I’m always thankful for hospitals and medications in the case of an emergency. But as much as possible, I like to try and support the health of those in my family through the use of food, plants, healthy environment, and natural remedies.
Since moving to Texas in 2021, two of my four children have developed mild asthma. My six-year-old daughter, in particular, has been struggling lately. Her breathing sounded crispy, like she was inhaling through tissue paper, most of the time. She would cough incessantly at night. She often felt short of breath. We acquired an emergency inhaler and spacer (which makes taking the medicine easier for kids), but I also wanted to look for ways to nourish and aid her body in healing and getting stronger. While we’ve utilized a variety of approaches, one addition to her day that has made a huge difference is mullein tincture.
Mullein is a plant that has many benefits. It is anti-inflammatory, antimicrobial, antiviral, and has antioxidant properties. It’s also an expectorant, which means it can help clear mucus from the lungs and airways and reduce coughing. Because of how it fights inflammation, it can help reduce swelling in the airways and soothe the irritation of coughing. After including tincture in her daily routine, my daughter has experienced a huge alleviation of her symptoms; she rarely complains about shortness of breath, her coughing all but stopped at night, and her breathing is quiet and not crinkly and wheezy.
Dried mullein is fluffy, with an earthy, slightly floral smell. I use it for loose leaf tea as well as tincture; we enjoy the tea, which is very pleasant and mild, and delicious with honey. You will get the benefits of mullein from tea, but it’s not as concentrated, so I like to rely on having the tincture on hand.
Making a mullein tincture is so easy. You just use dry mullein and a solvent, which can be alcohol or glycerin. I bought this mullein on Amazon from Frontier Co-op, a brand I really like. For my solvent, I used Everclear, but you can use any high-proof vodka as well.
You can find incredibly detailed and measured recipes for mullein tincture, but you can also make it the “folk way”….eyeballing it. This is how I do it, because it’s easy and not quite so overwhelming.
Mullein Tincture
Equipment
- 1 16 oz glass jar
- dried mullein leaves
- high-proof vodka
- parchment paper
Instructions
- Fill the jar with dried mullein leaves, leaving about an inch of room at the top.
- Pour the alcohol in the jar until it covers the leaves.
- Place a square of parchment on top of the jar and screw the lid down. The parchment helps prevent the contents from making contact with the metal lid.
- Shake the jar.
- Let sit in a dark place for 4-6 weeks. Give the jar a shake every 2-3 days.
- Transfer to amber dropper jars.
As you might expect, the resulting tincture, while effective, does not taste very good. Especially since it’s primarily for my child, I needed some ideas on how to make it palatable enough for her to ingest. So I turned to my friend and herbal maker/teacher, Kylie. She makes and sells chapsticks, salves, lotions, tea blends and more on her website, Valley to Rim Wellness, and is a wealth of knowledge when it comes to herbs and tinctures.
She had several recommendations for me and they worked like a charm! She suggested diluting the tincture dose in some boiling water to allow some of the alcohol to evaporate. She also said that it was ok to add some sweetener, juice, or more water, until the taste was one that my daughter could handle.
With the hot water trick and the addition of some juice or honey and lemon, my daughter has been taking it daily. Interestingly, because she’s been doing so well, and we’ve been busy with other things, I had slacked for a few days in giving it to her. Lo and behold, the very day I am writing this post, I hear the unmistakable dry, barky cough. Her breath sounded crinkly. She said she felt a bit breathless. That was in the morning, so I quickly prepped a dose of the tincture and had her take it. Within half an hour, the coughing had subsided. To be safe, and get us back to a maintenance situation, I gave her another dose at bedtime. Despite lots of laughing and activity before bed (which aggravate her symptoms), and her struggle earlier in the day, she fell peacefully to sleep with no coughing or discomfort.
As far as dosages go, I found these dosing charts here that are helpful.
It’s so exciting to me that something so simple and easy can make such a difference. Mullein tincture is something I will always have on hand now. It’s a great start to begin building my herbal apothecary!
Curious if you could add..vanilla bean to the tincture to help with the taste issue?
You can add vanilla, yes, although I don’t know that it will help enough to make a difference. I think the best bet is to take your dosage in something…juice, tea with honey, etc.