Image via WikipediaWe have been a fortunate bunch this year, only having one virus that attached itself to us. ::knocking on wood now:: I know many who haven't been as fortunate as we are, so I thought I'd share with you some of the little herbal secrets that I use to heal us when we have caught a little something.First, I want to talk about the lymph glands. Have you ever felt your neck, or under your arms and they seem to be swollen a little? These are your lymph glands, which are a part of your immune functions response team. The lymph glands are places where your fighter cells have carried intruders to be neutralized.
Imagine your computer has a virus. Your anti virus system finds the virus and puts it in quarantine, yes? Your lymph is your quarantine. So it is always helpful to keep your lymph clean of quarantined bacterias and viruses. There are things we can do to keep our lymph clean, and a couple little kitchen pantry ingredients will do the job.
Lymph Clearing Honey Recipe
Mince 1 small onion
Mince 3 cloves of garlic
Mince 1 inch of ginger
Place in small jar and cover with honey.
Let it sit for at least 2 weeks. This is great by the teaspoon or mixed with the following recipe for an even bigger punch.
Did you know that honey has natural allergen immunity properties? If you have allergies, using a LOCAL honey can give you immunity to your local allergens!
Lymph Clearing Apple Cider Vinegar Recipe
1/2 Cup Apple Cider Vinegar
1/4 Cup of Local Honey
Mix with the Lymph Honey Recipe for a nice lymph clear.
Our family does a lymph clear once a week as a preventative measure. As awful as these sound, the kids have no trouble taking them because they are essentially sweet.
There are a few foods and drinks that everyone should avoid when the immune system is in full function.
Cold Food
Raw Food
Sweet Food
Uncooked Dairy
Anything Soy
Cold Juices
All of these foods cause inflammation. When you are fighting a virus or infection, the last thing your body needs to fight off is a little bout of inflammation.
Warming up juices, like orange juice, before drinking, does not kill the vitamin C properties in the OJ. In fact, the opposite happens, the vitamin C becomes MORE available and easily used for immune function!
This same Vitamin C phenomenon happens with tomatoes as well. A great food for a cold/virus is some pasta and tomato sauce. Tomato soup also comes to mind! Lots of vitamin C in tomato soup.
And one more tip to keep the rest of your family healthy if someone does fall ill with a virus......
Boiling a pot of water with either rosemary essential oil, or sage oil, on the stove-top, will disinfect the air of viruses and bacteria (and make your house smell amazing)!
Happy Healing!
~Wendy
Herbalist, Wellness Consultant
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9 comments:
Great recipes! This is the time to keep the lymph system healthy. Any other tips would be greatly appreciated.
Okay Wendy, I'm sold:) There's a friend of mine that needs some of your healing remedies right now, as she's been sick for weeks with colds, flu, viruses, sinus problems...
I'll have to check out the remedies for us too.
I do have many more tips that I'm organizing now for a new post.
My favorite herbal medicine for any kind of sinus issue is nettles. Whether it be a nettle tea, nettle soup, or nettle tincture, nettles have never failed me.
Of course, finding the root of the problem is necessary. If concurrent sinus infections are going on..... it makes me wonder about an allergy that may be causing inflammation. Whether it is environmental or food.... winter especially is the time for environmental allergies because we are stuck in the house!
Happy Healing Gals!
Thank you for the great information. I had no idea that cold juice can cause inflammation. I'm definitely going to use the sage oil idea. I normally use tea tree or peppermint in a spray bottle with hot water - I'm going to dedicate a pot and do it on the stove. Thanks again!
Wow, this is great advice! I especially like the rosemary and sage idea. I hate it when one of us in the house gets a cold because more often than not the germs get passed around.
I love this! Thanks! I have bad allergies and bad sinuses and this makes sense to me. I drink a hot apple chai in the morning from starbucks and it makes my throat feel better and drains my head. Hmm...this is why. I also love herbal teas with honey. Thanks for the tips. I don't drink milk because I don't like it and it stuffs me up and I'm allergic to soy so juice is it for me anyways. Thanks for finding me!
Thank you, Wendy, this is so helpful!
Two years ago, I was attacked with a vicious round of lymph node inflamations. I was so sick and miserable for months with no real remedies. It still happens every few months, but I've worked hard at finding ways to keep it at bay. I'll put your recipes to good use!
♥ Bethany
p.s. thanks for finding me on blogfrog! I would love a visit from you!
www.happyhomemaker.me
I'm definitely coming back to this page next time I have a cold. Also I've noticed that I always have a craving for warm orange juice whenever I get sick, and it makes people look at me funny and I go "screw you, I'm sick and I feel like warming my orange juice"... well now I guess I know why, haha!
my mother would have LOVED these recipes.
new follower via BF.
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