t’s that time of year again when children go back to school and bring home all kinds of bugs and th whole family starts coughing and sneezing. By the time Christmas comes, children are missing nativity plays, parents are taking time off work and hospitals are crying out about bed shortages.
As someone who Is self-employed, I have long recognised that I simply cannot afford to be off sick, so I have taken a particular interest in what I can do to avoid catching the bugs even when I may see several patients a day who are affected with some but or another.
In Traditional Chinese Medicine there is a formula that is always used BEFORE the autumn properly sets in. It is called Jade Windscreen and is said to act as a Windscreen to stop the cold from blowing into our body. A herbal medicine practitioner would think of it acting both to shield the body and by strengthening it at the same time. This formula would not be suitable once you have actually caught the bug, however, because then you would need herbs to expel the pathogen, usually by sweating it out.
It is very important to strengthen our immune systems BEFORE the viruses and bacteria start spreading around. I do this in 3 tages.
Firstly I focus on reducing the toxic load in my body by doing a detoxification diet for 10 days each month. This means my body has some leeway to begin fighting bugs rather than already being stressed out to capacity and finding that the tiniest bug tips me over the edge. In the autumn I supplement this with the Jade Windscreen herbal formula. (Click here if you would like to order a consultation and have a prescription made for you.)
The second step in boosting my immunity is to take supplements that strengthen my body. At the first sign of Autumn I begin adding Baobab, echinacea and elecampane tinctures to my smoothies. I swear by this alongside the Nice Plus encapsulated fruit, vegetables and berries because in the 5 years I have followed this regime, I have not had a day of illness.
The third step in boosting my immunity is to be aware when I have been exposed to an unusual amount of people coughing and sneezing and I then drink echinacea tea three times per day, I may add some drops of the tincture and if I do feel the tickle in my throat or smell a cold coming in my nose, I write myself an herbal prescription for the mornings, then in the evening I have a very hot bath and an early night with a hot toddy.
This has worked unfailingly for me for the last five years and I would recommend it to anyone over the flu jab, given the number of people I have seen who get ill immediately after having it. Our body has its own pharmacy and given the right care and nutrition, then it provides the protection we need in a much faster and more reliable way than any vaccine that has been Brough out months after the virus has mutated.