My new fascination with pine needles led me to investigate what else can be made from them. Natural remedies such as pine can relieve coughs, irritated throats, stuffy noses, fevers, and swelling in the upper and lower respiratory tracts.
Pine has decongestant properties and is anti-inflammatory. It also provides mild pain relief. Pine cough syrup is so effective that it’s readily available both online and at the chemist, but it’s much cheaper and easier to make yourself.
The following information is from thelostherbs.com
Medicinal Benefits Of This Pine Cough Syrup
Pine trees contain Alpha-Pinene, which is a compound that has anti-inflammatory and antimicrobial properties. This compound is also thought to improve memory and help to relieve anxiety. Pine needles also contain high levels of Vitamin C, which is commonly used for helping to prevent and fight colds. The antioxidants in pine can also help reduce the risk of chronic diseases, making it beneficial in more ways other than treating a cough.
Pine needles have an array of astounding benefits, find out more here.
This recipe also calls for ginger and honey. Ginger is an antitussive, which means it suppresses coughing. This is one of the main goals when taking cough syrup because when we cough repeatedly and too hard, it puts pressure on the chest and can give you a headache as a result. Not to mention, it can keep you (and others) up at night.
Honey (Manuka Honey is best for this recipe) helps to soothe an irritated throat because it is viscous and coats the throat. As well as this, it reduces airway inflammation in the lungs.
The combination of these ingredients makes for a very pleasant tasting and soothing cough syrup. They all complement each other to form a very effective cough syrup with wide-reaching benefits. Best of all, it’s all-natural, and being homemade you can control what goes in it. If you’re vegan or need to avoid sugar, you can leave the honey out and the pine needles and ginger will still provide great relief.
Radiata Pine is easily foraged, look for the youngest pine needle clusters.
If you use Manuka Honey (Earthbound is my favourite) your syrup will be more of an amber colour.
You could also use ready made tea bags, five for this recipe. Click here to purchase NZ Pine Needle Tea.
For information on pine needle tea and which pine needles are best to use in New Zealand click here.
About The Author: Triona
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