These two recipes are prepared as teas but are not taken in your tea cup – they help with the discomfort of flu season in other ways.
Winter Inhalation
This traditional herbal steam helps open your sinuses, discourages bacterial and viral growth, and reduces pain and inflammation. Remember to stay a comfortable distance from the steaming pot to avoid burning your face.
8 – 12 teaspoons fresh or 4 teaspoons dried eucalyptus leaf {Eucalyptus globulus}
2 – 3 tablespoons fresh or 1 tablespoon dried peppermint leaf
2 – 3 tablespoons fresh or 1 tablespoon dried thyme herb
3 cups purified water
Essential oils of the herbs above {optional}
Place the eucalyptus, peppermint, thyme, and water in a saucepan and stir to thoroughly combine. Bring to a boil, reduce the heat, and simmer, covered, for 5 to 10 minutes. Remove from the heat and uncover. Drape a large towel over your head and the saucepan, forming a steam-filled tent, and inhale the medicated steam deeply for 5 minutes or so. Repeat several times daily as needed, warming the decoction each time just to the boiling point.
You can enhance the inhalation by adding 6 or 7 drops of essential oil to the brew after you remove it from the heat. Try oils of eucalyptus, peppermint, and thyme, and add one or more as desired. {Because essential oils can cause dizziness and light-headedness, do not use enhanced inhalations more than two or three times a day, and discontinue use if redness of the mucous membrane develops.}
A Soothing Throat Gargle
This decoction soothes throats that are sore from illness or hoarse from overuse; it’s ideal for public speakers or teachers even when it isn’t winter. You will notice that this recipe calls for simmering above-ground portions of the plant that are usually steeped; this is because you will be extracting deeper compounds that are only somewhat water-soluble.
5 -7 tablespoons fresh or 2 1/2 tablespoons dried echinacea leaf
4 – 6 tablespoons fresh or 2 tablespoons dried lemon balm herb
3 – 5 tablespoons fresh or 1 1/2 tablespoons dried sage leaf
3 – 5 tablespoons fresh or 1 1/2 tablespoons dried licorice root
2 tablespoons dried witch hazel bark {Hamamelis virginiana} or marshmallow root
1 1/2 tablespoons fresh or dried usnea lichen, if available {Usnea spp.}
5 cups purified water
Place the echinacea, lemon balm, sage, licorice, witch hazel or marshmallow, and optional usnea in a saucepan. Pour the water over the herbs and stir to thoroughly combine. Cover the pan, bring to a boil, reduce the heat, and simmer for 15 minutes. Remove from the heat and steep for 10 minutes, covered. Strain and compost the herbs. You can make a larger batch and store it in the refrigerator for up to 3 days.
Gargle with 1/4 cup of the warm or room-temperature tea four or five times a day; swallowing the liquid after gargling will provide extra benefits. For portability, put some in a little dropper bottle, and gargle with 3 or 4 droppersful for 30 seconds as a quick fix for an irritated throat.
