Oregano is a perennial plant from mint family. It nearly looks like mint leaves, but it is commonly bigger in size. The pleasant smell of oregano makes people love to use this leave as an important culinary herb. You know, we can easily find oregano in many Italian cuisines. Besides the use of oregano leaves as spices, it is used for its medicinal l properties. Well, it has been used for ages regarding to those main beneficial properties. in this article, the medicinal property of oregano leaves will be highlighted, especially the benefits of oregano leaves for cough.
The refreshing strong aroma of oregano is very good to fight cough and its complications. Just like the other natural ingredients potential for cough such as Benefits of Ginger Tea for Cold and Cough and Benefits of Peppermint Oil. This article will point out why oregano and its benefits of oregano leaves for cough can convince you to switch from the pharmaceutical medicine to this herbal medicine. There will be some recommendations about how to use oregano leaves for cough.
The Nutritional Information of Oregano Leaves
The benefits of oregano leaves for cough mainly contributed by the beneficial nutrition in it. Although you can get the benefits of oregano leaves in many forms, here are the nutrition you can get from this Mediterranean herb:
- Carbohydrate
- Fiber
- Flavonoid
- Vitamin A
- Vitamin C
- Vitamin E
- Vitamin K
- Calcium
- Iron
- Niacin
- Manganese
- Folate
- Magnesium
Those are the nutrition we can get from fresh oregano leaves. Sometimes, we can also use the dried oregano leaves. And you should know that the dried oregano contains multitude of constituent, especially the volatile essential oil.
The Benefits of Oregano Leaves for Cough
The long list of nutritional information from oregano leaves draw the benefits of oregano leaves for cough. Below are some of the benefits of oregano leaves for cough. You should check them out.
- Boost immune system
Do you know that oregano that you usually find on spaghetti and pizza can contribute a lot for your wellbeing? Well, oregano can keep you immune system on check, it is because oregano possess some special compounds such as carvacrol and thymol which present as antiviral, anti-bacterial, and anti-parasitic.
- Potent antiviral
Oregano is a natural ingredient with potential antiviral property. It is supported by some scientific studies that oregano contains two beneficial compounds called Carvacrol and thymol. Those two compounds do a very good job as antiviral property.
Especially the carvacrol, it actively attacks and weakens virus right from the cell membrane. This way, the other oregano compound, thymol can effectively eliminate the resistant bacteria as one of the coughs causing factors.Â
- Soothe throat
The cause of coughing might vary. It might be caused by bacterial or viral infection. However, it is a common symptom of cough to have sore and hoarse throat. In this case, oregano leave can give you help.
A study in 2011 found that the use of oregano spray can reduce the hoarseness, itching, and pain in throat. The effect if similar with peppermint or rosemary with its Benefits of Rosemary Oil for Respiratory.
- Expectorant
The strong aroma of oregano is not only beneficial for its aromatic function. The aroma also indicates the strong ability of oregano as expectorant.
Drinking hot oregano tea, or diluting oregano oil in hot water can help you to dissolve and expel mucus, which is the main culprit of cough and other respiratory problems.
- Loosen respiratory track
Oregano has strong antioxidant properties. it is supported by a study conducted in 2017 which proven the high level of antioxidant in oregano leaves.
The high antioxidant level in oregano is the main reason why people use oregano to deal with respiratory problems such as cough and asthma. This is because the oregano extract is able to fight microbes along the respiratory tract and clean it, so that it can reduce the intensity coughing.Â
- Analgesic effect
Oregano leaves and its content also has beneficial analgesic effect. You know, the unstoppable coughing often leads to the painful chest and throat.
In this case, consuming oregano leaves for cough can reduce the pain caused by coughing. It is very helpful for painful flu symptom which is followed by cough and sore throat.
Recommendation in Getting the Benefits of Oregano Leaves for Cough
We can get the benefits of oregano in many forms, such as the fresh leaves, dry leaves, and also the oregano essential oil. All of them can be beneficial for our effort to heal coughing. Here is some recommendation to get the benefits of oregano leaves for cough.
The first is by drinking oregano tea. To make oregano tea, we can either use fresh or dried oregano leaves. The tea can be made by steeping the oregano leaves in a cup of hot water for approximately 5 minutes. You can take this tea no more than three cups in a day.
It is suggested to have the pail tea. But if you don’t like it plain, you can add some honey as healthy sweetener and give additional Health Benefits of Rowse Honey for cough reliever. Or else, you can add some shots of lemon to enhance the taste and obtain the Benefits of Drinking Warm Water with Lemon and Honey .
The other  way in consuming oregano to heal cough is by employing oregano essential oil. Well, it might not directly involve oregano leaves. However, we know that the essential oil is derived from its fresh leaves. Therefore, it has the similar benefits for cough. You can pour some drops of oregano essential oil on your hot tea and drink it to calm your coughing. Besides the potential benefits for cough, oregano essential oil can also be used as topical treatment for microbial infection on skin.
Besides consuming oregano tea and using oregano essential oil, we can also rely on oregano capsule for cough treatment. Well, oregano capsule usually made of the dried and grounded oregano leaves which is capsulated.
This is the simplest way to consume oregano, as you can easily buy the capsule from herbal store, and you can take it as medicine. No need of boiling water, steeping tea, and any other preparation. However, the efficacy might be differ based on the amount of consumption and the cough condition of every individual.