Top 10 Natural Remedies For Bronchitis

Top 10 Natural Remedies For Bronchitis. Graphic © herbshealthhappiness.com. Photo – Pixabay (PD)

Bronchitis is a pulmonary disease that often happens when an individual is exposed to cold temperatures or wet environments for prolonged periods of time. When left untreated, it may result in complication that can prove to be highly detrimental to health. Bronchitis may progress to graver diseases such as pneumonia and emphysema. Typically characterised by wheezing, difficulty in breathing, and the collection of phlegm inside the lungs, bronchitis may also be accompanied by a slight fever or a congested nose.

Some individuals may opt to take antibiotics or synthetic medicines for the treatment of bronchitis, but there are some simple and readily available home remedies for bronchitis that promise great relief and ready recovery without the costliness or side-effects associated with synthetic medicines. Here are ten natural remedies for bronchitis that you can employ right in the comfort of your home:

1. Honey

A reputed cure-all for almost everything, honey can be employed as a remedy for synthetic demulcents and expectorants. When employing honey for the treatment of bronchitis, you should always choose raw (unfiltered and unpasteurised) honey over the regular varieties. To add to its therapeutic efficiency, you may incorporate powdered herbs such as ginger, cloves, and cinnamon to the honey; to be taken as much as six times a day for a week until symptoms disappear or general improvement is seen.

2. Cinnamon Bark

Cinnamon bark has long been considered a warming herb, and when drunk as a decoction, it can help to soothe the discomfort associated with bronchitis. It may even help to alleviate some of the symptoms of the disease, while subsequently improving the body’s overall capacity to recover, thanks to its immune-boosting and antimicrobial properties. When allowed to macerate in one’s choice of base oil, wax, or ester, it can even be made into a salve or balm, that, when applied topically to the chest and back areas, may help to provide relief and facilitate in decongestion.

3. Ginger Root

Another well-known warming herb, ginger root acts as an analgesic which helps to lessen the discomfort brought about by bronchitis. It is also a well-known soothing herb with mild expectorant properties, and when strongly decocted and liberally sweetened with honey, can be drunk daily as a remedy for bronchitis, mild to severe coughing, and even asthma. To increase its general therapeutic properties, you may opt to add orange or lemon peel to the ginger root tea for more efficient results.

4. Citrus Juices

Freshly squeezed citrus juices (derived from your choice of mandarins, oranges, calamondin, limes, or lemons), when drunk regularly can help to treat bronchitis by boosting the Vitamin C concentrations found in the body, which is a known way to help remedy pulmonary diseases. It can be sweetened with raw honey, or otherwise diluted with green tea or one’s choice of herbal tisane for better therapeutic benefits. It can be drunk at the onset of the disease to jumpstart the recovery process, and consumed throughout, until well after the recovery phase to continuously boost the immune system and bolster it against any possible recurrence.

Alternately, you may opt to load on Vitamin C in the form of potassium or sodium ascorbate, although the latter can be bolstered with the intake of citrus fruits in either whole or extracted (juice) form.

5. Peppermint

Peppermint is an age-old remedy for bronchitis and nearly every type of pulmonary complaints. Employed either as a tisane, an inhaler, or a salve (through the use of its essential oil) it helps to combat the symptoms of bronchitis (especially if employed as a salve or an inhalant), while oral intake of peppermint helps to cool the body and the pulmonary areas in general, thereby alleviating discomfort. Peppermint also possesses powerful antibacterial and immunosupportive properties, making it an excellent soothing drink during the recovery-phase of the disease.

6. Eucalyptus

NOTE – not taken internally! Employed chiefly as an inhalant, or otherwise heavily diluted in a base oil of your choice and used as a salve or an ointment, eucalyptus helps to facilitate decongestion, expectoration, and functions as a cooling and soothing herb that helps to counteract common symptoms such as chest pains and constriction, difficulty in breathing, and wheezing. Eucalyptus, when used as an inhalant, functions as a natural nebulizer.

7. Sage

Sage is an immune-boosting herb and pulmonary tonic used since ancient times. It can either be decocted and drunk as a tisane (tea), or otherwise incorporated into foodstuffs to add flavor and health benefits. Similar to peppermint which has a soothing, cooling, and expectorant property, sage also possesses powerful anti-microbial and natural antibiotic properties that help to combat a variety of pulmonary and immuno-suppressive diseases. Sage may also be employed as an inhalant, much like peppermint, and may even be combined with peppermint essential oil and subsequently used as a healing ointment for the relief of chest pains and breathing difficulties.

8. Cloves

Cloves are an ancient healing spice that has been employed to treat a wide variety of lung ailments since time immemorial. Cloves may be decocted, and the resulting liquor drunk in minute dosages to help relieve the symptoms of bronchitis and eventually facilitate healing. Whole cloves may also be employed as an inhalant by throwing a handful of dried and crushed clove ‘blossoms’ into a pan of hot water and inhaling the ensuing steam. Its essential oil – oil of cloves – may even be diluted with your choice of base-oil and employed as a soothing ointment for the back and chest to further provide relief from the symptoms of bronchitis. Cloves possess very powerful antimicrobial properties which help to actively combat disease, subsequently boosting the immune system and eventually hastening recovery.

9. Lotus Root

While not so commonly employed in Western alternative medicine, lotus root (especially white lotus root) has long been used in Traditional Chinese Medicine and in kampo (Traditional Japanese Medicine) as a remedy for bronchitis, coughs, cold, and flu. The root, employed in dried and powdered form, is drunk as a warming beverage. It is said to help improve decongestion, nourish the lungs, improve circulation, and tonify the pulmonary and digestive systems. Lotus root may even be integrated into natural cough syrups (i. e. medicated raw honey), or otherwise mixed with other healing herbs and spices to render a more potent remedy.

10. Therapeutic Diet

One of the most overlooked therapeutic means that most ailing and convalescent individuals fail to incorporate is proper, nutritive, and therapeutic food. In the case of bronchitis, chicken soup accompanied by herbs such as basil, rosemary, thyme, onions, garlic, and lemongrass makes for an excellent nourishing food during, and after illness. Adding moringa leaves and papaya helps to give it an even better nutritional boost. Alternatively, ‘hot’ foods like chicken masala, curries, and chili may also help to combat bronchitis since these foods contain warming herbs and spices and are whole meals in themselves.

If you have bronchitis, the body can be supported during the illness through natural healing herbs, and more importantly, through good, balanced, and equally therapeutic nourishing foods.