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.

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.

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.