Boost immunity and beat the flu with these powerful medicines found in your kitchen garden.
As winter lingers on, so unfortunately does cold and flu season. Here are six common garden herbs that help to boost immunity and alleviate aching, nagging, cold and flu symptoms:
Republished with permission from growingspaces.com
Sage
Called the “thinker’s tea”, sage has been shown to enhance memory, relieve sore throats, and alleviate painful cramping in the gut. Sage is also anti-bacterial and a natural antiseptic that is high in vitamin K, vitamin C, and vitamin A.
Drink sage tea – your sore throat will thank you as it tightens and tones the irritated and swollen tissue.
Make Sage Tea: Pour 1 cup of hot water over 1 teaspoon of dried sage or 2 teaspoons of fresh leaves. Steep for 10 minutes and strain.
Thyme
Thyme helps with digestion, immune support, and pain relief so try making a thyme tea to ease your sore throat – especially if it comes with a thick white coating on the tongue, congested mucus in the lungs, and spasmodic coughing. Thyme tea also promotes pain relief from headaches, cramps, and body aches that are common territory of the flu. Moreover, it’s anti-bacterial, anti-inflammatory, and aides respiratory ailments – and it’s a mood enhancer that fights depression. Yes, please, I’ll have some.
Make Thyme Tea: Pour 1 cup of hot water over 1 teaspoon of dried thyme or 2 teaspoons of fresh leaves. Steep for 10 minutes and strain.
Peppermint
Peppermint is an herbal tea favourite – and for good reason. It tastes good and it’s refreshing, cooling and soothing. Peppermint opens pores in the body and gives an escape route for excess heat when you have a fever. It also helps an upset stomach, colds, flu, fever, headaches, and sinus congestion.
Make Peppermint Tea: Pour 1 cup of hot water over 1 teaspoon of dried Peppermint or 2 teaspoons of fresh leaves. Steep for 10 minutes and strain.
Also, peppermint is an excellent choice for an herbal steam to break up congestion.
Make Peppermint Steam: Pour just-boiled water over a handful of leaves in a medium sized bowl. Put a towel over your head and place your face just above the bowl. Catch and breathe in the rising steam. Make the temperature as warm as you can without burning yourself.
Garlic
With antiviral, anti-inflammatory, and anti-fungal benefits, garlic has been used for health and healing for thousands of years. It is by far one of the most powerful immune boosting herbs. Eat it cooked or eat it fresh and raw, garlic should be one of your mainstay herbs for flu season.
Rosemary
Another of the common herbs for flu, rosemary can help with a fever during the beginning stages when you’re cold and shivering.
It’s another one for the memory banks too – similar to sage, rosemary boosts memory, and contains many beneficial properties:
- anti-inflammatory
- vitamin C
- vitamin A
- renowned for fighting infection
- anti-fungal
- antibacterial
- antiseptic
Make Rosemary Tea: Pour 1 cup of hot water over 1 teaspoon of dried rosemary or 2 teaspoons of fresh leaves. Steep for 10 minutes and strain.Also, Rosemary is another great herb for a congestion breaking herbal steam:
Make Rosemary Steam: Pour just-boiled water over a handful of leaves in a medium sized bowl. Put a towel over your head and place your face just above the bowl. Catch and breathe in the rising steam. Make the temperature as warm as you can without burning yourself.
Parsley
Parsley is not necessarily on the list to fight cold and flu symptoms. However, it builds health in many ways – it can be used medicinally as a diuretic and is overall beneficial to the urinary system.It relieves stagnant digestion, bloating, constipation, and gas, while also stimulating a healthy appetite. It’s also an excellent source of folate and vitamin K1, giving possible benefits to heart health.
Fresh parsley is high in antioxidants and helps reduce systemic inflammations in the body. It also freshens your breath, so as you munch cloves of garlic this flu season, chase it down with a handful of parsley. Everyone will thank you!
Republished with permission from growingspaces.com
For more natural cold and flu remedies, see Green+Simple’s guide.
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