Good Meds for the Armageddon Pharmacy: Oregano Tincture

Disclaimer.  I am not a licensed health practitioner.  This is just another post on an item you might wish to have available if needed so that a physician can treat you and your family as best as possible.  No medication, including those available over the counter, should be taken without consulting a physician.  Information shared here is for educational and entertainment purposes only.  It is not medical advice nor a substitute for licensed medical care.  A qualified, licensed physician or other medical provider should be consulted before beginning any herbal or conventional treatment.

The primary reasons for taking a break from blogging this past summer were to allow me more time for working in the garden and preserving the harvest.  I also wanted to get another volume of Good Eats finished, (which I did).  And I thought the only way to accomplish those goals without stress would be through a blogging break. 

However, what I hadn’t anticipated was something I’d heard but never really believed.  “A writer’s gotta write.”

Apparently I am a writer, and as I learned this summer, I gotta write. 

This break did not work as planned.

So the alternate plan became taking the summer break by not having the daily pressure of posting new articles.  But because I had to write, I resolved to build up the reserve of articles that I enjoyed the first two years of blogging.  A two-month supply of articles would be amazing.  Three would be even better.

And so it is that I am sitting in bed at 5:30 in the morning in the middle of June when I should clearly be in the garden.  But I gotta write.

And I’m thinking about that amazing mint family, Lamiaceae.  Those herbs (basil, rosemary, lavender, lemon balm, thyme, peppermint, spearmint, etc.) just rock.  They’re essential for seasoning so many dishes, but then when you consider the medicinal uses, it’s just overwhelming.  Perhaps it’s because the plants themselves are overwhelming also.  Like some of them are plotting to take over the world.  (That would be the catnip in my garden.  For my husband’s grandparents, it was spearmint.)

Oregano in my garden started as a tiny plant from Home Depot three years ago.  That little herb now occupies nearly nine square feet of its original location and has also set up a couple of franchises elsewhere in the yard.  We can’t eat that much oregano. 

So it’s fortunate that we can also use it medicinally, as covered in previous articles and reproduced in Armageddon Pharmacy.  One of the preparations of oregano that I haven’t yet covered, however, is oregano tincture.  And that’s what I’m making with some of this year’s bounty.

Oregano Tincture

3 cups fresh oregano

150-proof alcohol, to top off jar

OR

1 cup freshly dried oregano

80-proof alcohol (like vodka) to top off the jar

Pack the fresh oregano into a pint canning jar. Cover with alcohol and place the lid snuggly on the jar so that the alcohol doesn’t evaporate.  Place the jar in a cool, dark cabinet with easy access so that it can be shaken daily.  Make sure the oregano is always submerged, topping off with extra alcohol if necessary. 

Shake daily for at least 1 month, preferably 6 weeks.

Strain the tincture through a fine mesh strainer (fresh herb) or coffee filter (dried herb).  Transfer the tincture to a dark glass bottle or canning jar and label it. 

Dosage.  For acute conditions, take oregano tincture, 1-2 droppers full (1-2 ml), up to three times per day. 

EFFECTIVE AGAINST

·       Bacteria

o   Gram positive

§  Staphylococcus aureus

·       Tincture[1]

§  Streptococcus mutans[2]

§  Streptococcus pneumoniae[3]

§  Streptococcus pyogenes[4]

o   Gram negative

§  Klebsiella pneumoniae

·       Infusion[5]

·       Tincture[6]

§  Pseudomonas aeruginosa

·       Tincture[7]

§  Salmonella typhi[8]

·       Fungi

o   Candida albicans[9]

USAGE

·       Dental

o   Toothache

§  Smoke inhalation[10]

·       Gastrointestinal[11]

·       Neurological

o   Depression[12]

o   Headaches[13]

·       Respiratory[14]

o   Cold [15]

o   Cough[16]

o   Influenza[17]

·       Skin

o   Wounds, post-surgical

§  Ointment[18]

·       Urogenital

o   Kidney stones

§  Tea or tincture[19]

Synergisms:  Oregano essential oil was shown to work synergistically with ciprofloxacin against Streptococcus pneumoniae (fluoroquinolone-resistant) and Salmonella typhi, and with tetracycline against Staphylococcus aureus.[20]

Based on all my research, oregano tincture doesn’t strike me as a stand-alone treatment for most conditions listed above.  It, however, make a nice adjunct with other treatments (i.e., plays nicely with) for managing the above-listed conditions.  If you’re dealing with a skin issue, consider adding oregano tincture to a calendula salve.  If fighting a respiratory infection, oregano may pair well with usnea or echinacea tinctures. 

Links to related posts:

The Medicinal Uses of Oregano  https://prepschooldaily.blogspot.com/2020/10/the-medicinal-uses-of-oregano.html

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[1] https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8457725/

[2] https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8457725/

[3] https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8457725/

[4] https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8457725/

[5] https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8457725/

[6] https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8457725/

[7] https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8457725/

[8] https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8457725/

[9] https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8457725/

[10] https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8457725/

[11] https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9921178/

[12] https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9921178/

[13] https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9921178/

[14] https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9921178/

[15] https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8457725/

[16] https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8457725/

[17] https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8457725/

[18] https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8457725/

[19] https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8457725/

[20] https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8457725/