Family Life
September / October 2007

Kitchen Herbal Cures

By Robert Linde, AP, RH

Herbs in our kitchen can help in more than just spicing up our meals. Many of these herbs have medicinal properties and effectively address minor problems.

According to herbalists, one of the best ways to cure a cold is to break a sweat. When I feel a cold coming on, I go to my local Thai restaurant and order a ginger tofu stir-fry.  I am sweating before I leave and feeling better before I am back at the office.  The secret to the effectiveness of this tasty stir-fry is something that all of us likely have in our refrigerators much of the time.

 Indeed, one of the oldest of Chinese remedies used at the start of a cold is fresh ginger and scallion tea.  I recommend three, quarter size, pieces of fresh ginger, the white parts of three scallions, two cloves of garlic and a teaspoon of thyme.  If you can handle hot peppers also add cayenne or similar hot peppers.  Chop all the ingredients and add two cups of boiling water. Let sit for ten minutes, strain and drink one cup every four hours until you break a sweat.

There are many other herbs in our kitchens that can have benefit if we know when to use them. Here are some other common herbs and their uses.

• Cinnamon lowers blood sugar, lowers LDL, helpful in low back pain and loose stools.

• Clove tea speeds healing of cold sores and helps with tooth pain.

• Fennel eases bloating, gas pains, and digestive spasms. It also reduces bad breath and increases breast milk in lactating women.

• Garlic lowers cholesterol and blood pressure, helps prevent blood clots. It also helps to kill many types of bacteria and virus.

• Ginger reduces nausea and vomiting from sea sickness, chemotherapy and many other causes. It aids in digestion, reduces loose stools and helps with many painful inflammatory diseases as well as combats bacteria and virus.

• Mint reduces spasm, aids digestion and reduces bloating.

• Oregano soothes cough and helps with bacteria and virus.

• Parsley helps prevent problems such as kidney stones and bladder infections and it's a great breath freshener.

• Rosemary tea may help to prevent cataracts and kidney stones, ease asthma and can be used on the scalp to improve hair growth.

• Sage is useful for chronic cough and spontaneous or excessive sweating.

• Thyme relaxes respiratory muscles and is endorsed for treating bronchitis by the German Commission E. It is effective for bacterial and viral infections.

• Turmeric demonstrates excellent anti-inflammatory properties affecting a wide variety of pain syndromes.  It may also lower cholesterol and improve or prevent a wide range of eye problems. Enjoy it with yellow rice or curries.

Many of these herbs will grow well here in Florida. Add them to your foods to improve or prevent common health problems.

Robert Linde, is an Acupuncture Physician and Registered Herbalist. Bob is the president and founder of Acupuncture & Herbal Therapies.  If you have questions about this article or about Acupuncture and Herbs please email Bob at acuherbals@att.net.

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