Boost Your Immunity with Herbs, Garlic Immunity, Echinacea Immunity

Boosting Your Immunity With Herbs

When we think of our immune system, we think of how to strong it can be by what we consume internally, right? Yes and no, what we think plays a large role in keeping our immune system in check. When we are stressed, our immune system becomes weakened, forcing our bodies to work even harder to fight foreign invaders. So in times of flu outbreaks its best to keep calm, don’t over react. Take measures to nourish your immunity toward these virus’s with the mind set of just that, nourish not fight.

Echinacea is a great immune system strengthener, it directly inhabits the growth of most bacteria and virus’s, triggering the production of white blood cells. Even drug resistant strains of virus..oink oink oink ;) Echinacea tinctures are my favorite preventative taken weekly during cold or flu outbreaks and daily during infections. Making your own tincture is easy too. Take one drop for every pound of body weight, that is usually one or two droppers full depending on your size of course.

Echinacea tincture
Dig up roots and wash until you have enough for two cups you can save up the root until you have enough, it stores well, or buy some already chopped up and dried. Echinacea root must first be dried and chopped up by a blender.

Measure two cups of 100% good quality vodka place 2C vodka and 2C echinacea root in glass jar with a screw top lid, let it sit 4-6 weeks in a cool dark place, shake daily.

After 6 weeks strain mixture through cheese cloth into glass dropper bottles. I save all the ones I get and reuse them.

This tincture will last up to 2 years. This makes enough for 12 tincture bottles, you can cut recipe in half if you dont want that much.

You can also use the flowers by filling a quart jar 2/3 the way with fresh or dried flowers, add 100 proof vodka and let sit for 2-4 weeks, then strain into the bottles.
Garlic also prevents infections, it has strong anitbacterial powers. During plague times, healers in some areas wore a “bird’s beak:” a stiff cone made of paper or bark, stuffed with garlic and spices cloves, nutmeg,cinnamon and tied it on over the nose to help prevent infections. People have been using garlic in remedies for a thousand years, eating it raw is best but for the sake of others you can cook it, it retains most of its properties even when cooked as long as you eat enough of it. Here is some great info on garlic and ways to use garlic from Learningherbs.com.

There are so many more great herbs to help boost the immune system, like mushrooms reishii and shiitake, they work hard directly suppressing infections, incorporating them into your diet will help aid in your immunity either eating, a tincture or infusion. Ginsing is another herb used in battling colds and flu, before and during.

Buildling a strong mind set against getting sick and nourishing your body will reduce your chances of becoming ill. So here’s to happy thoughts :)

Written by Denise – aka HappyHippie Moderator, and resident Herb Master

Always consult your physician if you are pregnant, or taking medication before trying herbal remedies.