Sara Altshul has been writing about alternative medicine for more than a decade. She says she inherited her interest in natural healing from her Irish grandmother, Helen “Nonnie” Murray, whose bizarre collection of home remedies included the bacon cough cure (don’t ask), mustard plasters, pine tar soap, apple cider vinegar, and brandy.

Sara co-authored New Choices in Natural Healing for Women and A Woman’s Book of Healing Herbs and was Prevention magazine’s alternative medicine editor for six years. During her time there, she was invited to testify as an expert before the White House Commission on Complementary and Alternative Medicine, and won a National Health Information Award for her story, “Nothing Left to Lose,” about alternative cancer treatments.

Her freelance articles have appeared in Better Homes & Gardens, Prevention, More, and Health magazines. She lived in Rome and Orvieto, Italy for three years before moving back home to New York City in 2007. Currently, she’s senior editor for Better Health & Living magazine, where she writes frequently about alternative medicine.

Read Sara’s recent posts.

(PHOTO: SARA ALTSHUL)