Tag Archives: Elecampane root

Eating to good health

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Herbal Honey

I love eating my medicine, which prompted me to experiment with herbal honeys years ago. They are so easy to make, delicious, nutritious and medicinal. What more can anyone ask for? I add it to my oatmeal, spread it on my toast,  and I love peanut butter and honey sandwiches. The possibilities are endless.

The first herbal honey I made was with fresh Elecampane (Inula helenium) root. I harvested the root after its second year of growth, since they start to lose their medicinal qualities after 2-3 years. Elecampane is excellent for all respiratory ailments and honey is wonderful for calming coughs. Honestly, Elecampane root is not a great tasting herb and honey helps make it palatable. All and all, it’s a winning combination.

My next herbal honey endeavor was with Ashwagandha (Withania somnifera) root (known as Indian Ginseng).  It is a wonderful energy builder, it increases the body’s ability to adapt to and resist stress, along with dealing with tension and anxiety. It helps increase memory, facilitates learning, promotes general well-being and enhances stamina. It is also a great herb in helping the body recover after chemotherapy and radiation treatment. Again, not the best tasting herb, so combining it with honey makes a lot of sense to me.

Making herbal honey is very simple. All you need is a pot, clean jar/lid, chopstick, raw honey and herb.

How to make herbal honey:

1. Fill jar ¼ – ½ with the herb (I use fresh sliced Elecampane root and dry powdered Ashwagandha root).

2. Fill clean/dry jar with raw honey

3. Fill pot with about 2 inches of water

4. Put jar of herbal honey in pot with water (think double boiler)

5. Simmer water, temperature should never get higher than 110° as it will kill the medicinal qualities of the raw honey.

6. Stir honey with chopstick to disperse herb in honey.

7. When the honey develops a frothy top, it is done.

Some people strain the herbs out before eating but I leave them in and take pleasure in the herbs along with the honey.

YUM!

Enjoy honey in tea, oatmeal, on toast or however you want! Honey should keep for a couple of years but rarely lasts that long since it is so delicious. If the honey starts to crystallize as raw honey often does, simply reheat as in the above directions.

All information is shared for educational purposes only and has not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration.  This information is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease.

Cough syrup for Mathew

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mathew with coldWhen Mathew came down with his first common cold recently he let me try some new remedies on him. One recipe I concocted was an elecampane (Inula helenium) cough syrup. I normally put fresh elecampane root in honey as a cough remedy since elecampane is rather nasty tasting and honey makes it more palatable along with having its own medicinal properties. Elecampane is one of the best herbs to treat all chronic and acute upper respiratory infections, whether it is viral, bacterial or fungal (even TB). It also is a tonic for the respiratory tract. Honey is an antibiotic, antiviral, anti-inflammatory, an expectorant, anti-allergenic, therefore, great for respiratory ailments. Elecampane and honey are a winning combination. Unfortunately, I didn’t have any fresh elecampane in the house. I did have dry elecampane root and honey though. I decided to make a decoction with the elecampane root and then add it to the honey. Decoctions are made from the tougher parts of the plants such as roots and bark. Their medicinal properties are tougher to extract and need a slow simmer. I simply put a handful of elecampane root in a quart of cold water and simmered uncovered for about an hour. When the liquid was reduced in half, I strained it. I combined 3 parts honey and 1 part elecampane decoction to make the syrup. I gently heated and blended the decoction with honey for 10 minutes. It is important not to heat the honey higher than 110°as it could lose some of its medicinal properties.

I asked Mathew to try it and he gave me the thumbs up. He had a rather bad cough, so I decided to give him a teaspoon 3 times a day. Before bed, I gave him a teaspoon of elecampane syrup as well as put garlic oil on his feet. He slept through the night and I only heard one cough throughout the night. This was a vast improvement. The majority of his cough was abated within three days, which gave way to a lot of mucus flowing from his nose. Which led to an earache, thank goodness we had garlic oil in the house. Please see my previous blog to see how we handled his earache.

What do you do to relieve symptoms for the common cold? Please share and I will continue to share.

All information is shared for educational purposes only and is not intended to diagnose or treat any condition.