What would it be like to live in a world free of airborne pollutants? Would air smell sweet? Would it, with every breath we take, sweep the lungs clear of metabolic waste and open them wide to rich, life-giving oxygen?
Surely, breathing would be fluid and graceful, easy and deep, just as nature intended, and our overall health greatly enhanced. The proper movement of oxygen-rich blood from head to toe and back again would be strong, providing us the vigor to tackle the tasks of daily living. Vision, hearing, and thought would be sharp, promoting greater perceptual and cognitive skills. Last, but hardly least, if the air we breathed was free of pollutants, our lungs would be better protected against infection, disease, and degeneration.
Unfortunately, our lungs are continuously embattled by assaults from pollutants in the home, workplace, and outdoors.
Our air is laden with breathable, toxic chemicals and particles. Clorox, ammonia cleaners, dryer sheets, and pesticides; asbestos fibers; silica, coal, grain, and lumber dust; wildfire ash; car exhaust and cigarette smoke are but a few contributors to the pollution of our air, and they take a gradual and sometimes deadly toll on the lungs' ability to perform properly.
Daily inhalation of hazardous chemicals and particles eventually prepares the lungs to become an easy target of infection and chronic disease and more than facilitates, over time, a breaking down of lung performance. Respiratory ailments such as asthma, bronchitis, emphysema, COPD, and pulmonary fibrosis (to name but a few) are surely becoming more prevalent.
Deep-seated lingering infections and chronic lung diseases can irritate, inflame, congest, heat, dry, harden, and scar lungs. Mucus produced defensively and in excess can create painful bouts of coughing. For those living with such symptoms, their quest for relieving their discomfort becomes as determined as their search for a full, deep breath of air.
Many herbs have the potential to support our lung function, addressing protection, care in times of infection, and by offering comfort to lungs damaged by chronic wear and tear as well as degenerative disease. It is to those in this last category that I particularly choose to aim the following suggestion:
To those whose lungs are inflamed and filled with heat and congestion, whose lung tissue may have stiffened and scarred, who find it difficult to raise stuck mucus or can't stop coughing up phlegm and whose throat and lungs burn from the effort, I suggest Cheryl's Herbs Respiratory Syrup. It is our hope that this product helps to slow the progression of degenerative lung conditions and our aim to provide some relief from the discomfort of them.
Our Respiratory Syrup contains:
Marshmallow Root - Moistening and softening, it aids in breaking up congestion, hardened mucus, and hardened tissue. It's also anti-inflammatory.
Elderberry - is indicated when there is congestion and restricted breathing.
Mullein Leaf - Bringing water to dry tissues, it's useful for sore throat and hoarseness; dry, tickling coughs; harsh, racking coughs; and old coughs through its ability to moisten and open the lungs.
Red Clover Blossom - soothes irritated, dry tissue; relieves spasmodic coughing and wheezing; opens the lungs.
These four herbs are extracted into thick, sweet vegetable glycerin. Vegetable glycerin is a humectant, meaning it helps tissue to retain moisture.
To moisten, to soothe, to soften . . .to put out the fire.
SOURCES: Matthew Wood's The Earthwise Herbal, A Complete Guide to Old World Medicinal Plants
BOTANICAL SAFETY INFORMATION
Marshmallow Root, Althaea officinalis, organic
Take with additional water. Medication should be taken one hour before or several hours after consumption of Marshmallow root.
Elder Berry, Sambucus nigra/canadensis, organic
Safe to consume when used appropriately.
Mullein Leaf, Verbascum thapsus, organic/wildcrafted
Safe to consume when used appropriately.
Red Clover Blossom, Trifolium pratense, organic
Avoid during pregnancy.