Restorative
herbals
Sara
Eisenberg MS, Clinical Herbalist
410-323-9815
restorativeherbals@verizon.net
Immune
supports to stay healthy during flu season
- Key
lifestyle factors in immune support: avoid sleep deficit and sugar,
tend to chronic stress.
- Neti
pot/ other nasal cleansing with warm salt water and 5 drops
Echinacea-Goldenseal tincture. As a daily practice this provides
good support for upper respiratory mucous membranes, a major 1st line of defense during cold and flu season.
- For
adults 1 clove raw garlic a day in a little honey
OR: this garlic honey recipe from fellow-herbalist Bonnie Rogers:
NOTE: If you have seasonal allergies, using a locally-made honey willl
help/
“You
can start using it immediately, but it tastes best once it has sat
for at least 4-5 days. Take garlic (preferably organic) and
cut it into small pieces, you don't need to chop it up. Fill
your jar half way with the garlic. Then pour raw honey into
the jar. Use a chopstick to get the honey into the tiny spaces in
between the garlic pieces. Leave a space at the top of the jar,
cover it. If you don't leave a space it may leak out the
top. Then just keep this jar and use a teaspoon when you
need it – when someone is coming down with a cold or flu.”
Can also be used as daily immune tonic prophylactically. No
refrigeration needed. Warming and very high immune support, the
honey syrup should be palatable and convenient for everyone.
- Natural
Sources Elderberry Concentrate , 16 oz./ 32 servings (available
online.) Use preventively and through cold or flu for upper
respiratory protection. Off the spoon, very sweet, or mix in a
little water, or in a water bottle to make a fruited water to drink
throughout the day. With symptom onset, 1-2 Tb/day until a week
after respiratory symptoms clear.
- Biotics
Research Bio-D-Mulsion Forte: Vitamin D3 (available online; also
check with your chiropractor). 1 drop/day for everyone in the family
prophylactically all through the winter.
- In
your workspace: diffuse essential oil of thyme, rosemary,
peppermint, eucalyptus, which inhibit most flu viruses.
A
few of the culprits…..
   
Rhinovirus
Flu virus H1N1 virus Viral replication
Signs
and symptoms of the flu
- Fever
(Note: influenza viruses die at temperatures of 98 -99°F)
- Fever-like
symptoms: chills, feeling hot, flushed appearance, or sweating
- Sore
throat or cough
- Runny
and/or stuffy nose
- Fatigue
and/or body aches and/or headache
- Diarrhea
or vomiting
Note: according to the Mayo Clinic, H1N1 flu symptoms develop 3-5 days
following exposure to the virus, and last about 8 days, starting one
day before getting sick, and continuing until recovery.
Failure
to allow time for full recovery before resuming activities and
normal contacts with the outside world can open the body to
secondary infection, often lower respiratory.
Stock
up ahead of time: items to have within reach
- Boneset
Tincture: Historically use in flu epidemics, typically with fever
with hot, moist skin, cough, difficulty breathing, aches back and
limbs, frequent urination, difficulty coughing up abundant mucous
because of debility. 20-40 drops in warm to hot water up to 3x/day
for fever with aches; or 10 drops in hot water every half hour up to
6x/day with acute upper respiratory infection (viral or bacterial).
Start with lower dose to test response – this is a very bitter
herb and at higher doses can cause vomiting. To
calculate child’s dose:
divide the child’s weight in pounds by 150, then multiply by
the adult dose. For infants/toddlers up to 2 years: divide the age:
divide the child’s age in months by 150, then multiply by the
adult dose.
- Your
preferred form of Echinacea, use maximum dose.
- Homeopathic
Gelsemium: Typically with acute flu or sore throat, with weakness,
limp limbs, chills, fever, flushed face, hot head, headaches with
double vision, and heavy, drooping eyelids; may be a lack of thirst,
even during fever. Follow dosing instructions on label.
- Homeopathic
Bryonia: Typically with slow-starting illness; fever with apathy,
irritable with movement; tongue dry, eyeballs may hurt, or with a
frontal headache; often with infrequent spells of great thirst, and
dry lips, tongue, and eyes. Sometimes with chilliness and tendency
to sweat easily; dry, hacking cough. dosing instructions on label.
- Homeopathic
Belladonna: Typically acute illness with sudden, violent onset; with
fever with cool skin, cold extremities; flushed, dry skin; sensitive
to light, noise, touch, temperature changes; throbbing pain,
sometimes in the head. dosing instructions on label.
- Lemon
Ginger drink (with or without Echinacea) or Ginger Tea to which you
can add lemon juice and a little honey) - supports healthy fever,
helps with respiratory congestion and nausea
- Chamomile
Tea – drinking it or bathing a hot forehead supports healthy
fever, calms restlessness
Sara’s
Tonic Miso Soup : Chop
3 large onions. Simmer with a handful of Shitake mushrooms in just
enough virgin olive oil so they don’t stick to the pot. Add 4
cups water. Add red miso paste to your taste. Add Astragalus root,
and ½ lb firm tofu, cubed. Simmer 45 minutes. Add handfuls of
baby spinach just before serving, stir until thoroughly wilted.
Remove Astragalus root before serving.
Tips for a
wise consumer
- The
herbs used for colds and flu are similar while the dosing for flu
may be higher or more frequent.
- Herbal
suggestions here are for adults in good health: if you are pregnant,
nursing, or have a chronic health condition, use herbs with the
education & guidance of a knowledgeable healthcare provider.
Resources
- Abascal,
Kathy Herbs and Influenza,
Tigana Press, 2006
- Bergner,
Paul Influenza: Lesson
for the Clinic from 1918,
Medical Herbalism, Winter 2007
- Bergner,
Paul Influenza
Prevention, Medical
Herbalism, Summer 2008
- Bergner,
Paul Treatment of Acute
Febrile Disease, Medical
Herbalism, Spring 2009
- Buhner,
Stephen Harold Herbal
Antibiotics, Storey
Publishing, 1999
- Keville,
Kathi & Green, Mindy Aromatherapy, The Crossing Press, 1995
- Rogers,
Bonnie Recipe for Garlic Honey, online Herb Digest Vol 79 #5
9/4/09
- http://www.mayoclinic.com/
- Winston,
David Herbal Therapeutics,
8th Edition, Herbal Therapeutics Publishing, 2003
Revised September
17, 2009
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