Chamomile

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Photo of Chamomile in its natural flowering form (http://health.howstuffworks.com).

 

Benefits:

  • Boosts immune system and helps fight colds
  • Soothes sore throats and hoarseness
  • Calming properties combat nervousness and anxiety
  • Anti-inflammatory properties sooth rashes and skin irritants
  • Relax sore muscles and tight joints including menstrual cramps and stomach and digestive issues.
  • Provides asthma relief
  • Anticancer activity
  • (HerbWisdom.com)

Forms:

  • Salve for skin care and wounds
  • Vapor for asthma and other breathing issues
  • Tea for calming and muscle relaxing effects (most common)

Risks:

The only negative effects of chamomile is a possible allergic reaction.  To insure safety, if you have strong allergies with flowers and plants avoiding the use of chamomile is recommended.  During a study, 3,851 individuals were tested using chamomile (nih.gov,1996).  Of these patients, only 118 (3.1%) experienced an allergic reaction. Further tests revealed that feverfew elicited the most allergic reactions (70.1% of patients) followed by chrysanthemums (63.6%) and tansy (60.8%).  Chamomile has been tested to have little to no negatives effects due to allergies, and only effects a small group of people with proven strong allergies.

Active ingredients:

The healing properties come from the volatile oils from the daisy-like flowers.  These oils include alpha-bisabolol, alpha-bisabolol oxides A & B, and matricin.  This oil can be extracted by crushing the flowers into a powder or heating the petals in water to make tea.

Additional information:

First used in Egypt, Greece, and Rome; chamomile grew throughout the Middle Ages and was turned into a popular remedy.  Chamomile is native to countries throughout Europe such as Germany, Egypt, France, Spain, Italy, Morocco,  and parts of Eastern Europe.  Roman chamomile is a perennial plant that grows in small quantities and can taste bitter and German chamomile which grows up to three feet high and tastes sweeter.

For a recipe click: here.