This is flu season and if you ever feel the beginning of a cold or of a sore throat, reach for this easy to make healing syrup. I always have readily available for the family, just in case!
I don’t know about you but the stuff I find in drugstores not only tastes nasty and usually contains alcohol but it doesn’t do much for me besides making me woozy! I have to say, since I became vegan, I haven’t caught a cold or a flu in years. But, I did feel a little tingle in my throat when I flew back from Europe. I must have inhaled something in transit. Airplane and airports are major breeding grounds for viruses and bacteria. Something about breathing recycled air for 8 hours, pressurized cabins, jetlag…
So when I felt something in my throat I immediately reached for my handy dandy homemade cough syrup and it was gone the next day!
All you need is some molasses and an herb called slippery elm in powder form. Simple enough?
The beauty of this is that you not only get one of the most soothing herb to help your throat and everything that it touches (mouth, throat, intestines…) but you also get the nutritional benefit from molasses: a great source of manganese, iron, calcium, potassium and more. So the goodness doesn’t stop with your throat!
HOW TO MAKE IT:
Mix 1/4 cup (about 4 Tbsp.) of Slippery Elm powder with 1 cup of molasses.
I recommend mild flavor molasses if you are not a fan of molasses.
Simmer and stir for 20mn. That’s it!
If you want it more liquid like a syrup, just add some water.
HOW TO TAKE IT:
I like to take a teaspoon and either suck on it until it is fully absorbed or let it dissolve in a warm glass of water or tea and drink it.
Note: I like to add 2-3 drops of peppermint spirit to it for a fresh taste but it isn’t necessary.
Slippery Elm can be bought at any natural food store in the bulk section with all the herbs. It truly is a wondrous herb. It helps pull out and expel mucus, it is an anti-inflammatory, it soothes everything that it comes into contact with. So it can be used to also relieve intestinal and lung problems like heart burns, indigestion, constipation, diarrhea, ulcers, bronchitis etc. It can also be used externally as an eye wash (only using strained tea).
HOW DOES IT WORK?
Slippery Elm is a mucilaginous plant meaning that it produces a slippery and soothing substance that protects areas from infections, from toxic substances by absorbing them and eliminating them from the body. Pretty cool stuff and there are NO side effects!
So if you don’t have any at home, I suggest you go and get some right away because it if the most gentle yet powerful herb I know and it safe on children, adults and pets too. My kind of remedy!
