How to Beat the
Cold & Flu Season
the naturopathic way...

Editor's Note: we have written an article on preventive measures during the cold and flu season: Prevention. However, there is something new on the market that you must read about called EpiCor. If you want to prevent a cold or flu, EpiCor is better than a flu shot.

I just read an article that said children hit by the flu were very hard to treat.

Allopathic medicine (conventional or traditional medicine) has no cure for colds and flu. It treats symptoms only, and for the last time in this life I want to tell you: Treating symptoms suppresses your immune system which is the only thing you have to help you beat a cold or flu.

A symptom is your body's immune system fighting back.

A sore throat is hyperthermia, a situation that tries to kill the bugs.

A fever is hyperthermia; for every degree rise in temperature, your lymphatic system flows twice as fast. 

Phlegm and stuffiness are your dead immune cells. They died and now have to be cleared out of your body.

Suppress your symptoms and you suppress your immune system and the bug wins.

Here are some naturopathic means of aiding your body in ridding itself of a cold or flu.

At the first sign of a cold or flu....

First: accept responsibility for your illness. We're not talking blame, we're talking responsibility. You did not ask for the cold, but somehow, somewhere you brought it on and one way of getting along with the process is to accept your responsibility. Colds do not just happen. Ten people get hit by the bug, only six get sick. (Besides, what you resist, persists.) 

Increase your vitamin C. I use Ester C from NOW Foods but I add bioflavonoids, some calcium (I use bone calcium or coral calcium), copper, and L-Lysine. For an average sick adult, 15,000 to 20,000 mg is about enough. (We say sick because your need of vitamin C increases with illness.) If you get diarrhea, you've taken too much. But it's only diarrhea, and not the end of the world. Vitamin C is used in large doses in Europe for constipation.

Note: we've just received an email from the Orthomolecular Institute stating that to beat a virus, like the virus that causes bird flu, that much, MUCH more Vitamin C is needed:

Vitamin C expert Robert Cathcart, M.D., specifies very high therapeutic doses of vitamin C. For a severe cold: 60,000 to 100,000 milligrams/day. [¹] For most influenza (flu), 100,000 to 150,000 mg/day. [²] For Avian (Bird) Flu, 150,000 to 300,000 mg/day.[³]

Keep in mind that this amount is taken over a day's period, by sipping juice with Vitamin C in it all day long.

Next whip out some good echinacea. A good strong tincture (it should burn in your mouth) is the best. Take at least 3 dropper squeezes (droppersfull). You can take up to an ounce, but it's hard to get down. Never take echinacea for longer than two weeks at a time and never take it with goldenseal (with astragalus is okay.) For more on echinacea, to here: Echinacea.

Next you'll need an immunostimulant. I like my Agaricus Blazei Murill or ABM mushrooms. You can substitute Transfer Factor Plus, or MGN-3, or Beta Glucan, or even IP6.  For your mushrooms, you can go to www.agaricus.net (if they are back online) or order from Mitobi Enterprises. I like to mix my mushrooms all up: some shitake, mitake, and some ABM. 

Even more immune stimulants can be found at www.longevityplus.net and check out Immuni-T, Immuni-T2, Immuni-T3, and RM-10. The Beyond C there is a great form of vitamin C. 

Oct 2005

We've found two more places to get your super immune boosters. Glucan Infusion from Ultimate Immune is one of my favorites. There are more products at their site, and we'll be reviewing them soon. Another product I found is a Cold & Flu formula from Jenny Q's Herbal Remedies. Talk about a mom and pop organization, this one's just mom. She mixes echinacea with shitake and reishi mushrooms and a few other great things. Her phone number is 800.933.3197.

Remember: you have to have these things on hand when the first symptoms hit.

Take all these then go rest.

If the cold or flu hangs on--is still there--then you have to accept this period as a chance to detox.

You will want to increase your beta carotene. Fresh carrot juice is the best way to get it. Add some superfoods from 1800-HERBDOC or go to www.healthfree.com and order their Super Nutrition. 

Next you can make some homemade chicken soup. Use a fresh, organic, free-range chicken. Buying regular chicken soup (or a Golden Plump chicken) ain't gonna do squat for you. Ok? At least make sure it's raised chemically free and has had a healthy life free ranging if you can't find an organic one. Use the bones and fat. Add lots of garlic and cayenne.

I actually torture myself at this point adding at least seven cloves of garlic (crushed up and let sit for ten minutes before adding to my bowl of soup and some cayenne. You WILL get some symptom relief here. 

Lately I've created a nasal spray using a drop of Oregano Oil, a drop of Grapfruit Seed Oil, and three drops of Eucalyptus Oil in acidic electrolyzed water. This has worked best for me so far.

If you get a fever, do not take Tylenol to lower your temp. Your body is fighting back. Keep hydrated and help your fever along. Take a nice hot bath. Add some eucalyptus oil to the bath. Make some hot tea (old Doc Christopher loved raspberry leaf tea) with a little (not too much) honey and lemon. 

Keep up your vitamin C over this period. Keep on with the mushrooms. You won't need your echinacea if you took a lot up front. Keep juicing and making your soup and taking hot baths if your fever continues. 

And learn to meditate. Talk to your body. Listen to your body. Form a union. So often we treat our bodies as strangers. Get to know it. You'll be amazed how much you both have in common and how you can get thru these periods profitably. Spiritual profits are always a blessing.

Elderberry Cuts Flu Time in Half!

A study from the University of Oslo in Norway, soon to be published in The Journal of International Medical Research took a group of people all suffering from the flu and gave each experimental subject one tablespoon of Sambucol (an elderberry extract developed by a Dr Mumcuoglu) four times a day for five days, while giving the control group a placebo (four times a day for five days).

At the end of the study, those getting the Sambucol recovered from their flu in 3.1 days (average) while the control group averaged 7.1 days for their recovery. 

There have been no studies on the preventive use of Sambucol, but many people do swear by it and take it regularly during the cold and flu season.   

You can purchase Sambucol at most health food stores and online. Just plug "sambucol" into any search engine to locate a store selling it online. If you can't find Sambucol, I'm sure you can find an elderberry extract from another company.

Elderberry Facts

The black elder (Sambucus nigra) is a common tree throughout Europe and North America. The flowers are whitish-yellow and are strongly-scented. The fruits are a purplish-black,  with a blood-red juice. Stone Age excavations have uncovered traces of elderberry. Hippocrates, the father of medicine, in 400 BC called the elder tree his "medicine chest" and wrote of its purgative properties. Supposedly, the wood of Christ’s cross came from an elder tree and Judas was said to have hanged himself from an elder tree. Although used extensively in folk medicine, in traditional medicine the elder tree also finds many uses with every part of the tree (except the pulp) having medicinal properties. The bark was used as a purgative, diuretic, and emetic. The leaves are used externally for treating bruises, sprains and wounds. Internally the leaves, too, act as a purgative, diuretic, and expectorant. The berries have anti-inflammatory and anti-viral properties, and, as we noted above, can be used in treating cold and flu symptoms as well as laryngitis, hayfever, and sinusitis. The berries are also used in making elderberry wine and elderberry jam, while the flowers are used as flavoring in Sambuca liqueur. The berries, because of their anti-inflammatory properties, are used for treating rheumatism, sciatica, neuralgia and arthritis. The berries are also thought to have some anti-viral properties, making them useful for colds and influenza. The berries contain vitamin C and many bioflavonoids, including rutin and quercitrin just to name two and, contain a high concentration of anthocyanins.  

Anthocyanins, derived from the purple pigments, have many medicinal properties. Ongoing research in Europe on the anthocyanins found in the elderberry has shown them to exhibit antioxidant activity, immunostimulant properties, anti-viral activity, cardiovascular protection, and even stress relief activity. 

No known toxicity or side effects are known to exist for elderberries, but as always, if you are pregnant or lactating, it's probably best to check with your physician or naturopath first.

Is it any wonder that an old Austrian saying reminds us to "Tip your had to the elder?"

Disclaimer: All information provided here has not been evaluated by the U. S. Food and Drug Administration. Nothing at this web site is intended to diagnose, treat, cure or prevent any illness or disease, and is not intended as a substitute for advice from your own physician or other health care professional. All information provided here is for information purposes only. Before beginning any diet, therapy, exercise program, or supplement you are advised to first check it out with a health care professional (hopefully one well versed in the route you choose to take).

References:

1. Cathcart RF. Vitamin C, titrating to bowel tolerance, anascorbemia, and acute induced scurvy. Medical Hypotheses, 7:1359-1376.  http://www.orthomed.com/titrate.htm

2. Cathcart RF. Treatment of the flu with massive doses of vitamin C.  http://www.orthomed.com/mystery.htm#treatment

3. Cathcart RF. Avian (bird) flu. http://www.orthomed.com/bird.htm

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