Respiratory Problems? Here’s Our Favourite Herbal Fixes to Unlock Better Lung Health
No matter what age or how healthy you are, sometimes your lungs need a little help to stay healthy! It’s not just cigarette smokers who are suffering lung damage, forest fires, influenza and even our laundry detergent can have a negative effect on our lungs. I am not going to talk about menthol, eucalyptus, and mint, which are the most obvious. Here are our favourite natural herbal remedies to improve lung health that may not have heard enough about!
Mullein Leaf
If you suffer from chronic allergies, have a sinus infection or the dreaded Coronavirus, Mullein Leaf is worth exploring. Known to relieve congestion associated with dry coughs, it helps to limit the amount of dry hacking you experience. It acts as a mild lung sedative and remedies ear aches and ear infections.
Mullein leaves and flowers are cooling, bitter and astringent. Eases cold and flu symptoms, helps relieve headache and migraine pain, joint pain and mushes access mucus out of the body. A natural remedy for bronchitis, whooping cough, pneumonia, asthma, coughing spasms, and more. Continue consuming this plant after respiratory symptoms are gone, to help with cell growth and repair.
Sea Moss and Seaweed
Science has proven that the root of most illness today is a mineral deficiency. Your body has 102 minerals and being deficient in a mineral like Magnesium would lead to 600 enzymatic processes not processing properly or fully. Sea Vegetables offer 92 of the 102 minerals the body needs to for optimal health. Containing Omega 3 oils, Chlorophyll and Potassium Chloride seaweeds and sea moss are known to help dissolve mucus, act as natural decongestants to soothe the bronchial system.
Classified as a demulcent they they soothe and protect inflamed tissue and lung tubes. Seaweeds and Sea Moss, may be your best option to cleanse your lungs and improve lung function if you are a heavy smoker, have asthma, COPD, a cold or flu, or even Covid. Sea Vegetables are extremely sustainable, growing in oceans across the globe, and some of them at a rate of 2 feet a day. They will remove mucus from the body, repair tissue, and deeply detoxify the body.
Black Seed Oil
They say Black Cumin Seed Oil is good for everything, except death! A natural remedy that assists in asthma control, improves blood sugar and cholesterol levels, aids in weight loss, and diminishes nasal congestion caused by allergies. Drinking this oil opens the airways and supports respiratory health.
Dating back as far as the Greeks and Egyptians, it pretty much does every ‘anti’ you can think of! Natural immune strengthener that encourages white blood cell production. Excellent source of antioxidants. Controls and reduces inflammation. Offers kidney support, protecting and restoring the kidneys with reno-protective properties. Protects liver health, helps flush fatty liver tissue. Keeps skin soft and hydrated and so much more…
Elderberry
These tasty berries enhance your immune system by boosting the production of cytokines. Cytokines are a large group of proteins, peptides or glycoproteins that are secreted by specific cells of immune system. Cytokins are a category of signaling molecules that mediate and regulate immunity, inflammation and hematopoiesis.
High in Vitamin C they act as a natural remedy for cold, flu, covid, and asthma. They are anti-viral, and anti-inflammatory offering flavonols, anthocyanins, phenolic acids, dietary fibre, and many more nutrients. Elderberries will keep infections at bay, keep the respiratory system healthy, boost the digestive system, control cholesterol, maintain bone health, and help diabetes.
Liquorice Root
First thing that we associate liquorice with is candy, in this article we are actually talking about the plant! Liquorice root is an anti-viral, antibacterial, anti-microbrial, immune boosting, anti-fungal, anti-inflammatory, antioxidant that has been used as holistic treatments for SARS, pneumonia, influenza, and other respiratory ailments.
Liquorice is known to have skin brightening effects, inhibits hyperpigmentation, and helps heal skin conditions like eczema and psoriasis. It is best to take a potassium supplement with liquorice root to keep the body balanced. Traditional herbal tea remedies to improve lung health often incorporate Eucalyptus, Dandelion, and Echinacea with the Licorice root.
Cinnamon
Put it in your tea, juice, or even hot water for a synthetically sweet flavour that dances gently on the tongue. Cinnamon is warming, and can help with chest colds by loosening the mucus. Anti-inflammatory, anti-viral, anti-bacterial, anti-fungal, this herb is helpful against candida and prevents thrush. The prebiotics of cinnamon are an excellent digestion aid and improve gut health.
Cinnamon is commonly used as a natural remedy to improve lung health, treat muscle spasms, nasal congestion, coughing, infections, bronchitis and the common cold. This spice make all kinds of baked goods and warm oatmeal taste yummy, and yet ironically it reduces cholesterol and blood sugar levels.
Chrysanthemum Flowers
Drink these flowers in a warm tea when you have trouble breathing, it is a natural way to relieve congestion, strengthen lungs, ease suffering from sinusitis and ease shortness of breath. Chrysanthemum is great at clearing away phlegm and calming the lungs. Its antihistamine properties make this tea great to prevent allergies.
Chrysanthemum flowers strengthen the lungs and ease shortness of breath. A great lung detoxifier, the flowers in a warm tea will help open up the lungs and flush mucus. For centuries this tea was used to treat respiratory issues, blood pressure irregularities and to calm the nerves in Asian countries.
What if you have a Lung Disease like Cancer?
According to Medical News Today, Inonotus obliquus aka Chaga Mushrooms, may be your best defence! Exposure to sun, pollution, white sugar and other sources of damage create too many free radicals for the body to neutralize, which accelerates the aging process of the skin, damages the lungs and other organs and can lead to cancer and a host of other health issues.
Chaga is superfood fungi that contains many antioxidants that may reduce “bad” cholesterol, slow the aging process and prevent cardiovascular diseases, cancers, and other life threatening illnesses. Mushroom herbal remedies to improve lung health are not new and Chaga is not the only mushroom worth looking into.
A 2010 study found that Chaga could slow the growth of lung, breast, and cervical cancer cells in a petri dish, and in mice. Cancer drugs have been proven to cause cancer and to harm healthy cells. Chaga does not harm healthy cells or cause any adverse reactions.
A 2009 studyTrusted Source found that triterpenes, the compounds found in Chaga and some other mushrooms, cause tumour cells to self-destruct.
