Infusions of thyme (Thymus vulgaris) use leaves and flowers to drink as tea, use as mouthwash, and cleanse the skin. Culinary use of the fresh and dried herb flavors soups and casseroles, and adds antioxidants. Thyme essential oil drops, mixed with a base oil, relieves sore muscles via massage. The powerful herb is a native of the Mediterranean.
Thyme for Tea
Thyme has a time-honored use as an expectorant – producing a productive cough that makes one feel better. For sore throats, coughs and colds make this brew: pour 2 cups of boiled water over 1 oz. (2 tablespoons) fresh herbal leaves or flowers and steep for 10 minutes, then strain and add honey. This infusion is also a traditional use for laryngitis, bronchitis and asthma.
Thyme, made as a stronger tea, has customary antiseptic properties that make it useful as a mouthwash or a skin cleanser. Commercial mouthwashes contain a chemical component of thyme called thymol. Thyme kills the fungus of athlete’s foot and parasites like scabies and lice, and it soothes insect bites.
Thyme Culinary Power
Bees love thyme flowers and sunny Greece is famous for thyme honey. Healthy thyme is packed with antioxidants – plant chemicals that neutralize harmful free radicals in the body. The US Department of Agriculture, in its Nutrient Data Laboratory, notes that 1 tsp. of fresh thyme has the comparable antioxidant power of 1 cup of spinach or 1 medium carrot. Here is the best bread recipe of 2009 for bread machines. It is called rosemary herb bread but includes thyme along with rosemary and marjoram.
Thyme Essential Oil
The Mesopotamians (living in the current Iraq) knew about thyme aromatic oil as long as 5000 years ago. The Egyptians and Romans used it in perfumes. Most herbs produce oil through a steam distillation process that gives a very concentrated yield of plant nutrients. Other names for aromatic oil are volatile or essential oil.
For massage, the volatile oil is always mixed just a few drops at a time in a base like almond oil or olive oil. A concoction of thyme essential oil and lavender oil in base oil gives a first-rate massage for sore muscles. Aromatherapy, supporting physical and emotional states, extensively uses essential oils.
Thyme Research Suggests Brain Benefits
Recent research involving rats and the herbal thyme points toward enhanced brain support. Reported in the British Journal of Nutrition in 2000, a study of rats and thyme oil – specifically the chemical thymol comprising about one-half of the oil – found that mice in the study had higher levels of antioxidants and omega-3 fatty acids as compared to controls. Human studies of omega-3 fatty acids have previously found a connection with improved brain health.
In the April 2008 issue of Thrombosis Research, a 12-week study of mice and thyme (or rosemary) found an antithrombotic (anticlotting) result that increased circulation without bleeding risks. Human studies have verified better brain health with improved circulation.
Garden Thyme Has Useful Properties
The ancient herb thyme, made into a tea, has a traditional reputation of providing upper respiratory relief, especially for sore throats and coughing. Flavoring with thyme adds antioxidant power to cooking. Thyme has a habitual use as a skin disinfectant with antiseptic and anti-fungal properties. Promising animal research offers hope for the use of thyme as an aid to human brain wellbeing.
This is an educational article only. Seek advice from your health care professional. Avoid thyme if you have high blood pressure or are pregnant.
Reference
“Zucchini with Thyme.” Simply Recipes, accessed July 20, 2009.
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