10 Natural Flu Remedies from a Doctor's Wife
Flu is no fun! No likes to be down
with flu or up at night with kids who have it. First off, don't fear.
There are many effective home flu remedies you can keep on hand that
will drastically lessen the severity and length of flu. They can even
help with prevention! (Continued below.....)
(...Continued.....)1- Get Elderberry. It cuts flu recovery time
from 6 days to 2. Health food stores have it in many varieties since a
flu study came out a few years ago. I double the dose of most products
for my own family if I suspect flu. I recommend Dr. Christopher's
Elderberry Extract and use 1-2 dropperfuls every hour in a drink.
Elderberry prevents the virus from getting into healthy cells.
2- Get a high quality essential oil. I rub it on the bottom of my
children's feet. Essential oils are potently anti-viral. Oregano is the
strongest infection fighter, but it's also the hottest. So dilute a few
drops in some olive oil or other carrier oil (even vegetable oil will
work). Doterra has a quality immune blend called On Guard. It smells
amazing and it works. I give 2 drops with honey in some herbal tea for a
painful, sore throat. I rub another blend called Breathe (diluted), on
the neck and chest for congestion.
3- Push fluids. Give your child lots to drink: water, or fruit juices
as long as they don't contain white sugar or corn syrup (these feed
bacteria and suppress immunity). Peppermint tea is a "kid cure-all" at
my house. I put this tea in bottles, sippy cups, or a glass with a
straw. Kids need to stay hydrated, and peppermint has long been used for
fevers, flu and calming tummy trouble.
4- Include echinacea. I make echinacea tea, add the mild tasting
glycerin extract to other fluids, or squirt it straight in my child's
mouth. Echinacea fights infection indirectly, by stimulating the body's
own immune system to ramp up the fight. I use glycerite from Dr.
Christopher.
5- Get Dr. Christopher's Antispasmodic formula. I rub this liquid on
my kids' throats, and it immediately relaxes the muscles and stops dry
coughs which sometimes accompany flu. This herbal preparation has
rescued me from late-night discomfort, sleeplessness and even agony many
times. It's effective.
6- Give a ginger bath. Baths help keep kids hydrated, help with
fevers, and relax achy muscles. Put 1 Tablespoon ginger in the bath, or
in a muslin tea bag in the bath. Run the water hot at first to infuse
the ginger into the water, then adjust to the highest comfortable
temperature for your child. Working up a sweat in a hot tub helps sweat
out infection.
7- Get some Vitamin D3. I'd take 2,000-4,000 IU a day unless a true
epidemic hit. Then I'd triple the dose. Vitamin D quiets the immune
system's response to invading viruses in the respiratory tract. It can
prevent the overproduction of inflammatory substances that can lead to
fluid buildup and more severe symptoms. This may just be the most
dangerous part of more severe flu strains like the swine flu. I use the
RX brand. It's a bit pricey, but for me it's worth it (for this brand
the dose is only 1 drop).
8- Make garlic toast. We know garlic fights infection. For kids,
press a clove of garlic into some butter or olive oil, spread it on
whole wheat bread, and toast it in an oven or toaster oven. Have your
child eat some as is or with some honey added. Raw honey has natural
infection fighting compounds. Four cloves of garlic are equal to an
adult dose of penicillin.
9-If all comforts fail, try Motrin. For the temporary headaches, body
aches and discomfort caused by the flu, ibuprofin is an easily
attainable, fast acting remedy for kids. I save over-the-counter
remedies for temporary, extreme conditions, and when symptoms are the
worst, I'll use it.
10-Read up on flu drugs and vaccines before you try them. Did you
know you can get flu from the vaccine? They are poorly tested, and have
not been proven safe. Also, there are many reports of side effects of
the drugs, especially in children.
Dr. Kent Holtorf, expert on infectious disease calls the
Thimerosal-Mercury that can be found in Flu Vaccines "a proven
neuro-toxin. It has 25,000 times the level of mercury that would be
considered toxic if it were a food or water. Negative long-term effects
are unknown and pose much higher risks than the flu itself. So, what's
your next step?
May I suggest that you obtain some of these home flu remedies for
your medicine cabinet, so you're ready when the need arises. You can
find many of these tools online or at your local health food store.
Disclaimer: I am not a doctor (that would be my husband), and it is
not my intent to diagnosis or prescribe. These are things I do in my own
family, and represent my personal experiences.
I am a do-it-yourself, happily married, mother of seven
energetic kids. My husband is a doctor who works in an emergency room,
but I am a natural medicine girl.
I am passionate about empowering people, especially women, mothers
and fathers, to be teachers, chefs, and doctors in their own homes.
I write stories about both conventional medicine and natural medicine
and how well they work.
