Part 1 of 8 of ”Medicine Cabinet in Your Kitchen”
Wouldn’t it be more cost-effective to prevent health problems in the first place?
This is a series of posts on herbs you can take to help your body fight off any bugs you’ve been exposed to. There are 15 different herbs you can take that will help your immune system fight off any bugs. Some you can take in capsules, others you can use in your food to help your body fight off those nasty little bugs that are everywhere.
Preventing illness is not that difficult. A little bit of this and a little bit of that and voila…you are healthy.
In today’s world with a poor diet, lack of sleep, more work than you can handle and stress up the whazoo, it’s easy to weaken your immune system. Unfortunately, there isn’t a silver bullet or pill that will stop health issues. But there is a way to help your immune system fight off those nasty bugs. Read on…
The Immune Boosting Superstars
Mother Nature works hard to put herbal remedies in your kitchen-all you have to do is use them. Fighting off cancers, heart disease, and diabetes can cost thousands of dollars in doctor visits, medications and treatment, not to mention missed work, school plays and other activities.
Using the following herbs will help promote good health and may tackle everyday maladies.
If you need help growing herbs visit Container Herbs, where they have a plethora of ideas for growing herbs in any type of container. (Don’t ya just love the words we have in our language).
Anyway, here we go…
1. Echinacea (Echinacea spp.): Echinacea works by activating white blood cells and as we all know, white blood cells are what fight infections in our bodies. So giving them a boost will help fight off any bugs you’ve been exposed to.
This herb is not just for colds…it can help your body fight off any number of viruses, germs, or bacteria. The key to taking echinacea is to NOT take it every day but to take it when the need arises. That is, when you have been around someone with the flu, cold or sniffles.
If you take echinacea everyday it will take more and more to help boost your immune system. You see, the body gets used to extra help very easy and very fast. That’s how people get addicted to drugs so quickly. They like how they feel. So you should only take echinacea when you need a boost to your immune system.
Echinacea will shorten your suffering by several days if you’ve caught something but it can also prevent you from catching most bugs you’ve been exposed to. Several studies from the University of Connecticut School of Pharmacy showed echinacea will decrease the odds of developing a cold by 58 percent. To me, those are pretty good odds.
There is a trick to echinacea that makes it most effective. This is what I do if I’ve been exposed to any bugs-you can do whatever suits you (isn’t that nice of me?). I take 4 capsules of 300 mg of echinacea after I’ve been exposed (sounds like I should be arrested 
).
That way, my body gets a boost in fighting off the bug. The next morning if I feel any bug related feelings (feeling sick) I take another 4 capsules then every 2 to 4 hours after that, I take 300 mg of echinacea until I don’t feel sick anymore. For me it’s usually 2 to 3 days but for some it can take almost a week to 10 days. Most of the time it just takes one or two doses for me but for you it might be different.
There are some people who can’t take that much because it upset their stomach or other reasons, although, it won’t hurt you. What the body doesn’t use is flushed out of the system.
You can take 300 mg of echinacea every two hours when you first feel any signs of sniffles but it also depends on what brand of echinacea you have. Not all herbal supplements brands are same.
I use Nature Made because, in my opinion, they have the best…err…..how shall I say this…they best quality. That is…The amount of echinacea per bottle is the highest of all herbal supplements I have tried. I tried a generic brand one time and it had less than 2 percent of echinacea, the rest was filler. So check your brands before you purchase them. They really shouldn’t have any fillers, in my opinion, but for some reason herbal supplement manufactures think they need them so they use them.
2. Astragalus (Astragalus membranaceus): 
Astragalus is a Chinese herb that has been used for centuries. Know as huang qi because of its yellow roots (huang qi means yellow leader), it’s one of the most important herbs in Chinese medicine. The part of the plant used medicinally is the root.
Astragalus is a potent immune booster and antiviral because if increases activity of white blood cells. And white blood cells are what eat up all the nasty viruses we get. Astragalus has been tested in treatments with chemotherapy and helped reduce the risk of death in patients after a 12 month follow up. Astragalus helps maintain respiratory health and protect against stresses including mental, emotional and physical stress.
Astragalus also has antioxidants and that means it protects cells against damage caused by free radicals. Very good stuff for ya!
Take 100 to 150 mg Astragalus supplements daily. A lot of people will recommend you take it every day but again the body builds up an immunity to any substance added to it and if the body doesn’t need it, it just get flushed out of the system. So, I think (my opinion, remember) It should be used only when it’s needed and not everyday.
3. Green Tea:
I could write a book on the benefits of green tea but I won’t. The best thing I can say about green tea is to drink one or two cup daily. I don’t even like the taste of green tea (carrots, either) but I drink it everyday just because it is so good for you (I eat carrots too, just not everyday).
Green tea contains antioxidants that prevent viruses by inhibiting the virus absorption by the body. This is very good stuff and green tea will stop a bug cold. Get it? Can’t handle plain green tea-make a green tea latte, green tea muffins, green tea smoothie or green tea ice cream. You can also put a few sprig of mint in with green tea to cover the taste. (I think it tastes like alfalfa smells). Here are some recipes for green tea for everyday cooking. Some of them are very good!
These three super immune booster herbs are so helpful to the body that you really should think about taking them when you get exposed to any type of bug.
As with all advice check with your doctor before using herbs with medication or self medicating.
Enjoy…
Next—A Medicine Cabinet in Your Kitchen - Herbs to Maintain a Healthy Heart
Leave a comment and let me know how these herbal remedies have helped you…
{ 4 comments… read them below or add one }
I have been doing a lot of research on herbal remedies. There is definite scientific proof that various herbs can improve our health.
Sara,
I discovered you through the comment you left over at ProBlogger’s (31DBBB challenge). I really enjoyed this post. I have a background in Public Health and one of the primary tenets of this discipline is Prevention. You are so right with your observation that many of the most common ailments from which we suffer could be prevented.
I was happy to learn about the properties of Astragalus. I am already a very big fan of green tea for its antioxidant properties. It is also a strong diuretic, by the way. (Just though I should put that out there.) Perhaps, I’ll try one of the recipes for green tea.
The normal human immune system is really quite robust and remarkable (when we take good care of it). I discussed this a little bit in a post “A Forray into Veganism” on my blog enBloom but I discuss prevention in general a lot. Please make a visit and let me know if you would like to trade links. I think our blogs could be complementary.
Keep up all the good work you’re doing here. I look forward to reading the other posts in this series.
However if you are using Astragalus and you catch the flu then stop taking it immediately as it can end up feeding the virus.
Also a proponent of green (and white) tea here, however…I have a question- Are any of the benefits of green tea lost when cooked? I understand that by nature of making a tea in and of itself, we are heating it but many teas also require using water below boiling temp.