This is a page that will be frequently updated as I work through my recipe list, learn new formulations and find effective combinations so it will benefit you to pop back from time to time. The entries are in no real order.
Thyme and Sage and Aniseed gargle for sore throats
Both of these herbs have a strong antimicrobial property. Thyme is warming and moving and slightly astringent, making it great for sore throats. Sage helps to balance the fluids in the area, reducing mucus production. Aniseed is a gentle, warming herb that will also help with the upset stomach that comes with swallowing too much mucus.
This remedy is best taken as a hot tea or infusion and gargles while hot or warm. Crack the Aniseed in a mortar and pestle or coffee grinder . Put a tablespoonful of each Thyme and Sage and half tablespoonful of Aniseed into a teapot, add hot half a litre of almost boiling water and allow it to steep for 10 minutes or so.
Elder flower, Peppermint and Yarrow tea for fever
A teaspoonful of each of these put with half a litre of water, brewed and drunk hot will kick out a sweat and help break any fever you may have. Each of these herbs have a diaphoretic effect and push internal heat and fluid to the periphery, opening the pores and letting them out, much to the relief of your body.
You can add in Catnip as a bonus if you have any, that will relax you and help you rest while the others do their thing. It’s a diaphoretic too!
Prickly Lettuce, Hops and Lavender to help chronic pain sufferers sleep better
This is a very sedating combination that shouldn’t be used for too long or when operating heavy machinery, driving cars or tanks or flying aircraft.
All three of these herbs have the effect of moving congestion and blood downward and out, making them ideal for the restless mind that comes when you can’t sleep. The Prickly lettuce and Lavender are both analgesics, both work to cool inflammation and relieve aches and pains that way. The Hops is a sedative and relaxant and eases tension throughout your mind and body. They are almost the perfect trio for this purpose.
A tablespoon of each in a litre of near boiling water and allowed to brew for 10 minutes or so works well as tea. Brewed for longer as an infusion, it can be unpalatable and bitter, so a little honey can be added if you can take honey, glycerine if you can’t or sugar if you must.
This brew works spectacularly well as a tincture too.
Corn Silk, Yarrow and Thyme and Sage tea for urinary tract infections.
Each of these herbs work as a urinary tract disinfectant on their own but combined, provide a powerhouse of antimicrobial and inflammation soothing effects.
To make this, make a cold infusion of Corn Silk and set to the side. Make a hot infusion of the others and allow it to cool. Drink this slowly throughout the day but don’t go far from a toilet, bucket or bush.
Corn Silk is a soothing, disinfecting herb that is specific for the urinary tract. Thyme and Sage are antimicrobials whose effects reach that far. Sage is a great balancer for fluids, so will send a little extra that way as needed.
For an added bonus, you can add Nettles too, particularly the seeds. Nettles are a ‘trophorestorative’ for the kidneys. That means that they restore and improve functioning of the cells that do the work, improving their overall effectiveness.
Hawthorn, Mullein and Ginger for the heart and lungs.
This beautiful mix can be made using an infusion, a tincture or a glycerite. I use tincture every day in drop doses (3-5 drops) and have se it as a base for an infusion a couple of days a week.
Hawthorn is a well known herb that helps not only our heart but our entire circulatory system . It also helps our mood and digestive system and collagen production. Name me any single pharmaceutical medicine that can do that!
Mullein has a fearsome reputation as one of the premiere herbs that help us with ling and respiratory issues.
Ginger is a warming herb (many folks with heart and deep respiratory conditions tend to run cold) with a special affinity for the torso. It is also a ‘prokinetic’ herb. That means that it helps get the herbal constituents and energy to where they’re needed.
Bitter Melon, Ginger and Nettles for blood sugar issues
Jelina has a daily tincture of this combination to help keep her blood sugar lower and more stable. Like many diabetics, she has to take Ozempic for her diabetes as it’s the one that works best for her. Unfortunately, Ozempic is often out of stock (it gets sold out quickly because it is sold as a weight loss product) and Jelina must fill in the gaps with another medicine. That leads to an adjustment time before the new medicine kicks in. Then the process is repeated when the Ozempic becomes available. This mix helps her minimize the discomfort that comes with the frequent adjustments by stabilising the blood sugar swings.
Bitter Melon is widely used in Asia to reduce blood sugar levels. It is also a bitter herb that stimulates the whole digestive tract.
Ginger helps deliver the goodness of the other herbs in the mix to where they are needed in the body. It also helps reduce certain liver enzymes that can become elevated both by diabetes and by the medications. It also helps increase the circulation to peripheral areas such as hands and feet, warding off some of the terrible consequences of diabetes.
Nettles are highly nutritious and benefit both the digestive tract (by supporting gut fauna and flora) and urinary tract. They are also a restorative for overworked and damaged kidney cells and a potent diuretic.
Tooth pain remedy using St. John’s Wort, Lavender and Ginger.
Not long ago, I broke a tooth, adding to my natural, gap toothed charm. Of course the pain was excruciating. So I made a little tincture using the cooling and anodyne nature of Lavender as well as the specific nerve affinity of St. John’s Wort which soothes irritated nerves. As I considered the irritation and inflammation to be of a hot nature, Lavender was particularly indicated to support the St. John’s Wort.
As the remedy was very bitter and strong tasting, I didn’t want to upset my stomach, which was already stressed from the pain, so I added a couple of drops of Ginger to the mix as a carminative to help it settle. I use Ginger a lot in remedies for this purpose and to help move the herbal properties to where they’re most needed. Only one or two drops are needed to boost the effectiveness of a lot of remedies. Ginger is a powerful herb, especially when tinctured.
Three doses of this over the afternoon and evening worked a treat and the pain hasn’t come back yet.
Ginger for neuropathy and general lower limb pain
A hot Ginger foot bath is something I always recommend top folksa suffering neuropathy , especially when it is connected to diabetes. Improving peripheral circulation is vital for those suffering diabetes and this is a quick and very effective technique to improve it.
It helps also to add a little Ginger to your diet. You don’t need to chew on chunks of the raw rhizome, pleasurable as that can be, just include a little in your cooking. It helps digestion and also has been found to reduce the levels of some liver enzymes that are often found to be raised in diabetics.
To make it, simply add a tablespoon of dried Ginger powder to your a footbath that has been filled with comfortably hot water. Temperatures will vary for everyone.
Relief may be quick or you may need to do it over a couple of nights to get things moving.
Other herb pages on Ligaya Garden
We cover a lot of ground on many herb related topics here on our website. There are whole pages devoted to different topics as well as frequent posts. Some of the links are –
