One of the things I plan to do with this blog is to provide a variety of natural remedies for some of the more common ailments aging boomers are apt to contend with as they continue to trod down the long and dangerous road of life.
So, for the first natural remedy in this series, I’ll share Henry Box’s herbal pneumonia cure.
The great herbalist, Henry Box of Plymouth, England, wrote…
For colds, influenza, fevers, inflammation of the brain, pneumonia (inflammation of the lungs), stomach, bowels or any part, this is a certain cure. I have never known it to fail, even when given up, and at the point of death. It will not only save at the eleventh hour, but at the last minute of that hour. Besides, it is so safe and harmless that you cannot use it amiss.
According to the website where I found this information, Henry Box was a “wonderful, wise old man who had been a physician of herbs for over sixty years and was known as one of the great doctors of all times.”
The infusion for the Henry Box Herbal Pneumonia Cure Tea is made as follows:
2 ounces elder (elderberry) flowers
2 ounces peppermint leaves (crushed)
1 1/2 pints boiling distilled water
Pour boiling water over herbs, cover and allow to steep (not boil) in a hot place 20 minutes. Strain and sweeten with honey, then drink the whole amount of tea as hot as possible while closely covered in bed.
Cover a hot water bottle with a cloth or towel dipped in apple cider vinegar and place on the feet. In a few minutes there will be copious perspiration, and the pulse will slow down and the patient will sleep peacefully for hours.
When taken alone, elder flowers are inclined to be emetic, and somewhat nauseous to some people. This effect can be prevented by combining them with peppermint (Mentha piperita). Peppermint is stimulant, nervine, calmative, and antiemetic, which helps offset the undesirable effects of the elder flower. This combination is world-famous as a great fever and cold remedy.
Now that I’ve posted Henry Box’s pneumonia cure, here’s hoping none of us reading this ever need it!
Chet,
I’m so glad you posted this. I had printed it out when you gave it in one of your newsletters and made an extra copy. Gave a friend the extra copy and ended up losing my copy somewhere along the way.
Before i lost my copy, though, i ended up with some sort of sniffles because i was burning the candle at both ends and didn’t listen to my body when it told me to slow down. I figured i’d try this remedy, and this was Day 2 into the cold, so it was pretty much at its peak.
My DH thought i was weird, but he’s grown more accustomed to my “eye of newt/wing of bat” sort of remedies and knew that trying to talk me out of it futile.
I felt a little weak next day, but the cold was GONE. Gone! I called in sick and slept most of the day, and the day after, i felt great.
I did tweak Dr. Box’s recipe a tad, lowering the amount of peppermint. Since taking my first homeopathic remedy in the early 1990′s, i’ve stayed away from mint.
I also have on hand the flu tonic you’ve mentioned in past newsletters and in your natural tonics for cold and flu booket (the onions, horseradish, garlic, pepper one in apple cider vinegar), which i try to take at first sign of any possible sniffles. My scoffing DH, who tends to get colds twice a year, took some the last two times he had colds (he waited until after the cold symptoms really showed up), and i was shocked when he asked me to make up more of the tonic. I did, and i’ve noticed that after this last cold, he took some of the tonic when he felt he was starting to come down with something. Huzzah!
The Henry Box medicine works because the elder flowers have a lot of organic potassium chloride salts in them, this is a very powerful mucus solvent , so any form of mucus or cattaral congestion in the lungs will always respond to this wonderful remedy. It is safe for young and old alike and is natures gift to all with lung and mucus problems.
I am being told that elderberries have 3 times the VIT C as oranges. Really???
I know elderberries have a LOT of Vitamin C, but I don’t know exactly how much.
With that said, we have a good article on the Top Ten Superfruits on Health & Beyond Online, my natural health website.
Chet
hey chet could u please repost the cold remedy again or send it to me, my wife is coming down , just started the cough this morning keep up the good work jj
Jerry, the Natural Tonic cold recipe is on page 26 of my collection, How to Beat Colds and Flu with 37 Natural Remedies which is at http://chetday.com/naturalcoldfluremedies.php