Joshanda… Herbal Remedy to Fight the Cold

By Almas Akhtar, TMO

I am not a big believer in pain killers. Even though my husband is a physician my medicine cabinet is not full of too many over the counter pain killers. I do believe that herbal medicines are quite effective. The start of Spring every year brings flowers and it also brings the allergy season. ”Joshanda,” an age old medicine for common cold, means ‘boiled stuff’. It is a concentrated drink consisting of herbs like hyssopus, soma kapla, eucalyptus, starch, etc. It has been used by people in Asia and Africa for centuries. It has a very peculiar taste and is quite strong. I have always used it to get rid of cough and cold and have also introduced it to my kids, who initially  made faces looking at all the peculiar ingredients boiling in a small saucepan but after few attempts they now enjoy drinking this “black herbal tea”.

One of my African American friends gets real bad allergies during spring season, she had tried many different types of medicines which were not affective. I introduced her to ‘Joshanda’ and after a few days her allergies were completely cured. All the coughing, sneezing, watery eyes and sore throat was gone. It has been few years, she is completely hooked on Joshanda–she always asks me to get her “the magic tea” a .k.a Joshanda from Pakistan.

An article in Times Magazine in 2008 selected Joshanda as the “brightest stars from Asia”. It has been called the “ Chicken Soup for Pakistani Souls”.These days Joshanda is available in local South Asian grocery stores in the form of small packets which you can use in hot water like tea bags and which are as effective as the raw ingredients.

Well who knows that in the near future Joshanda can be the miracle medicine in cure of common cold and allergies–this herbal medicine may become popular all over the world.

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