Herbs for your family Health, love her newsletter

Herbs and Family Health

 
With the cold and flu season upon us it is nice to have some simple herbal remedies to help in the event you get sick. Two herbs that are easy to use and easy to have on hand are ginger and slippery elm.

Ginger
The part of the plant that is used is the root. Ginger makes a good tea to drink when you have a cold as it helps with stuffed up noses. It is also known as a mild sedative and can help with fevers. Add a little ginger (and garlic) to your pot of chicken soup to help fight the common cold. Or make yourself up a cup of ginger tea; it is very easy to do using fresh ginger root. You can purchase ginger root in the grocery store.

Ginger Tea
Grate 2 T to 3T fresh ginger root. Add to 4 cups of water and bring to a boil. Remove from heat and cover and let this steep for 5 to 10 minutes. Strain and sweeten to taste with honey. If you are fighting the common cold add a slice or two of fresh lemon to the water too.

Or an alternative:
Use 1 teaspoon of ginger powder and add this to a large mug of hot boiling water. Let this steep for 5 or more minutes. Add honey to sweeten. You can add lemon juice to this tea if you would like.

Slippery Elm
The inner bark is used in this medicinal herb. My most common use for slippery elm when you have a cold is helping with sore throats. A tea made of this herb is very soothing for a sore throat. You can purchase the herbs through a health food store or from http://www.bulkherbstore.com/  or http://www.mountainroseherbs.com/ .

Slippery Elm Tea
Take one teaspoon of the dried herb and put it in a small sauce pan. Pour one cup water over and bring to a boil. Reduce heat, cover with a tight fitting lid. Let this simmer for 20 minutes. It takes this amount of time because the herb is a bark and needs the extra simmering time to extract all its helpful properties. After the simmering time is up, strain the herb out and sweeten it with honey to taste.
 
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