Inhaled Eucalyptus’s Immunomodulatory and Antimicrobial Effects

It’s Q&A Day at 10almonds!

Have a question or a request? You can always hit “reply” to any of our emails, or use the feedback widget at the bottom!

In cases where we’ve already covered something, we might link to what we wrote before, but will always be happy to revisit any of our topics again in the future too—there’s always more to say!

As ever: if the question/request can be answered briefly, we’ll do it here in our Q&A Thursday edition. If not, we’ll make a main feature of it shortly afterwards!

So, no question/request too big or small

❝At the first hint of a cough or a cold, I resort to steam inhalation. Some people add herbs or aromatic oils to the boiling water. What do you recommend?❞

First of all, please do be careful:

Severe scalds sustained during steam inhalation therapy in an adult population: Analysis of patient outcomes and the financial burden to healthcare services

Western science’s view is predominantly “this is popular and/but evidence for its usefulness is lacking”:

Theoretical effectiveness of steam inhalation against SARS-CoV-2 infection: updates on clinical trials, mechanism of actions, and traditional approaches

But! Traditional Chinese Medicine indicates shuanghuanglian, yuxingcao and qingkailing, which the China Food and Drug Administration has also approved:

Chinese Medicine in Inhalation Therapy: A Review of Clinical Application and Formulation Development

Indian scientists are also looking at modern scientific applications of certain Ayurvedic herbs:

Promising phytochemicals of traditional Indian herbal steam inhalation therapy to combat COVID-19

In terms of what is likely more available to you, there are several reasons to choose eucalyptus over popular alternatives:

Immune-modifying and antimicrobial effects of Eucalyptus oil and simple inhalation devices

For the sake of being methodical, here’s an example product on Amazon, though we’re sure you’d have no trouble finding this in your local pharmacy if you prefer.

Take care!