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HERBS
FOR RESPIRATORY HEALTH
  
January in
Central Texas
is the middle of the winter.
Wintertime means sneezes, coughs, colds and
flu for many of us. Even if you can avoid a cold, you may be susceptible
to the ever present “Cedar Fever,” which seems to be worsening every
year. To maintain good respiratory health, it is wise to breathe fresh,
clean air, exercise regularly and eat a healthy, nutritious diet while
limiting mucous-forming foods such as dairy products, eggs, refined
processed food and an excess of sugars.
Including some respiratory tonic herbs, as a
daily or weekly tea, will strengthen and enhance the functioning of your
lungs, larynx, trachea, pleural cavities, throat and nose.
My favorite native
Texas
wildflower, Purple Coneflower,
Echinacea Purpurea,
is an excellent herb used as a blood purifier, having antibacterial and
detoxifying effects.
Echinacea is an immune system
enhancer, increasing bodily resistance to infection.
That is why many of you already take
Echinacea at the onset of cold
and/or flu symptoms.
The entire plant is used, the root however being
the strongest part.
Use whenever bronchial inflammation, strep
throat, or chronic or acute bacterial and viral infections are apparent.
I process an incredibly potent
Extra Echinacea tincture
made from freshly harvested flowers and leaves (from the summertime) and
fall harvested roots, which are combined to create this powerful
tincture.
It is now ready and available but in limited
supply.
Order some now and stay healthy through the
season:
http://www.ezherbs.net/tinctures.htm
Two other easily grown
herbs that thrive in
Central Texas
and are often found growing nearby one another in the wild are
Horehound,
Marrubium
vulgare
and Mullein,
Verbascum
Thapsus.
Both of these herbs are useful expectorants, used
to expel excess mucous, and will tone, tighten and help dry out the
respiratory system.
Horehound
is an extremely bitter herb and its leaves are often used for coughs.
It will induce perspiration and is safely
used in combination with catnip for children’s coughs and fevers.
Horehound is often combined with other herbs
because of its bitterness and has been made into cough drops and the
cowboy’s favorite, “Horehound Candy.” The leaves and flowers of Mullein
are used for all lung complaints including coughs, hoarseness,
bronchitis and asthma. Mullein leaf tea can be drunk as a tonic and used
to strengthen a weak respiratory system. Oil from the flowers is also an
excellent remedy for ear infections. My Respiratory Resolve tincture
made from fresh Mullein and fresh Horehound has been beneficial to many.
Read a
testimonial:
Two Stimulant herbs helpful for the
Respiratory System are Cayenne,
Capsicum
annum and Ginger,
Zingerberis
officinalis.
Cayenne,
that hot red pepper that grows easily in our gardens, is used for winter
colds, congestion, infection and inflammation. Cayenne
adds warmth, helps break up phlegm, clears the sinuses and serves to
activate the action of other herbs in a formula.
One should use cayenne sparingly as it can be HOT!
The root of the Ginger plant, which
grows well in a shady section of your garden, is a quite versatile herb
used for the digestive system as well as the respiratory system.
A specific warming herb for the lungs it is
an excellent remedy for asthma and bronchial congestion.
Ginger also enhances the effects of other
herbs in a formula.
Ginger is wonderful to use fresh by dicing
or grating the root and making a decoction (a tea gently boiled for
twenty minutes) and drunk throughout your period of respiratory illness.
One of the strongest and best-known herbs
for the Respiratory System is Ephedra,
Ephedra
sinica.
Ephedra is also known in Chinese
Medicine as Ma Huang.
The stems and branches of this plant are
used for asthma, coughs, colds and congestion.
Ephedra can debilitate the adrenals and should be
used cautiously.
Several tea blends available in our local
health food stores contain Ephedra in their formulas.
I recommend that you drink these teas only
in the morning, as they can be quite powerful and may keep you awake at
night.
Many over-the-counter cold medications
contain Ephedrine and are widely used by the general public to alleviate
symptoms of colds, flu’s and lung congestion.
Finally, one of my all time favorite herbs,
Stinging Nettles,
Urtica diocia,
can be effectively used for asthma and as an antihistamine.
Nettles can also benefit the entire body as
it is high in nutrients such as Vitamins C, K, A, and Iron, Calcium and
Chlorophyll.
Nettles is also effective as a diuretic and
will reduce water retention during menstruation and acts as a blood
nourisher and purifier.
So you can see why Nettles is one of my favorites.
It will grow here during the cold months,
has to be carefully harvested as contact with its nettles will be a
memorable event!
It tastes delicious drunk as a fresh tea
and I recommend a Nettle tea or tincture to be taken by those suffering
from Cedar Fever. I have witnessed a positive effect of Nettles tincture
by a young woman suffering with a runny nose, watering eyes, all as a
result of Cedar Fever.
A few dropperfuls of
Nettles
tincture, with
its natural anti-histamine effect, helped her immediately. A homeopathic
remedy for Cedar Fever is to eat one Juniper berry a day for a few weeks
prior to the Cedar pollen break out.
If you do it, it works. Remember to spit
out the pit!!!
Our nose, throat and lungs need to be taken
seriously and never ignored as without the breath of life we would cease
to exist.
Breathing clean air, getting enough rest and
exercise and eating wisely is always our first defense against illness.
When you do encounter a cold or cough,
remember our green friends; make a tea, or keep a tincture at your
bedside and heal yourself patiently and lovingly.
Don’t forget that Chicken Soup is always
good when having a cold, especially when you decoct Echinacea Root in it
for the last twenty minutes.
Stay healthy y’all.
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