This past weekend we represented our farm at a local festival. It’s one we do every year so our customers plan their shopping trips with us. We try to have the products that are expected, but we missed one very important item. It seemed like every third person was looking for our sage gargle kit for sore throats! I usually think of this item as important to stock in the winter during cold and flu season, but I was wrong.Everyone is back to school and the convergence of an exposure to all new germs with a really tough ragweed season is hitting pretty hard. There are two main nuisance issues right now – catarrh and sore throats.
Steaming is another effective treatment to loosen up mucus and phlegm in your throat. Breathing in steam allows the vapors to travel down your throat and loosen up clogged mucus, thus providing instant relief. Infusing the water with herbs adds additional healing effects. You shouldn’t delay medical treatment if your throat tickle is accompanied by other, more serious symptoms such as a high fever, chills, or breathing difficulties. To ease a throat tickle, try the following: Gargle with salt water. Add no more than 1/2 teaspoon of salt to 8 ounces of water and gargle it in your mouth.
What is catarrh?Do you feel like you have to constantly clear your throat? Catarrh is simply excess mucus in the sinus cavity or throat. The drainage that occurs in either of these areas irritates the throat and causes a constant need to “clear your throat.” The problem can be temporary or chronic. Temporary catarrh is what we experience when we have a cold. Chronic catarrh is usually caused by an allergy to something in your environment or an unidentified food sensitivity.Have you ever heard someone refer to a food as “mucus producing”? Pasteurized milk is the one that comes to mind right away. It isn’t that the food produces mucus in and of itself, but that it causes inflammation in the body.
When our mucus membranes are irritated they are perfectly engineered to produce mucus. Unfortunately, this self-defense mechanism has become the target of medicine rather than the reason it has been stimulated. While you hunt down the cause of the problem, here is a simple morning tonic to drink to clear it out and find relief. Morning Tonic for Throat ReliefIngredients.
juice of 2 oranges. juice of 2 lemons. 2 Tbsp.
3-4 cloves of garlic. ¼ inch piece of gingerDirectionsAdd all of the ingredients into a blender and pulse until everything is juicy. Drink at least ¼ cup each morning.
Treating a Sore ThroatA sore throat can be due to an illness as the body’s immune system is under attack, or it can be a raggedness brought on by breathing in airborne pollen. Either way, one of my favorite remedies is sage ( Salvia officinalis) tea. (Find organic sage leaf.)This weekend I didn’t have our sage gargle blend but we did have our sage infused honey which is almost as good. Just about anyone can use sage tea for a sore throat.
The only group that needs to be careful about overdoing it would be nursing mothers. More than a little bit of sage in your diet and you nursing mothers can see a dip in milk supply.One other specific herb for an infected sore throat is echinacea ( Echinacea angustifolia).
There is quite a controversy about this beautiful flower. It was never used as a preventative for the cold or flu. Recently studies have confirmed that echinacea isn’t really useful for immune support in this manner.
The native Americans always used this plant for throat infections. It is still very effective for this use. I like to put a strong tea or tincture into a spray bottle and spritz it onto the back of my throat. The plant produces a numbing sensation and pretty quick relief of the infection as well.
(Find organic echinacea.)How do you naturally treat sore throats and other throat “ick”?. Dawn is a wife, mother, farmer, author, ethnobotanist, professional speaker, and educator. She has over 20 years of ethnobotanical experience, is a certified herbalist, and has a B.A.
In Botany and Humanities/Classics. Dawn is co-owner of. Her books include and.PAID ENDORSEMENT DISCLOSURE: In order for us to support our website activities, we may receive monetary compensation or other types of remuneration for our endorsement, recommendation, testimonial and/or link to any products or services from this website.DISCLAIMER: Information on DIY Natural™ is not reviewed or endorsed by the FDA and is NOT intended to be substituted for the advice of your health care professional. If you rely solely upon this advice you do so at your own risk. Read full Disclaimer & Disclosure statements.More Posts You'll Love. I learned about an almost miraculous cure for bronchitis and catarrh.
It is Grapefruit Seed Extract, or GSE. A friend recommended it to me when I had a lingering congestion. I took one dose that night (15 drops in a couple Tablespoons water), and another dose in the morning. By mid-day I was well.
I have recommended it to many friends who had the same results. One or two doses and congestion that has been hanging on for weeks disappears. It tastes very bitter so my grandkids take it (5 or more drops) in a Tablespoon of cherry juice concentrate, then follow with a glass of water.This can be bought in just about any healthfood store.Lori says. I’m glad I read this I now probably know why even though I’ve changed the foods I eat, adding cultured and fermented foods, essential oils, and herbs, and crazy concoctions, made from lacto-fermented lemonade, raw honey, and garlic, which helps, but then a couple of days I feel like crud again, I thought my body wasn’t fighting a virus right when all along it’s probably my allergies that are actually causing the issues not a virus, so I need to attack this differently, and maybe the rain next week will help also. Thank you.Cindi says. I think these are going to be most beneficial when passing through the top part of the digestion.
In the feed tube route, mucous is most likely a lack of liquid absorbing from the mouth down and could be generalized dehydration as well. Not knowing the issue, please excuse my unhelpful thought, but can she suck on a popsicle or moistened cloth? You might be able to use water or tea in that application to apply moisture that way, but the tonic drink might be too harsh to introduce directly to the stomach without the extra processes that occur through the mouth.Christy Johnson says.
It is true that there is a difference between the actions of purpurea and angustifolia. Many believe that angustifolia is the superior of the two. It’s more than that though. The notion of “proving” that it “doesn’t work” is complicated by what we expect echinacea to do for us. It was never used traditionally as a preventative or immune stimulator. Rather, it was used to treat septic conditions.
The misleading studies have been designed to prove that echinacea doesn’t prevent cold or flu and when it fails to do so, the statistics are used to cast doubt on the whole natural remedies industry. The premise of such a study is flawed.
If we tested echinacea for septic conditions we would find it incredibly effective- as it has been so for hundreds of years.Aisling says. Hi Molly,Any kind of Sore throat gets better with pomegranate peel extract or tea. In your case, I would suggest both drinking the tea and gurgling. However, there are other natural remedies that are good for throat congestion.Guaco tea: expectorant and anti-inflammatory due to its compound cumarine.
You can find it here:Castor oil: drinking one teaspoon or using a warm castor oil pack around the neck. Here is how to use the pack: Use a piece of 100% cotton or 100% wool flannel. Pour some castor oil over the flannel and leave it around your neck and chest for at least one hour.
Cover it with a hot heating pad. Do this before going to sleep, once a day. You`ll probably notice improvement after the 2nd or 3rd day. However, it depends on each person.I hope it helps.says.
Hi Nicole,It’s easy to make your own.Buy a medium pomegranate (organic) and drinking alcohol (usually vodka is a good option). You can eat the pulp, and keep the peel.Use one ounce of vodka and cover the peels with it (I break the peels and put them into a dropper bottle, then I fill the bottle to the top with vodka). Leave it in a dark place for 2-3 days.Now you can use it. Dropper bottles are great for this. 8 drops are enough for half a cup of warm water. Drink it or gurgle with it.Lori says.