I have grown up around the use of oregano all of my life as a culinary herb. I never thought of it for its medicinal value until a few years ago when oregano oil became all the rage within the health product industry in which I work. Even as my customers were asking for it and loving it, I was still skeptical about its true medicinal value. After all, wasn’t it just something we put in spaghetti? It wasn’t until I was experiencing some health problems which I couldn’t seem to overcome no matter how hard I tried that I decided to find out how remarkable it truly was. I had been under much more stress then usual over an extended period of time. I was putting on weight even though I was eating a vegan diet consisting of fresh vegetables, fruits, sprouted grains, nuts, and seeds. I was very fatigued all the time, was having trouble breathing, a lot of digestive upset, and heart palpitations. I first went to several holistic physicians looking for answers to no avail. Having been diagnosed with cancer once and healed from it holistically I was afraid it had returned again. Not knowing what to do I went to an Allopathic physician to see if they could figure out what was going wrong. After a battery of tests still nothing to account for my symptoms. Finally I was lead to a biofeedback practioner who hooked me up to her machine to see if it would show anything which nobody else could see. Low and behold the machine came back with a biologically altered bacterial infection and fungal infection in my system which was affecting my heart. I was so relieved to have verification that something indeed was going wrong especially since the MD’s thought I was the healthiest person they had ever seen at that point and chalked up my health issues to being a bit paranoid and all in my head. They couldn’t understand why I refused the Prozac they wanted to put me on!

 

My diet was already good, I was using garlic, thyme, hawthorn, cayenne, milk thistle, goldenseal, black walnut and a host of other herbs which I felt should have addressed this problem. Thinking back to how many people were now using oregano for so many different issues with wonderful praise I decided to give it a try myself. Within three days of taking oregano I broke out in a rash from head to toe. Realizing this was probably a healing crises I started on a juice fast to assist my body. The rash continued to get worse and worse. As the rash got worse my breathing and energy level got better, though. I seemed to be trading one discomfort for another. Out of desperation I returned to the doctor (Old training dies hard). They immediately wanted to put me on an antifungal which could harm the liver. I said no and they sent me home with a topical cream which didn’t look all that appealing under the circumstances either. After soaking in an oatmeal and chickweed bath to reduce the inflammation I had one of those brilliant ideas which generally seem quite obvious when looking back. I decided to use the oregano oil topically as well. I thought if it were working so well to drive the infection out of the body I would need to kill it as it surfaced through the skin. I added the oil to a comfrey cream I had on hand and applied it every where. Within minutes the itch improved and within a couple of weeks the rash was gone. I continue to use oregano for several months after symptoms were gone and then on and off for different things from there. I have also found oregano is great for dissolving gallstones. This was not something I set out to do, but with my use of it over the years I have noticed passing gallstones which I was not aware I had. It also has tuned out to be fabulous for all different kind of digestive complaints. If I should go out dinner with friends and cheat slightly on my diet I will take oregano oil when I get home to stop the discomfort I experience.

 

During the cold and flu season I consider oregano as a staple for wellness. I have a new found appreciation for the medicinally tonic herbs used by cultures for centuries to maintain there health with in their daily diet. I don’t ever underestimate or overestimate my health anymore. I am always working through old ailments from childhood and a poor gene pool, but with oregano on my side I feel much more confident that with the Regenerative Diet, regular juice fasts and the use of this herb I will be just fine no matter what comes up. I have also found it effective in treating gum and tooth infections for myself and recommend it to others. It seems to reduce inflammation in the tissues as well as kill infection. Many have experienced an improvement in their oral health and come back to thank me for it. I add it to my tooth powder for use on a daily basis for overall health of my gums and teeth. My mother and father, who are in their seventies, have noticed a difference in their health since using oregano in their oral health regimen as well. They have received rave reviews from their dentists on how healthy their gums are now. They also were having some problems before the use of oregano and have not had any tooth decay since adopting it as part of their lifestyle.