Jonathan Evans
Herbal Information Specialist for The Herbarium
It’s finally fall and we have some good news and some bad news about staying healthy this winter and during the upcoming holiday season.
The bad news – COVID-19 and all its variations are still with us.
The good news – The cold and flu season is expected to be slightly better because most intelligent people have continued to mask and take other precautions which seem to cut down on cold and flu cases.
It’s that sniffly time of the year
Despite their precautions, many people will still get sick this fall and winter. However, there are simple natural approaches to keep your immune system up to snuff.
The following is my list of things that will make this holiday season – and the coming winter months – a healthier one.
Vitamin C: The first and best choice for so many problems. Vitamin C will help as an anti-inflammatory, thin mucus, strengthen immune response and strengthen the cell wall, making it more difficult for a virus to invade.
Echinacea: Used as an herbal treatment for colds and flu, it’s antimicrobial, an immune modulator, and helps boost phagocytes and T-cells.
Zinc: An important nutrient for overall health, but especially true for combatting colds and flus. Zinc disrupts a virus’s ability to reproduce.
Using zinc in a lozenge form helps coat your throat, the area viruses love to incubate
Astragalus: Used as an herbal supplement this plant is an antioxidant, an immune booster and a stress reliever.
Elderberry: This plant is a powerful antiviral and immune enhancer.
Elderberry contains a compound that dissolves the protein spike of a virus, making it more difficult for the virus to infiltrate the cell. Adding vitamin C – which strengthens the cell wall – makes a very powerful barrier to the virus.
Olive leaf: This herbal treatment is an antiviral.
Oregano oil: This medicinal oil is an antiviral, an antimicrobial and antibacterial.
Vitamin D: Along with helping to build strong bones, vitamin D is an immune system booster and anticancer agent.
Colloidal silver: This is both antiviral and antibacterial.
Probiotics: These are necessary for a strong immune response. Your gut helps produce lymphatic fluids.
It’s important to note that 70 percent of your immune system starts in the gut. A good multi-strain probiotic, preferably a refrigerated one, helps with your immune system. Avoid room stable products. Though they reportedly can be unrefrigerated, only one company I have ever seen produced a product that was worth using.
Mushrooms: Reishi, maitake, shitake, among others are very powerful immune boosters and so much more. Pound for pound, nothing can match mushrooms healing powers.
Garlic: What can I say? Garlic does it all. Inhaling a garlic steam, eating garlic, adding it to soup (You’ve heard of chicken soup as Jewish or Russian or every Slavic group’s penicillin?) It is a little miracle.
My favorite way to use it during cold and flu season is to slice it thin, put it on a bagel, and lightly toast it with butter. If you have to be sick, you might as well enjoy parts of it. Oh yeah, did you know raw garlic is great for colds and flu, while baked or cooked garlic has enhanced anticancer action?
While this list is not the end-all to natural remedies, it is sufficient to get anyone started on the path to a stronger immune system and healthier fall and winter season.
Readers ask
Dear Jonathan,
I notice you still have “mask required” on the Herbarium’s doors. I thought the coronavirus pandemic was over.
Bob
Dear Bob,
Nobody told the COVID-19 virus. We have had very good luck in keeping healthy these past few years. However, COVID-19 has affected our family recently after attending a large family gathering with many anti-maskers and anti-vaxxers and people who flew in for the gathering. I do not know exactly where our exposure to COVID-19 came from, but as long as it is cold and flu season and masking seems to help with keeping regular colds and flu numbers down – and with our new granddaughter sometimes at the shop – we will ask that you wear a mask. Besides, after this long, is it really a big deal to wear one? If we go to medical facilities or offices, masking is still required.
As I write this it was announced that Mount Holyoke, Smith and Hampshire colleges have reinstated mask requirements. Please humor me. If you don’t want to wear one, we will gladly wait on you at the door in the lobby.
Dear Jonathan,
I have been having trouble with neuropathy. My feet are so painful some days I can hardly walk. Are there any herbal remedies to help?
Anna.
Dear Anna,
Yes, there are several things we use. Ginkgo biloba is helpful for increasing peripheral circulation, especially the feet. Magnesium and B-complex are also used. Another helpful item is N-Acetyl-Cysteine, or NAC, an amino acid compound that has shown very good results for treating neuropathy. The usual dosage is 600 mg. twice a day. Even some doctors are familiar with this compound and recommend its use.
In the coming months, I will be writing columns pertaining to digestive disorders and gut health. I have been asked a number of times to write about these subjects and I promise to do so. Call this my New Year’s resolution.
— Jonathan
Send questions on botanical remedies to: Nature’s RX; Jonathan Evans at Herbarium258@gmail.com or by regular mail to The Herbarium, 254 Exchange St., Chicopee MA 01013. If requesting information, please include a stamped, self-addressed envelope.
