If I could pick one thing that I do every year to prepare my family for cold and flu season, it would be stocking up on an Immune Boosting tincture.
Now don’t get me wrong… I love using garlic during this time of the year too, especially since it has awesome antibacterial properties, but when it comes to working to KEEP my family from catching what’s going around… it’s this tincture, hands down. I mainly use garlic when we actually do get sick with something so that it doesn’t turn into an infection of any sort. Make sense?
How The Immune System Works… Briefly
The immune system is the first line of defense we have against foreign invaders in our body. When something enters the body, eventually it will come into contact with a white blood cell.
White blood cells are constantly on the prowl looking for things that aren’t supposed to be there so they can destroy them. When one finds something, it sends out a signal that tells other white blood cells to come help him out. Once the others get there, they all work together to fight the intruder off.
As you know, foreign substances like viruses and bacteria continue to multiply as well. This gives the white blood cells a real run for their money. As the intruders continue to multiply and take over the bodies cells, the more and more white blood cells have to come and fight them.
This process continues until someone wins. Either the bodies immune system or the invaders.
Why Boost The Immune System
You see, if you give the body healthy foods to eat, then the body is going to start off far ahead of the invaders. It’s going to be strong and ready to protect and heal itself when it gets attacked. It’s like the walls of a city… standing guard to keep invaders out.
But, when something does get in or when there’s a crack in that wall the next line of defense is the soldiers on duty… the white blood cells or the immune system. It pays to have many of them on duty, looking for these invaders so that they can get a head start on defeating them. Nutrition in and of itself plays a huge role in keeping our immune system strong, but we can also use herbs to help stimulate or boost it when need be, specifically when we know there are invaders out and about.
When we use things like herbs to boost the body’s immune system, it gets more white blood cells patrolling in the blood stream and it allows the body to have more of them available to fight if they’re needed.
Immune-Boosting Herbs
There are a lot of herbs out there.
Western herbs. Eastern herbs. Ayurvedic herbs. I’m sure there are others… I’m pretty sure they’re labeled depending upon where they originate from.
Herbs are plants. They’re weeds, and they grow all over the world. I’m a big believer in using the herbs that grow where you live for the things you need. I think our bodies become accustomed to our environments and they will respond to they plants that grow in our environment as well. But hey, that’s just me.
So if you’re looking for herbs that boost the immune system, all you need to do is Google “best immune boosting herbs” and then check to see if they’re okay for your kids to take or for you to take if your pregnant or nursing… or even if they’re okay for you to take if you’r currently taking medications of any sort. That may take a several Google searches, but remember… Google is your friend.
The herbs in the formula below are great for everyone. Kids, older folks, mamas nursing their baby, and mamas growing babies. Plus there’s no upper limit on how much to give, but we’ll talk more about dosage below.
Ingredients For Your Immune Boosting Tincture
Herbs
The herbs I use in this formula are equal parts of:
Echinacea, elderberry, and astragalus have all been shown in studies to have great immune stimulating properties. Not only do I use all of these herbs together in this immune boosting blend, but I use all three of them separately as well.
Not only do I use all of these herbs together in this immune boosting blend, but I use all three of them separately as well. I make a single alcohol tincture of echinacea root that I give at the first sign of illness, I make elderberry syrup for giving when flu-like symptoms come around, and my astragalus root goes into my chicken broth during the cooler months.
Nettle, rose hips, and peppermint are all great nutritional herbs that are very beneficial to the body and help with the taste of the tincture… especially the peppermint.
Menstruum
When it comes to picking a menstruum to make your tincture from – a menstruum is what you infuse your herbs into – you have two great options.
Alcohol or food grade vegetable glycerin. I personally make both, and here’s why.
Alcohol is a better preservative, but it also extracts the properties of the herb better. And… since alcohol is filtered by the liver, it works to get the herbs into the body well. At least, that’s my thoughts on the subject. If you chose to use alcohol you need to go with a 40-50% alcohol (80-100 proof). Any kind will do. It just depends on the taste you’re looking for. Vodka is cheap but tastes awful. Brandy is more expensive but makes for a better tasting tincture. I just go for the cheap stuff usually because I mix my tinctures with juice to take them so I don’t really taste them anyway. An alcohol tincture will typically last 2 years although if they’re stored properly, they’ll last even longer.
Glycerin, on the other hand, is also a preservative, but it doesn’t last as long as alcohol. A glycerin tincture will usually last around 1 year. Another downside to glycerin is that it has a harder time extracting the properties of herbs so it’s better to make glycerin tinctures using some heat. Glycerin on the upside does flavor your tincture nicely and it doesn’t affect blood sugar levels so if you give this kind of tincture to you kid, he’s not going to be jumping off the walls 30 minutes later.
Like I said, I make both. The man and I take the alcohol one, and I give the kids a 50/50 mix of alcohol and glycerin… well maybe more like a 40/60 mix.
The reason I mix the kids has nothing to do with the alcohol. I don’t have aversions to alcohol in any way, and giving my kids tinctures made with alcohol isn’t going to harm them. It’s not like they’re drinking the tincture. Gross! I guarantee you if your kid took a swig of most herbal alcohol tinctures, he’d spit it right back out. They’re not delicious or anything. The reason I mix it is for the taste. The glycerin sweetens it and my kids will take this tincture straight in their mouth this way… no fussing about it.
Making A Tincture
There’s not much to say about how to make a tincture in this post because I’ve already outlined it all here on the Using Herbs page – Making Tinctures, Glycerites & Vinegars. Just follow the steps, and in the end, you’ll have a tincture. They’re super easy. Just try it once, and you’ll see!
How To Take Your Immune Boosting Tincture
When it comes to actually using your tincture, you’ll need to start taking it as soon as you want to start stimulating the immune system to work… like when a cold is going around or when official flu season starts and cases of it have been reported in your area.
The preventative dose I usually take is 1 dropper full, 3 times a day… my kids get half that.
An active dose (what I’d take when I started actually showing symptoms of a cold) would be 1 dropperful every 2 hours for the first day, then moving down to 1 dropperful every 4 hours the next day, and back to 1 dropperful 3 times a day from the third day on… again giving my kids half that does at the same frequency.
So there you go! I hope this helps you keep yourself and your little ones well this year!
Now it’s your turn.
Hi! So, I am a DIY person, mostly. Herbs and medicine is a whole complicated ball of fun and I am glad to leave it to people like you. We received our immune tincture yesterday and I tried it first, hmmm, not bad. Started the kids as school starts next week. going to public school means a whole litany of viral fun and I am so happy to have the help. thanks, Sarah
You’re so welcome Sarah! Glad I could help!
I really enjoy making this immune tincture too! 🙂
Yay!!!
Do you use equal proportions of the herbs to make your tincture? Thanks!
You know Gretchen, I probably do it differently each time, but I try to stick with equal parts of the echinaceas and the nettle, followed by equal parts of peppermint, elderberry, and astragalus, and finally rose hips are the smallest amount. So for instance to mix up a small amount of immune boosting herb mix you could do 3 TBSP each of echinacea leaf, root, and nettle, then 2 TBSP each of peppermint, elderberry, and astragalus, then 1 TBSP of rose hips. You can always adjust those amounts according to how much you want to make. And, if you don’t think it has enough peppermint flavor, next time add more of it. Just play around with it and see what you come up with.
Just wondered if you cold give this to a one year old? Thanks!
Yes, definitely!!
hello
I was wondering if you would make your immune system booster to sell?
I dont know much about herbs or to prepare glycerides, but you seem to know a lot about it. We live in Los angeles, and my 5 year old never seems to get over colds… we eat kind of healthy, no fast food, organic veggies and fruits, little meat, dont smoke, have humidifiers but my son as soon as cold is in the air, gets all the colds from school, brings them home and passes it to us and my 1 year old also… who gets very stuffy and then gets an ear infection.
Looking for a way to boost my 5y old immune system I came across your tinctures… could you make one and send it to me to try?
or maybe could I get it in a compound, natural or homeopathic pharmacy? I have one very close… could you let me know what to ask for in the pharmacy?
thank you!
manu
Hey Manu! Thanks for contacting me. Yes, I used to sell my immune booster in my Etsy shop, but I’m not any longer. Making a glycerite is actually very simple. Check out my Using Herbs page on how to make them to see how to make one step by step. You can also get a premade version of an immune boosting blend here with Bulk Herb Store. It’s a great start, and it’s a better price than buying one in a store. But, if you’d rather not buy your own, this is a great company with a good one for kids. Hope this helps!!
Hi! I am breastfeeding and was checking up on herbs that are ok and not ok for breastfeeding and peppermint came up as a possible problem with milk supply. Do you think I can just leave it out? Or maybe make myself my own batch? I might do that. I also couldn’t find stinging nettle at our natural food store, so I don’t have that one either.
I’ve never heard of peppermint causing problems with milk supply. I looked it up in a few different herbal reference books and online and I’m not seeing anything. I’d love to know where you got that info though because I may have missed something. As far as the nettle goes Bulk Herb Store and Mountain Rose Herbs both sell it. Hope that helps a bit!
This was the main article I was reading- http://www.earthmamaangelbaby.com/mama-resources/reading-room/herbs-to-avoid-during-breastfeeding. I know you can’t always trust everything you read, so I try to be flexible and do more research than just one article :). Okay, thanks for the info about where to get the stinging nettle. One more question- I was reading about the garlic. How do you make the garlic oil? And with the tea, would I just boil it with water? Thanks so much for your time in answering my questions. I am working on boosting everyone’s immune systems, obviously :).
Thanks so much for getting me that link. Melinda at Earth Mama Angel Baby is a world of knowledge… I’d totally trust what she has to say when it comes to pregnancy, babies, and breastfeeding. I mean, she’s built her business around those things. I’ve honestly never heard that though, and after reading that article, I went back and researched again… in more books and looked around on a site for herbalists that I’m a member of. Nothing… nada. Can’t find anything about peppermint decreasing breastmilk, only that if you’re prone to bleeding or miscarriage during pregnancy not to drink strong infusions or take peppermint oil internally during that time. I’m not saying she’s wrong though… I don’t have a lot of the books she referenced in the article so I don’t know where she’s coming from.
To make any herbal oil –> https://growingupherbal.com/how-to-make-an-herbal-infused-body-oil-for-your-baby/ (read step 1 – infusing your oil)
To make tea –> https://growingupherbal.com/using-herbs/making-a-tea/
and here –> https://growingupherbal.com/how-to-make-a-perfect-cup-of-herbal-tea/
Thank you!!! Thanks so much for getting back to me so quickly and thanks for doing that research. I had read about peppermint and pregnancy. Again, thanks so much.
You’re very welcome!
Meagan, thanks for the valuable information you offer. I’m particularly interested in learning about boosting kid’s immune systems. I looked at your combo ingredients for the tincture and one thing I didn’t see was Inula helenium, a herb I read about recently. I wondered if you had any opinion of this herb, pro or con. Thanks.
Hi Lee… thanks for your comment. Yes, elecampane is a great herb, but it’s mainly used for respiratory issues like colds, coughs, bronchitis… things of that nature. It has been used to remove intestinal parasites and help with yeast, but like I said… it’s a big respiratory herb and that’s the reason it’s not in this blend. I don’t know of it having any real immune boosting properties… perhaps some due to the fact that it’s a respiratory herb that helps keep infections at bay, but it’s not immune boosting in the way the other herbs listed are. Now if you or your child had an affinity for developing respiratory infections when colds come around, you could always add it or use it in another preparation like cough drops or a syrup. Great question though!! Hope this helps you!
Hi Meagan,
I just found your site from Shalommama.com and I am loving all this wonderful info you are sharing! One quick question for you: Do you have a preference on the type of echinacea that you use? Also, I am very excited to try my hand at making this for the first time and I will likely be buying these herbs in bulk. (I apologize if you’ve posted on this before) are any of these herbs good for using in teas on a more as needed basis rather than a make ahead? I’m just wondering if I purchase 1lb of nettle if i will have many occasions where I can use it outside of this tincture. TIA!
Good questions Emalee, and I’m so glad you’re here. I love Shalom Mama! Nina is awesome!
As far as echinacea goes, this calls for the leaf, but I throw in a bit of root too because I feel like it has stronger properties. I think the most common echinacea is E. purpurea, but you can really use any.
You can actually make this very blend as a tea and drink it. If you include the hard herbs (roots), just make sure you let it steep longer… about 30 minutes as opposed to the normal 5-10 minutes.
And as far as nettle goes… add it to everything! Nettle is super nutritious. Drink that tea on a daily basis, put it in your homemade broth, blend it into your smoothies. Seriously… it’s good stuff!!
Hope that helps… glad to have you here!
Thank you for getting back to me so quickly 🙂 I must admit nettle always scared me because of that whole “stinging” part in it’s name, but I’ve seen it around enough that I’m past that (thankfully). I’m very excited to start my “learning more about herbs” journey and I think this is just the perfect place to begin!
Yes, that part does scare a lot of people, but the stinging only comes from the little hairs on it and those are “deactivated” for a lack of a better word with heat. So if you make a tea or use it in your food, you don’t have to worry about it. Plus, with teas, tinctures, and homemade broths, you strain the herbs out before you drink them anyway. No worries there!
What is your experience with the shelf life of this particular tincture? I know it’s much longer when using some sort of alcohol base, but not sure with a glycerite. I just threw out a very bitter lemon balm glycerite from last summer – it was awful. Tips? Tricks?
Humm… I’ve had this one stay good for over a year when stored in a cool dry place and untouched… meaning we weren’t using it at the time so there was no chance of contaminating it. Another thing you can do is store your tinctures in the fridge to help them stay good for longer… you can also add in just a touch of alcohol to the glycerite to help preserve it a bit too. Totally your choice. Also, it will depend on the herbs you’re using in your tincture. If you use fresh herbs, you’re introducing more water to the mix which will cause it to not last as long. Dry herbs are better for long term storage in my opinion. The rule of thumb is that alcohol tinctures stay good for 2 years while glycerin tinctures stay good for 1 year. Of course there are exceptions, and I almost always have them last longer than that. Hope that helps a bit.
Hello,
Thank you for this information. When you say “dropperful,” what does that equal? A teaspoon? What kind of dropperful?
Thanks,
Charlene
Great question Charlene. A dropperful typically means whatever comes up in the glass tube when you squeeze the rubber bulb once… usually it fills up 1/3 of the way full. This is equal to right around 30 drops give or take a few. Hope that answers your question. If not, let me know, and I’ll try to be more specific.
I just recently discovered your site (which is awesome, by the way! 🙂 and I’m wondering whether I can make this tincture with honey (for my kid). I’ve read in your earlier post a recipe for honey tincture — would it work in this case? I just think it’ll be much easier for my kid to take it.
Also, can I take this alcohol or glycerin based tincture mixed with tea or juice? Or it wouldn’t be as effective?
Many thanks!
Yes Veronika, you can infuse these herbs into honey. It definitely won’t be as strong as using alcohol, but it will work. You can also infuse them into apple cider vinegar and then mix that with honey if you’d like too. That’s called an “oxymel,” and it tastes good too… plus the vinegar is healthy and it really draws the medicinal properties out of the herbs well.
If you decide to make it with alcohol, then definitely mix it in something like juice or tea to get your kiddo to take it. Alcohol tinctures usually don’t taste too great so they need to be mixed in order to get kids to take them. It doesn’t change the effectiveness of the herbs either.
I have a question about allergies. I am allergic to the daisy family, so have naturally disappointed for years that I can not benefit from Echinachea. I also suspect a peppermint allergy since every time I take or eat any peppermint I get a terrible stomach ache and sometimes swelling of the throat. What recipe or ingredients would you recommend to replace these? I also have a 7 year old -who I have been hesitant to introduce to these plants for fear she may also have inherited these same sensitivities. What are your thoughts? We are an almost completely natural remedy family, but inevitably someone in our house always ends up getting the flu, a sinus infection, or strep (always DH who is on immune suppressants). I would love to have something more reliable in our medicine cabinet. Thanks!
Well, whether it’s you or your daughter that you want to test for herbal allergies, this is the method I’d personally use as the dose starts so small. As far as replacing herbs, it depends on how you’re using the herb. If you’re using the echinacea to boost your immune system, maybe you could try elderberry or astragalus root instead. If you want to work through a sinus infection naturally, I love olive leaf. It helps to keep infections at bay when I get sick with a head cold. As far as strep, thyme or sage work really well there. Again, it’s not just replacing one herb with another in all cases… it depends on the way the herb is being used. And of course, always check out the family of the herb you’re using first to make sure you don’t have any reactions. For example, sage is part of the mint family so if you have problems with peppermint, you’d definitely wanna do an allergy test for sage before using it. Hope this helps!
Thank you so much! I have both olive leaf and elderberry around all the time, but did not know I could use the olive leaf for sinus related issues.. We also take astragalus regularly, but have been concerned the pill form is not as effective as homemade tincture could be (I haven’t gotten that far into herbs yet). I am just starting to navigate your posts lately, and am loving everything. Is there a post on getting an herbal education? I am so nervous about signing up for an online program, it seems like this stuff would be safer to learn and experiment with in person. Thanks again! You are a blessing.
No problem MJ, and yes, I do recommend The Herbal Academy of New England for online herbal studies. Their info is easy to understand, hands on, and the site is easy to navigate. Plus their prices are EXCELLENT as far as herbal schools go. This is the link to their introductory course which is probably where you’ll want to start. They also just opened up their Herbarium which is a membership site that gives you lots of unique content on using herbs. You can find more about it here.
Meagan – I’m thinking of making a honey-based tincture for my son using the crockpot method you describe on your making tinctures page.
What do you think about pureeing the mixture before straining it? I’m thinking this would make for a very strong extract of the root, which is what I’m aiming for.
What herbs are you using Nicole? What you’re describing sounds like my garlic syrup which is basically pureed honey and garlic and it is strong depending on how much garlic you use. Here’s the thing with honey… if you’re using raw honey, you don’t want to heat it at all. If you’re using cheap honey for it’s flavor and moisturizing properties, then you can definitely do this, but keep in mind it shouldn’t be used on kids under 1 and whatever herbs you infuse into it will flavor it a bit so strong herbs may give it a nasty taste.
Another option is to make an alcohol or glycerin tincture and mix the dosage with a little raw honey to hide the flavor. You could even mix it in some herb balls to hid it too.
Ooops! Sorry – I should have mentioned that I was thinking of using just astragalus. (Incidentally, I do make a garlic syrup inspired by your syrup, only I used lacto-fermented garlic in mine with a raw buckwheat honey.)
Since I have access to only dried slices or powdered astragalus root, I’m not that confident honey would be effective enough menstrum. That’s why I was wondering about pureeing the honey with astragalus before straining to get a bit more of the astragalus in the “tincture”. I don’t have any access to food-grade vegetable glycerine that I don’t have to buy online and wait weeks to receive. Pre-made locally purchased gylcerites are far too expensive for me to be buying frequently (especially given how easy it could be for me to make them myself). And I don’t want to use alcohol in remedies for my son at the moment (although I have no qualms about giving him the small amounts in tinctures). So I figured honey would be the most accessible option for me. I buy only local, raw honey, and I never, ever heat it when used in medicine making, so no worries there.
Also, my son is two and a half, though I am well aware of the botulism issue with children under one year.
I like your idea of herb balls; I hadn’t even thought of that. And it would be a much more effective way of getting herbs like astragalus into my son. The trick will be developing an herb ball a picky and suspicious toddler such as my son will actually eat…
Hi! I’m having a hard time understanding if a pure grain alcohol tincture is okay for little ones. I have a 6 year old and 15 month old. Looking at giving them an Astragalus tincture that has 30-40% alcohol. Do you have any info you can show me on this? Thanks for any help!
This is a tough one Bethany as there’s not a right or wrong answer here and many herbalists disagree when it comes to using alcohol with kids. I found an article once that had great info on using alcohol tinctures with kids, but I can’t find it anywhere! Anyway, there are a few things to take into consideration when deciding if alcohol tinctures are right for you or not.
First, tinctures made using alcohol are thought to be stronger than those made with glycerin so I feel like less of an alcohol tincture is needed than a glycerin tincture in order to get good results. I’m not sure if this holds true for vinegar tinctures though. They may be just as strong as an alcohol tincture.
Next, most alcohol tinctures aren’t 100% alcohol. The one you referred to is only 30-40%, and on top of that, tinctures are low-dose herbal medicines that aren’t taken on a daily basis. If you need something on a daily basis, it’s best to use it nutritionally in the form of food, teas, or powders. I have an adaptogen powder blend on my blog that talks about how I use it with my kids. You can follow this with almost any powdered herb. Another thing about tinctures is that most times they’re taken in drop or dropper dosages so the amount of alcohol a child would get would be very minimal.
If you still have issues with it, you have some options. First, you can put your drops in hot water and let it sit for 5 minutes or so. This will cause a good bit of the alcohol to evaporate off… some, not all. Another option is to make your own tinctures using either apple cider vinegar or glycerin. Lastly, you can cut the alcohol down even further by making both an alcohol tincture and a glycerine tincture and blending the two together.
I’m so sorry I can’t be of more help. I personally don’t have a problem with it. Depending on the tincture (and the flavor), I simply put tincture drops in orange juice or elderberry syrup in order for my kids to take it. If it tastes awful, I’ll do a 50% alcohol and 50% glycerin tincture for them.
Hi! I’m having a hard time understanding the process with the glycerin tincture. You heat it for 3 days refilling when the water evaporates..what do you mean exactly? Is it an all day process? Does the water evaporate during the day & then you refill it again? I’m sorry I have never made any tincture before & I’m just a little nervous.
Sure thing Maria. I’m getting ready to go over the process in an upcoming Using Herbs post, but let me see if I can explain it better here.
First, put your herbs in the jar and wet them with some boiled water. You don’t need much water… just enough to moisten the herbs. Next, pour your glycerine over the herbs and fill your jar to 1 inch from the top. Put a lid on it and you’re set.
Now, you have two options. You can leave that jar to sit under your cabinet for 2 weeks, shaking it daily or you can let the jar sit in a warm crockpot for 3 days. Most people opt for the crockpot if they’re in a hurry so here’s how you do that.
Take a crockpot and put a washcloth on the bottom. Sit your jar on top of the washcloth and pour water into the crockpot so that it fills the crockpot and the jar is immersed by the water. Depending on the size of your jar, you’ll try to cover as much of it with water as possible, but you wanna leave an inch or so out of the water. Obviously if your jar is large (like a quart jar) a good bit will stick out. Now turn your crockpot on low and leave it to sit. Shake the jar 1 time a day and if you notice the level of the water in the crockpot dropping simply add in a bit more water to fill it back up to where it was.
This method of tincturing is kind of like water bath canning. You want the warmth of the water to warm the herbs and glycerine so the plant constituents are extracted from the heat. It works great for glycerine tinctures, and it’s quick. Hope this was easier to understand! Good luck with your tincture, and once you do it once the next time will be much easier!
Just came across this article and am very excited! My family is in the process of taking big steps to a more natural lifestyle and our immune systems are needing some help! Especially my one year old and myself due to my rough pregnancy. So, is the glycerin tincture safe for a daily dosing, on a long term basis? Maybe not forever, but a month or so? Overall we have a lot of work to do and we need all the help (in our bodies) we can get!
Yes, food-grade vegetable glycerin is safe for long-term use. Good luck on your new changes, and thanks for your comment Colin!
First, I must say, you are excellent at responding to comments! Somehow I always manage to end up on websites where the “author” never responds. That being said, I was so excited to come across this post from you! I am looking at starting a regimen of immune boosting herbs for myself, but also for my newborn. In regards to newborns, would this be safe (and would it work) topically applied….rubbed on the belly, or should I just stick to taking it myself and letting nutrients transfer through breast milk…?
Yes Landry, this remedy would be safe for babies, but I think it may be unnecessary, especially if you’re breastfeeding. First off, nursing provides a good bit of immunity for baby, and I can’t imagine a small baby needing their immune system boosted unless they kept getting sick. If that were the case, I’d address mom’s diet, toxins in the environment, and then start with mom taking herbs herself because you’re right in thinking that you can take herbs and have it come through your breastmilk. Hope that helps… if it were me, I’d make this for myself and take it. That should be enough to keep your body on guard. Just know that this isn’t meant for long term use… you really only use it when any sicknesses are going around.
What are your thoughts on plantain and possibly adding it to this mixture?
Plantain is not the first herb that comes to my mind when I think of herbs to help boost the immune system. It is considered an “antimicrobial herb,” but scientists and herbalists aren’t quite sure how it acts as an antimicrobial. Does it decrease microbes through direct interaction with them, or does it boost the immune system and the immune system acts against the microbes? No matter, you could use it in your immune boosting formula one year and then not the next and see if you get better results with one or the other. Also, what are other herbalists saying? Are there herbal remedies or pre-made preparations on the market that add plantain to their immune boosting formulas? If so, you may be on to something, but if not, it may be better to focus on using other well-known immune boosting herbs. Hope that helps Elizabeth! Thanks for your comment!
For an immune boosting tincture such as this, is there a specific alcohol type that you would recommend?
I like using Brandy Nikki. It has a mild flavor, but a lot of people use plain ole Vodka. They both work just fine.
Thank you for the prompt response! I have used herbal teas for many years, but have decided to branch out and try a tincture this year. I so appreciate all the information you share on your site!
Welcome, and best of luck with your tinctures!!
Hello Meagan,
Thank you for a great sounding recipe… May have to prepare that hand have that on hand for next cold and flu season. We got hit hard this late winter. Quick question : What are your thoughts on apple cider vinegar as a menstruum?
Oops! Sorry, just read back through the comments and I found my answer. I like the idea of the ACV for the kiddos better then the glycerin.
I do like using ACV with herbs, but my kids don’t care for the flavor. They prefer the sweet glycerine. However, it is great to use on salads when you mix a little olive oil with it! Best of luck with your herbal vinegars! I hope they work well for you!
Hi Meagan,
I know this post was a while ago but I am stumbling across it now. My 5 month old started daycare and was sick within 2 days so needless to say I’m looking into anything that can boost his immune system. Is the immune boosting tincture safe for him? And how would you recommend giving it? Or is it best that I take it since I am breastfeeding?
Thanks for your advice!
Everything in this tincture should be fine for a 5-month-old, but you’ll always want to test for an allergic reaction before giving a large amount to him (and that goes for any herb). You can place the drops directly in his mouth or in a bottle/sippy cup along with his water or milk to give it to him. You can always take it yourself and if you’re breastfeeding, you’ll both benefit from it. Hope that helps answer your questions!
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