What I'm doing while I'm sick

And what I should have done

It is not a good look for someone so outspoken about the power of plants to get sick, yet here we are. I spent a little too much time around my sick mother, and I thought I could avoid getting it because I know my herbs, but I have been humbled. While I wasn’t successful in avoiding getting sick entirely, I have still been working with lots of herbs to make the sickness pass quickly, and I was successful. I used to get long, drawn out colds with harsh coughs, but now, while I can’t always avoid getting sick, I have the tools to make the process quicker and smoother.

Here’s what I’m doing, and what I think I could have done differently:

What I’m doing/what I did:

• Spoonful of elderberry syrup twice a day 

• Fermented lemon ginger honey in hot water, once or twice day

• Probiotic turkey tail mushroom powder 

• Double extraction turkey tail tincture, 2 droppesrful in water twice a day (I should have started taking this earlier). 

• Plenty of garlic 

I’ve been having garlic in multiple forms (sautéed, roasted, powder, and raw), but I think I should have focused more on having extra raw garlic. Garlic is pretty potently antimicrobial, and those constituents are detoxed through your lungs and breath (that’s why you get garlic breath). Note that having lots of raw garlic at once can upset your stomach (I know this from firsthand experience), but staggering doses throughout the day is generally safe. 

• Airborne vitamin C tablets

The body blows through vitamin C very quickly when you’re sick, so I’m trying to give myself plenty. I feel like lots of other herby people wouldn’t want to take this processed vitamin C, but I’m using all the tools I have. I like this one because it gets infused in water so that I can sip it slowly. Your body needs plenty, but it can only uptake a certain amount at once, so swallowing high dose pills results in a lot just getting peed out (this can be helpful if you’re dealing with a UTI or other urinary tract issue, but in this case, we want it to stay in the body for longer). 

• Ginger cinnamon decoction

A good chunk of fresh ginger, cut into small pieces. Boil it together with a cinnamon stick (or half of one) for 20-30 minutes. It is incredibly warming and a balanced combo (read more here about why cinnamon and ginger are best friends), and I feel noticeably and momentarily better when I’m sipping on it. I also like to lean over the pot and breathe in the steam while it cools to get the steam into my sinuses. 

One thing that my teachers have emphasized many times is that you have to get the herb directly to the tissue that needs it. That means that for respiratory and sinus infections, you need to breathe in the steam of your herbs. The volatiles that are small enough to get carried on the air in the form of steam are also generally antimicrobial, so breathing steam is a great way to prevent and fight colds. 

What I should have done:

• Steam with thyme and oregano, and just steamed more in general. (I steamed with ginger and cinnamon once; I should have been steaming twice a day). 

• Take oregano oil orally - I’ve been out of this for a while and have been meaning to make more (I didn’t grow as much oregano as I expected to this year). The times in my life where I avoided sickness the most successfully were times that I was taking oregano oil very frequently. I think this herb is a key one for me. 

• More red/purple pigmented foods - beets, red cabbage, hibiscus, etc. 

Red and purple pigments indicate the presence of anthocyanin, an antioxidant that is particularly helpful for immunity. This antioxidant is a big contributor to why elderberry is so helpful. It truly is a powerhouse available in so many different foods - read more about it here. 

• Echinacea

I haven’t built a strong relationship with echinacea, but I would like to.  

• Even more garlic 

• Fire cider 

I prepped a big jar of this a few weeks ago and I haven’t cracked into it yet, but I should have.