Herbal healing 101: how I cured myself from the tropical flu

Call me a hippy-dippy girl, but if my husband or I get sick, we prefer to rely on the power of herbs and lots of sleep. Even though I studied pharmacy and biology, I’m not the pill-popping kind of person. And I certainly don’t approve how most pharmaceutical companies operate, but that's a whole different story.

Lucky we don’t get sick very often due to our healthy diet and lifestyle. However, if you live in the tropics, sick-making bugs are lurking everywhere. Once a year, you’re bound to get the tropical flu, as they call it here. It is inevitable and one of the many prices you have to pay to live in paradise.

With an abundance of Asian fresh herbs and roots, there is no better place to get sick and heal yourself through the power of herbs. It is actually herb healing heaven. While I’m far from a holistic healer or master the Asian herb healing art, taking up natural nutrition and holistic healing courses taught me a thing or two.

And if you know that most Cambodian doctors and pharmacists are actually not qualified to treat people or administer medication, this knowledge combined with my pharmaceutical skills are priceless.

Natural Healing 101

It all started Sunday night. Severe stomach cramps woke me up and left me crawling all over the bathroom floor. My first thought, food poisoning, another common danger when you live in the tropics.

However, when it comes to food poisoning, there is usually no fever, cold sweats, sore throat, persisting headache, cough, or swollen glands involved. After spending a night in the presence of the toilet and my body heat going through the roof, I knew it wasn’t food poisoning as I had that before, and it felt different.

After a sleepless night, I sent my caring hubby on a mission to get me some herbs. When he came back, the inner potion-making witch in me came to the surface, and I brew a ginger, tulsi (holy basil), and peppermint tea with lots of raw honey and a squeeze of lime juice.

After only 3 hours and sipping 3 cups of this tea, my throat felt less raspy, and I was able to get a little food into my body without firing up my digestive tract. However, the fever persisted. But that’s normal; fever is actually a good sign of your body fighting disease.

With the couch (and a comforting blanket) as my best friend and 3 more cups of tea and a good night’s rest and lots of water the following day I felt a lot better. Although there was still a bit of cloudiness afflicting my brain and an occasional cough, I was able to go back to my daily tasks, sipping a bit more of the tea while keeping my body hydrated with water.

Now you may ask why this ginger-mint-tulsi combo. Well here is an explanation, followed by the recipe I used.

Ginger

Ginger is a tasty, spicy root that helps you to sweat out toxins created by the flu or a cold. It soothes an upset stomach, dizziness, nausea, vomiting, and cold sweats. All the things I was struggling with.

Peppermint leaves

Peppermint is another great stomach settler and tastes great. It has antimicrobial properties and is known to soothe a sore throat and strengthen the liver to promote natural healing.

Tulsi

In the ancient Indian Ayurvedic medicine, Tulsi or holy basil is an herbal remedy used to treat a broad range of common ailments. It is known to reduce fever and treat coughs, sore throat, and respiratory infections.

Honey

Honey soothes a sore throat and works as a cough suppressant. Furthermore, it possesses antibacterial and antiviral properties to help your body kill the nasty sick-making intruders. And maybe most importantly, it masks the intense flavors of the other ingredients and makes the tea drinkable for most people.

Lime (or lemon)

Lemons/limes are packed with immune boosting Vitamin C. They help fight bacteria and viruses and reduces inflammation and swelling.

As you can see, these natural foods found in nearly every grocery store were just what I needed to get me on my feet again in about 24 hours. However, like mentioned above it took me an extra sleep and some more tea to get over the whole experience.

Ohh if you can't find tulsi or holy basil, substitute for fresh rosemary or thyme. Or both.

The Recipe

• 3 cups boiling water
• Handful fresh mint leaves
• 3-4 sprigs of tulsi, leaves and stems
• 1-inch ice of ginger, sliced (or a bit more if you don’t mind the spiciness of the ginger)
• Squeeze of lime or lemon
• Raw honey to taste

Add ginger, mint and tulsi to a teapot (or saucepan if you don’t have a teapot​). I used a French coffee press. Allow to steep for 5 to 10 minutes. If you don’t like a spicy ginger flavor, strain the herbs as the tea will get spicier the longer the tea steeps.

When slightly cooled and ready to drink, pour in a cup and add honey and a squeeze of lime/lemon juice.

That was today's natural healing 101. More healing herb tips, tricks, and information coming soon.

Thanks for reading! Until next time!

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Make sure to check out my health blog here for more healing tips and tricks!