Friday 27 December 2019

Supporting The Immune System Herbally - Part 2

Image: Gaby Stein
Article: Debs Cook
There are a wide variety of herbs and spices that can help the body’s immune system and whilst each herb can be of benefit to different parts of the body, some of them have an effect on more than one area, here I'm looking at the areas that are best targeted by each herb, as well as those that are in need of additional support during the winter months.

Astragalus Root  is an adaptogenic herb that may be a beneficial way of helping the body protect itself from the stress to the body generated by illness, be that physical, mental, or emotional stress. It is also used in Chinese medicine to help boost the immune system, one of its actions is to help to trigger the creation of immune cells in bone marrow and lymphatic tissue.

Echinacea  is one of the most common herbs that is associated with helping the immune system to fight infection and disease where winter colds and flu are concerned. It has anti-inflammatory, and also fungicidal and antibacterial properties which help the body to check the development of viruses. It is also a good herb for using for respiratory illnesses and to help soothe the throat in cases of laryngitis, tonsillitis, and help to ease colds and flu. In 2012 at the Common Cold Centre at Cardiff University, Wales, the largest clinical trial of echinacea as a means of preventing cold symptoms took place, following similar trials in Germany. The results of the 2012 trial are still being debated, but the results claimed that of the 750 people tested, the echinacea extract treatment cut the number of recurrent colds suffered by those with weak immune systems or a history of catching several bouts each year by 60%. Echinacea can be taken in capsule form, the root can be added to soups, teas and even used to make soothing ice lollies for sore throats.

Elderberries  are another immune boosting herb with antiviral and expectorant properties they are rich in vitamins A and C, and can help to soothe sore throats and help to calm fevers. They can also be used to make a soothing elixir and if the elixir is taken in teaspoonful doses three or four times a day at the first signs of a cold, it may prevent a cold from developing. If it does develop, the cold may be milder and last for a shorter duration if elderberry tincture is taken. You can read more about the benefits of Elderberries in our article Herbal Focus: Elderberries.

Garlic is more commonly associated with culinary recipes, and added to a wide variety of dishes but it is a powerful immune boosting ally as well, one of my favouirite ways of taking garlic is by infusing freshly chopped garlic into honey and then adding that to drinks hot drinks, or just to have a spoonful if I'm feeling run down. Garlic has antibacterial, antiviral and anti-fungal properties, it is also reputed to work in a similar way to antibiotics. In fact garlic is so good at preventing a germs ability to grow that it’s said that just 1 milligram of allicin, a sulphur compound found in garlic, can have the same potency as 15 standard units of penicillin. Garlic contains more vitamin C per 100g than any of the other members of the onion family!

Ginger viewed by many as a spice, ginger deserves a place in your arsenal of immune support, it is antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, antimicrobial and contains natural antibiotics. It can help boost the immune system by increasing circulation in the blood stream which helps the immune system by increasing the amount of oxygen getting to the tissues of the body which helps it to remove toxins and viruses. Ginger tea is an excellent remedy for colds and flu, you can also add ginger to soups and to bathes to help boost circulation.
Caution:
Some people are allergic to ginger, avoid this herbs included if you are allergic to it.

Hyssop is yet another useful immune system boosting herb that has antiviral, antifungal, and antibacterial properties. Hyssop has traditionally been used to help the body fight off colds and flu, and is useful for respiratory infections and to help ease coughs, bronchial congestion, and sinus congestion. Add to teas and tisanes, use to flavour chicken soups and to make immune boosting syrups and elixirs.

Peppermint can be added to teas and gargles for sore throats and for stomach upsets, peppermint is antiviral and antimicrobial, and it also contains potassium, calcium and vitamin B, all useful constituents to help the immune system fight off viruses like colds and flu.

Sage is an herb that has antiseptic and antibacterial properties and like peppermint is an ideal herb to make into a tea or gargle for helping to soothe the throat and chest. Sage has expectorant and diaphoretic properties and is a great alley to the immune system in cases of respiratory illness, and infections where the immune response is to create excess mucous to eliminate the foreign body to the system.

Shiitake Mushrooms again like ginger and garlic, many people will categorise these mushrooms as culinary only, but these tasty mushrooms are antibacterial, anti-inflammatory and are used in Chinese Herbal Medicine for treating bronchial conditions. Recent studies have identified a phytonutrient compound called lentinan found in shiitake mushrooms, the compound is a polysaccharide that can help boost the immune system’s ability to deal with killer cells like cancer. Try mixing them with dried goji berries, ginger, garlic and echinacea root to make a delicious cold busting chicken soup like this Goji Berry & Chicken Soup (second recipe on page) a recipe from the first series of James Wong’s “Grow Your Own Drugs” programme which contains Shiitake Mushrooms.

Siberian Ginseng is another adaptogenic herb which may help the immune system by reducing levels of stress much like astragalus does. The herb contains constituents called eleutherosides, which are believed to stimulate the immune system. Recent studies have shown that when Siberian ginseng is taken within 72 hours of a cold or flu beginning, the duration of the illness can be significantly reduced. The root is antiviral and antioxidant, it can help the body to resist infection and increases oxygen in the blood which encourages the movement of foreign bodies from the body at a faster rate, and it also helps in cases of respiratory illness. Add to teas and tisanes, take in capsule form and add the root to soups and stews.

Hedgerow Fruits Elixir


This wonderful fruity elixir is full of immune boosting ingredients like elderberries which are antiviral and can help boost the immune system, the bilberries are antioxidant and can have an anti-inflammatory effect on the body. Sloe berries are full of vitamin C and have a depurative action which means they can help remove impurities from the body, they also have a febrifuge actions, which means they can help to reduce a fever.

Ingredients:

125g Dried Bilberries
125g Dried Elderberries
125g Dried Sloe Berries
125g Dried Rosehips
Cold Water to cover
100g Golden Castor Sugar (Per 100ml of finished fruit infusion)
15ml Brandy (Per 100ml of finished syrup)

Method: Put all the dried fruits in a pan and cover with enough cold water to cover, bring the water to the boil then turn down the heat and allow the berries to simmer until they are soft. Allow to cool slightly then strain through a nylon sieve or muslin cloth to remove any seeds or pips and tough skins from the fruit.

Measure the juice you have in a jug and calculate the amount of sugar you require, you will need 100g per 100ml of liquid, so 500ml will require 500g sugar. Once you’ve figured out how much sugar you need place the fruity liquid in a clean pan, add your sugar and bring the two to a boil stirring occasionally, once the liquid has come to the boil, turn down the heat and allow to simmer until the liquid is thick and syrupy, this takes between 25-40 minutes.

Once you have a syrupy consistency, allow the syrup to cool slightly then add 15ml of brandy for every 100ml of syrup. Bottle the syrup and store, the syrup with keep for 12 months unopened, but once opened keep it in the fridge and use it within 14 days. Take 1 teaspoon of elixir 3 times a day to help boost the immune system.

Disclaimer: Whilst every effort has been made to source the most up to date and accurate information, we cannot guarantee that the remedies in our articles are effective, when in doubt, consult your GP or a qualified Medicinal Herbalist. Remember also that herbal remedies can be dangerous under certain circumstances therefore you should always seek medical advice before self-treating with a homemade remedy, especially if you are pregnant, breast feeding or suffer from any known illness which could be adversely affected by self-treatment.

Friday 20 December 2019

Supporting The Immune System Herbally - Part 1

Image: Bruno Glätsch
Article: Debs Cook
Our immune systems, are made up of special cells, proteins, tissues, and organs, which together help the body to fight off infections from germs and prevent bacteria and other micro-organisms from attacking the body. When everything is working as it should, our immune systems do a fantastic job of keeping us healthy and infection free, but when the immune system gets compromised that’s when the problems begin. One of the common occurrences of compromised immune systems at this time of year is the rise in cases of cold and flu over the winter months.

The immune system doesn’t just help us fight of colds and flu, it also protects us from viruses such as chicken pox and mumps, and from harmful bacteria like e-coli and other forms of bacteria that can cause ear infection, meningitis and tonsillitis, so it’s important that you keep your immune system in tip top condition and keep it functioning properly to help you ward off these potential threats.

What Does Our Immune System Do?


The immune system has 3 types of responses depending on what the body is attempting to fight off, these are: - an anatomic response, an inflammatory response, and an immune response.

When the body exhibits an anatomic response, it reacts by attempting to physically prevent foreign bodies from entering the body. An example of an anatomic response would be the release of tears when a foreign body gets in to the eye to try and ‘flush’ it out, the mucous membranes and the skin provide the first line of defence to the body. If the foreign body still manages to take hold, the body exhibits its next line of defence which is the inflammatory response. The inflammatory response attempts to target the foreign body and eliminate it from the body, an example of this action is sneezing, producing mucus in the nose and chest and increases in body temperature to help eliminate foreign body.

If the inflammatory response fails to eradicate the foreign body the final stage kicks in, known as the immune response. The immune response forms the core of the immune system and is made up of white blood cells, which fight infection by eradicating antigens [a foreign or toxic invader to the body e.g. bacteria]. During times when the body is fighting off infection, around ¼ of the white blood cells in the body, known as lymphocytes, migrate to the lymph nodes and produce antibodies, which help the body to fight the illness. The lymphatic system is part of the circulatory system, and includes lymph nodes, vessels, the spleen, thymus, tonsils and the bone marrow.

The best way of ensuring that your immune system functions as it should, is to make sure you are doing everything you can to look after it. Every part of your body, including your immune system, functions better when it doesn’t have to fight off unnecessary onslaughts to its function, like the problems caused to the immune system by smoking and drinking alcohol. Other ways you can help your immune system are by taking regular exercise, cutting down caffeine consumption and maintaining a healthy weight. It will also be of great benefit if you keep your blood pressure under control, ensure you get enough sleep each night to help the body recover from daily stress and strain and eat a healthy diet full of antioxidant rich fruit and vegetables, whole grain foods and cut down on saturated fats.

Diet wise make sure you eat plenty of foods containing vitamin C and E, both of these vitamins help the immune system to function, vitamin C can be found in oranges, berries, and green leafy vegetables like broccoli and spinach. If you smoke, you especially need to boost your vitamin C intake because smoking reduces the rate that your body absorbs vitamin C. Taking vitamin E helps to prevent cell damage, it can be found in wholegrain cereals and sweet potatoes are a good source of vitamin E. Ensure you include enough omega-3 fatty acids from oily fish like salmon and trout and also by adding flaxseeds and oil to your diet, these fatty acids play a vital role in helping your immune system prevent problems such as heart disease, rheumatoid arthritis and skin problems like psoriasis.

Foods rich in natural probiotics such as live yogurt help to promote ‘friendly bacteria’ in the gut, these friendly bacteria can help your immune system fight off bacteria and disease that attack the digestive system. Eating starchy, wholegrain carbohydrate rich foods also benefits the digestive system, these foods will also help give the body energy to fight off infection. Minerals such selenium and zinc are also very beneficial to immune system health, so eat zinc and selenium rich foods such as pumpkin seeds and brazil nuts.

Join us next week for part 2 of this article which will look at 10 Immune Boosting Herbs and include a tasty recipe for Hedgerow Fruits Elixir.

Disclaimer:
Whilst every effort has been made to source the most up to date and accurate information, we cannot guarantee that the remedies in our articles are effective, when in doubt, consult your GP or a qualified Medicinal Herbalist. Remember also that herbal remedies can be dangerous under certain circumstances therefore you should always seek medical advice before self-treating with a homemade remedy, especially if you are pregnant, breast feeding or suffer from any known illness which could be adversely affected by self-treatment.

Friday 13 December 2019

Herbs for Making Winter Tea’s

Image by Jill Wellington
Article: Debs Cook
Herb teas are tasty and most herbal teas are caffeine-free with the exception of teas such as Maté also known as Yerba Mate, and Green Tea, which contains some caffeine in this article we look at 12 of the most useful herbs for making herbal teas during the winter months.

Making a pot of herb tea is easy; add 1 tablespoon of dried herb or 1 teaspoon of ground spice such as cinnamon to every 600ml (1 pint) of water. Simply put the herb into a teapot or cafetière and pure over the boiling, stir, then leave to brew for 3-10 minutes depending on the herbs used and the strength of tea required. Strain, sweeten with honey or your preferred sweetener and serve.

Chamomile: A useful tea for young and old alike; it’s soothing and sedative and is great for helping to ease stomach ache, indigestion, nausea and helping insomnia. Chamomile also has anti-inflammatory properties; it is a bitter herb which can help to promote digestion. On its own its best to sweeten with honey as it can be too bitter for some, especially children. Cold leftover chamomile tea placed on cotton wool pads can be used to relieve tired eyes or used as a final rinse for light hair.

Cinnamon: This warming spice makes an excellent addition to a tea blend or used on its own; it helps to warm the body and boost circulation making it a great tea to take when suffering from colds and chills. Cinnamon has antiseptic, astringent and sedative properties and can be used to soothe stomach ache and diarrhoea. Use 1 teaspoon of ground cinnamon in 600ml of water. Leftover cinnamon tea can be used as an antiseptic wash for minor cuts and abrasions or dabbed on to insect bites.

Fennel: Another tea that is great to drink when you have indigestion, it’s also a useful tea to drink when you have a windy stomach. Dieters have been known to drink fennel tea to help stave off hunger pangs. With its analgesic and anti-inflammatory properties it’s been used to ease tooth and gum discomfort and to ease sore throats. For best results lightly crush your fennel seeds in a pestle & mortar before placing in to your teapot. Leftover fennel tea can be used as an aromatic rinse for the hair.
Caution:
Fennel seed has diuretic properties and should not be taken by people with kidney problems.

Ginger: Another warming spice, it makes a good addition to teas to sip when you have a chesty cough with its warming and expectorant properties. Ginger is also antiseptic, detoxifying and digestive. It can help to bring down a fever and break down catarrh and phlegm, soothe indigestion and warm the body when suffering from chills. Ginger tea is also a pleasant means of reducing the nausea which is experienced by some people when travelling; take a flask of ginger tea with you to sip during the journey. Leftover ginger tea can be used as a wash for minor cuts and grazes, it can also be added to foot baths to help boost circulation.
Caution: Some people are allergic to ginger, avoid this herbs included if you are allergic to it.

Hibiscus: Also known in some countries as ‘Sorrel’ is a great herb to drink as a tea when a fever needs reducing, with its febrifuge (cooling) properties hibiscus can help to bring down a fever; it’s also contains vitamin C, a useful vitamin to include in your diet when suffering from colds and flu. It’s great for helping digestion and for improving the appetite, combine it with rosehip to boost the vitamin C value.

Lemon Balm: This delicious citrusy tea is useful to have in the cupboard not just in the winter but all the year round, it has antiviral, digestive and antibacterial properties and is terrific for helping to soothe stressed nerves, tension headaches and for helping to combat insomnia. Its analgesic properties make it useful for easing tooth and gum pain, try swilling a warm infusion of lemon balm tea around the mouth to ease aching gums. Lemon balm tea can also bring relief to mild cases of ingestion and may calm stomach cramps most often associated with period pain. Leftover lemon balm tea can be added to lotions for treating cold sores.

Liquorice Root: This aromatic anise scented and flavoured root makes a tasty way of adding natural sweetness to tea blends, on its own it’s useful as a tea to sip when suffering from chesty coughs. It’s antispasmodic, expectorant and emollient properties make it soothing to the lungs and bronchia and can help relieve congestion. Liquorice root is also useful for soothing heartburn; combine with peppermint for maximum effect.
Caution: Pregnant women should not consume liquorice, neither should people with heart, liver or kidney problems, those people suffering from diabetes, high blood pressure or problems with fluid retention should also avoid liquorice. It should also be noted that liquorice can interact with certain medications, including diuretics, ACE inhibitors, corticosteroids, laxatives, diabetes medications, oral contraceptives, MAO inhibitors, steroids, blood pressure medications, hormone therapy and digoxin. If you take any of these types of medicines consult your GP before you include liquorice in your daily diet.

Peppermint: This is the tea most commonly associated with the ability to ease an upset stomach and aid digestion, but did you know that peppermint tea also has analgesic, antiviral, antiseptic, refrigerant (cooling when used externally) and tonic properties? Peppermint can also be a warming and stimulating herb when taken as a tea and has been used for centuries for its soothing properties and its ability to ease stomach aches, indigestion, nausea, hiccough and heartburn. Leftover peppermint tea can be added to mouthwashes and used as an antiseptic wash for minor cuts and abrasions.

Rosehip: A tea made from rosehips can help boost your vitamin C levels, which is beneficial when suffering from winter colds and flu. They have astringent, refrigerant and anti-inflammatory properties and are rich in antioxidants and bio-flavonoids. Rosehips can also have a mild laxative effect and are mildly diuretic; they have been used for centuries to help de-stress the body and have been used as a general tonic for the blood. Use leftover cold rosehip tea to cleanse and nourish the skin.

Rosemary: As a tea or infusion, rosemary is drunk when suffering from migraine and minor headaches, with its antiseptic, antibacterial, antifungal and astringent properties it’s another beneficial winter tea, its warming and stimulating and can help ease congestion, soothe coughs, clear phlegm and soothe a sore throat. Rosemary tea has a wonderful tonic action that is beneficial to the nervous system and the mind. It can also act as a digestive and can soothe colicky cramps and spasms. Leftover rosemary tea can be added to lotions and creams for the skin, it can also be used as a mouthwash and an antiseptic skin wash.

Sage: At the first sign of a sore throat, sip a cup of sage tea with honey, sage is highly antiseptic and is great for soothing sore throats, and easing chest complaints such as bronchitis, and also for reducing congestion due to catarrh and phlegm. Sage is also astringent, antioxidant and digestive, it’s been used to ease period pain and to lessen the effects of hot flushes in menopausal women. Sage tea can also be drunk to ease nausea, settle the stomach and to relieve indigestion. Leftover cold sage tea can be used as a wash for minor cuts and sores or added to homemade mouthwashes to soothe mouth ulcers and sore gums.

Thyme: Another highly antiseptic herb that is antibacterial, antiseptic and astringent. Thyme is also a warming and stimulating herb that can help ease chesty coughs and bronchial problems with its expectorant properties. It makes a useful addition to teas to soothe the body in cases of exhaustion and anxiety, lemon thyme shares the same properties and also makes a tasty tea for sore throats and coughs. Thyme tea can also be used in steam inhalers to help open the nasal passages when blocked due to congestion. Leftover thyme tea can be added to gargles for sore throats and used as an antiseptic in creams and lotions; it can also be used to wash minor cuts and grazes.

Lemon Thyme Soother


Ingredients:

1 Teaspoon Dried Lemon Thyme
1 Litre Organic Lemonade.
Honey to serve.

Method: This wonderfully soothing lemon drink is ideal for helping to ease a sore throat and it is simplicity in itself to make. Bring 1 litre of organic lemonade to the boil in a pan, to which you’ve added some dried lemon thyme leaves, turn off the heat and leave to steep for 10-15 minutes, add a teaspoon of honey and warm the drink through again if needed. Sip it slowly to soothe a sore throat and ease nasal congestion.

Good Winter Herbal Tea Combinations To Try:-


Chamomile & Lemon Balm, for sleeplessness.
Liquorice & Peppermint, for heartburn.
Hibiscus & Rosehip, for immune boosting.
Sage & Thyme, for sore throat and congestion.
Cinnamon & Peppermint, for digestion.

Disclaimer: Whilst every effort has been made to source the most up to date and accurate information, we cannot guarantee that the remedies in our articles are effective, when in doubt, consult your GP or a qualified Medicinal Herbalist. Remember also that herbal remedies can be dangerous under certain circumstances therefore you should always seek medical advice before self-treating with a homemade remedy, especially if you are pregnant, breast feeding or suffer from any known illness which could be adversely affected by self-treatment.

Friday 6 December 2019

Five Useful Herbs for Winter

Image by Marina Pershina
Article by Debs Cook
There are many herbs and spices that can be of benefit during the winter such as black pepper, cinnamon, cloves, echinacea, elderberries, garlic, marshmallow, turmeric and yarrow, all of which are excellent herbal ally’s when the winter months arrive. I’ll write about some of the above in more detail in the future, but for now I wanted to focus on five herbs that I recall my Nanna making use of in the winter.

We'll start with Eldeflower,  which are often considered to be highly effective in managing upper respiratory congestion and infections. Although these fragrant flowers are most often associated with summer cordials and soothing eye gels, they make a useful winter friend, and can be perfect for drying up a runny or blocked nose. The flowers contain flavonoids and small amounts of mucilage and tannins, a perfect combination for soothing, healing and protecting mucous membranes. Elderflower's are a key ingredient in the classic winter cold and flu blend and were often added to lotions and creams to help protect the skin from drying winds.We have a lovely recipe for making Elder & Lemon Thyme Throat Lozenges at the end of this article.

Next up we have Ginger which featured in one of my Nanna’s favourite cough treatments which involved mixing a pinch of ground ginger with a teaspoon of honey, it wasn’t for the children as the resulting medicine produced a burning sensation in the throat which was hard for children to deal with. The adults thought it was a worthwhile remedy because it helped treat the winter cough that accompanied colds and flu, I’ve come across another version of Nanna’s remedy which called for the pinch of ginger to be mixed with ¼ teaspoon of sugar, I guess a spoonful of sugar does help the medicine go down after all! In traditional Chinese medicine, hot ginger tea is taken at the first sign of a cold is believed to offer the possibility of averting the infection. It should be noted that some people can be allergic to ginger, if you are one of these people than avoid consuming ginger its consumption.

Rosemary has such universal uses, that I can easily understand why Nanna wouldn’t be without it, its antiviral, astringent, anti-inflammatory, diaphoretic, a stimulant, stomachic and has tonic properties make it a powerful winter ally. I use fresh and dried rosemary (depending what I have available) in steam inhalations to help unblock the nose and get you breathing easily again.

Rosemary has been valued for its stimulant, stomachic and tonic properties for centuries, in fact Robert James an 18th century physician and author of the ‘Pharmacopoeia universalis’ published in 1747, wrote that rosemary when made in to a conserve was an “excellent remedy in vertigoes arising from a cold cause, as also in cold distempers, in consequence whereof it is an excellent stomachic.” In “A Lyttle Herbal” published in 1550 the ability for rosemary to fight off infection was highlighted, this time as a vinegar the author wrote “Take the flower of rosemary and boyle them in fayre cleane water to the half and cole [cool] it, and drynke it for it is much worthe against the evyls of the body.” Rosemary was also an effective means of preventing infection and disease and was one of the ingredients added to Marseilles Vinegar which helped to prevent infection when the plague struck in France in the 17th century.

Sage is another universal herb, the name Salvia derives from the Latin 'salveo', which means to heal, my Nanna used sage's healing properties to great effect in winter, chickens were plastered with the leaves before roasting, leaves were chopped and made into stuffing’s, added to soups and stews and they went into liniments, syrups and gargles for sore throats. The anti-bacterial, antiseptic, astringent, carminative, stimulant and tonic properties makes sage an excellent herb to have on stand-by in the winter.

Nanna made a gargle for sore throats that contained sage, honey and lemon juice, if anybody complained of a sore throat they were given the gargle. Her sage gargle was where I first discovered that dried sage tasted better than fresh sage, something I still believe to this day, drying sage mellows the flavour making it less bitter and sharp to the taste buds. The volatile oils present in sage have an excellent antiseptic effect which can be of benefit to the upper respiratory tract and to help clear the throat and lungs of infection, and help to minimise congestion in other parts of the body. Sage can also help to stimulate the digestion, which is the real reason we have sage and onion stuffing when we eat fatty meats like pork.

Finally Thyme, the volatile oils in thyme are an effective antimicrobial which makes it an excellent way of easing respiratory infections. When you add thyme to food and home remedies it can also help to combat infections, it is wonderfully antiseptic, carminative, diaphoretic, disinfectant, expectorant, sedative and a tonic to the system, making it another useful herbal ally for winter. Thyme went in to the steam inhalations when the cold was on the chest as well as in the nose, it’s an excellent decongestant and was added to teas and soups, as grew older I came to favour using lemon thyme in teas as it has a much nicer flavour, and less bitter than thyme itself. my favourite cold cure recipe for Lemon Thyme Throat Soother can be found at the end of next weeks Herbs for making Winter Teas article.

Disclaimer: Whilst every effort has been made to source the most up to date and accurate information, we cannot guarantee that the remedies in our articles are effective, when in doubt, consult your GP or a qualified Medicinal Herbalist. Remember also that herbal remedies can be dangerous under certain circumstances therefore you should always seek medical advice before self-treating with a homemade remedy, especially if you are pregnant, breast feeding or suffer from any known illness which could be adversely affected by self-treatment.

Friday 6 September 2019

Herbal Focus: Elderberries

Article © Debs Cook
The elder tree (Sambucus nigra) is a deciduous shrub or small tree which grows to between 4–6 m in height, the bark is light grey when young, changing to a coarse darker grey outer bark with length wise furrowing. The leaves are arranged in opposite pairs, 10–30 cm long, and are pinnate with five to seven leaflets, the leaflets are 5–12 cm long and 3–5 cm broad, with a serrated margin. The flowers of the elder give way to fruits which hand in clusters of many small drupes each 5-6mm in diameter and dark purple-black in colour and its these fruits that we'll be focusing on in this article.

The name Elder comes from the Saxon words 'eller' or ‘kindler’ due to the fact that the hollow stems of elder wood were used as mini bellows to help fires that were dying out to burn. The inner pith of the stems hollow stems have been used to make musical instruments. Other names for Elder include: - Black Elder, Common Elder, European Elder, Pipe Tree, Bourtre, Suin, Acte, Judas Tree, Lady Ellhorn, Whistle Tree, Old Lady, Hylder, Hylantree, Eldrum, Ellhorn, Hollunder, Sambuke and Sureau.

Seeds from elderberry fruits have been found in Neolithic remains in Switzerland which suggest that the elderberries were gathered for food and possibly for medicinal use since around 2000 B.C. In the 1st century A.D. Pliny the Elder and Dioscorides were both making use of the purgative properties of the leaves, buds, bark, sap and of course the berries, Pliny also described the use of the berries from the elder being used to dye the hair.

In 1644 Martin Blochwich a highly respected German physician of his day, compiled a manuscript in Latin which he called ‘Anatomia Sambuci’, the manuscript was translated into English by C. De Iryngio in 1651 and reprinted in 1677, then promptly faded into obscurity, until someone at the European nutraceutical company called BerryPharma, rediscovered the book whilst doing some research into the use of elderberries as a traditional remedy and decided to get it revised and reprinted in 2010.

Blochwich intended his manuscript to be a reference guide for his fellow medical practitioners who lived in the villages and countryside’s of Europe. It drew upon the existing traditional remedy works of his time, dating back to Galen and Pythagoras and he added his own experiences with the elder. The ‘Anatomia Sambuci’ was one of the earliest medical textbooks to be printed for educational purposes, during a period in European history when witchcraft was still an offence and knowledge was still the protected right of the theologians, the rich and the powerful. However, the newly formed British Royal Society showed their progressiveness by recommending the book to their members in 1677.

William Turner in the 16th century wrote more about the uses of the leaves and root of the elder tree than the berries, of the berries he only wrote that when the fruits are soaked in wine, they “softeneth the mother and openeth it, and it amendeth such hurts as are commonly about it”, he also made reference to them being used to dye the hair black. The seeds found in the berries were also recommended by John Gerard for those who suffered from “the dropsy, and such who are too fat and would faine be leaner.” Like Turner, Gerard gave more uses for the leaves, flowers, bark and pith of the elder than he did for the berries, uses of most of these parts of the elder have been forgotten in time and these days only the flowers and berries are commonly used.

In the 17th century Nicholas Culpeper, herbalist and author believed that everyone in the 17th century recognised the elder tree and knew how to use it, so much so his book entry for the elder tree says simply “I hold it needless to write any description of this, since every boy that plays with a pop-gun will not mistake another tree instead of elder.” and then moved on to discuss the Dwarf Elder also known as Danewort.

John Parkinson wrote about the different uses of the elder tree in his 'Theatrum Botanicum' published in 1640, of the berries he wrote that “the juyce of the berries boyled with a little honey, and dropped into the eares, easeth the paines of them; the decoction of the berries in wine being drunke, provoketh urine.

18th century herbalist Sir John Hill describes how “the juice of the berries is boiled down with a little sugar, or by some wholly without, and this, when it comes to the consistency of honey is the famous rob of elder, good in colds and sore throats” and adds that “a wine is made of the elderberries, which has the flavour of Frontignac.” Frontignac being a sweet wine made in Frontignan in the Languedoc region of France, elderberries were also used to make a rich port-style wine.

In his book Herbal Simples W. T. Fernie also wrote of the elderberry rob saying that “Almost from time immemorial in England, a 'rob' made from the juice of Elderberries, simmered and thickened with sugar, or mulled Elder wine concocted from the fruit, with raisins, sugar and spices, have been popular remedies in this country, if taken hot at bedtime, for a recent cold or sore throat. But only of late has chemistry explained that Elderberries furnish 'viburnic acid,' which induces sweating and is specially curative of inflammatory bronchial soreness.” Incidentally a ‘rob’ is any fruit juice that is thickened using sugar, so you can make blackberry or raspberry rob, it doesn’t have to be elderberries, but for helping to ease cold and flu symptoms, elderberries work best.

20th century herbalist Maud Grieve wrote in her book ‘A Modern Herbal’ that “Elder Berries have long been used in the English countryside for making many home-made drinks and preserves that are almost as great favourites now as in the time of our great-grandmothers. The berries make an excellent home-made wine and winter cordial, which improves with age, and taken hot with sugar, just before going to bed, is an old-fashioned and wellestablished cure for a cold.” The use of the berries to prevent or ease symptoms of colds and flu is a use for these fruity little berries that has cropped up throughout history. Grieve wrote also of the elderberries use for making wine, for which it is well suited, I’ve made many bottles of elderberry wine in my past and combined them with other ingredients to make delicious hedgerow wines.

Making Use of Elderberries

Elderberries have anti-hypertensive, anti-inflammatory, aperient, diaphoretic, diuretic, emetic, emollient, expectorant, galactogogue, haemostatic, laxative, purgative and stimulant properties. Chemical constituents in elderberries include the cyanogenic glycoside viburnic acid which can help to induce perspiration, sambunigrin another cyanogenic glycoside is present in the seeds of the berries, and this is one of the constituents which contribute to the purgative action of elderberries. The berries are rich in bio-flavonoids including quercetin, rutin and sambucin, elderberries also contain anthocyanins another a type of flavonoid which is antioxidant and may help to protect support the immune system.

Anthocyanins are water soluble pigments which give shades of red, blue, black and purple to black dependant on the amount contained and their companion constituents, they can also be used to fashion homemade pH indicators. Incidentally, elderberries contain almost 5 times as many anthocyanins as blueberries and twice the antioxidant capability of cranberries, in the food industry an extract of elderberry is used as a food colouring due to its stability.

Despite being an astringent berry which is why they have a tart flavour, elderberries contain several natural sugars including fructose, glucose, pectin and saccharose, it is their natural pectin level, which makes elderberries an ideal addition to hedgerow jams and jellies. Polyphenols including chlorogenic acid which is responsible for the laxative and anti-hypertensive properties of elderberries are also present, alongside vitamins A and B and also vitamin C, elderberries join blackcurrants and rosehips as being the 3 highest vitamin C containing fruits. The berries also contain good amounts of the minerals calcium, phosphorous and potassium, and fruit acids including citric and malic acid, tannins are also present which help give the berries their astringent action.

Dried elderberries make a soothing and comforting drink which could help ease some of the symptoms of colds and flu. They offer a rich source of bioflavonoids which can help boost the body’s natural defences, the berries also contain minerals including potassium, calcium, zinc and vitamins A and B plus vitamin C which can be beneficial when suffering from a cold, they are a useful addition to the herbal store cupboard as they can be used when fresh berries are out of season.

Elderberries can be used to make cordials, jams and jellies; they can even be used as a substitute for currants when baking. They make excellent homemade wine and can be used to make a traditional drink called a ‘rob’ which is a soothing and pleasant to drink hot during the colder months of the year. The berries are a wonderful remedy for coughs, colds and 'flu' when taken as a tea, a cordial or as a tincture. In fact the tincture, if taken in teaspoonful doses three or four times a day at the first signs of a cold, may help prevent a cold from developing. If it does develop, it may be milder and last for a shorter duration if elderberry tincture is taken.

Debs Cook is the DHM web manager and our resident Herbal Historian, you can read more of her articles over on her Herbal Haven blog.

Disclaimer: Whilst every effort has been made to source the most up to date and accurate information, we cannot guarantee that remedies in our articles are effective, when in doubt, consult your GP or a qualified Medicinal Herbalist. Remember also that herbal remedies can be dangerous under certain circumstances therefore you should always seek medical advice before self-treating with a homemade remedy, especially if you are pregnant, breast feeding or suffer from any known illness which could be adversely affected by self-treatment.

Friday 9 August 2019

Alcohol Free Herbal Cocktails


There are a wealth of recipes out there for making alcohol based drinks with herbal twists, however on hot days alcohol will just make you hotter and more dehydrated, so a nice cold alcoholic drink, whilst seeming like a good option at the time, is just going to make you thirstier! Add to that the fact that not all adults like to drink alcohol, either through choice or because they are the designated driver, on medication, or for a variety of other reasons, so make sure you provide something special for them to drink.

If you whip up some herb syrups you can make your own alcohol free mojito’s, juleps and spritzers so nobody feels left out, some people refer to these kind of drinks as mocktail’s, but there is nothing mock or fake about these alternative drinks, they are refreshing, tasty and very easy to make. They can be made with any combination of fruit juices and flavourings, my favourite way to do this is to make up a series of syrups before a party and make up jugs of alcohol free drinks for anyone to enjoy.

Basic Herb Syrup Recipe


You can make a basic syrup from one herb or try mixing a few together, these syrups can be turned in to alcohol free drinks very easily with the addition of some sparkling mineral water, tonic water or lemonade, for bonus points, they can also be used to sweeten iced herbal teas adding another layer of flavour to your iced tea.

Ingredients:

1 Litre Spring Water
45g Dried Herb of choice e.g. Basil, Elderflower, Lavender, Lemongrass, Lemon Thyme, Lemon Verbena, Peppermint or Spearmint.
450g Castor Sugar

Method: Place your water in a non-stick pan and add your chosen herb(s) bring the contents of the pan to the boil and allow to simmer for 20-30 minutes, strain the herb infused water into a clean glass jug to remove the solids from the liquid, then clean out the pan. Once clean, pour the herb infused water back in to the pan and simmer on a very gentle heat until your litre of liquid has reduced down to 200ml. At this point stir in the sugar and continue to simmer the contents stirring as until all the sugar has dissolved. Once dissolved pour your herb syrup in to bottles, label and store in the fridge.

N.B. Reducing liquids on a very low light can take time, it takes around 45 minutes to 1 hour for 28ml of liquid to evaporate. Using a large pan increases the surface area of your liquid which will allow it to reduce in a quicker time than a small pan. Larger pans mean that there are more surface molecules per unit of volume that are able to evaporate from the liquid.

For something a little different try making a Seed Syrup, my favourite is Coriander Seed Syrup, but I’ve made Fennel Seed Syrup as well and used them to flavour drinks. I’m particularly fond of the Coriander Seed Syrup mixed with apple juice and topped up with ginger ale to make a delicious grown up drink that tastes so good, who needs alcohol! Coriander syrup is also a perfect partner to fruit based drinks that contain lemon, mango, orange, peach and pear.

To make a seed syrup follow the above method for herb syrups but use 30g of lightly crushed seed.

Top Tip


If a syrup based drink is too sweet due to the syrup, add a good dash of sourness with freshly grapefruit, lemon or lime juice depending on the flavours in your cocktail and top off with tonic water. This will help to take away some of the sweetness by adding bitter and sour flavours.

Debs Cook is the IT Media Manager for the DHM, she is a self confessed herbaholic who loves to write about the way herbs were once used and about the herbalists that used them. You can find out more about Debs over on her Herbal haven blog.

Disclaimer: Whilst every effort has been made to source the most up to date and accurate information, we cannot guarantee that remedies in our articles are effective, when in doubt, consult your GP or a qualified Medicinal Herbalist. Remember also that herbal remedies can be dangerous under certain circumstances therefore you should always seek medical advice before self-treating with a homemade remedy, especially if you are pregnant, breast feeding or suffer from any known illness which could be adversely affected by self-treatment.

Friday 2 August 2019

Cooling Herbal Summer Drinks


I recently wrote about the way herbal iced teas can have a cooling effect on the body when it’s hot and sticky, see the article here Using Herbal Teas To Keep Cool. But iced teas aren’t the only drinks we can make from herbs to help keep us cool and quench our thirst during the summer.

We can make subtle and delicate drinks like rose petal lemonade or stroll down memory lane - if you’re my age – and make a batch of nettle or ginger beer, cue the Enid Blyton obligatory ‘Lashings of Ginger Beer’ quote. Although I have to confess after a rather gingery explosion in the kitchen one summers afternoon when my ginger beer ‘plant’ exploded all over the newly decorated walls, I’m now banned from making ginger beer! Instead I make a lemongrass and ginger syrup and mix that with lemonade.

Is there anything more refreshing on a hot summer’s day than a glass of ice cold homemade cloudy lemonade? Well actually yes, make orangeade and add basil, enhance the flavour of the lemonade with lemon thyme or make limeade laced with rosemary. Or you can go floral and try my personal favourite rose petal lemonade. Soft, pink, girlie and delicious, perfect for serving at a baby shower for a little girl, or for a girl’s night on the patio!

Rose Petal Lemonade


60g Dried Culinary Grade Rose Petals or 120g Fresh Rose Petals
500ml Boiling Water
200g Castor Sugar
Juice of 8 Lemons
1 Tbsp. Good Quality Culinary Rose Water
1250ml Cold Water (N.B. Use sparkling Spring Water if you want to have a fizzy version)

Method: Place the rose petals into a bowl, and pour the boiling water over them. Allow to steep for about 10-15 minutes, then strain out the rose petals and discard. Mix the sugar into the hot water and stir until dissolved, add the lemon juice, this will help to create the pink colour in the lemonade, next add the rose water and pour into a 2 litre capacity jug or bottle. Taste the rose lemonade and add more sugar if too sour or more lemon juice if too sweet, you can also add a little more rose water if the lemonade isn’t rosy enough for you. Finally top the jug up with the rest of the cold water, or use sparkling water if you want your rose lemonade to fizz.

Serve in tall glasses over ice with a few rose petals for decoration. I also like to freeze rose petals and whole raspberries in ice cube trays and use these to chill my rose lemonade.

Lavender Lemonade


Another of my floral summer favourite drinks, this is a wonderfully different summer drink to try, and really easy to make, you can make a still or sparkling version to suit your taste. It definitely tastes better served well chilled whichever version you make.

Ingredients:

50g Dried Lavender Flowers, Culinary Grade preferably
500ml Boiling Water
150g Castor Sugar
Juice of 8 Lemons
1250ml Cold Water (N.B. Use sparkling Spring Water if you want to have a fizzy version)

Method: Follow the method given for the rose lemonade recipe above substituting dried lavender for rose petals and omitting the rose water.

Old Fashioned Dandelion & Burdock Cordial


Fruit and herb cordials are very refreshing on long hot summer days, typically they are viewed as being drinks for children, but there are plenty of recipes for cordials that are made for the adult palette. For me, nothing beats sipping ice cold dandelion and burdock, be it a still version from a cordial like the one in this recipe, or a version with added fizz. It takes me back to my childhood and is still a drink I love as an adult. You can also find recipes for Dandelion & Burdock beer if you fancy making an alcoholic tipple, or you can use the cordial to make a cocktail with vodka or gin as the base.

1 Litre Cold Spring Water
15g Burdock Root Powder
15g Dandelion Root Powder
5g Ground Ginger
1 Whole Star Anise Pod, Crushed
½ Tsp Liquorice Root Powder
½ Tsp Citric Acid
1 Tbsp. Black Treacle
450g Granulated Sugar
Soda Water

To make the dandelion and burdock cordial, first you have to make a syrup by mixing all the dry ingredients in a little of the spring water to form a paste and place into a pan and add the remaining cold water and bring to the boil, reduce the heat and simmer the pan for 15-20 minutes. Turn off the heat and strain the liquid through a fine mesh nylon sieve or muslin, or failing that a clean tea towel to remove all the solids. Clean out the pan and put the filtered liquid back into it and place the pan on a very low light and stir in the sugar and treacle. Continue to stir until the sugar is completely dissolved. Allow the syrup to cool and then pour into a clean sterilised bottle.

To serve, put 50ml of the syrup in to a tall glass and top up with 200ml of well chilled sparkling water or fill a large glass jug with 1 part syrup to 4 parts sparkling water.

Debs Cook is the IT Media Manager for the DHM, she is a self confessed herbaholic who loves to write about the way herbs were once used and about the herbalists that used them. You can find out more about Debs over on her Herbal haven blog.

Disclaimer: Whilst every effort has been made to source the most up to date and accurate information, we cannot guarantee that remedies in our articles are effective, when in doubt, consult your GP or a qualified Medicinal Herbalist. Remember also that herbal remedies can be dangerous under certain circumstances therefore you should always seek medical advice before self-treating with a homemade remedy, especially if you are pregnant, breast feeding or suffer from any known illness which could be adversely affected by self-treatment.

Friday 26 July 2019

Herbal Summer Travel Essentials


When you’re away on holiday sometimes you can experience cuts, bruises, upset tummies, sleeplessness and a variety of other minor ailments. It’s not always easy to go to a doctor or find medical support whilst away, so taking a small kit of essential herbal supplies that includes things such as plasters, bandages and gauze, and a selection of herbs, herbal oils and creams away with you, can be of great benefit for taking care of minor cuts, bruises and attacks of nausea and headaches. Here’s a few to consider packing for your travels: -

Aloe Vera Gel – Gels or lotions made from aloe vera are excellent for using to soothe minor burns, scalds and also sunburn. All you need to do is apply the gel to the affected area and let it do its work.

Calendula Cream – Calendula is both antiseptic and anti-inflammatory, it’s a lovely soothing cream that can be used for minor cuts, grazes, insect bites and also nappy rash. Ensure cuts and grazes are thoroughly cleaned and free of any dirt or grit before you apply calendula cream.

Chickweed Cream – This remedy is often used to help sooth eczema, but it is also a useful cream to have in your remedy box, it can help sooth minor burns or scalds. Chickweed also has the ability to help draw out impurities from the skin in things like boils and abscesses, it also rather useful for helping to remove splinters from the skin and soothing insect bites and stings.

Comfrey Ointment – Is great for applying to sprains, swelling and bruising. Although comfrey does encourage cell growth and can help heal up cuts quite quickly, it is not antiseptic and its rapid healing properties can lead to abscesses if is used on a wound that has not been thoroughly cleaned, so ensure that you have thoroughly cleaned the wound and preferably used an antiseptic cream before applying comfrey ointment.

Tinctures of Arnica and Witch Hazel – Both of these tinctures are useful added to water and made in to a compress to help bring relief to tired and aching legs and can also speed up the healing factor of bruising. Witch hazel tincture can also be added to soothing lotions for soothing minor burns and sunburn and because of its astringent nature it can help minor cuts and grazes to stop bleeding. Add a little witch hazel tincture to water and use a cotton wool ball soaked in the solution to help clean the cut or graze and staunch the blood flow. It’s also useful for taking the sting out of insect bites.

Herbal Teas


Herbal teas can also double as skin washes and rinses, good tea herbs include fennel for digestive upsets, lemon balm for headaches, especially irritating tension headaches and elderflower and yarrow are good to have if there is a chance that you could pick up a cold whilst away, both are excellent anti-catarrhal herbs and can help to reduce fevers.

Chamomile Tea - An infusion of Chamomile flowers can be taken as herbal tea for nervous upsets, it’s soothing and gentle and useful to sip if you’re having problems sleeping. Chamomile tea can be turned in to a steam inhalant to help sufferers of hay fever get some relief, but make sure that you’re not allergic to members of the asteraceae family first! Left to go cold and some cotton wool pads placed in it, it can be placed on the eyes to help bring relief to tired eyes. The tea can also be used as a hair rinse to lighten blonde hair, and added to a facial steam to help cleanse the skin of impurities.

Ginger Powder - Ginger powder can be taken to help relieve the symptoms of dyspepsia - heartburn, bloating and flatulence - and morning sickness, indigestion and period cramps, it can be taken as a tea or in capsule form. It may also help to bring relief to arthritic and rheumatic pains, soothe migraine headaches and soothe tired and aching muscles.

Peppermint Tea – Is good for soothing nausea, upset stomachs and IBS, like ginger it can also be taken for dyspepsia. If symptoms last more than three days seek professional advice. Peppermint tea that has been allowed to cool can be used as a hair rinse for greasy hair, and as a facial tonic, or added to a foot bath to help sooth tired aching feet. Cold peppermint tea can be used as a cold compress to help sooth tension headaches. Try combining ginger and peppermint and drinking as a tea to get the best from both herbs.

Essential Oils


There are a number of essential oils that can be useful to add to your holiday essentials kit, rosemary oil is great when diluted in a carrier oil for easing aches and pains caused by arthritis and rheumatism. Thyme oil is a great antiseptic and it’s also antispasmodic to, so it’s useful to massage into cramping and aching muscles, after it’s been diluted in a suitable carrier oil of course!

If you’re going abroad, chances are that mosquitoes will be a problem, the oil most often used to repel mosquitoes is citronella, but oils that contain citronellol and geraniol such as basil, cedarwood, eucalyptus, geranium, lavender, lemongrass, rosemary and tea tree all have insect repelling properties. Use any of the oils mentioned above or below at a ratio of 2-3 drops of essential oil to 1 tsp of carrier oil and rub on to the skin to deter flying pests.

Citronella Essential Oil – Is an excellent way to deter fleas and flying insects such as mosquitoes, in general it only works in close proximity and if used in a bug deterrent spray it needs to be applied often. Add to citronella oil to lotions, creams and soaps, and to shampoos for the hair. Add to washing water for floors and surfaces where antiseptic, insect repelling and antibacterial properties are required.

Lavender Essential Oil – Diluted in a suitable carrier oil, lavender oil can be used to soothe bites and stings, its antiseptic and antibacterial properties may help prevent a bite or sting from becoming infected and it can help the skin to heal. When diluted in a suitable carrier oil it can be used on minor burns, cuts and grazes and can speed up the healing process. A few drops on your pillow may help you get to sleep, and diluted it may help ease headaches and migraines. Add to lotions, creams, soaps, face masks, foot powders and bath salts for the skin, and shampoos for the hair.

Tea Tree Essential Oil – Like lavender, tea tree oil is antiseptic, antibacterial and it’s also anti-fungal, diluted in a suitable carrier oil it can be used topically to ease cold sores and if applied when the first symptoms appear may stop the sore developing all together, it’s also useful for applying to warts, and other fungal infections such as athlete’s foot. Add to shampoos for dandruff sufferers, lotions, creams, balms, salves, washes and soaps where an antiseptic and antimicrobial action is required.

Debs Cook is the IT Media Manager for the DHM, she is a self confessed herbaholic who loves to write about the way herbs were once used and about the herbalists that used them. You can find out more about Debs over on her Herbal haven blog.

Disclaimer: Whilst every effort has been made to source the most up to date and accurate information, we cannot guarantee that remedies in our articles are effective, when in doubt, consult your GP or a qualified Medicinal Herbalist. Remember also that herbal remedies can be dangerous under certain circumstances therefore you should always seek medical advice before self-treating with a homemade remedy, especially if you are pregnant, breast feeding or suffer from any known illness which could be adversely affected by self-treatment.

Friday 19 July 2019

Herbs for Travel Sickness


Travel sickness is also called referred to as sea sickness and car sickness and also motion sickness. It can occur when travelling by bus, car, ferry or boat and planes, it’s also possible to experience motion sickness sitting waiting an action movie or on fun fair rides. Sufferers can experience symptoms including dizziness, fatigue, hyperventilation, and nausea occur which in severe cases can lead to vomiting.

As a child I experienced my fair share of travel sickness problems, which back then was often resolved by ‘sucking a barley sugar’ an old confection still made today, sadly the majority of today’s barley sugar sweets are confectionery only, the don’t contain the decoction of barley or barley extract that the barley sugars of old did. Barley was an old remedy for nausea and morning sickness.

So what is it Motion sickness? Our senses take in lots of information from our surroundings and sends that information to the brain to process, as we travel the eyes, ears, muscles and even our skin send signals to the brain as we move. The problem occurs when our brains receive conflicting information, and usually arises when fluid in our inner ears known as the labyrinth sends a signal that the rest of our senses hasn’t picked up.

When everything is working as it should when we travel our eyes, the labyrinth which is situated in the inner ear and contains fluid that sloshes around as we move, our skin and our muscles send sensory information to the brain. That information helps the body to be aware of its position in space and allows the body to be able to determine if it’s moving or stationary and if it is moving, what direction it is moving in. If any of these signals misfire or conflict with information sent by another sense, the whole system becomes out of balance and motion sickness occurs.

Helping Yourself


If you suffer from motion sickness there are a few simple things you can do to help ease your symptoms before you reach for herbal home remedies.

Taking a good B-Complex vitamin can help, make sure it contains vitamin B6 also known as pyridoxine which can help ease the nausea associated with motion sickness. Start taking it at least 3-4 days before you travel and continue to take it throughout your holiday on a daily basis, if you don’t want to take a supplement you can B6 in the following foods brewer's yeast, wheat bran, wheat germ, liver, kidney, heart, milk, eggs and beef. Eat light meals the day before you travel and avoid having anything to rich, fatty or spicy, if you suffer from vomiting then try and keep your stomach relatively empty, if there isn’t much in, not so much can come out!

If you’re travelling by plane, when you make your reservation, ask them for an aisle seat over a wing. Travelling by boat or ferry, ask for a cabin on the upper deck toward the front of the vessel, and keep your eyes fixed as much as possible on the horizon or land as you travel, try not to stand on the boat or ferry, standing with move your body and shift your balance and cause more conflicting signals which will only amplify the motion sickness. By car, bus or train sit in the same direction that you are travelling so you’re facing forwards at all times, keeping your focus on the horizon, it will also help if you position the air vent of the vehicle to blow cool air directly on your face.

6 Herbs to the Ease Travel Sickness


It's important to note that herbs cannot prevent motion sickness from occurring, what they can do is alleviate the symptoms and make you feel a little better, some of the best herbs to try to help ease the symptoms are the following: -

Chamomile – A cup or chamomile tea or a nice, cold chamomile infusion can help to combat the effects of travel sickness, it can soothe the nerves and calm the stomach, it’s anti-spasmodic, carminative, digestive and nervine properties are all ideal for dealing with nausea, its mildly sedative as well, which is good to help you relax. Choose German Chamomile rather than Roman Chamomile as the German variety is milder and not as bitter.

Catnip – Another herb that makes a soothing and comforting tea or infusion that is useful for dealing with motion sickness, it has anti-anxiety, anti-spasmodic, carminative, nervine, sedative and stomachic properties, it is mild and gentle and a weak infusion sweetened, can be given to children to help with their symptoms, catnip can be combined with chamomile.

Fennel Seeds – The seed can be used to make a pleasant tea or infusion which can calm the stomach. Fennel is also a mild analgesic, so if the nausea causes pain or you get a mild headache, then fennel can help. It is also anti-inflammatory, anti-spasmodic, carminative and stomachic, the seeds can also be chewed to help ease digestion and curb nausea.

Ginger – This spice is synonymous with travel sickness, it’s also often taken by women suffering from morning sickness, ginger has analgesic, anti-emetic (stops nausea), anti-inflammatory, anti-spasmodic and carminative properties. Take ginger either as a tea, mixed with a little lemon which can also help with nausea or make your own crystallised ginger sweets that you can chew as and when needed. If you don’t like spicy flavour of ginger but want to partake of its benefits then powdered ginger in capsule form may help.

Lemon Balm – Like catnip, lemon balm has anti-anxiety properties, it’s also naturally anti-emetic, antispasmodic, carminative, digestive, and sedative, it can be taken as a tea or tisane, it can also be made in to herbal drops that can be sucked whilst travelling, try combining lemon balm with chamomile to help improve the bitterness of the chamomile, it can also be combined with ginger.

Peppermint – Another herb synonymous with travel sickness and nausea, it has anodyne (relieves mild pain), anti-spasmodic, aromatic, carminative, refrigerant and stomachic properties. Peppermint will calm the gastro-intestinal tract and soothe the stomach if taken as a tea or decoction. Like ginger and liquorice it can also be turned in to a lozenge or sweet that can be sucked during travel. If the flavour of peppermint is too strong for you, or it’s to be given to a child use spearmint instead which is milder and gentler in action.

Try an Aromatic Approach


You don’t have to take all remedies internally, sometimes the scent of a herb can help, try making a refreshing and soothing spritzer spray using single essential oils or combinations of Chamomile, Fennel, Ginger, Lavender, Lemon, Melissa (Lemon Balm) and Peppermint.

Both ginger and peppermint oils are particularly useful oils to have on hand for motion sickness, some people find that when the oils are diluted in a suitable carrier oil and the resulting blend is massaged in to the temples or gently in to the stomach it can help relieve the nausea and dizzy feelings. When massaging the stomach take care to be gentle and use only smooth gentle strokes, working in a clockwise direction. You can also add a few drops of either oil to a tissue or handkerchief and hold it under your nose and breathe in the aromas when smells like fried foods and fumes can trigger motion sickness problems.

Debs Cook is the IT Media Manager for the DHM, she is a self confessed herbaholic who loves to write about the way herbs were once used and about the herbalists that used them. You can find out more about Debs over on her Herbal haven blog.

Disclaimer: Whilst every effort has been made to source the most up to date and accurate information, we cannot guarantee that remedies in our articles are effective, when in doubt, consult your GP or a qualified Medicinal Herbalist. Remember also that herbal remedies can be dangerous under certain circumstances therefore you should always seek medical advice before self-treating with a homemade remedy, especially if you are pregnant, breast feeding or suffer from any known illness which could be adversely affected by self-treatment.

Friday 12 July 2019

Using Herbal Teas to Keep Cool


Hot summer sunshine isn’t welcomed by everyone, and when the temperatures soar, some of us can be found clinging to any shady areas we can find, consuming ice cream like it’s going out of fashion and desperately wafting around pieces of card, paper, magazines or anything that can be used to create a makeshift fan to try to create a cooling breeze to help keep us cool. If any of those scenarios sound familiar, then you may like to know that sipping a herbal tea or cordial made from cooling herbs can help cool you down when the temperatures begin to soar.

Sipping a cold drink can indeed help to bring down your body temperature, but that cooling effect is short lived if there is nothing to enhance the cooling powers, however if you choose the right herbs to make your herbal infusion from, then you will gain more of a benefit from your cooling drink. Herbs that work best are referred to as cooling herbs, they are also known as refrigerant herbs, these herbs have a specific cooling effect on the body and are particularly effective when applied externally; so you can use any leftover iced tea – as long as it hasn’t been sweetened with sugar or honey - to make cold compresses for the forehead. Something my mum did with peppermint tea when she was feeling the heat. Refrigerant herbs can also help to soothe irritation as well as helping to reduce internal and external body heat.

The phrase “as cool as a cucumber” is something to keep in mind during the summer, cucumbers do indeed have cooling properties, it’s not just for garnish that we add cucumber, along with the herb borage - another member of the cucumber family - orange slices and juicy strawberries to that quintessential summer drink Pimm’s. They are added because they all give additional cooling properties to the drink, although they do lose some of their effect as the alcohol in the cocktail raises your body temperature again. However, if you remove the alcohol from the equation the cooling and refreshing actions of the herbs are restored, so try making some herbal lemonade or orangeade and using the same herbs and fruits to help cool you down.

A point to note, make sure you avoid making your iced herb teas using diaphoretic herbs, diaphoretic means that the herb will help the skin to eliminate toxins and aid perspiration, they will cool you down, but they will cause you to sweat more. Not something you want to do on hot days, so avoid diaphoretic herbs such as Boneset, Ginger, Hyssop, White Horehound and Yarrow.

There are countless herbal tea blends out there, including fruit, mint, citrus, and green teas but making your own blend is really easy, see below for a couple of ideas. Most people drink their herbal teas hot, but you can make them up, allow them to go cold and serve them over ice to make a refreshing cold drink. Doing this is easy, but it’s worth noting that adding ice will weaken the flavour of the brew. Some people would be tempted to simply allow the tea to steep or ‘brew’ for longer, but this will just result in a bitter flavour, especially in the case of herbs like chamomile and green tea.

How To Make Herbal Iced Tea


They way to get a stronger flavour is to add more herb to the brew in the beginning rather than steep for longer periods of time. If you’re using pre blended tea bags you’ll need 3 for every litre of water. If you’re using dried herb blends then you need 2 teaspoons dried herbs for every 250ml water, so 8 teaspoons for 1 litre.

1. First boil the kettle.

2. Next put your dried herb blend/tea bags in a large glass jug then pour over the boiling water, if you’re using loose herbs for your tea then use a tea ball, or pop them in an infuser, alternatively make the tea in a cafetière, so you can push the herbs to the bottom.

3. If you want sweet tea, now is the time to add the sweetener of choice whilst the tea is still hot, add stevia, honey or sugar. You can use a sugar syrup once the tea is cold but be warned that you cannot stir sugar into cold tea as it won’t dissolve.

4. Leave the herbs steeping in the hot water for 10-15 minutes, then strain off the tea into a clean glass jug preferably a lidded one, or a pitcher, make sure there is room for ice and any edible decorations you want add.

5. Leave to go cold and then place the jug in the fridge to chill the herbal tea. Once chilled place some ice in a tumbler and pour over chilled tea over the ice, serve.


Flavour Combinations


There are a wide varieties of flavour combinations to try to make your iced teas from, try combinations of the following herbs all of which have cooling: - Basil, catnip, chamomile, chickweed, citrus fruits including lemon, lime, mandarin and orange, elderflower, green tea, hibiscus, lavender, lemon balm, lemongrass, peppermint, raspberry leaf, red clover, rose, rosehip and spearmint. Of course you can make a straight forward one flavour iced tea like peppermint or lemon balm if you fancy keeping it simple, but here’s a few recipes to get you started if you fancy mixing it up.

Apple, Mint & Chamomile - For a delicious cooling and refreshing fruity twist try this brew, boil 500ml of water and add it to your jug, and add 5 tsp of Chamomile, and 3 tsp Spearmint and leave to infuse for 10 minutes, strain off the herbs then add 500ml of Apple Juice and leave to cool, chill and proceed as per main method. Try substituting orange juice for the apple and adding 1 tsp basil for a refreshing change, too much basil can be over powering the flavour of this combination is subtle and surprisingly delicious.

Citrus & Chamomile Delight – Chamomile is wonderfully relaxing and cooling and goes so well with lemon flavoured herbs which give the flavour a real zing. Chamomile can be bitter if left to steep for too long, so make sure you don’t leave the herb in the brew for too long. To make brew up the following blend as per the method above: - 3 tsp Lemon Verbena, 3 tsp Chamomile Flowers and 2 tsp Lemon Balm.

Green Tea & Elderflower - This blend is refreshing but can be a little tart for some people, so make sure you add some sweetness, alternatively use the half water, half apple juice method in Apple, Mint and Chamomile recipe above. To your boiling water add 5 tsp Green Tea, 2 tsp Elderflower's and 1 tsp Lemon Peel and leave to steep for 10 minutes. You could add a splash of elderflower cordial to this recipe to sweeten it a little.

Iced Hibiscus Tea – Hibiscus flowers are delicious either served hot as a tea, made into syrup or used to make a delicious chilled drink. In some countries hibiscus is also known as sorrel and alternatively roselle. Hibiscus flowers were used in Egypt to make a drink known as Karkade which was given to the Pharaohs, and today in Egypt and the Sudan traditional toasts are still made at special events with a glass of karkade. Whatever you call the herb, hibiscus tea is an astringent and sharp tea that tastes fruity, almost cranberry like and is rich in antioxidants, vitamins and minerals. You can enjoy it on its own by adding 8 tsp of Hibiscus Tea to your jug and allowing it to steep for 20-30. The astringency and sourness of hibiscus requires the tea to be sweetened so use honey or sugar to taste at the boiling water stage so that the sweetener dissolves.

Lemony Lavender Cooler – Lavender isn’t to everyone’s taste, but I like to make cordial and syrups from it to drizzle over ice-cream or use to flavour summer drinks and cocktails, I also like to add it to tea blends, bear in mind that lavender has a very strong flavour so don’t be tempted to add more than 1tsp, less is more as they say. To 1000ml boiling water add 3 tsp Lemongrass, 2 tsp Lemon Peel, 2 sp Lemon Balm and 1 tsp Lavender and proceed as main method.

Nettle, Rose & Spearmint – Nettle on its own can be a tad astringent on the palette for some people so try giving it some extra aroma and flavour by adding rose petals and spearmint. To your 1000ml of water add 4 tsp Nettle, 3 tsp Spearmint and 1 tsp Rose Petals. You can substitute peppermint for spearmint, however spearmint has a softer flavour and is gentler to younger palettes, peppermint can be a little strong.

Debs Cook is the IT Media Manager for the DHM, she is a self confessed herbaholic who loves to write about the way herbs were once used and about the herbalists that used them. You can find out more about Debs over on her Herbal haven blog.

Disclaimer: Whilst every effort has been made to source the most up to date and accurate information, we cannot guarantee that remedies in our articles are effective, when in doubt, consult your GP or a qualified Medicinal Herbalist. Remember also that herbal remedies can be dangerous under certain circumstances therefore you should always seek medical advice before self-treating with a homemade remedy, especially if you are pregnant, breast feeding or suffer from any known illness which could be adversely affected by self-treatment.

Saturday 15 June 2019

Herbal Focus: Elderflowers

Article by Debs Cook
Elderflowers (Sambucus nigra) come from a deciduous shrub or small tree which grows to 4–6 m (rarely to 10m) in height. The bark is light grey when young, changing to a coarse darker grey outer bark with lengthwise furrowing. The leaves are arranged in opposite pairs, 10–30 cm long, pinnate with five to seven (rarely nine) leaflets, the leaflets 5–12 cm long and 3–5 cm broad, with a serrated margin. The flowers of the elder are borne in clusters approximately 10–25 cm in diameter they are creamy white in colour and give off a characteristic odour, which some people say smells ‘catty’. The individual flowers in the cluster are between 5–6 mm in diameter, with five petals.

Elder is surrounded by a profusion of folk lore and stories relating to the use of the wood, berries and flowers, it has more lore associated with it than almost any other herbs, the flowers are said to be more potent if picked on Midsummer’s Eve, and washes for the face have been made by young maidens to help whiten the complexion and stave off freckles. The name Elder comes from the Saxon words 'eller' or ‘kindler’ due to the fact that the hollow stems of elder wood were used as mini bellows to help fires that were dying out to burn. The inner pith of the stems hollow stems have been used to make musical instruments. Other names for Elderflower include: - Black Elder, Common Elder, European Elder, Pipe Tree, Bourtre, Suin, Acte, Judas Tree, Lady Ellhorn, Whistle Tree, Old Lady, Hylder, Hylantree, Eldrum, Ellhorn, Hollunder, Sambuke and Sureau.

In 1644 Martin Blochwich a highly respected German physician of his day, compiled a manuscript in Latin which he called ‘Anatomia Sambuci’, translated ‘The Anatomy of the Elder’, the manuscript was translated into English by C. De Iryngio in 1651 and reprinted in 1677, then promptly faded into obscurity, until someone at the European nutraceutical company called BerryPharma, rediscovered the book whilst doing some research into the use of elderberries as a traditional remedy and decided to get it revised and reprinted in 2010.

The original author intended his manuscript to be a reference guide for his fellow medical practitioners who lived in the villages and countryside’s of Europe. It drew upon the existing traditional remedy works of his time, dating back to Galen and Pythagoras and he added his own experiences with the elder. Blochwich likely chose the elder tree to write about for two reasons, firstly, because it’s various components (berries, flowers, stems, bark, roots and seeds) provide so many different recipes for treating so many illnesses, and secondly, the Elder Tree was and still is one of the most common trees found in Europe. The ‘Anatomia Sambuci’ was one of the earliest medical textbooks to be printed for educational purposes, during a period in European history when witchcraft was still an offence and knowledge was still the protected right of the theologians, the rich and the powerful. However, the newly formed British Royal Society showed their progressiveness by recommending the book to their members in 1677.

Although the ‘Anatomia Sambuci’ disappeared from historical herbal references, Mrs Grieve included references to it in her book ‘A Modern Herbal’ published in 1931, after references to what John Evelyn wrote about the elder in 1664 (see below), she wrote of ‘Anatomia Sambuci’ thus: -

Some twenty years before Evelyn's eulogy [of the elder] there had appeared in 1644 a book entirely devoted to its praise: The Anatomie of the Elder, translated from the Latin of Dr. Martin Blockwich by C. de Iryngio (who seems to have been an army doctor), a treatise of some 230 pages that in Latin and English went through several editions. It deals very learnedly with the medicinal virtues of the tree - its flowers, berries, leaves, 'middle bark,' pith, roots and 'Jew's ears,' a large fungus often to be found on the Elder (Hirneola auricula Judae).

Evelyn refers to this work (or rather to the original by 'Blockwitzius,' as he calls him!) for the comprehensive statement in praise of the Elder quoted above. It sets forth that as every part of the tree was medicinal, so virtually every ailment of the body was curable by it, from toothache to the plague. It was used externally and internally, and in amulets (these were especially good for epilepsy, and in popular belief also for rheumatism), and in every kind of form - in rob and syrup, tincture, mixture, oil, spirit, water, liniment, extract, salt, conserve, vinegar, oxymel, sugar, decoction, bath, cataplasm and powder.

Some of these were prepared from one part of the plant only, others from several or from all. Their properties are summed up as 'desiccating, conglutinating, and digesting,' but are extended to include everything necessary to a universal remedy. The book prescribes in more or less detail for some seventy or more distinct diseases or classes of diseases, and the writer is never at a loss for an authority - from Dioscorides to the Pharmacopoeias of his own day-while the examples of cures he adduces are drawn from all classes of people, from Emylia, Countess of Isinburg, to the tradesmen of Heyna and their dependants.
"

The book makes for a rather interesting read, and if you can obtain a copy it will help you understand why the elder is such a useful tree, if you don’t appreciate it already.

John Gerard in his ‘Generall Historie of Plantes’ first published in 1597 considered the fresh flowers to be useful as a mild laxative to help move things along, but when dried he considered them to ‘lose as well their purging qualitie as their moisture, and retaine the digesting and attenuating qualitie...’ He considered that the vinegar made from dried elderflowers was ‘wholsome for the stomacke: being used with meat it stirreth up an appetite, it cutteth and attenuateth or maketh thin grosse and raw humors.

Given the whole manuscript that Dr Blochwich wrote in 1651, its surprising that Nicholas Culpeper in his 1653 ‘Complete Herbal’ had very little to say about the common elder tree, Culpeper wrote ‘I hold it needless to write any description of this, since every boy that plays with a pop-gun will not mistake another tree instead of elder’, instead he wrote about the Dwarf Elder aka Danewort (Sambucus ebulus) instead, adding references to the young shoots of common elder being eaten boiled like asparagus, and the flowers being used for ‘cleansing the skin of sun-burning and freckles, morphews etc’. Culpeper, echoed almost what William Turner had to say of the elder, back in 1551, Turner also wrote briefly of the elder tree and included references to the dwarf elder that he referred to as Daynwurt. Turner wrote, there are ‘two kinds of Acte - the Greek name for Elder – saith Dioscorides: the one is called Acte, and it riseth up into the fashion of a tree, and this is named English Elder’, on the virtues he declared that both common elder and danewort had similar properties being dry and having the ability to ‘drive water’, interestingly Turner focused more on the leaves, bark, root and berries of elder and made no reference to the use of the flowers. ‘The leaves ‘ he wrote, when ‘sodden and eaten as an eatable herb drive out choler and thin phlegm, and the young stalks sodden in a pot do the same. The root sodden in wine and given in before meat helpeth the dropsy. If it be drunken after the same manner, it good for them that are bitten of the viper. The fruit drunken with wine doth the same: the same laid to maketh the hair black’.

In his book ‘Sylva’ published in 1729, John Evelyn sang the praises of the Elder tree writing that: -

'If the medicinal properties of its leaves, bark and berries were fully known, I cannot tell what our countryman could ail for which he might not fetch a remedy from every hedge, either for sickness, or wounds.' Of the flowers in particular her wrote ‘buds boiled in water gruel have effected wonders in a fever, the spring buds are excellently wholesome in pattages; and small ale in which Elder flowers have been infused is esteemed by many so salubrious that this is to be had in most of the eating houses about our town.' Concluding that of the flowers ‘there be nothing more excellent to ease pains of the haemorrhoids than a fomentation made of the flowers of elder and Verbusie, or honeysuckle in water or milk, for in short it easeth the greatest pain.

Sir John Hill in his 18th century ‘Family Herbal’ recommended that the flowers be turned into an ointment by boiling them in lard until they are almost crisp, the liquid was then strained off in to jars and used as a cooling ointment for the skin.

Harold Ward, a mid-20th century English medical herbalist included the elder flower in his 1936 book the ‘Herbal Manual’. He recommended that infusions of the flowers be made at a mix of 1oz of flowers to 1 pint of water and the ensuing infusion be taken in wineglass doses. Adding that ‘It [elderflower] is used, often in conjunction with Peppermint and Yarrow, chiefly for the reduction of feverish colds, but inflamed conditions of the eyes are also found to yield to bathing with warm elderflower infusion’, still today elderflower's are as the old herbalists would put it ‘a sovereign remedy’ for colds and flu, being 1 of the 3 ingredients in classic cold and flu tea alongside the peppermint and yarrow that Mr Ward mentions.

Image by RitaE

Making Use of Elderflower


The flowers of the elder are anti-inflammatory, anti-catarrhal, astringent, circulatory stimulant, diaphoretic, diuretic and expectorant, they contain flavonoids including rutin which is an antioxidant that has anti-inflammatory properties, phenolic acids, tannins, triterpenoids including amyrin, plant sterols, volatile oils and mucilage.

The ancient Egyptians are said to have discovered the beautifying effect that elderflower's have on the skin and for centuries elderflower's have been employed for use by the cosmetic industry to make cooling and soothing ointments for the eyes, and added to shampoos, conditioners, face creams and eye gels.

The flowers fresh or dried can be used to make sweet syrups or to flavour jellies and ice-creams. They can also be turned into vinegar, cordial and wine. Cooked with gooseberries or rhubarb they add a Muscat wine flavour to the finished dish. The flowers can be used to flavour jellies and ice-creams. They make a refreshing summer cordial and a light wine. Cooked with gooseberries or rhubarb they give a Muscat-like flavour. The flowers can be used to make elderflower water, which can help to lighten the skin, and help freckles be less visible; the water can also help to soften the skin. Elderflower water can also be used as an eye wash.

The flowers when dried can be used to make a pleasant caffeine free tea substitute which has a heady, floral and somewhat fruity flavour and a delightful aroma. To make a mug of elderflower tea add 1-2g of the tea to a teapot or infuser - depending on how strong you like your tea – and pour over enough fresh boiling water as required. Strain into a mug, sweeten with preferred sweetener e.g. honey and serve. Serve without milk, elderflower tea can also be served chilled like ice tea.

The tea can also be used to flavour syrup, cordials, jelly and alcoholic beverages. Cooled unsweetened elderflower tea can be used as a hair rinse to bring shine to light coloured hair. Soaking elderflower tea in distilled water or rose water will give you a fragrant toning lotion for the skin that will clear the complexion, reduce freckles and soothe sunburnt skin. For a treat for tired eyes, soak cotton wool balls in cold unsweetened elderflower tea and then place on the eyes whilst relaxing for 15 - 20 minutes, after this time you may see a reduction in puffiness around the eyes and they will feel less tired.

Powdered elderflower's can be mixed with other herb powders such as dandelion leaf to act as a compost activator. The powdered flowers can also be used to make infusions and decoctions that can added to lotions and creams for the skin. The dried flowers can be used to make sweet syrups or to flavour jellies and ice-creams. The powder can also be used to make a hair rinse to help lighten blonde hair.

Elder & Lemon Thyme Throat Lozenges


These little homemade lozenges are perfect for sore throats and for when you’re feeling a little hoarse, they are my version of a recipe that featured in James Wong’s ‘Grow Your Own Drugs’ series for the BBC back in 2009.

15g Dried Elderflower's
15g Dried Lemon Thyme
30g Golden Linseeds
30g Dried Elderberry Powder
140g Gum Arabic
280g Icing Sugar
900ml (in 675ml and 225ml batches) Hot Water

1. To begin put the elderflower's and lemon thyme into a lidded jug or container and pour on 675ml of freshly boiled water and leave to steep, so that you are left with an herbal infusion. Whilst still warm add 30g of golden linseeds and leave for an hour, the mixture is ready when the liquid starts to have a similar consistency to egg white, this consistency is achieved due to the mucilaginous nature of the linseeds.

2. Whilst the herbs are infusing, grind the gum arabic into the smallest pieces you can, using an electric grinder or a pestle and mortar, the finer the Arabic pieces the quicker it will dissolve in your liquid.

3. Take the 225ml of boiling water and add your crushed/powdered gum arabic to it, and stir using a wooden spoon until the granules of gum have turned into a thick, syrupy consistency.

4. Next strain the elderflower/lemon thyme infusion, and add 335ml of it to gum Arabic, stir in the icing sugar and elderberry powder slowly, to make sure you don’t get lumpy bits. The sugar acts as a preservative and gives the lozenges a little sweetness.

5. Put the rest of the herbal infusion, and the gum arabic/sugar/partial infusion mixture in a pan on a low heat and stir continuously for about half an hour until the mixture becomes a really thick, syrup-like consistency and starts to come away from the sides of the pan. You can also test by pouring it with the spoon and touching it; if it doesn't stick to your finger it's ready, but do be careful as it could be hot.

6. Finally pour onto a baking tray lined with greaseproof paper and leave to set. When it's hard it's just a case of bashing it until you get the right size pieces. Alternatively fill a deep baking tin/tray with icing sugar and push your middle finger in to it to form ‘moulds’, then using a teaspoon fill each hole. When the lozenges are set, remove them from the icing sugar and store in a dark glass jar somewhere cool.

Debs Cook is the IT Media Manager for the DHM, she is a self confessed herbaholic who loves to write about the way herbs were once used and about the herbalists that used them. You can find out more about Debs over on her Herbal haven blog.

Disclaimer: Whilst every effort has been made to source the most up to date and accurate information, we cannot guarantee that remedies in our articles are effective, when in doubt, consult your GP or a qualified Medicinal Herbalist. Remember also that herbal remedies can be dangerous under certain circumstances therefore you should always seek medical advice before self-treating with a homemade remedy, especially if you are pregnant, breast feeding or suffer from any known illness which could be adversely affected by self-treatment.