Drinking a tea made with sage leaves can help soothe a sore or irritated throat. Photo credit: MelindaMyers.com
Make the busy summer season easier with the pain-relieving, inflammation-reducing powers of garden vegetables. Plant some in your garden or containers, or buy some at your local farmers market.
Drink mint-infused tea or iced water to refresh and rejuvenate. Mint also has headache and general pain relief properties. Grow and care for this vigorous perennial herb in containers to avoid overrunning your flower beds. Plant a few plants at the end of the growing season to enjoy its benefits all year round. Root a few cuttings and plant them in a sunny windowsill to grow.
Add sage tea to your list of favorite teas. Simply harvest a few leaves, pour in hot water, and brew a soothing tea for your sore throat. Sage tea has long been used to relieve itchy and irritated throats, with positive results in clinical trials in 2006. This herb can be grown in the garden or in containers. It grows best in a sunny location with well-drained soil. Harvest the leaves as needed throughout the season. Regular harvesting encourages growth for future harvests. Harvest and store one-third of the plant to enjoy its benefits throughout the year.
You may have used topical pain relief creams that contain capsaicin, the hot ingredient in chilies, jalapenos, habaneros, and cayenne peppers, which is a natural pain reliever often used to treat back pain, arthritis, and muscle pain. Chilies are ready to be harvested when they are fully colored. If you don't have chilies in your garden, ask a friend to share their harvest or buy some at a farmers market.
Growing and using ginger can help reduce inflammation and treat migraines, muscle pain, arthritis, and post-exercise and gardening muscle pain. It can also help reduce nausea, which is common during the summer months of barbecues and celebrations. Grow it outdoors in a pot or on a sunny windowsill with other houseplants. Although ginger is a tropical plant, the plant and rhizomes (the edible part) can be found at many garden centers and online plant retailers. Or, try rooting a rhizome purchased at the grocery store to grow a new plant.
Sour cherries are said to help reduce muscle pain and inflammation. Sour cherries are rich in disease-fighting chemicals and antioxidants that help reduce inflammation and relieve pain. Growing a sour cherry tree may not be practical or possible, but buy lots of them when they are in season. Juicing, drying and storing them will allow you to enjoy the health benefits all year round. If you have the space, consider planting a sour cherry tree in your backyard. Sour cherries require a cool period of 34-45 degrees to begin flowering, which allows the fruit to develop. Consult your local agricultural extension service to select the best variety for your area. It will take a few years for sour cherry trees to start bearing fruit, but watching the tree mature and produce its first fruit is part of the fun of gardening. Just remember to protect your harvest from hungry birds.
Try growing them and you'll soon discover that plants do more than just soothe you — the simple act of tending to your garden and harvesting can lift your mood, lower your blood pressure, and put you on the path to feeling better.
Melinda Myers has written more than 20 gardening books, including Midwest Gardener's Handbook, 2nd Edition and Small Space Gardening. She is the host of The Great Courses' “How to Grow Anything” instant video and DVD series and the nationally syndicated Melinda's Garden Moment radio show. Myers is a columnist and contributing editor for Birds & Blooms magazine. Her website is www.MelindaMyers.com.
