve to speed the elimination process along. One recipe uses one tablespoon of ground white mustard seed mixed with a syrup made of four cups of water and two cups of honey, to be taken a tablespoon at a time, once a day. The Arabs use a similar concoction for the same problem.

In 1475, Bjornsson had this to say about our favorite relish: "mustard whets a man’s wits, and it loosens the belly, breaks the stones, and purges the urine, if one eats mustard, that strengthens the stomach and lessens its sickness. Crushed mustard in vinegar heals vipers bite. With mustard one may cauterize." Along these lines, mustard is widely used in South America to induce vigor. The leaves are laid on skin afflictions, and the seeds are seen as speedy treatments for liver and spleen complaints. As the plant is packed with volatile oils with proven antimicrobial properties, both practices make scientific sense.

One of the oldest widespread uses for mustard is in the treatment of colds. As Gerard noted, "It is given with good success in like manner to such as be short winded, and are stopped in the breast with tough flegme from the head and brain." In the southern United States, mustard still factors into home cures for head colds. One informant tells that mustard leaves scalded and applied to the chest will prevent pneumonia, another suggests plasters made of ground mustard seed, and a third recommends a hot foot bath seasoned with ground seed for colds and grippe. A folk cure from Utah includes three parts mustard, two parts cornstarch and water. The grandmother who laid this one on us insisted that if you drink this concoction, it will absolutely cure you. It might make you spit up, but it will cure you of your cold just the same.

Aside from colds, mustard has been considered the plant par excellence in treating a bad dose of the rheumatism, otherwise known as the achy bones and general fatigue sometimes associated with age but not necessarily. Either the mustard is mixed with mutton fat and applied to the affected part, the plant is boiled and the feet are soaked in the resulting warm liquid, or teaspoons of the ground powder are mixed with honey and taken internally. These are also considered effective treatments for paralysis.

This business of using mustard in footbaths is again found in India. The Indians reiterate that mustard is good for fevers and rheumatism, but they also go on to say that it is excellent for general fatigue. The next time you get yourself all worked into a frenzy and feel that special kind of tired that comes on before a cold sets in, fill the spaghetti pan with hot water and freshly ground mustard, and stick in your feet for a spell. The Indians go on to suggest that some mustard be put in the navel at the same time for a double whammy treatment to be done before bed. Once again, it’s preventative medicine. I don’t know about the navel, but the foot procedure seems worth a try.

One of my favorite uses of mustard also comes from Gerard. "It helpeth those that have their hair pulled off; it taketh away the blue and black marks that come of bruisings." When I read this, I instantly imagine fourteenth century lads and maidens at the town square, pulling each other’s hair out in big clumps and laughing wildly. In case anyone ever pulls your hair out, it’s nice to know to get the bottle out and smear some mustard on your head.