Supporting Your Immune System AND I’ve Got Herbs for That!

Tis the season of colds and flu’s circulating through the community. With a little care and attention, you can shorten the length of your cold and reduce the severity of the symptoms. Sounds good, hmm?

Step One: Radical Rest

One of the best things you can do for yourself when fighting a bug is getting radical rest. I mean Radical Rest. Recently, I was running a low grade fever – I went to bed on Wednesday evening at 6:00 and got up on Friday at 11:00. I was up for an hour here and there, but then went right back to sleep. We often feel like we have to keep on going, and sometimes circumstances do get in the way, but in whatever ways possible, Radical Rest lets your body dedicate all of its energy to the immune system fighting the viruses and bacteria.

Step Two: I’ve Got Herbs for That

At the very early stages of not feeling well, foods and herbs can be really helpful for fending off a cold or bug, reducing symptoms, or shortening the length of being sick.

There are a number of fabulous foods and herbs with strong anti-bacterial and antiviral properties. Garlic, elderberry, echinacea, goldenseal, olive leaf, and honey are some of the common ones that people may be most familiar with.

There are several fabulous Chinese herbal blends that I work with all the time that are absolutely fantastic for cold symptoms. These include ingredients like indigo, cinnamon, forsythia, or honeysuckle.

Favorite Go-To Blends

Gan Mao Ling: At the very first stages of a cold – swollen glands, or general body aches, and malaise. In combination with rest, this one can be really helpful for keeping a cold at bay.

Cinnamon Twig Soup (Gui Zhi Tang): This one is excellent when your nose starts dripping – you know that moment when its as though a faucet is turned on and you can’t even really blow your nose ‘cuz it just keeps on running? And maybe you’re a little bit chilled as well. This one has cinnamon, of course, and dates, date seed, ginger, and licorice root (but it doesn’t taste like licorice, more like cinnamon!)

Yin Qiao San: This one is for when you have a firey sore throat and are feeling a little feverish. Forsythia and honeysuckle help to vent heat out of the body while fighting the bugs.

What to Do?

Aside from clearing your schedule and embarking on some Radical Rest?

Give me a call and let’s get you some herbs that would be the best match for your symptoms. Or if you would like to have a bottle on hand for when the unwelcome bugs first appear, let me know. We can arrange for you to pick up a bottle here at the clinic!

Immune Kick Start Kit

More details to come – but I’m working on a kit with a mix and match of good herbal first aid blends to choose from – buy 3 for $5 off. Contact me here for more information.

And, lastly, thank you for keeping your germs at home!

Illness is the best reason to not come in for a treatment. My 24 hour cancellation fee is waived for illness – especially if you have projectile snot or a hacking cough. Thank you for helping to keep the clinic space germ free for others and for helping to keep me well enough to keep on treating everyone on my schedule! We’ll get you back in the schedule as soon as your symptoms have calmed down a bit. Questioning whether you should come in? Give me a call or send an email! I look forward to hearing from you!

Blessings,
Lucy