Ever since I realized that my lungs were really in trouble from bronchitis it was this stuff that I craved the most. Matt makes it in a tincture, and I've been suckin it down. I put a drop on my tongue and breath in deeply to get the vapors in my lungs. When I do this I feel the sensation in my lungs of being more open, similar to taking my albuterol inhaler. The only sad part about my new love for osha is that apparently people have relearned that this herb is an amazing medicine and it has become over harvested from nature. Osha has become seriously threatened in the wild.
It is a perennial plant that loves growing in the mountains. This umbiliferous plant is related to hemlock and looks quite similar. Can be found growing around 10,000 feet to as low as 5,000 feet. It loves to grow in aspen groves, highland meadows and ravines. One of the many uses for osha is it's amazing ability to help with altitude sickness. It increases alveolar gas exchange increasing the oxygenation of the blood. When you're in a high altitude oxygen becomes thinner and when you use osha it allows your body to absorb more oxygen. It is interesting to me that a beautiful plant that helps heal people of altitude sickness happens to grow in high altitudes.
A regional name for Osha is chuchupate, which meant in the old aztec's tongue "bear medicine." It was called this because sure enough bears love to use this stuff to heal themselves. Bears love it. They roll around in it and love on it like kitties and catnip. Male bears have been seen diggin it up and giving it to their mates, it's sort of like buying a box of chocolates in the bear world. After hibernation a bear will try and get a hold of a bunch of osha to clean out it's digestive tract. They have been seen chewing the root then spitting it out on to its paws and rubbing it all over themselves! Bears love honey, I love honey. If bears love osha then they probably are on to something.
The root of Osha is the part used medicinally. Energetically it is spicy, bitter and warm. The healing components in this powerful herb include volatile oils, essential oils, terpenes, lactone glycoside, saponins, ferulic acid, and phytosterols. Its healing properties are antiviral (a substance that destroys or weakens a virus), diaphoretic (producing perspiration), diuretic (increases the flow of urine), decongestant (breaks up congestion), expectorant (helps bring up mucus), stimulant (increasing activity), carminative (inducing expulsion of gas from stomach or intestines), and emmenagogue (provokes menstruation). Osha root is a powerful antiviral and antibacterial herb strongly used for the respiratory system It is used
for such conditions as head colds with dry or wet cough, irritating coughs, bronchial infections and sore throats. It is also used to treat flues, fevers, pharyngitis, early stages oftonsillitis, pneumatic complaints, indigestion and delayed menses.
To soothe sore throats and irritation of the gums, the root may be chewed raw.
Boiling the root into a tea helps loosen phlegm and is an effective treatment for viral colds and flu. It stimulates the macrophages or resident white blood cells of the lungs, numbs sore throats, bronchio-dilates the lungs to assist in expectoration, warms the lungs and helps one to breathe more deeply. Osha can be used as a preventative for those prone to sore throats and lung congestion or who get secondary infections from allergies. The tincture and root can also be put on cuts and scrapes because of its strong antibacterial qualities.
