Natural Syrup with Herbs, Lemon, and Honey | For Dry Cough and Flu Symptoms

At home we like to grow plants and to make the most out of them. That's why we use them far beyond food. Plants are also wonderful for improving physical and emotional well-being. So today we are going to share one more tip. We will show you how we make natural syrup with herbs, lemon, and honey. All the ingredients we use are from our production, organic, in their purest state, and are all suitable for flu. At the end of the post you can also watch our educational video, where we show you everything step by step.

This syrup is indicated to relieve cough, sputum, and throat inflammation. In creating our own natural syrup recipe, we took into account the ingredients we had available at the time and the healing and medicinal properties of each one. So let's start by getting to know the ingredients:

Ingredients

• Water - 200ml / 6.76oz
• Herbs (Oregano and Thyme) - 25g / 0.88oz leaves. (The leaves should be removed from the stems so they are in full contact with the water during decoction and maceration).
• Lemon - 50ml / 1.69oz squeezed lemon juice. The number of lemons needed to obtain 50ml of juice is variable, depending on the size of the lemons and the amount of juice and pulp present in each one.
• Raw Honey - 150g / 5.29oz. It is important that the honey is multifloral and does not have a strong aftertaste, otherwise the syrup may become undrinkable.

For this recipe we harvested oregano and thyme that grow spontaneously in our garden. However, they are also easy to grow in a pot. Thyme is particularly interesting to grow, as it is a plant that is available all year round. See this post on how to grow thyme.

The lemons were harvested directly from tree to kitchen. If you have a terrace or a nice balcony, you can also plant a lemon tree and harvest lemons several times a year.

The raw honey is from our production (a big thank you to our bees!). Raw honey is honey just as it is extracted from the beehives, without additives or dubious mixtures. You can see how we produce honey in this post.

Why These Ingredients

Oregano: Besides being an excellent source of vitamins and minerals, it has expectorant action, and it is anti-inflammatory, antioxidant, and antimicrobial. 

Thyme: Like oregano, thyme is also an excellent source of nutrients, and it is expectorant, anti-inflammatory, digestive, antioxidant, and antiseptic. 

Lemon: Rich in vitamin C, it is also antioxidant, digestive, and hydrating. Lemon is one of the anti-inflammatory foods and strengthens the immune system.

Honey: Relieves cough and sore throat. It has soothing, antioxidant, antimicrobial, and  healing properties. It is an excellent food in strengthening the immune system.

Want to know more about growing and using medicinal herbs at home? You might like to read our book: "The 5 C's of Aromatic and Medicinal Plants - Cultivate, Care, Collect, Conserve and Consume - 30 Plants and Their Properties". Learn more at the link below.

Method

1. After harvesting the herbs, remove the leaves from the stems until you have 25g of plant.
2. Place the leaves in 200ml of water and bring to a boil. The goal is to make a decoction with a maximum boil of 5 minutes.
3. After the decoction, remove from the heat and leave the pot covered with the plant to macerate in the water for 24 hours.
4. Strain the water so that it is completely free of plant remains (place the plant remains in the compost bin).
5. From the remaining water, use 50ml.
6. Make lemon juice and strain it to obtain only the juice, discarding the pulp (put the pulp in the compost bin).
7. Weigh out 150g of honey.
8. Place the 3 ingredients in a pot over low heat until the honey is diluted. Do not let it boil! The goal is only to dilute the honey so that the ingredients mix together. The ingredients can be put directly into the pot, but we prefer to use a double boiler. This helps the honey not to heat up as much or as quickly, which also helps preserve its properties.
9. Once the liquid is uniform, turn off the stove and remove from the heat.
10. Let it cool a little and pour the syrup into a previously sterilized glass jar.

The liquid will be slightly thick just as a conventional syrup.

This recipe yields about 270ml of syrup. The final yield, depends on the thickness of the honey.

Some Extra Tips

Each person has their own taste and this recipe is just our suggestion. So after you taste it for the first time, and if you want to adjust the recipe to your taste, here are some tips:

• For a more aromatic syrup, increase the amount of herbs a little bit while keeping the same amount of water. 

• For a less acidic syrup, decrease the amount of lemon juice. The acidity of the lemon is always variable and we chose this amount according to the acidity of the lemons on our lemon tree.

• The thickness of the final liquid will depend a lot on the thickness of the honey. We do not advise, however, to add much more honey. Instead of increasing the amount of honey, you can decrease the amount of lemon juice, for example. We also emphasize again the importance of choosing a honey with a mild flavor.

Intake

• We advise letting it cool completely before intaking.

• Take this syrup when you have the usual cold and flu symptoms. 2 - 3 tablespoons of syrup per day. 

• Shake the jar before each use.

Warning: this syrup is very tasty and can make you want to take it...very often! So you have to be careful not to intake too much, especially if you are diabetic!

How To Store

Although it is not necessary to store in the cold, the jar can be placed in the refrigerator to make it last longer and keep the liquid thicker.

If stored at room temperature it can last about 4 weeks.

If stored in the refrigerator it can last about 6 weeks.

Natural Medicine vs Conventional Medicine

While natural medicines are often effective and sufficient for a cure, you must remember that each case is unique and what works well for some people may not work for others.

As always, it is important to remember that natural medicine may not be sufficient to replace conventional medicine when the latter is really needed. If flu symptoms are persistent, it is advisable to consult a doctor or pharmacist.

VIDEO - Natural Syrup with Herbs, Lemon, and Honey | For Dry Cough and Flu Symptoms