New England Aster and Respiratory Issues

New England Aster gives fast relief from Asthma, Chest colds, Bronchitis and likely other respiratory issues. It actually helped me get off my asthma meds twice now! And, it helped two of my friends open up their restricted airways while recovering from Bronchitis. I'm not a doctor or a licensed herbalist, and this post is simply about sharing my personal experience with an amazing plant that's not well known in the herbal community.

The purple blooming flower heads of the Aster plant are truly amazing for reducing inflammation of the airways, its fast working and relief is only a cup of tea away. Also inhaling the steam from the tea or a personal steam inhaler with the dried flower heads added to the water is also an ideal and direct delivery system. I have made New England Aster tincture, fresh from the flower heads, but haven't seen the same quick acting results as with drinking the tea and breathing in the steam from the dried flower heads. Also, I have made Mullein tea, with hyssop, thyme and sometimes astragalus and marshmallow and I feel the Aster works more effectively than all of these wonderful herbs.

New England Aster (Symphyotrichum novea-angliae) is not well known in the herbal community so it's hard to find Aster in the dried form or tinctured form. However, it is easy to be found growing at most plant dealers and nurseries. I've used two different types of New England Aster and both have worked effectively the same. One Aster I believe was "Symphyotrichum novae angliae" and was around 5 feet tall with thin stems maybe 1/8" to 3/16" diameter. The other Aster I believe was "Symphyotrichum novae angliae Purple Dome" and only stands around 16 inches tall with a thicker diameter base maybe around 1/2" diameter that branches out several times into a wonderful dome of flower heads. Both types had produced the same benefits. There are about 85 different types of Aster Per "Richard G. Hawke" Comparative study of cultivated Asters. He has an Aster plant characteristics table about 1/4 the way down in the link provided. However, there are only 8 types of Symphyotrichum novae angliae. I've only been using the dried purple flower heads and they bloom in early fall but I have seen them bloom in late summer as well. So its something I stock up on, by growing my own plants.

A close friend's niece had Bronchitis, she is 13 and a competitive swimmer. After having mostly recovered from bronchitis and was back competing, her swim times had unfortunately increased and she stated she couldn't breathe in the water. Not surprising as a sensitive respiratory can easily react to chlorine fumes from the pool. I gave her a sample of dried aster flower heads to make tea with and she enjoyed its taste. After drinking the tea twice a day for 3 days she quit using her inhaler and was asking for more aster tea and reported that her swim times were improving!

I gave my boss 2 tea bags of aster, I'm surprised he accepted them. He was suffering from an extend chest cold and reported the tea help. Unfortunately, my stock was low and I couldn't support him further. This just shows the imidate relief one gets after having a cup of tea!

My Aster Story

I've had Asthma for 30 years which only occurs in spring due to tree pollen. Common colds would often go into my chest lasting several months and I would often have sinusitis issues through the winter. With getting involved in wild edibles and their medicinal benefits in the last 4 years, my overall health was improving and this included my Asthma, thanks primarily to Stinging Nettle and Reishi Mushroom extract and now New England Aster.

Around mid-April 2017 I had caught a cold from taking care of my sick mom. Afraid it was going down into my chest I ran to the doctors and they put me on an antibiotic and all my Asthma meds even though, prior to the cold I was not on them or in need of the Asthma meds. I developed a chronic cough that lasted 3 months! I worked with a herbalist for a while without much success. In Mid-July I came across NE (New England) Aster during a medicinal plant walk and picked a bag of it, not much was said about it and later that evening I searched the web for New England Aster benefits and found Jim Mcdonald post on Aster. I ate about eight fresh raw flower heads, which disrupted my ability to concentrate some and I took a break from reading his long post. This effect on concentration doesn't seem to occur with drinking the tea only with the fresh raw flower heads. I finally came back and finished the article and of particular interest further down in the post was the story by Pete Bianco and how NE Aster helped his Aunt with Asthma. I then consumed a cup of tea and also put some NE Aster into a steamer and inhaled the steam for about ten minutes. Afterward, I was feeling less tightness in my chest and decided to skip taking my pharmaceutical meds! The next morning my chest was less tight then it had been and the cough was not occurring as frequently and sounded less deep. I kept up with a daily cup of tea and within 2 weeks, my chronic cough was gone and I was still off my Allergy meds. Note I should have been off my allergy meds a month earlier in June since the trees were done pollinating.

The following winter 2018 I got a cold in January and went to the doctors they prescribed the same thing antibiotics and Asthma meds, even though my Asthma has always been in spring when the trees are blooming. Guess what happened, I developed a chronic cough for 3 months. NE Aster still gave me good relief from the chest congestion but did not clear out my chronic cough. I was working with a different herbalist for a while trying lots of things and like before we were getting nowhere. In March I had started working with a nutritionist and she nailed it right away. All 3 of my Asthma meds contain a side effect of coughing, and also other side effects that mimic the symptoms of Asthma! I stopped the meds with the help of NE Aster and everything cleared up in 3 days and I went through my spring Asthma season with no Asthma! 2 years in a row I had a chronic cough for 3 months due to my asthma medication and my Doctors and my ENT were clueless that the only issues I was having was from the meds themselves! KNOW YOU MEDICATION SIDE EFFECTS! actually, it's pretty scary to read them!

I want this to be clear, I'm not saying NE Aster got rid of my Asthma but it certainly helps relieve a tight chest. I feel Reishi mushroom tincture over a long time period plus Stinging nettle has contributed to reducing my Asthma reactions, plus improving my eating habits which included reducing gluten.

I like to close by reiterating that breathing in the steam from tea made of the purple flower heads or adding them to the water of a personal steam inhaler is the ideal delivery system. And remember they can start blooming in August some varieties start later in September. So you will need to stock up on NE Aster by drying them.

Here are a few more sources of information on NE Aster
Jim McDonald
Comparative study of cultivated on Asters
Herbal Roots
Lisa Rose
Henriette's Herbal Homepage

Aug 20, 2018

Hi,
I've found New England Aster gives fast relief from Asthma, Chest colds, Bronchitis and likely other respiratory issues.

Hope you found this blog interesting again It's not medical advice just my personal experience. I like to say that I only grow enough New England Aster for my self and a few friends and my stock is not enough to offer any to the rest of the public. Hopefully, this blog will reach the eyes of other herbalist and one day soon NE Aster will be more commonly available in a dried form.