Fennel syrup - application, preparation and effects
contents
- Healing effect of fennel
- Effect of honey and fennel
- For whom honey is not suitable
- Fennel Syrup Recipes
- Buy fennel syrup
- application
- Beware of existing allergy
Healing effect of fennel
Already in the Middle Ages Fennel was known as a remedy. As a tea or mixed with alcohol, it was taken as a digestive aid after a rich meal. Fennel helps with gastrointestinal discomfort, helps with loss of appetite, is deflating and promotes some gastric juice secretion. Furthermore, fennel has a great importance in respiratory diseases. When coughing it is expectorant and promotes the ejection.
Fennel syrup is a proven home remedy for respiratory and gastrointestinal disorders. (Image: nadisja / fotolia.com)Effect of honey and fennel
Honey is antibacterial, antifungal and antioxidant and is thus recommended for inflammation as a simple home remedy. When coughing, honey can alleviate this, especially before going to bed in the evening. Who does not know the old remedy of our grandmothers: "Hot milk with honey". This is used for dry cough. Honey is also helpful in uncomplicated gastrointestinal flu. In combination with fennel, as so-called fennel syrup, it is a tasty and helpful home remedy for dry cough or cough with stuck mucus. Even with gastrointestinal discomfort fennel syrup can help.
For whom honey is not suitable
Honey is not suitable for infants under one year. The consumption could have life-threatening consequences. Honey is a healthy natural product. However, it could contain bacteria that are sometimes very threatening to a baby. The most dangerous pathogen is Clostridium botulinum. Even the smallest amounts can paralyze the infant's intestine. This is called infant botulism. For adults, the amount of pathogens is completely safe. Fortunately, this disease is very rare and affects infants only in the first year of life, especially in the first six months.
Fennel Syrup Recipes
For the production of a fennel syrup, a variety of recipes exist.
The fennel seeds should be lightly pounded with a mortar to prepare the syrup so that they release their essential oils. (Image: RS STOCK IMAGES / fotolia.com)Recipe number 1:
- 25 grams of fennel are lightly pounded in a mortar. This is important so that the contained essential oil can escape and unfold its effect.
- The stewed fennel is then boiled with half a liter of water. Then let it rest for a few minutes and strain.
- When it has cooled to about 45 degrees this is mixed with 500 grams of honey - the fennel syrup is ready.
- Who wants to have a higher concentration of fennel, simply reduces the amount of honey.
Recipe number 2:
- 20 to 25 grams of fennel are toasted in the mortar.
- Add 200 grams of honey and put the mixture in a screw-cap.
- Pull the whole thing for at least five days, so that the essential oil passes into the honey.
- Then the mass is filtered off with the help of a fine sieve and the syrup is ready.
Recipe number 3:
- Ten grams of fallen fennel seeds are boiled together with 200 grams of honey (alternatives: cane sugar, birch sugar) and 200 milliliters of water in a pot.
- The whole thing should then draw for ten minutes and is then strained by a fine sieve.
- The liquid comes back into the pot and is boiled there for at least half an hour to syrup and then in a clean, well-sealable bottle, filled.
- The finished fennel syrup will last a maximum of three months in the refrigerator.
Recipe number 4 - fennel enriched with thyme:
The preparation complies with recipe number 1. However, fennel (15g) and thyme (10g) are used together. Thyme has a dry and productive cough and additionally relieves the excruciating irritation of the throat. Fennel, honey and thyme together are a recommended cough medicine.
Fennel syrup can provide natural relief for respiratory infections with a dry cough. (Image: contrastwerkstatt / fotolia.com)Buy fennel syrup
Who does not want to do the job, can buy finished fennel syrup in the health food store or in the drugstore. Depending on the manufacturer, these contain different amounts of fennel oil. Also fennel-thyme-syrup is available for purchase.
application
For upper respiratory infections such as coughing, sore throat or hoarseness, one teaspoonful of the fennel syrup is taken several times a day. Simply melt in the mouth or pour into a cup of tea. In dry cough, the syrup can also be mixed with hot milk. But please - only with a dry cough. In the case of slime, milk is absolutely contraindicated as it would make phlegm production worse.
In gastrointestinal complaints, the fennel syrup does not melt in the mouth, but is swallowed immediately or taken in some tea (for example chamomile tea). But as already mentioned - do not apply to children under one year.
Beware of existing allergy
If there is already an allergy to mugwort and / or birch pollen, this is often associated with a celery allergy. This is called birch mugwort celery syndrome. In addition, those affected may be allergic to other Umbelliferae such as anise, fennel, parsnips, cumin, lovage, Sanikel, chervil and wild carrot. Therefore, please be careful. Allergy sufferers should not consume fennel syrup. If hypersensitivity to daisy family plants such as arnica, chamomile or marigold is known, fennel preparations should also be avoided as cross-allergies may be present. (Sw)