Regular readers of my blog may remember back to late 2008, say around November and December, when I was having a urge to make tea out of thyme.
Even though my family was less than enthusiastic, it turns out that Thyme Tea is indeed good for something.
From Monday's People's Pharmacy column in the Health section of the Los Angeles Times, I quote:
"The usual ingredient in cough syrup, dextromethorphan, is no better than a placebo for kids and only modestly effective for adults (Journal of Family Practice, October 2009). Natural alternatives that may provide some relief include tea made of thyme or ginger."
HAH! I knew I knew what I was doing!
As an aside, I've entirely stopped giving cough syrup to my girls as the research is pretty clear that's it is useless at best. It's interesting that I came across this item today (yes, I'm behind in my news reading), because J woke up with a horrible bout of coughing out of nowhere last night. And I thought, well, medicine can't help...
Now I know to brew up some thyme.
(Ahh, don't you wish you could brew up some Time??)
******
Joe Graedon is a pharmacologist, and Teresa Graedon is an expert in medical anthropology and nutrition. www.peoplespharmacy.com
2 comments:
Hi Marie,
Thanks for your comment on my blog and your great Buddha-blog ideas!
Thyme tea sounds lovely - do you mix anything in like honey? Anything you can do with rosemary?
Hi LG -
I'm so glad you stopped by! I bet honey would be great in thyme tea and also soothing for throat and cough. Plus it's naturally antibacterial.
Rosemary is my favorite herb, known for its amazing vitality. I often pinch a sprig of rosemary while walking and inhale its scent as an aromatherapeutic wake-up.
You can brew rosemary tea as well. Generally, it's considered to be fairly stimulating, and is used to enhance concentration, focus, and memory. That's based on folklore sources. I'll see if I can find any medical research on its effects.
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