Oil of Oregano and the things I missed about my grandfather

Oil of Oregano

As a child, I have seen nanay plant and grow a lot of oregano in our yard. I cant remember how she uses them, but I know she uses it to heal many different ailments the way it was handed down to her by my grandfather. However, now she cannot remember it all. How I miss my grandfather, he is the typical unemotional grandfather of old, but he sure know a lot of things.

My most vivid memory of him, was one we went to his house in the province (a house in the middle of a valley- to which we have to either go via a boat or go through a thick forest)…He climbed a coconut tree so fast (dunno if its part of a 9 year old exaggerated memory), that it was almost a blink of an eye. He fed be young coconuts, avocado and pili nuts.

Nanay also told me that whenever they are sick, my grandfather would just ask them to either drink castor oil, or give them an enema or ask them to chew on a herb plucked from his vegetable garden.

Maybe if my grandfather is still alive, I would spend hours learning and listening from him.

Anyway, back to the oregano. So, I found out we have a few pots of oregano in our yard, and some of it also growing just before the growth going to the nature reserve behind our house.

So, I took probably, a ½ cup worth of oregano leaves and brought it home.

Oil of Oregano has many health benefits, pain reliever, anti-inflammatory, anti-virus, anti-biotic and anti-parasite. If you have an infection, try to either ingest oregano or apply topically (that is what my grandfather used to say, and now that is what I read in the internet these days). Reduces the symtoms and uration of the cold and flu, heals digestive issues, and of course relief from muscle aches.

To make my Oil of Oregano,

I used the exact same steps used by the writer of this article:

http://www.morethanmundane.com/2012/03/15/make-your-own-oil-of-oregano/

The only difference is I made a mix of olive oil and sunflower oil as my base oil.

Make Oil of Oregano:
If you have some fresh oregano on hand, you can make your own oil of oregano. You will need a 1:1 ratio of oregano to oil, or you can use more oregano to make a stronger batch. I used 1/2 a cup oregano and ¼ cup sunflower oil and ¼ cup olive oil.
1. Wash and dry your oregano.
2. Place the oregano leaves in a plastic ziplock bag (don’t close) and cover the bag with a kitchen towel.
3. Pound on the bag with a meat mallet or something similar. This will release the oils.
4. Heat up some olive oil or sunflower oil until warm. Do not boil.
5. Add the oil in to the bag with the oregano and squeeze the mixture for a minute or two.
6. Now pour the mixture into a clean class jar and place somewhere cool and dry for 2 weeks.
7. After 2 weeks, strain the oregano from the oil.

I did’nt have to wait for 2 weeks to see how effective oregano oil is. Our newly adopted puppy, was itching so badly this morning and looks very forlorn. So, I massaged him with the oil (did not even bother removing the leaves). He immediately settled and calmed down, he even opened up his legs, probably telling me to put more on his body (of course I avoided his genitals and his anus).

And mind you this puppy, is a stray puppy, he is still not used to touches like this. So, I was amazed by how he almost surrendered to the massage. Probably its because he felt immediate relief.

Anyway: highly recommended for dogs and humans alike.

Oh did I mention that whenever I see oregano, I suddenty miss my grandfather? It seems there are lots of things I could have learned from him. Things that he could have written if he is still alive in this time and age.