Breaking
FoodNerdy Recipes Management System
Tag

sage

Browsing
health

Sage as a Home Remedy and Medicinal Plant

Sage tastes good and is healing. It helps with all sorts of complaints such as inflammation, gastrointestinal problems, and insect bites. It can be used for dental care, as a deodorant, and as coloring hair.

Use healthy sage

Sage is healthy and tasty. As a medicinal plant, it can be used in the kitchen and as a cosmetic. It is easily digestible and goes well with fatty foods. It helps with inflammation, gastrointestinal complaints, and insect bites. It can be used for coloring hair, for dental care, and against sweating.

Sage has always been used in cooking and medicine. Its name comes from Latin and means to heal (= salvare) or healthy (= salvus). There are over 850 different species of sage and the sage plant is found on almost every continent with the exception of Australia. In the following, we will deal with the kitchen or medicinal sage (Salvia officinalis), which is most widespread in Germany.

Ingredients

Sage contains essential oils, tannins, and bitter substances. Even if sage is a medicinal plant in itself, it should not be taken in large quantities. In excess, the essential oil is toxic. We, therefore, advise against drinking several cups of sage tea every day.

Sage is healing

Sage has an antiviral, antibacterial, and anti-inflammatory effect. Its oil is used in pharmacies for disinfectants. If you have a sore throat or other inflammatory diseases of the mouth and throat, you can gargle with sage tea or simply drink it. Aqueous and alcoholic sage extracts for gargling are also commercially available.

In addition to its anti-inflammatory effect, sage is said to have other healing properties:

It helps with excessive sweating and has a digestive and secretion-promoting effect. Especially after antibiotic therapy, it can relieve stomach and intestinal pain. It is also said to support the proper functioning of the nervous system. Some substances contained in sage also protect against carcinogenic substances.

Sage is also useful for painful and swollen insect bites. To do this, you should briefly boil a handful of sage with plenty of water and simmer for two minutes over low heat. The still warm sage leaves can then be placed on the insect bites and covered with a gauze bandage. It is best to leave it on for one to two hours. The whole thing also helps with small abrasions or cuts.

The aromatic ingredient

In the kitchen, sage is often used as a spice. It tastes a bit bitter but aromatic. Because of the fine hairs on its leaves, it leaves a slightly furry feeling in the mouth.
Sage goes well with fatty foods. It gives dishes with meat and poultry, game or fish a special touch. Herb cheese can also be wonderfully refined with it. In addition, sage is said to promote the digestibility of heavy food and allows fats to go rancid more slowly. Sage is also suitable for light cooking. It refines soups and vegetable dishes.

German cuisine knows the sage cake as a traditional pastry. It is served and eaten especially at the church consecration festival or the fair, as it is said to protect against intoxication.

A little tip: Sage can also be used to flavor homemade herbal sweets.

Sage makes you beautiful

Because of the tannins contained in sage, the medicinal plant can even be used to color hair. A decoction is prepared from the sage plant, which dyes the hair a little darker. This is also helpful for concealing the first gray hairs. To do this, take a handful of sage, and a bag of black tea and pour a cup of boiling water over it. Let the mixture steep for 30 minutes and then pour it through a colander. The collected liquid is then distributed well in the hair. Leave on for 30 minutes and then rinse thoroughly.

The antibacterial effect of sage helps with impure skin. It is also suitable for dental care. To do this, chew two or three fresh sage leaves after each meal. This has a calming effect on the gums, cleans them, and makes the teeth whiter.

Sage is also suitable as an additive for homemade deodorants, as it has antiperspirant and antibacterial effects. It also helps to get rid of sweaty feet. To do this, take a hot foot bath and add a few sage leaves.

Keep Reading
By
Food

Sage Tea During Pregnancy: Why You Should Be Careful

Sage has many healing properties. Tea brewed from sage leaves is said to help against colds, among other things – but caution is advised during pregnancy.

Because of its strong taste, sage is not only valued in the kitchen – it is also used in various forms as a medicinal herb. Whether as an essential oil, as an additive in throat drops or in homemade deodorants: sage is a real all-rounder. Sage tea is particularly beneficial and easy to prepare. It is said to help against colds and be effective for toothache or stomach problems.

Sage tea during pregnancy: Not harmless

Sage leaves contain, among other things, lamiacean tannins that ensure that the mucous membranes in the body contract. This means that small wounds close more quickly and viruses and bacteria have a harder time penetrating them – sage is therefore extremely beneficial for wound healing.

In pregnant women, on the other hand, due to this effect of sage, there is a risk that the uterus will contract and contractions will occur prematurely, which could harm the unborn child. In addition, the essential oil of the sage leaves contains the neurotoxin thujone, which is toxic even for adults in high doses. The unborn child should therefore not ingest it under any circumstances.

However, there is no strict sage ban during pregnancy: You can certainly consume small amounts of sage as a spice in food or even an occasional cup of tea. If you have a cold, you can gargle with sage tea – this way you still have some of the soothing effect of the medicinal plant. If you are unsure or have any doubts, you should of course always ask your gynaecologist.

Sage tea during pregnancy: Effects on breastfeeding

In naturopathy, sage is also known for its inhibiting effect on milk production. Shortly before giving birth and while breastfeeding, you should therefore avoid large quantities of sage tea. If, on the other hand, you want to stop breastfeeding, sage tea is a good herbal alternative to other remedies such as tablets.

Like other herbal teas, sage tea from conventional cultivation is often contaminated with harmful substances. Babies and toddlers in particular should therefore not drink more than one cup a day. It is also advisable to choose organically grown sage tea – or to plant sage yourself.

Keep Reading
By
Food

Pineapple Sage: Cultivation, Harvesting, and Uses

Exotic pineapple sage is a fruity spice for summery dishes and drinks. Here you can find out everything about the use, cultivation and harvest of the South American herb.

Pineapple sage (Salvia elegans) is a plant from the mint family. The plant, which belongs to the sage family, owes its colloquial name to the scent of its leaves, which is reminiscent of pineapple. However, the herb is not related to the tropical fruit.

As with all types of sage, both the leaves and flowers of pineapple sage can be used for seasoning and cooking. With its bright red flowers, the exotic kitchen herb is also a pretty ornamental plant for the balcony and garden. As a late bloomer, it brings color to your garden well into autumn.

Use: pineapple sage in summer salads

Pineapple sage originally comes from the highlands of Mexico and Guatemala. Today it enjoys worldwide popularity as an exotic culinary herb.

Thanks to its sweet note, pineapple sage is ideal for refining desserts, such as fruit salads or cold dishes.
You can also add an exotic touch to fruity salads with the herb. The bright red flowers are also ideal as an edible decoration.
Pineapple sage goes well with other fresh herbs – mint or lemon balm, for example, are ideal partners: decorate and spice up fresh summer salads with a combination of pineapple sage and mint.
Refine homemade lemonades or iced tea with leaves and flowers of the sage plant.
On cooler days, you can also make tea from the leaves of pineapple sage: Put a few leaves in a tea strainer and let them steep in boiling water for about five minutes. Tea made from pineapple sage tastes a little tarter than the fresh herb.
The leaves can also be used dried for any use.

Grow pineapple sage

Pretty pineapple sage is an uncomplicated and hardy herb. You can cultivate it both in the garden and in a bucket on the balcony. It should be noted that the perennial plant is not winter-proof and has to go inside during the cold season. With good care, you can enjoy a richly branched shrub that can reach a height of up to half a meter.
Location
Pineapple sage prefers a sunny to half-shady and warm location. A wind-protected place along a house wall or in a sunny corner of your balcony is suitable for this.
The mild morning and evening sun is good for your sage. However, the herb should not be exposed to the midday sun.
floor

The exotic herb thrives best in soil rich in nutrients and humus, which may be enriched with a little sand.
The soil around the root ball should not dry out and should be watered regularly. However, the plant does not tolerate waterlogging either. To prevent this, you can provide natural drainage with a generous layer of sand or gravel at the bottom of the planting hole or the bottom of your tub.
If you plant your pineapple sage in a pot, make sure that the water can drain out of the pot through the drainage.
In the growing season from spring to late autumn, your sage plant will be happy about regular fertilizer application. Use homemade compost or organic fertilizer.
hibernate

Pineapple sage is not hardy.
If your pineapple sage is growing in a pot, put it in a cool, unheated spot in the house where the plant gets enough daylight before the first frost. A bright conservatory, a greenhouse or even a stairwell are perfect for this.
In winter you can reduce the watering and stop fertilizing completely. The plant now gathers strength until the next shoot.
Pineapple sage growing in the garden must be cut back completely in winter and its roots well protected from frost. Lay a thick layer of brushwood or leaves around the root ball. In colder regions or in very cold winters, the plant cannot always be overwintered successfully. If you are unsure, plant them in the bucket.

Harvest pineapple sage

Pineapple sage can be harvested all year round. The green leaves taste particularly aromatic before the first flowering period, but can also be harvested later. You should harvest the flowers just before they fade. Use sharp scissors or a knife to cut off both flowers and leaves at the end of the stem.

Keep Reading
By
Cooking Tips

Harvest and Dry Sage Correctly – You Should Pay Attention to This

If you harvest and dry sage properly, it can be stored for a long time. So you can use it at any time of the year to refine and season dishes. Even harvested and dried sage is also suitable as a tea for a sore throat.

6 tips for the right sage harvest

The real sage is a popular herb for refining dishes. But sage can also provide relief as a variety of home remedies, for example for sore throats or gastrointestinal complaints.

It is important to harvest the sage correctly in order to have sufficient supplies for the cold season, when the sage no longer sprout.

You should pay attention to these tips for a productive harvest:
Harvest time is from May to August. Normally, the sage begins to bloom at the beginning of summer. In its heyday, however, its aroma content is very weak, which would make it uninteresting as a herb.
If you grind consistently and evenly, you’ll reduce woodiness and blooming. The young shoot tips in particular are rich in essential oils and aromatic ingredients.
Never cut into the woody part of the shoots, otherwise the shoot will not sprout again.
Do not wash the harvested sage, just wipe it off to avoid unnecessarily slowing down the drying process and losing valuable ingredients.
To avoid loss of aroma, you should dry or freeze the sage immediately after harvesting.
You should harvest the last time around the end of August so that the shoots can fully mature before the first frost and are therefore protected. To protect the hardy shrub from frost, you can put leaves, fir green or straw around the root area. Attention: Not all sage species are hardy.

drying sage

Dry or Freeze Sage – Which is Better? The answer: both are possible! The essential oils are preserved both dried and frozen.

Sage really dry
In the air:
Dry the sage at 70 to 80 degrees Fahrenheit (21 to 27 degrees Celsius) in a well-ventilated area. That takes about ten days.
You can simply spread individual sheets on newspaper.
If you have harvested stalks, tie them together with string and hang them upside down.
In the oven:
It is also possible to dry the sage in the oven at 40 degrees Celsius within about six hours.
Turn the leaves regularly and leave the oven door ajar (say, with a wooden spoon between them). However, this method is not very energy-efficient and therefore not recommended.

Freeze sage properly

To freeze sage, you can put the sage leaves uncrushed in a screw-top jar or freezer container.

Keep Reading
By
Food

How Sage Honey Works and a Recipe to Make Yourself

Sage honey is an effective home remedy for cold and flu symptoms. Here you can find out how sage honey works and how you can make it yourself.

A sore throat, cough and hoarseness are among the most common symptoms of a cold or flu. Sage honey can provide quick relief and aid in healing. It is also a natural alternative to conventional cough syrups, which often contain questionable ingredients and should be used with caution, especially in children. You can find out more about this in our article cough syrup for children: risks, home remedies and what you should consider.

As the name suggests, sage honey consists of only two ingredients: sage and honey.

Sage is a well-known medicinal herb that has anti-inflammatory, analgesic and antibacterial properties. That is why it is a popular home remedy for sore throats and coughs.
Honey also has anti-inflammatory and antibacterial properties. It is therefore well suited as a carrier for the sage.
Important: If possible, use regional organic honey from Germany for the sage honey. This way you can be sure that it was not imported via CO2-intensive transport routes. In another Utopia article you will find out what you should consider when buying honey.

Make sage honey yourself: Here’s how

Ingredients:

20leaves of fresh sage
500 ghoney
optional: lemon juice

Directions:

Wash the sage leaves thoroughly and then drain them. Then cut them into small pieces.
Place the honey in a large sterilized jar. The glass should be able to hold at least 700 grams.
Stir in the chopped sage. Tip: If the honey is very thick and stirring is too difficult, you can dilute it with a little lemon juice.
Place the sage honey in a dark place and let it steep for at least four weeks. After this time he is finished.

Sage honey: tips and hints

The earlier you take the sage honey, the better it can work. At the first scratchy throat, start applying the sage honey. Let it slowly melt on your tongue.

Since sage contains the neurotoxin thujone, you should consider the following points when using sage honey:

Overdoses of thujone can cause symptoms of poisoning such as tachycardia, dizziness and cramps. Since the thujone content of sage honey is difficult to determine, to be on the safe side, you should consume a maximum of five teaspoons of sage honey a day.
New studies have shown that sage is suitable for long-term use without hesitation. However, you should seek medical help if your symptoms have not improved within three days.
Children younger than one year should not eat honey. As a natural product, honey can contain bacteria that can cause life-threatening bacterial infections in babies.
Pregnant and breastfeeding women should also avoid taking sage honey.

Keep Reading
By