#osha root

6 LUNG HERBS for the BODY & MIND

Healing the Lungs, Grief, and Trauma

Especially with all the deep sadness with the ongoing fires in California, the necessity to write on the herbs that heal our lungs is vital. My heart is humbled and heavy with what is happening with the world at large. Seeing these fires and shootings affect so many friends and community members, it really shook my core on how precious and vulnerable life can…

A Brief History of Lungwort

In the early 1600s, a theory known as the “Doctrine of Signatures” was widely accepted. Essentially the foundation of this practice was that plants resembling certain human physical attributes were believed to be beneficial to the part of the body they resembled. It was during this time that lungwort–which resembles the tissue inside the lungs–was discovered to be an effective remedy for respiratory ailments.

Over time, the medical accuracy of many “Doctrine of Signatures” based remedies was discredited. However, modern research suggests lungwort has certain traits, specifically as an antioxidant and secretolytic that may be beneficial to lung health.

Lungwort for Reducing Irritation

The University of North Carolina classifies lungwort as a plant helpful for reducing irritation and providing soothing qualities. It is believed that these beneficial properties, based mainly on overwhelming anecdotal support, is deemed as a respiratory aid.

Lungwort and Respiratory Issues

Lungwort’s high mucilage content is known to be helpful in respiratory conditions, namely asthma and, in particular, chronic bronchitis. While there isn’t a ton of research currently available, it is widely accepted that lungwort can be used by people with these conditions–in conjunction with doctor recommendations–as a complementary approach.

Lungwort’s Antioxidant Benefits

Lungwort’s role as an effective respiratory therapy is also due in part to its antioxidative properties. A Bulgarian study confirms these findings, noting high phenolic content and antioxidant properties in teas made from the plant.

It’s already well established that antioxidants serve vital roles in the human body, from protecting the cardiovascular system to supporting healthy aging. Antioxidants are crucial for supporting organ health and wellbeing, especially in the presence of pro-oxidants, or free radicals. That being said, it is believed that lungwort is effective against harmful organisms that affect lung and chest function due to its high level of flavonoid glycosides, another name for specific types of antioxidants.

Supplementing with Lungwort

Lungwort is most often available in tinctures, teas, and capsule form. Short term or infrequent use of lungwort is generally considered safe. For supporting health on all levels, I recommend lungwort in its pure, natural form. Lungwort is one of the many high-quality, plant-based ingredients available in Allertrex®, an important natural tool designed to support lung and respiratory health.

Lung Cleansing Benefits of Osha Root

Osha or Ligusticum porteri, (also called bear root) is an important perennial herb that inhabits the dry, upland meadows and ravines of the Rocky Mountain. The beneficial part of the Osha plant is the root, which has long been used and considered sacred by Native Americans for cold, cough, and other respiratory ailments. The root contains oils, including camphor, saponins, ferulic acid, terpenes, and phytosterols. Because of the range of mechanisms it has, Osha root is, arguably, the best American herb for lung and throat problems.

Osha Root as Relief for Respiratory Problems

Osha root can help alleviate breathing problems in a number of capacities. Osha root helps clear mucus from the sinuses and lungs by increasing expectoration; this relieves congestion and makes breathing easier. Osha root also increases blood circulation to the lungs, which increases dilation during constriction. For this reason, it is of particular interest as a support mechanism for emphysema, pneumonia, asthma, and allergies. The bronchodilating effect is compounded by Osha root’s ability to help the efficacy of the lungs by increasing oxygen utilization and uptake in the body. It is believed the increased blood oxygenation is facilitated by an increase in gas exchange through the alveoli in the lungs. In simpler terms, Osha root helps one to take deeper breaths.

Osha Root for Cold and Flu Symptoms

Osha root is commonly used as a multi-therapy for cold and flu symptoms. The root has demonstrated activity against harmful organisms and, when taken at the onset of cold, may help reduce the window of time in which indications are experienced. Although Osha root doesn’t have a direct antihistamine action, its effect is similar, and using a root tincture during a histamine flare-up can lessen indications of head colds and respiratory ailments. One of the most notable benefits of Osha root is its numbing effect, used to help soothe the irritated tissue of a sore throat. It has been an ingredient in cough drops and lozenges and can even be made into a cough syrup that is more effective than echinacea and goldenseal.

Although Osha root should not be taken by pregnant or nursing women, the plant is considered safe and not associated with any negative side effects. Because the plant is difficult to grow in commercial cultivation environments, it is generally sold as wildcrafted and available in sprays, tinctures, and capsule forms.

Lung Cleansing and Respiratory Support ~ The 9 Best Herbs

Your respiratory system is constantly working. All day, every day, it is the vehicle for oxygen to enter your body. Unfortunately, it can also be an entry point for pollutants, irritants, dust, mold, fungus, harmful organisms, and other toxins. Unless you’re living in a bubble, the constant assault from impurities can take its toll. Fortunately, whether you’re experiencing the negative effects of…

Plant Profile: Chuchupate, Oshá

Ligusticum porteri – Chuchupate, Oshá

Other Names:  Bear Root, Colorado Cough Root, Chuchupate, Hunawpi, Nawpi, Wasike, Shush, Chuchupaste, Porter’s Lovage

Origin:  Chuchupate is found primarily from the Rocky Mtns. south down into the Cordillera of Mexico. Widely used by peoples of the Southwest and Mexico with a far-reaching significance in their cosmology. The plant is greatly varied in…

The Lung Cleansing Benefits of Osha Root

Osha, or Ligusticum porteri, (also called bear root) is an important perennial herb that inhabits the dry, upland meadows and ravines of the Rocky Mountain. The beneficial part of the osha plant is the root, which has long been used and considered sacred by Native Americans for cold, cough, and other respiratory ailments. The root contains oils, including camphor, saponins, ferulic acid,…

-->my sinus issues have been on full blast lately.  earlier this year i was down for two months with a horrible ear infection that turned into a sinus infection and awful headaches that would wake me in the night, screaming in pain from the impaction.  now it’s back a bit, and the headaches come and go.  the brain fog is there constantly though, and i hate it. i am getting some horseradish and i ordered osha root after reading a great article about how to finally get rid of this monster in my head. i’m not really keen on using an endangered plant, but i will use it respectfully and i really truly need its medicine. i am also ordering it from an ethical wildcrafter and i learned that you can re-boil the root many times before you get all the use out of it.  so i’ll probably tincture part of what i get for acute cases and decoct some of it for daily teas until this bitch is gone.  

seriously if you have adhd AND sinus fog.. it’s just.. impossible to function with clarity sometimes.  

-->i spent all day the day before halloween looking up in-depth info for a friend who wants to try out herbalism for her depression, anxiety, and insomnia issues.  it was nice that she trusted the herbs, and that she trusted me to find her good info.  it was exhausting so i hope that she respects and appreciates all the work i put into it (literally a research project will take me a whole day), but i also learned a lot and got to reinforce knowledge about certain herbs all day, in new ways from new herbalist voices, so that was useful to me as well. -->my husband smokes cigarettes, and i hate it, quite honestly.  i’ve been hoping to get him to quit since i met him.  we found a really cool website from a company that’s actually located in town, where she sells herbal tea mixtures, tinctures, and smoking blends for various mental states.  he was really excited to try the teas and smoking blends.   first of all, some of the ingredients are useful for helping you cough up phlegm and tar, like mullien.  and others are meant to calm and relax you, or get you feeling happy and lifted up, like damiana or lemon balm.  so i’m excited to try them as well, honestly.  but i’m hoping that they give him the nurturing feeling he needs to help wean him off cigarettes.  it’s healthier to smoke herbal blends, and if he wants to do it longer-term he can always switch to vaporizing.  and if not he can switch to drinking them in a tea or tincturing them under his tongue.  i know that one of the hardest things to get used to is breaking that habit, so i expect he might be on the blend as it is for a while if this helps.  but still, that’s better than his daily dose of nicotine and tar.  

i used to smoke, but i gave it up years ago and i’m glad to have done so.  i do struggle with cannabis though, whenever i use it i tend to fall into unhealthy patterns and find it hard to quit.  so i do have an idea of why it’s hard for him to give up.  also his job is stressful as fuck, so there’s that.   -->the smoking blends/teas/tinctures place is called Harmony Herbals and it’s located in BC, Canada but does ship to the states and elsewhere.  We are getting ours tomorrow bc the owner is hand-delivering our stuff since we are local.   i’m also expecting a sampler kit of the flying ointments from Fern and Fungi to arrive early next week.  it looks like they are currently out of two of their varieties and thus they are not offering the sampler at the moment.  i guess i picked it up just in time!  :) there’s also a @qcknd​ pin coming my way in the next few weeks.  i’m really excited for that.  i was supposed to be in the first batch but i guess the paypal transfer didn’t go through, so i’m really glad she did a preorder so i could get another opportunity to get one.  and i’m really excited to hear there’s a new pin coming too. 

all this spending!  i’m supposed to be saving money.  but i do save most of my money (toward my husband’s permanent residency costs and our move back to the states) and i went like, a whole year without buying anything for myself.  i was sick, i fractured my ankle, i spent most of this year feeling horrible and i think i deserve the pick-me-up.  

-->someone was dumping a really nice dvd stand so we took it and appropriated it into an apothecary cabinet.  it’s really nice.  now we have room to grow.  my husband picked up some rosemary this week and we tinctured part of it and dried the rest to infuse into oils.  we also tinctured and dried some burdock root and i’ve been drinking a burdock/dandelion/mint tea that is actually pretty decent (the mint helps).  my cats like it too.  

Osha root is a Rocky Mountain herb, the root of which has been used by Native Americans for treating respiratory infections and conditions of the digestive tract. Many of today’s best herbal medicines aren’t necessarily from far-flung countries such as China, but from the forests of North America.