asthma Breathe easier with home remedies
Home remedies for asthma: You need look no further than
your own kitchen for old fashioned home remedies that open the lungs and
help asthmatics breathe easier. Not only do most people have these items
readily on hand, they are safe, effective and easy to use for the whole family.
Garlic and onions have been shown
to help ease breathing for asthma sufferers. Onions make a smelly but effective poultice to
apply to the chest area to ease breathing. The caffeine in coffee and tea works
in a similar manner to the asthma drug theophylline. 1 Culinary delights of the
kitchen can help ease breathing as well as flavor your foods. Fragrant contains
essential oils that block the histamine that is responsible for constricting
airways. Rosemary, sage, and thyme can
be used to create fragrant
herbal steams to ease the breath.
Herbs for asthma: Grindelia is
a indigenous North America bush best known medicinally for its expectorant
properties in treating breathing problems like asthma and bronchitis,
and as a good field remedy for insect bites and poison ivy. (Mabey,Richard
,41)
Modern Chinese herbal medicine uses epimedium (usually in combination with other
herbs) for asthma, bronchitis and other lung problems. Mountain
Rose Herbs Present-day herbalists use the root of elecampane as
a tonic for pulmonary complaints and for coughs. Elecampane is a safe home remedy
for bronchitis and asthma. (Dawson,Adele)
Allergies and asthma also
improve with ginkgo. The herb contains a dozen
different anti-inflammatory chemicals and seven natural antihistamines. (Duke,James,
Ph.D.) Butterbur is
a traditional remedy for wheezing. Studies of the effectiveness of butterbur
root extract on the symptoms of asthma are promising, but further study is necessary.
Smoking certain herbs helps to soothe inflamed lung tissue, loosen secretions, and tones the lungs. Coltsfoot is also one of the traditional smoking herbs that formed the basis of many smoking mixtures. Native Americans smoked the leaves of Lobelia, known to colonists as Indian Tobacco, to ease asthma. Lobelia acts as a relaxant in the presence of pain, and is useful in bronchitis and asthma as an expectorant and stimulant of the respiratory system. (Millspaugh, Charles F.) Coltsfoot hinders the body's production of an inflammatory protein, which narrows the air passages and prompts asthma attacks.(Duke,James, Ph.D.) Nettle is anti-asthmatic, the juice of the roots or leaves, mixed with honey or sugar will relieve bronchial and asthmatic troubles, and the dried leaves, burnt and inhaled will have the same effect. (Grieve, Maud)
It is worth noting that the old folks (going back to Pliny the Elder) and American Indian traditions recommended smoking herbs while the more modernists modern herbalists prefer we drink herbal teas, or take herbs in tinctures and capsules.
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