Oregano is a heavy-hitter herb for the cold and flu season and year-round
Tis is the season of viruses. Whether we’re fighting the common cold (coronavirus family), the flu (influenza virus family), stuffy noses, coughs, fevers, strep throat, ear and sinus infections, or types of pneumonia (Streptococcus bacteria family), conventional treatments are antibiotics—which may or may not have the desired effect on the healing process. Quite the contrary, these pharmaceuticals often come with unwanted side effects, and there’s the ever-growing problem of drug resistance.
Oregano is one of the few heavy hitters against such seasonal microbial attacks—with multi-faceted ways of implementation including teas and extractions, as an essential oil, or in culinary preparations.
This article is a guide to using oregano as an anti-microbial during this winter season or how to grow it yourself in the spring.
Oregano: The Powerhouse
Oregano is an unimposing small semi-woody shrub—an aromatic perennial with tiny purple flowers. Though native to the Mediterranean, it can be cultivated everywhere. Perhaps, at some point, you’ve grown oregano yourself on your window sill or in your garden.
So—why not try an herb considered to be a heavyweight in the phytopharmaceutical world? Hailed as antibacterial, antifungal, anti-inflammatory, antioxidant, antimicrobial, and antiviral, Origanum vulgare L. can be a solution.
Oregano’s medicinal qualities are outstanding. Although its anti-fungal value might come to mind first, the herb also features other superior anti-microbial properties for the upcoming cold and flu season.
A paper published in the International Journal of Molecular Sciences points out the antibacterial properties of oregano and other herbs and spices against some antibiotic-resistant microorganisms.
Research in the Journal of Frontiers in Microbiology outlines how alternative methods utilize medicinal herbs and/or essential oils either as a boost in combination with conventional treatments (mostly in cases of drug resistance) or as a sole remedy.
Another article published in Critical Reviews in Microbiology, notes this favorable synergy between essential oils and antibiotics and describes the basis for its effects:
“Antibiotics and the essential oil components may act synergistically, such as by affecting multiple targets; by physicochemical interactions and inhibiting antibacterial-resistance mechanisms. Many reported assays show additivity or moderate synergism, indicating that EOs may offer possibilities for reducing antibiotic use.”
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