Savory | Health Benefits of Savory

Savory

Savory is an appreciated spicy herb used to spice some foods, in the food industry, to prepare pickles and in the pharmaceutical industry to obtain some drugs.

Description

Savory is a little shrub with many branches and about 15-20cm tall. Its leaves are spear-shaped or linearly smooth and the flowers are red or white. It blooms in the time period between May - June and it is harvested in its second year of growth. Only the twigs are harvested and they retain their delightful scent if they are kept in a cool dark place.

savory

Properties

Savory contains volatile oils such as carvacrol, cymol, x1-pinen, 1-borneol, linalool and tannin. These chemical compounds are responsible for the savory's effect against renal and lung afflictions and intestinal infections.

Treatments

   Savory tea mixed with other herbs can be used in treating many internal disorders with excellent results. It is used in the treatment of uterine contractions, colics, headaches, coughing, tuberculosis, gastric disorders and urine retention.

   It can also be used against flu by mixing it in teas with chamomile and colt's foot sweetened with sugar candy. Convulsive coughing can be healed with savory and black currant tea. Apart from this tea, the savory juice mixed in proportion of 1:7 with sugar syrup and administrated by taking one spoon of it each hour, can also be used with excellent results.

   Because it has a powerful antiseptic action, the savory tea can improve liver and kidney functions.

savory

   Because of the volatile oil contained, savory tea can be used in the treatment of intestinal worms. Nevertheless, the bitter compounds associated with the other chemical compounds represent a powerful tonic in cases of anemia.

   The highly concentrated savory oil can heal goutiness, rheumatism, headaches and nausea.

   The tincture can be used in small amounts for alleviating symptoms in cases of rachitic children.

   In rheumatoid afflictions followed by high fever, savory dabs are extremely useful.

   It is recommended to make savory baths, mixed with mint, chamomile, sweet calamus root, lime flowers, lavender, common elder, melisa, marjoram and milfoil in the treatment of children with breathing problems.

   One savory infusion can be used in hot small amounts that can heal edema and convulsions of pregnant women. Good results were obtained also when the infusion was used to treat diarrhea and nervousness.

savory

Small pouches containing steam-heated savory can successfully heal dental pains, inflammations and cramps. It appears that the well-known doctor Kneipp used savory to treat rheumatism and paralysis.

Externally, the 3% savory alcohol is an excellent disinfectant of infected wounds and other skin infections.

Mixtures

   Savory infusion is prepared out of one or two spoons of mashed herb boiled in 250ml of water. The tea must be consumed in one day, a cup before each primary meal. If the tea is made out of 3 spoons of herb boiled in a small quantity of water, it is then consumed 3 times a day before each primary meal. For greasy complexions an infusion of 20g of herb boiled in 500ml of water must be prepared and used in small amounts applied to the skin for 15-20 minutes.

   The syrup is obtained from the flowers and the stalks of this herb which are put in a glass pot and covered with sugar. The pot must be left into the sun for 20 days and after that the resulting mixture must be filtered and boiled.

   The tincture: fresh savory flowers must be left to macerate in one bottle of pure alcohol for two weeks.

   The savory tea baths, recommended for abdominal pains, menstrual pains or abdominal cramps are prepared as follows: in the bath water, 200-250g of herb are left to infuse for 3 hours and after that the regular bath can be taken, just for 15-20minutes though.

Caution

Savory can be used to spice some foods (especially cabbage) and to obtain some canned goods based on meat. Though, the Chinese traditional medicine advise that it is best not to exaggerate the consumption of savory because due to its properties it can cause fever or aggravate some cardio-vascular afflictions.