The Medicinal Herb Info site was created to help educate visitors about the often forgotten wisdom of the old ways of treating illnesses. Many of today's drugs and medicines were originally derived from natural ingredients, combinations of plants and other items found in nature.

We are not suggesting that you ignore the help of trained medical professionals, simply that you have additional options available for treating illnesses. Often the most effective treatment involves a responsible blend of both modern and traditional treatments.

We wish you peace and health!

Common Colds

Definition

The common cold is difficult to cure because the virus changes size, shape, and resistance to treatment. It has hundreds of forms, making it almost impossible to develop a vaccine. A cold is always in the upper respiratory tract. If lung involvement, see the doctor. Lung or chest infections can be dangerous. Yellow or white spots appearing in the throat, enlarged lymph glands in the neck or under the jaw, and/or chills and shortness of breath occur, see the doctor without delay.
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Symptoms

Head congestion, coughing, headache, fever, difficulty breathing, sneezing, restlessness, watery eyes, aches and pains.
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Treatment

Bedrest, plenty of fluids, fever control, relieve symptoms as much as possible.

Echinacea, ginger, pau d’arco, slippery elm, and yarrow tea.

To reduce fever, take catnip tea enemas.

Also, 1/4 to 1/2 tsp. lobelia tincture every 3-4 hours until fever drops.
A tincture of goldenseal and echinacea is recommended for children. 8-10 drops in liquid every 3 hours until flu symptoms are gone.

Mix equal parts of juniper berries, black elder flowers, coltsfoot, lance-leaf plantain, and sallow bark. Steep 1 tsp. in 1/2 cup boiling water. Take 1/2 to 1 cup a day, sweeten with honey.

Eucalyptus oil: Put 5 drops in a hot bath or 6 drops in boiling water, put a towel over your head and inhale vapors.
One tbsp. slippery elm bark powder mixed with 1 part boiling water and 1/2 cup honey will relieve cough and sore throat. Store in a jar and give 1 tsp. every 3-4 hours.

Another remedy for colds: Anise seed (1 part), Coltsfoot leaves (2 parts) and Lungwort (2 parts); steep 2 tbsp. in 1/2 cup boiling water. Add this tea to 1 1/2 cups althea tea (prepared by soaking 1 tbsp. althea root, leaves and/or flowers in 1/2 cup cold water for 8 hrs. Take this mixture with honey, in mouthful doses.

Tincture of echinacea and goldenseal is best for children’s dosages.
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Nutrients

Vitamin C, 5,000-10,000 mg. per day in divided doses, helps clean and heal mucous membranes.
Vitamin A, 15,000 IU daily, is a powerful antioxidant and helps immune system.
Zinc Gluconate lozenges, every 2 hrs. dissolve lozenge under tongue. Use until symptoms stop, follow directions for children. Stimulant for immune system.
Garlic capsules, 2 capsules 3 times per day, acts as an antibiotic and immune system stimulant.
Multivitamins, taken as directed on label, gives aid to healing.
Kelp, 5-10 tablets per day, has an antiviral action and helps in reduction of inflammation.
Vitamin B complex, 100 mg. daily, a necessity in cellular enzyme function.
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Herbs
  • Agrimony
  • Angelica, European
  • Anise
  • Basil
  • Bayberry
  • Birch
  • Blood root
  • Boneset
  • Borage
  • Bryony, white
  • Burdock, great
  • Burnet
  • Calendula
  • Calla, wild (water-arum)
  • Cannabis
  • Capsicum
  • Cardamom
  • Catnip
  • Cayenne
  • Celery seeds
  • Chamomile
  • Chickweed
  • Cinnamon branch
  • Cloves
  • Coltsfoot
  • Costmary
  • Cow-parsnip
  • Cowslip
  • Chrysanthemum flowers
  • Crampbark
  • Culver’s root
  • Dayflower, Asiatic
  • Dropwort
  • Duckweed
  • Echinacea
  • Elder, black, flowers
  • Elecampane
  • Elm, slippery
  • Echinacea
  • Ephedra (Ma huang)
  • Eucalyptus
  • Fenugreek
  • Fern, male
  • Fern, maidenhair
  • Feverfew
  • Feverweed
  • Fireweed
  • Flag, sweet
  • Flaxseed
  • Garlic
  • Gelsemium
  • Ginger, wild
  • Ginseng, Siberian
  • Golden rod
  • Golden seal
  • Gotu kola
  • Holly, mountain
  • Honeysuckle flowers
  • Horehound
  • Horsemint
  • Horseradish
  • Horsetail
  • Hyssop
  • Irish moss
  • Juniper berries
  • Kudzu root
  • Labrador tea
  • Lavender
  • Lemon
  • Lemon balm
  • Licorice
  • Linden
  • Lobelia
  • Lovage
  • Lungwort
  • Magnolia blossoms
  • Mallow
  • Marjoram
  • Marshmallow
  • Meadowsweet
  • Mint
  • Moss, Iceland
  • Motherwort
  • Mugwort
  • Mulberry leaves
  • Mullein
  • Mustard, black
  • Myrrh
  • Nettle, hedge
  • Oak
  • Onion
  • Oregano
  • Osha
  • Pansy
  • Parsley
  • Pennyroyal
  • Peppermint
  • Pine, white
  • Pineapple juice
  • Plantain, lance-leaf
  • Pleurisy root
  • Poplar
  • Primrose
  • Raspberry
  • Rosemary
  • Sage
  • Sallow bark
  • Sarsaparilla
  • Sassafras
  • Savory
  • Saw palmetto
  • Scallions
  • Skullcap
  • Spruce, Norway
  • Sticklewort
  • Tamarack
  • Tansy
  • Thyme, garden
  • Vervain, blue
  • Violet, garden
  • Watercress
  • Yarrow root
  • Yamm, wild
  • Yerba buena
  • Yerba santa

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Recommendations

Wash hands often, flush tissues after use, do not give aspirin to children with a fever. Check children with frequent colds and flu, for thyroid malfunctions and/or allergies.
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Suggestions

Drink potato peeling soup twice a day, made fresh daily. Potato peelings (the skins) should be peeled 1/2 inch thick. Discard center of potato. Boil peelings for about 20-30 minutes, strain, cool, and drink. Carrot or celery stick in the soup is optional.
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Bibliography

LiveStrong.com: Fenugreek for Congestion

LiveStrong.com: Fresh Ginger Root for a Cough

LiveStrong.com: Turmeric for Coughs

Buy It! Prescription for Nutritional Healing, Fifth Edition: A Practical A-to-Z Reference to Drug-Free Remedies Using Vitamins, Minerals, Herbs & Food Supplements, by James F. Balch, M.D. and Phyllis A. Balch, C.N.C., Avery Publishing Group, Inc., Garden City Park, NY

Buy It! The Rodale Herb Book: How to Use, Grow, and Buy Nature’s Miracle Plants (An Organic gardening and farming book), edited by William H. Hylton, Rodale Press, Inc. Emmaus, PA, 18049., 1974

Buy It! The Herb Book, by John Lust, Bantam Books, 666 Fifth Avenue, New York, NY. copyright 1974.

Buy It! The Old Herb Doctor, by Joseph E. Meyer, Meyerbooks, publisher, PO Box 427, Glenwood, Illinois 60425, copyright 1984, sixth printing 1994.

Buy It! Back to Eden, by Jethro Kloss; Back to Eden Publishing Co., Loma Linda, CA 92354, Original copyright 1939, revised edition 1994

Buy It! The Complete Medicinal Herbal, by Penelope Ody, Dorling Kindersley, Inc, 232 Madison Avenue, New York, NY 10016, First American Edition, copyright 1993

Buy It! Planetary Herbology, by Michael Tierra, C.A., N.D., O.M.D., Lotus Press, PO Box 325, Twin Lakes. WI 53181., Copyright 1988, published 1992

Buy It!The Magic of Herbs, by David Conway, published by Jonathan Cape, Thirty Bedford Square, London, England. (Out of print)

Buy It! Eastern/Central Medicinal Plants, by Steven Foster and James A. Duke., Houghton Mifflin Company, 215 Park Avenue South, New York, NY 10000

Buy It! The Nature Doctor: A Manual of Traditional and Complementary Medicine, by Dr. H.C.A. Vogel; Keats Publishing, Inc., 27 Pine Street (Box 876) New Canaan, CT. 06840-0876. Copyright Verlag A. Vogel, Teufen (AR) Switzerland 1952, 1991

Buy It! Earl Mindell’s Herb Bible, by Earl Mindell, R.Ph., Ph.D., Simon & Schuster/Fireside, Rockefeller Center 1230 Avenue of the Americas, New York, New York 10020

Buy It! The Yoga of Herbs: An Ayurvedic Guide to Herbal Medicine, by Dr. David Frawley & Dr. Vasant Lad, Lotus Press, Twin Lakes, Wisconsin, Second edition, 1988.

Buy It! Indian Herbalogy of North America, by Alma R. Hutchens, Shambala Publications, Inc., Horticultural Hall, 300 Massachusetts Avenue, Boston, Massachusetts 02115, 1973

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