Thyme is a traditional medicinal herb that belongs to the labiates family. It grows as a shrub or half-shrub. Usable parts of the strongly fragrant thyme are the small leaves, which can be easily stripped from the woody stems, and the pale purple flowers.
Occurrence and cultivation of thyme?
In addition to medicinal use, spicy-aromatic thyme is also used in cooking as a seasoning herb. In total, botanists distinguish 214 species of thyme. The best known is the true thyme. In addition to medicinal use, the spicy-aromatic thyme is also used in the kitchen as a spice herb. Provencal cuisine is unthinkable without thyme. In medicine, thyme has been known as a medicinal herb and remedy for centuries. Thyme is native mainly to the Mediterranean region. It grows in southern Europe and North Africa. Some species are also native to Central Europe. True thyme does not grow wild in Germany. However, it is grown and cultivated in herb gardens.
Effect and application
Thyme has many ingredients. It is not for nothing that thyme is called a “jack of all trades”. It is one of the miracle plants on our earth. Most significant is its essential oil with the main active ingredients phenols, carvacrol and thymol. The flowers and leaves also contain tannins and flavonoids. The healing properties of thyme were already known to the ancient Greeks. With the essential oils thyme can remove stuck mucus from the respiratory tract. So, in case of cough with sputum, thyme can loosen the mucus and the patient can cough it up better. Thyme also has a beneficial effect on healing in acute bronchitis. Thyme also has an anti-inflammatory and antibacterial effect. Therefore, thyme is also found, for example, in solutions prescribed by a doctor for inflammation of the mucous membrane of the mouth or throat. Thyme is also used for skin diseases such as dermatitis. Here the antibacterial effect of thyme comes into play again. Furthermore, thyme has an antipruritic effect. Both in the kitchen and in medicine thyme is also known for its digestive effect. Especially meat or sausage often becomes more digestible with thyme. As diverse as the effects of thyme are, the forms in which thyme can be administered are also varied. For respiratory diseases, medicines containing the active ingredients of thyme are available as juices, in drop form or as mouth rinses. Thyme can also be used as a tea, as a tincture or as an addition to a steam bath.
Importance for health, treatment and prevention
The importance of thyme for health, for the prevention of diseases and in the treatment of diseases is almost immeasurable. Thyme is one of the most important medicinal herbs in medicine. In addition to its known effects on respiratory and skin diseases, researchers are investigating many other effects that thyme may have. For herbalists and alternative practitioners, these other effects of thyme have long been known. For example, they also use thyme as an analgesic. Thyme is one of the most powerful natural antibiotics. According to further research, thyme also has a fungicidal effect. This means that thyme essential oil can also be used as a room fragrance, for example, and the molecules circulating in the air act against existing bacteria and fungal spores. Researchers are also studying an antiviral effect of thyme. Thus, thyme can also be used in hospital wards against fungal spores and bacteria as a “room spray.” Many effects of thyme have not been scientifically proven, but some have been practiced for centuries. Scented lamps with thyme oils or inhalations with the essential oils of thyme can equally affect the psyche of people. This effect is virtually unknown. Thyme has a calming, mood-lifting and concentration-enhancing effect. Preventively, of course, thyme also helps against colds. This knowledge is also not new and already people several centuries ago knew the preventive effect of thyme. The saying “the next cold is sure to come, but not to him who takes thyme…”
is not by chance. Daily three cups of thyme tea sweetened with honey prevents colds. People who often suffer from bad breath can also use thyme as a preventive measure. As a toothpaste, thyme provides a spicy-fresh smell.
