What is Chamomile?
What are the benefits of Chamomile Tea?
Unlike other herbs that have healing properties in their leaves, roots, flowers and stems, all the Chamomile effects come from it's flowers. It's amazing to think of all the various ailments those delicate little flowers can cure.
Drinking Chamomile tea is an easy way to prevent certain illnesses. Chamomile oil offers natural cures for many ailments. Using Chamomile on your skin and hair will strengthen and add natural beauty to them both. And inhaling the sweet scent of Chamomile through aromatherapy will give you peace of mind.
Where to Find Chamomile
Chamomile can often be found growing in dry fields. But because of it's FDA label (GRAS) and it's wide range of healing properties, it would be the perfect herb to grow in your own garden.
Chamomile Tea
What are the benefits of chamomile tea?
Many people drink Chamomile tea just to help them get to sleep, but that's just one of the many health benefits it offers. It also boosts your immune system by stimulating your white blood cells. It effectively treats indigestion, gastritis and diarrhea. It can even reduce the swelling and pain in a sprain injury. Drinking Chamomile tea everyday can reduce the symptoms of PMS and menopause. And if you have a kidney stone, this tea will help flush it out. Chamomile Tea also offers almost instant relief for a sore throat or toothache.
You don't even need to actually drink Chamomile tea to benefit from it. Inhaling the steam can help keep asthma under control. Using a Chamomile tea compress on your eyes will get rid of dark circles and puffiness. Rinsing your face with it will soften and lighten your skin tone. And applying Chamomile tea to a bee sting will stop the pain and speed up healing.
Chamomile Oil
There are two kinds of chamomile essential oils, Roman and German. Although they each have their own chemical make-up, they share a lot of the same healing abilities. Here are just a few health benefits they both provide:
- Chamomile Oil is a very effective antiseptic, especially when used on a wound. The oil prevents bacteria and fungus from growing and can kill certain infections.
- Chamomile Oil can reduce pain in certain areas. It's effective for soar throats, toothache, headache, joint pain, menstrual cramps, muscle pain, sinus pain, abdominal pain and much more.
- Chamomile Oil helps with digestion by promoting the secretion of digestive juices into stomach and expelling gas from the intestines and stomach.
Roman Chamomile
Roman Chamomile oil has a sweet smell, almost like apples. It's color is light clear blue and it flows more like water than oil.
Roman Chamomile is known for it's calming ability, especially in children. It helps with anger, annoyance, and irritability. In babies, a very diluted form can help with colic, teething pain and diarrhea.
If used in a cream base, it can be effective for treating diaper rash, sunburn and first degree burns.
Roman Chamomile oil can also be diluted into a mouthwash to help tonsillitis, throat infections and dental abscesses.
Women love Roman Chamomile for it's ability to ease the symptoms of PMS and menopause.
German Chamomile
German Chamomile oil doesn't smell as sweet as Roman. Instead, it has a more straw-like scent. It's color is dark blue and it's texture is thicker than Roman Chamomile.
German Chamomile is very effective at curing inflammation and reducing blood pressure. It's used to regulate the menstrual cycle and helps with menstrual pain. It also relieves muscle pain and can reduce swelling in a sprain injury.
It's most popular use is with skin care. It has a remarkable ability to calm skin allergies, eczema, psoriasis and all other flaky skin problems. It also moisturizes skin and reduces redness.
Chamomile for Hair
Using Chamomile in hair will strengthen it and promote faster hair growth. It will also cure and prevent dandruff by preventing oily scalp. If you have blond hair, using a strong Chamomile hair rinse regularly will naturally lighten it over time.
If you would like to enhance your golden highlights without actually lightening your hair, you can use a weaker Chamomile rinse twice a month without worry.
Chamomile for Skin
German Chamomile contains a high concentration of a certain compound (Bisabolol Oxide-A) that promotes healing and tissue regeneration. That's what makes it so good at treating skin problems. It's been shown to improve eczema, psoriasis, dermatitis and acne. It also soothes dry, itchy skin and helps heal rashes. The natural toning properties of Chamomile calm redness, while it's healing properties lessen the appearance of scars or spots on the face.
Chamomile Aromatherapy
Chamomile has long been known for it's sleep promoting properties. Inhaling the sweet fruity scent soothes both your mind and body by relaxing muscles, emotions and brain waves.
At the same time, Chamomile is also a natural anti-depressant. Breathing in the scent of Chamomile can help reduce feelings of sadness, depression, disappointment, irritation, and impatience.
Alternative Herbal Recipes
One of the best things about Chamomile is that it's so simple to use. All you have to do is drink the tea and you'll enjoy most of the herbal benefits it has to offer. But sometimes we need something that tea just can't give us; a Chamomile salve to soothe bug bites; a Chamomile tincture to relieve an ongoing illness; or even Chamomile conditioner to soften and strengthen hair.
Making your own herbal remedies with Chamomile is easy. Just follow the directions below to make your own natural remedy for sore throat, hair conditioner, diaper rash and more.
Basic Ingredients
Where to find Chamomile
Beeswax
Chamomile Hair Rinse Recipe
Ingredients
- 2 cups of water
- 1 cup of Chamomile flowers
Instructions
- 1. Using a non-metal pan, bring water to a boil
- 2. Add flowers to water and gently boil for 30 minutes
- 3. Remove from heat and let cool for 2-3 hours
- 4. Using cheesecloth or pantyhose, strain flowers out of the water
- After washing and rinsing your hair, lean over a large bowl and pour the Chamomile rinse over your hair (catching the rinse in the bowl). Do this repeatedly. You can let your hair dry naturally, but drying it in the sun will help lighten your hair faster.
- Do this 2-3 times a week until you achieve the color you want.
Chamomile Hair Conditioner Recipe
Ingredients
- 1 cup of Chamomile flowers
- 1 cup of oil
Instructions
- 1. Place flowers in a glass jar
- 2. Cover flowers with oil. Make sure they're completely covered. Add more oil if needed.
- 3. Close lid and set the jar in a sunny window.
- 4. Shake the jar once a day for 3 weeks.
- 5. After 3 weeks, use cheesecloth to strain out the Chamomile and pour the oil into a dark glass jar.
- 6. Store conditioner in a cool dark place.
- To use, work 2-4 tablespoons through the tips of your hair (not the scalp!) and let it sit for 10 minutes. Then shampoo and rinse out.
Chamomile Salve Recipe
Chamomile is naturally anti-inflammatory and antiseptic. This salve will help calm itchy skin, bug bites, and even hemorrhoids. The uses for this salve are endless!
Ingredients
- 1 cup of cold pressed olive oil
- 1 ounce of dried Chamomile
- 1/2 ounce of grated beeswax
- 3 vitamin E capsules
Instructions
- 1. Place oil and Chamomile into a glass baking dish and stir.
- 2. Bake at lowest oven temperature for 3 hours (200 degrees or less)
- 3. Remove from oven and let cool slightly.
- 4. While still warm, strain it through cheese cloth
- 5. Using a double boiler, slowly heat the oil on the stove.
- 6. Puncture vitamin capsules and drain into the oil. Then add beeswax and stir until it's completely melted.
- 7. Remove from the heat and let it cool a few minutes. Then pour into small jars and let cool completely.
Chamomile Tincture Recipe
A Chamomile tincture can help with insomnia, indigestion, excess gas, anxiety attacks, PMS, muscle pain and more.
The usual dose for adults is 15 drops under the tongue 3 times a day. This tincture shouldn't be given to kids because it's alcohol based.
Ingredients
- Fresh or dried Chamomile
- 100 proof vodka
Instructions
- 1. If using fresh Chamomile, chop enough to loosely fill a quart jar. If using dried Chamomile, lightly crush enough to fill 1/3 of a quart jar.
- 2. Add enough vodka to fill the jar, making sure the Chamomile is completely covered.
- 3. Close the lid tightly and gently shake. Then label the jar with the herb, the type of liquor and the date.
- 4. Place the jar in a warm dark place. Shake it everyday for 6-8 weeks (the longer the better).
- 5. Strain it with cheesecloth and store it in dark amber bottles (in a dark place).
Chamomile Toothpaste Recpie
Ingredients
- 4 teaspoons baking soda
- 1 teaspoon table salt
- 3 teaspoons hydrogen peroxide (3% solution)
- 2 -4 drops of Chamomile essential oil
Instructions
- 1. Mix together baking soda and salt
- 2. Add hydrogen peroxide and mix until a paste forms
- 3. Add 2 drops of Chamomile essential oil. Do a taste test and add more if needed.
Chamomile Tea for a Sore Throat
This Chamomile tea offers almost instant pain relief for a sore throat.
Ingredients
- 1 cup of water
- 1 -3 tsp dried chamomile flowers
- 1 -2 teaspoon of honey
- 5 drops of lemon juice
Instructions
- 1. Boil water and pour it into a mug
- 2. Steep tea for 5 minutes. Remove teabag.
- 3. Stir in honey and lemon juice
These books are full of recipes for Herbal Remedies
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