Precautions - Contraindications: Although the whole plant at therapeutic doses is safe, it is contraindicated during pregnancy. Strain it and enjoy a hot drink with honey from Mount Athos. Boil water, turn down the stove and pour the mixture you have prepared in advance. Winter drink: Prepare a herb mixture by adding 2/5 mountain tea, 1/5 thyme, 1/5 mint and 1/5 sage. A recipe of Doric simplicity, but the result is wonderful! Then they add oil and they pour with this broth on thin slices of bread. They add one or two sprigs of dried thyme to one cup of boiled water and they strain after a while. You can use thyme to make thyme soup, enjoyed since the ancient times by the shepherds of Catalonia. Nevertheless, we need to remember that dried thyme is much more intense than the fresh, so it must be used frugally. We can, however, safely combine it with feta cheese, milk and boiled vegetables, pies, soups and sauces, cream, meat, poultry and fish. In cooking: Surprisingly, although the thyme started from here to conquer the world, in Greece it is not used much, since with the intense aroma and flavor it can only flavor oils, olives, vinegars, salad and pickles. You can also drink it 1 to 2 times per day. The resulting mixture is used externally for the cleansing and healing of wounds. Use: In order to prepare a tea, add 1 teaspoon of thyme without the stem, to 1 cup with boiled water, cover for 10 minutes and then strain. Externally, baths with thyme are used to relieve pains of rheumatism and the oil is often used in wet rubs and massage oils. As a gargle or mouth wash, thyme is an excellent remedy against sore throats and gingivitis. Compresses of thyme act against muscle spasms (stiff neck) and insect bites. Due to its mild styptic action, it is useful in child diarrhea and bed wetting. Used against the sluggishness of the digestive system and anorexia. Helps a lot especially in the digestion of fatty foods. Relieves bloating while soothing the digestive system, due to the anticonvulsant action of the essential oil of thymol to soft muscles. Considered as an antiseptic for the digestive tract. In cases of lung infections characterized by thick, yellowish phlegm, it operates effectively causing sticky mucus expectoration. The hot thyme tea is diaphoretic and therefore effective and soothing in cases of colds, bronchitis, tonsillitis, coughs, asthma, gastritis, abdominal colds accompanied by diarrhea, food poisoning and fever. It is a natural stimulant in cases of physical and mental exhaustion, anxiety and depression. Thymol, which is a powerful antiseptic, is 25 times more drastic than phenol and it generally surpasses it due to the fact that it irritates less the mucous membranes. Thyme is widely used in all traditional and alternative medicine. Both – but especially thymol – have antibacterial and antifungal properties.

Ingredients: The two major components of the thyme essential oil is thymol and carvacrol. The leaves from the dried twigs are being removed. The parts of the thyme used for therapeutic purposes are its leaves and flowering tops that are collected from June to August, during dry and sunny days. Thyme is an aromatic annual herbaceous plant. In ancient Greek, anger does not mean “rage”, but it means “life force”.

From the same root derives the word “thymiama” (English: incense) and seems also close to the Greek word “thymos”, which means “anger”. Etymologically, “thymus” as the ancients called it, comes from the word “thyo”, which originally had the meaning of “I make smoke”, and the word “thysia”, which means “sacrifice”. Wild Thyme (Thymus serpyllum) is one of the most common types of thyme in Greece with properties similar to the common thyme (Thymus vulgaris L.).

Wild thyme meaning