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Here Comes The Flu Season - Protect Yourself the Wise Women Way - Page 3

© Susun S Weed

Tonic roots help our livers, lymph, and kidneys work well, protecting us from infection. I often put these tough roots into a jelly bag and drop that into the soup so I can fish it out before serving. I use one or more of these, fresh or dried, depending on what I have available:

• Siberian ginseng
  
• Astragalus
  
• Burdock
  
• Dandelion
  
• Chicory
  
• Yellow dock
  
• American ginseng.

Seasoning herbs from the mint family - rosemary, thyme, oregano, basil, marjoram, and sage - are loaded with antioxidants. I don't just season the soup with them; I add them by the handful for the greatest impact on my immune strength.

ANTI-VIRAL HERBS

Anti-infective herbs can help us prevent the flu - and assist us if we do get sick. Colds and the flu are caused by viruses, making them more difficult to treat than bacterial infections. Viruses are more vital than bacteria and harder to kill. There are many anti-bacterial herbs - including yarrow, echinacea, elecampane, and poke - but few that are anti-viral. Of these, my favorite is St. Joan's/John's wort. If any herb can prevent the flu, St.J's can.

Of course, even flu shots don't prevent all types of flu, and they don't prevent colds, so even if you do get a shot, it's a good idea to have some anti-viral and anti-bacterial herbs on hand. The distinction between them is not so important once you are sick. Both types of herbs will alert the immune system to the infection and help it gather the resources needed to counter it. Did you know that the achy muscles and headachy feeling we get with the flu is not caused by the flu itself but results from the immune system gobbling up all available resources so it can clobber the flu virus?

St. Joan's/John's wort (Hypericum perforatum)

This beautiful yellow flower yields a blood-red tincture that I take by the dropperful to prevent viral infections such as the flu. A dropperful in the morning throughout the cold months is adequate for prevention. I increase that to 2-3 dropperfuls a day if I have been exposed at home or at work to the flu. If I do get sick, I will use other herbs to counter the infection. Capsules of St. J's are ineffective; I only use the tincture.

Echinacea (Echinacea augustifolia)

The tincture of echinacea root is a well-known anti-infective. When I feel an infection brewing, I use large doses of echinacea to build white blood cells and encourage T-helper cells. The dose of echinacea root tincture is 1 drop for every 2 pounds of body weight, as frequently as every hour or two in the acute phase of an infection, 2-4 times a day otherwise. I have seen echinacea relieve terrible flu infections.

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