Krista's Herbarium
a collection of herbal remedies, recipes, and reveries
Antibiotic Syrup
Just days before my eldest daughter was due to fly to Japan to work and create at an artists’ colony, she developed a painful toe infection. This very same day, my husband’s flu took a turn for the worse and he was complaining of bronchitis-like symptoms. Before we went to the doctor, getting antibiotics (something we really don’t want) and minor surgery for my daughter, I decided to get out the big guns.
This syrup is powerful, useful internally to boost the immune system and kill the unwanted microbes, as well as topically as an antibiotic poultice.
Antibiotic Syrup
- 5 cloves of fresh garlic
- 1 onion
- 3 T freshly grated ginger
- 2 T turmeric powder or 2 T freshly grated turmeric
- 1 large jar of local organic honey
Crush the garlic with the heel of your hand using the flat blade of a knife.
Leave the garlic to allow the allicin in the garlic to bloom, 15 minutes.
Chop up the onion and grate the ginger and turmeric.
Add everything to the honey in a pot.
Heat over very low heat (do not allow it to simmer, bubble or boil) for 1 hour.
Strain and pour back into the honey jar.
You can leave everything in the honey if you would like. We do this and eat the cloves, ginger and onions as well.
Dosing:
Ingested: 1T 3-5x/day during acute symptoms
1T 2x/day as preventative (during cold and flu season)
Poultice: apply the paste to the infected or inflamed area. If it burns there is too much garlic, apply it diluted. Leave on for at least 20 minutes.
Medicinal Actions:
Garlic: anti-bacterial, anti-oxidant, anti-cancer, antimicrobial, anti-parasitic, anti-fungal
Honey: anti-bacterial, anti-oxidant, vulnerary, antimicrobial, anti-fungal
Onion: anti-bacterial, anti-oxidant, anti-cancer, antimicrobial, antiviral, anti-fungal, vulnerary
Turmeric: anti-inflammatory, analgesic, antioxidant, vulnerary
Ginger: anti-inflammatory, analgesic, antioxidant, anti-fungal, vulnerary
After only a day, my daughter’s toe looks tons better and my husband is feeling much better, his lungs aren’t hurting him.
Update: After travelling and being under great stress for over 30 hours, Rebekah’s toe again looks worse. I talked with her today and asked her to get the ingredients to make this syrup. She is making it tonight and I will let you know how it goes.
Here are pics of Rebekah making the syrup today in Sapporo, Japan. She’s going to take a dose internally tonight and as a poultice on her toe tonight. So, I hope to see some improvement even tomorrow morning for her.
Rebekah’s toe with the infected granuloma at the beginning of the Antibiotic Syrup treatment (L) and then after 4 days on the treatment (R). It doesn’t hurt now. She will continue on the treatment for another week. The brownish goo you see is a yarrow poultice that she wears at night.
Rebekah marinating her toe in Antibiotic Syrup
Krista's Herbarium 