Just in time for springtime cold season, we have a new strain of virus to contend with. Interestingly enough, the common cold is in the same virus family and millions of people contract it every year without experiencing mass hysteria.
Pandemic simply means a pathogen is now seen on every continent. It doesn’t speak to the severity or length of an illness but it does sound pretty scary. We have had 3 pandemics (now 4) since the 1918 Spanish flu without excess mortality rates.
There are several reasons people died from the flu back then including pollution from coal smoke among others. A closer examination will show that the flu got the blame for a whole lot of death but no one ever puts death from deficiency or death from aspirin overdose on a death certificate. It’s important to keep in mind there are always co-factors to consider when looking at mortality rate. More on that later.
Not that I want to panic my germaphobic friends and send them fleeing for their lives because there is no place to go. It’s proven, this entire planet including you my human friend are made up of bacteria, viruses and fungus. As I mentioned in the March 2018 Ute Country News, per Dr.Zack Bush, we think we have a pretty good idea of how many viruses there are on the planet yet we don’t know how many species of viruses exist. Current estimations are that there are 1 to the 31st power viruses on the planet. That’s 1 with 31 zeros behind it. That’s 10 million more viruses on Earth than there are stars in our universe. There is a reason for them and we can’t kill them all, nor would we want to.
Why has this one entity incited such an extreme response? For that I have no answer, however, with mass hysteria comes a plethora of mis-information so again I say, let’s take a collective deep breath and look at some facts and options.
Boost your immune
There are a plethora of anti-viral herbs available to us. Let’s look at it another way. Instead of having the mentality to kill or wipe out anything, let’s switch our focus to building up instead of tearing down. Every year I harp on this very subject so this may seem repetitive to some but let it serve as a reminder. A healthy immune is of the utmost importance as a preventative. There are supplements such as , vitamin C, zinc and vitamin D that can be utilized every season change and throughout the year for people who don’t have access to the sun or get outdoors. Vitamin C can be found in foods with a lot of color like peppers, citrus fruits and leafy greens. Zinc can be found in elderberries.
There are many immune boosting herbs that can be taken as tea or just eaten. Elderberry sits at the top of my list and not only does it boost the immune, the elder plant is one of the most effective anti-viral remedies known to man. A tea made with elder flowers and peppermint is an almost infallible cure for the onset of influenza and a good old fashioned remedy for colds and sinus infection.
Lymph health is another important aspect of the immune system. Keep that lymph moving with herbs like red root, cleavers and ocotillo.
More suggestions for a healthy immune are:
*Reduce your stress levels. Easier said than done in the midst of a perceived crisis. Seriously, calm down, this collective panic mode is doing no one any good. We have options and we cannot predict the future so let’s not try. Pay attention to words because they matter. When you hear words like “this virus could, might, possibly or potentially” cause or do something it isn’t written in stone. Turn off the TV take a break and have a laugh. It truly is great medicine.
*Cut down on sugar intake. Not only does sugar rob you of vital nutrients, the amount of sugar in one soda can lower your immune by up to 40% for several hours. Many fruit juices have nearly, if not as much sugar as soda does.
*A healthy diet is your friend under any circumstances but especially when boosting the immune. Junk foods also contain loads of sugar or sugar-like products as well as plenty of other undesirables that put your immune to the test.
*Avoid sleep debt, try to get 8 hours a night if you can
*Use good hygiene and by that I don’t mean slathering your body with hand sanitizer, I find this practice particularly disturbing. Plain soap and water will do and won’t contribute to bacterial resistance.
*Smudge your house using sage, thyme,frankincense, myrhh to clear the air of germs.
Smudging: Alternative medicine or ancient ways? Ute Country News archives October 2018.
Be a nose breather! You have protection living in those nostrils in what is known as your biome.
These are things we have control over and can choose to do at any time that can dramatically increase the health of your immune system.
If you do get sick
Is it any surprise that thyme is my number one respiratory herb? An herbal steam with thyme at the onset of illness and throughout will not only take on the virus, it will help alleviate your symptoms. Virus and bacteria cannot live above 99 degrees so heating up your respiratory system is going to give a virus a good road block. What better time to hit the sauna or steam yourself in the bathroom adding a few drops of essential oil to the shower.
Thyme is an anti-microbial herb and it doesn’t matter whether you have a bacteria or a virus, thyme will coat your mucous membrane from the top to the bottom with anti-microbial volatile oils. It also has immune boosting action and is decongestant helping you to breath better. Oregano has many of the same properties as thyme and can be added to the mix. Pour yourself a cup of tea before you start your steam and get that anti-microbial immune boost action on the inside too.
Fact: Elderberry and flower have shown to significantly lessen down time and severity of symptoms when taken before or during illness.
For more on elder see Ute Country News archives October 2018
*Garlic and onion are 2 of the most powerful anti-microbials in your kitchen. Raw is best and steeping your garlic or onion in honey makes it much more desirable to eat and adds the healing power of honey to the mix. A poultice of onion on the bottom of the feet will draw out toxins and you will absorb the antimicrobial constituents.
*Honey is antimicrobial and will soothe a cough.
*Keep your mucous moving and never attempt to dry it out. Marshmallow root powder will help thin the mucous so it can move out easier. It also has demulcent properties that soothe irritated tissue such as sore throat and help the tissues to retain moisture.
*Clear mucous is a good sign, yellow means it’s becoming stagnant and green means infection. Want to get that mucous moving? Horseradish, have a bite.
What not to do
*Don’t squelch the fever. Fever is a healthy immune response to an invading pathogen. It is there to burn the virus out so let it do its work. Herbal teas help ease the discomfort from fever are boneset, elder flower, yarrow, mints.
Fact: The degree of fever does not correlate to the severity of the illness. I know herbalists who don’t even own a thermometer so no worries if you can’t find any on the pharmacy shelf. Your hypothalamus will not let your fever go too high unless you’re stuck in a hot car or extreme conditions.
Fever can be productive and help you recover from infection. The biggest danger of fever is dehydration. If you become dehydrated you will end up in the ER. Take small sips of an electrolyte drink (sans sugar) as much as possible.
*Don’t eat solid food until the fever has broken. Broths are ok but your energy is better spent fighting the virus than digesting food.
Cloths dipped in mint tea can be applied to the forehead and pulse points for relief.
*Avoid dairy at all costs. Dairy causes excess mucous.
*Avoid NSAIDS such as motrin, tylenol and aspirin will suppress the immune system, its responses.
If headache is on your symptom list, a drop of peppermint essential oil on the temples and back of the neck will help relieve it.
For more on fever phobia and how to properly treat a fever see UCN January 2014.
*Don’t get up and resume your usual schedule just because you feel better on day 4 or 5. Stay down or you can easily turn a 7-10 day illness into a month. This is a common mistake made by most people and it could possibly be the worst thing you can do if you expect a quick recovery. I heard in one case of a guy testing positive who did that very thing and he certainly did get a whopping take-down because of it. It literally took him an entire month to recover and the second time he went down his symptoms seemed to double in severity.
Another case where a man on a cruise ship was quarantined said his lasted about a week and his 103 degree “symptom” was the worst of it for him proving my point here. He had no choice but to stay put and his experience was mild compared to the other guy who resumed life as normal after day 4.
Rest! Recovery time should be the same amount of time as the amount of time you were sick. Most people don’t have the luxury of taking time to recover so boost your immune ahead of the game. Hopefully this will be one positive change we will see in the future. This is the time you want to shelter in place.
When considering death surrounding any illness it’s important to keep in mind that co-factors ALWAYS play a role. For example, when I heard that 10 people died in Washington state from the virus, my first thought was, I wonder if they were all in the same nursing home. Turns out they were. Most nursing home patients have compromised immune systems to begin with, they rarely get outside for fresh air or sunshine. They eat terrible food and many are taking multiple medications that suppress the immune system. Arthritis meds are well known immune suppressors and last I checked NSAIDS are very much a part of daily life for some folks. 9 times out of 10 when people die from a virus they had compromised health to begin with.
I was touched by the latest virus for the first time when I found that the majority of the herbs I would use to treat a respiratory virus are out of stock and one has become so expensive it would be out of reach for most people. It truly left me with a feeling of emptiness for lack of a better word. Fortunately, I do have some back stock, my greenhouse is coming back to life and we have plenty of good helpful herbs growing around us. We have options.
On the bright side
The sun is a wonderful disinfectant. If nothing else this virus has shed light on some not so great things about the state of our World. Americans finally have a chance to stay home whether it be to heal or reflect or both.
The worst I’ve seen come out of this crisis is unqualified people suddenly becoming experts and giving out bad medical advice. If you are not trained in health care please refrain. Misinformation is not only dangerous, it adds to the chaos.
The Earth can take a breath…because of a virus
China has cut carbon emissions by 1 million tons and the air is clearer than it’s been in years. Italy has cleared their muddy canals and now enjoy crystal clear water. U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres called Monday for an immediate cease-fire in conflicts around the world to tackle the pandemic. Imagine that. Makes a person wonder if this experience will teach us anything about the devastating impacts humans have on the Earth or will we carry on as normal once the danger subsides because our normal needs some scrutiny in my humble opinion.
If this truly is a turning point, let’s not spend our energy concocting different ways we could contract this virus, I’ve heard some real doozies. This may be our chance to create a better future for our children. Watch where you put your energy peeps, a better World is possible, it’s up to us. Stay safe my friends. We can get through this.
We can help with the herbs mentioned in this article and will be open for business via appointment only. Feel free to contact Mari with your questions or concerns and depending on the ever changing situation, herb delivery will be available as needed.
*For my friends who have no access to internet and the Ute Country archives, I, or the publishers of the paper will provide printouts of my previous articles at your request.
Mari Marques is a state certified herbalist and owner of The Thymekeeper. For questions or more information contact: Mari at mugsyspad@aol.com or 719-439-7303.
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