Today I wanted to talk about lobelia. It’s not the most common herb. Some people have said lobelia is even dangerous because it can make you vomit. But people that have really used lobelia know that vomiting is a blessing. It’s usually what you want your body to do.
Some people call lobelia a thinking herb. Lobelia will do what your body needs it to do. So if they’ve used it in cases of a woman who’s pregnant who may be bleeding. They’ll give the woman lobelia and for some people it can make the woman more easily allow the body to be released and have a miscarriage or will help strengthen the tissues and allow the baby to be healthy.
Lobelia goes back and forth, it can make some people vomit or it can make some people’s stomachs calm down. So it’s a unique herb because it does have counter effects. So some people get nervous not knowing how it will work.
What I wanted to focus on with lobelia today is what it is and what it does.
It’s a little purple or sometimes pink flower. You’ll mostly see it as potted plants.
Lobelia is usually taken in a tincture. A lot of people like to preserve it with apple cider vinegar so it can have a tart taste.
My favorite way to use it is with people with congestion, COVID, allergies and asthma. There’s a lot of breathing issues right now.
My very first experience as a person studying herbs was with my husband Kevin. He used to have a lot of asthma and breathing issues and he did landscaping so he was always having asthma attacks because he would cut down a tree and be allergic and have puffy eyes and couldn’t breathe. He had to take his inhaler everywhere and he was just miserable. So he asked me, is there something I can do for asthma and I found out about lobelia and this protocol.
We found that we could get rid of the icky mucus tar stuff that was blocking his lungs with lobelia. So one Friday night when he didn’t have to work Saturday or Sunday that weekend, I had him come in and into the living room and I made him a couple cups of peppermint tea. Peppermint is a really strong herb and so it has the ability to balance but it is also very calming to the digestive system.
I had Kevin drink about two to three cups of this really strong to calm his stomach and help him prepare for what was coming. Then I took the lobelia tincture and I just had it in a dropper form and I gave him a couple squirts of the lobelia and at first it didn’t do anything. We waited five to ten minutes. He felt fine.
Then I gave him a couple more squirts and he started feeling really nauseated. He was okay so I did a couple more and then he started vomiting really heavily. He was vomiting for a couple hours. He would vomit this black and thick mucus stuff and then I would give him a little bit more lobelia and he’d vomit and it got to be less and less and then he fell asleep.
When he woke up the next morning, he said “I have never been able to breathe this well.” He just felt clean and could take really deep breaths.
That was about fifteen years ago and he has never needed an inhaler since then. It completely got rid of the asthma attacks he was feeling. He’d still have some congestion issues occasionally and we’ll do small little refreshers but he’s never had to use his asthma inhaler again.
I have a really happy place in my heart for lobelia. I have used it when I get congested when I eat dairy or things like that. I’ll use it if I’m feeling congested at night or if I get a cold. Just use a little bit, not to the point where I need to vomit, but just to help me breathe better.
I had a really good friend that was trying out some herbs, seeing how they work for her, and one of the herbs she took she was allergic to and it started closing off her throat. She hurried and grabbed lobelia and it opened up her airways really quick.
It’s really good to have on hand. I like it for first aid for those purposes. It doesn’t come up a ton where people’s throats constrict but it is helpful to have on hand for allergic reactions, especially food allergies. People with peanut allergies and things like that where their throats swell and constrict. Lobelia is a really great thing to have on hand.
I’ve used it for infants with colic issues and breathing issues, it can be really good for constipation. I just put a little drop on their finger and have them suck on it. That amount wouldn’t make most babies sick but it’ll help calm their stomach.
It can also calm your whole system if you have anxiety or panic attacks or things like that, it’s a really great herb to have on hand.
You can go and pick lobelia in a garden. Most people don’t because you want to make sure it’s clean and it’s the right variety. There are some lobelia that are just a flowering plant. If you want the really strong medicinal one you have to get a specific type. All lobelia would work the same just not the strong medicinal quality you want.
If you want to try and get lobelia then I recommend getting it in an apple cider vinegar concentrated extract form. Because it’s an apple cider vinegar, you can use it for anyone of any age. You don’t have to worry about the alcohol problems.
You can rub it on their feet or it’s really good for ear aches. If you rub lobelia outside the ear and around in circles it will really help with any ear aches and things like that.
Lobelia is one that I will keep in my cupboards. I don’t give it to my kids just because if they were to drink a lot of it they would really vomit. Just be cautious.
In apple cider vinegar extract lobelia can help relieve mucus. Just put a couple drops underneath the tongue. Sometimes it can make you throw up the mucus, but that will be fine, just throw up the mucus and it can help you decongest.
And that's lobelia! It's a really useful herb and I absolutely love using it. What do you think? Have you ever used lobelia before? Let us know!