Now that the colder weather has come upon us in the northern hemisphere, it's time for viruses to make their rounds! Colds and flus can be pretty problematic for people with CF and other respiratory diseases as they can tax our immune systems and cause excessive mucus production, which can then lead to increased vulnerability to bacterial infections and exacerbations.

​Although there are very few tools that conventional technomedicine has for fighting viruses like colds and flus, there are many, many medicinal herbs that have antiviral activity and many more that stimulate the immune system to fight the infections ourselves. In this article, I will discuss medicinal herbs and foods that can help us prevent viral infections and hasten our recovery when they do come. 

Hi friends. I recently taught a class on using herbs in acute and chronic respiratory infections. Here is the class description: 

Prepare for winter by enhancing your understanding of how respiratory infections develop and how herbal, nutritional, and lifestyle interventions can make a big difference regarding prevention and recovery. In this class we will discuss how to use herbs to address a wide variety of respiratory complaints including colds and flus, acute and chronic lung infections (bacterial, fungal, and viral), bronchitis, as well as chronic sinus irritation and infection. Our focus will be on moderate to severe respiratory illnesses. Students will gain deeper knowledge of how to use natural means to combat infections in order to minimize the need for use of antibiotics, steroids, and other pharmaceuticals.

Below is the lecture, which is split in two parts. I've also added a slide show of my power point slides. Enjoy! Let me know if you have any questions or would like to share your own experiences. 

Hey there friends! I have been meaning to do some more in-depth monographs on some of my favorite herbs, particularly ones that are beneficial for most people with CF. I mention a few helpful herbs in the section called Herbs for CF, but there are several herbs that are so helpful that they deserve a more lengthy discussion. 

Let me explain: a "monograph" is a lengthy description of a particular herb (there are also drug monographs, but I will not concern myself with those) that usually includes Latin name and botanical family, common name(s), parts used, how to identify them and grow them, where/how to source or buy them, their energetic profile (according to organoleptic analysis and traditional healing practices), physiological actions, clinical uses, key constituents, relevant scientific literature, safety concerns, preparation methods, and dose. A "Materia Medica" is a compendium of medicinal herbal monographs. There are many materia medicas from different herbal and traditional medical modalities, such as Ayurveda, Traditional Chinese Medicine, Eclectic Medicine, Tibetan Medicine, Modern Western Herbalism, and so on. I will not post my entire collected materia medica (mine is over 300 pages long so far and growing), but I will post a few herbs that I think everyone with CF (and many other people, too) will benefit from knowing. 

I have some wonderful things to report after several weeks of self-experimentation. I've been inhaling essential oils since late February, and after seven weeks I feel like I have enough of  consistent results to report my findings (I am a scientist, after all). 

First of all, before I started inhaling essential oils I had just gotten off of oral antibiotics (minocycline and bactrim) and was planning on going into the hospital for some IV vancomycin to treat my MRSA infection. Fate brought me a snow storm that prevented me from getting to the hospital, and instead I decided to test out the eucalyptus essential oil I had bought the day before. I am so glad things worked out the way they did, or I would never had made these radical discoveries!

Why Use Essential Oils?
It's been on my mind for many months now that I should begin inhaling essential oils. In herbalism school we talk a lot about plant constituents, and that those herbs that are the most antimicrobial (antibacterial, antifungal, antiviral, etc.) contain a high amount of volatile oils. 

Before the holidays my housemate caught the flu and needless to say, I was a bit scared. I had my flu shot, but who knows if he had the same viral strain as what the vaccine contained. So for two weeks I alcohol swabbed every possible thing he could have touched in the kitchen before I cooked or ate anything. At one point I even wore rubber gloves and kept a bottle of alcohol-based hand sanitizer in my pocket at all times. I'm sure all of these infectious disease precautions worked to some extent (thank you CF for educating me on the correct protocols), but I am also sure that the herbs I took and the food I ate also helped me keep the virus at bay. In fact, my other housemate caught the virus from him, and she's a very healthy person. After I proved to her that my protocol was working (which I will explain below) by not catching the virus from my first housemate, she took all of my advise very seriously, and recovered pretty quickly (a lot quicker than the first housemate, who did not take my advise seriously).

Firstly, I adhered to my no-sugar, GAPS/Paleo-like diet, which I have described in this website. This diet is also very high in antioxidant rich fruits and vegetables, which help fight viruses and boost the immune system. Secondly, I ate a lot of garlic. At least 2 cloves a day, in my food or chopped up raw and swallowed with water. In addition, I sinus rinsed with garlic-water. This is the secret to killing any viral sinus infection. I swear, this is what got rid of my last cold in three days. Three days! That's a first for me. They usually last a week or two, and then turn into some kind of viral bronchitis. Anyway, if you use a neti pot or a sinus rinse sqeezey bottle (NielMed brand) this is what you do to prepare the garlic water, which you will add to the regular warm saline solution that you rinse with. First, crush a small clove of garlic with the flat of a knife and let it sit for 10-15 minutes. Then chop it up very small and put it in a little glass, shot glasses work best. Next, add about 1 ounce or less of water to the glass and crush the garlic with your finger. You should be able to see the oils from the garlic mix into the water. Crush the garlic until the water is relatively murky with the oils. I usually let the mixture sit for 15-30 minutes. Then pour the  garlicky water into the neti pot or squeezy bottle, careful to avoid pouring the chunks of garlic in (you don't want chunks of garlic lodged up your nose, or maybe you're in for a little excitement?). Add warm water and the salt packet, then rinse. It's gonna burn for a few seconds, but that means it's working! If you also have a sore throat, gargle with garlicky saline water, too. Garlic is one of the most powerful anti-viral substances in the world. There are no pharmaceuticals as powerful. If you've got an active cold, I suggest garlic rinsing at least twice a day. If you're working on prevention, rinsing once a day should be good. Oh, and after you're done rinsing, eat that garlic left over at the bottom of your shot glass! 

Thirdly, I discovered a new herbal medicine that I am convinced was the main reason I dodged the flu and my second housemate did not: andrographis. Andrographis is a bitter herb well known for its powerful antiviral properties, and has been a go-to medicine to treat colds and flus for centuries. I happened to be taking andrographis at least a week before housemate #1 caught the flu because two different herbalists had recommended I take it to fight my chronic lung infections (it's also a powerful antibacterial). It is sold at my food coop's supplement section under the name "Kold Kare" and conveniently comes in little green tablets, which are easy to take with the rest of my morning and evening pills. For prevention I take 1-2 tablets twice a day with meals. It is very bitter, so it can cause digestive upset on an empty stomach. If you already have a virus, I would take 2 tablets twice a day until all symptoms are completely gone. I am still taking 1 tablet twice a day because my housemates are not yet symptom-free, plus I've still got my own bacterial infections to deal with. After housemate #2 caught the virus, a few days into it she went to the coop and got Kold Kare, and the next day her symptoms were already improved. In 3-4 days she was over the hump and almost completely back to normal. I am convinced andrographis had a lot to do with her quickened recovery, and she is also convinced (plus she garlic rinsed). Housemate #1 has not fully recovered yet. 

So anyway, I hope my two discoveries (garlic rinsing and andrographis) will help you avoid catching anything during cold and flu season. Be diligent and use these herbs at the first sign of exposure, even before you feel any symptoms. If you wait until you start feeling a tickle in your nose or throat, it may be too late to avoid catching it. However, even if you do catch a virus, these herbs can help you recover more quickly and possible help avoid having the virus move into the lungs. Good luck!