thyme

Thyme is a “natural antibiotic” much like cinnamon or garlic.  With the flu season approaching fast, as well as the threat of swine flu, keeping a decent stock of dried thyme as well as the following recipes handy is well advised.

If fresh thyme is available, use it first.  If no fresh thyme is available, use the CUT dried herb: 2bsp of the dried herb equals 1 handful of fresh thyme.

Any of the following solutions can be used to bath wounds and burns or as an eye wash for red, irritated eyes. Make sure the solution is moderately cool before applying it to the eyes.

• Tea for gargling (sore throat), mouth wash (tooth decay, cold sores) and drinking (common cold, influenza, fever, allergies) :
  Boil 1 3/4 pints of water, remove from heat, add a dozen sprigs of fresh thyme, cover, let steep for half an hour.  Strain and drink 3-4 cups daily.
• For external purposes such as hot compresses on the chest to help break up lung congestion (in cases of asthma, bronchitis, cold or flu) or massage lotions for aching muscles and joints:
  Boil 2 pints of water,remove from heat,  add 1.5 handfuls of fresh thyme, cover and let steep for 40 minutes.  Strain and use.
• For foot- and hand baths (to increase blood circulation, get rid of nail fungus or athlete’s foot, reduce fever) and a douche (against yeast infection):
  Boil 1 1/4 pints of water, remove from heat, add1 handful of fresh thyme, let steep for 25 minutes.  Strain and use somewhat hot for hand and foot baths, but let cool to lukewarm for a douche.

Yes, everybody is talking about it, and yes, there are indeed herbal remedies that will help you preventing being infected by any flu virus.

1. Vitamin D:  It seems as though an insufficient level of vitamin D make you very vulnerable to flu viruses, be they ordinary flu or swine flu.  Stock up on vitamin D quickly, therefore.
2. Sambucol, a syrup made mainly from black elderberries and echinacea, is a good way to treat flu, or boost your immune system when you feel the very first symptoms of flu.  This, too, it an item you might wish to stock up on.  Black elderberries are very good antioxidants.
3. Omega-3 oils helps the body to remain healthy, and to improve your vitamin D levels.  Animal-based omega-3 oil is preferable.
4. Stock up on items such as face masks, a steam inhaler, latex gloves, hand sanitizer, and other such items that help preventing infections.

Here is a rather longish article that basically warns again a swine flu panic, and gives you good advice on what to do at the very end, which is what I will paste here.  While I agree with the authors that it is not a good idea to get vaccinated, I hope that their call to calmness will not lull you into safety and make you postpone taking still necessary precautions.  If you do not stock up on supplies now, you might not be able to anymore in a few months, either because they are out of stock, or they have gotten too expensive for you to afford them anymore.

Anyway, here is the end of the article:

Via: agoracosmopolitan.com

For now, my point is that there are always going to be threats of flu pandemics, real or created, and there will always be potentially toxic vaccines that are peddled as the solution. But you can break free of that whole drug-solution trap by following some natural health principles.

I have not caught a flu in over two decades, and you can avoid it too, without getting vaccinated, by following these simple guidelines, which will keep your immune system in optimal working order so that you’re far less likely to acquire the infection to begin with.

Optimize your vitamin D levels. As I’ve previously reported, optimizing your vitamin D levels is one of the absolute best strategies for avoiding infections of ALL kinds, and vitamin D deficiency is likely the TRUE culprit behind the seasonality of the flu — not the flu virus itself.

This is probably the single most important and least expensive action you can take. I would STRONGLY urge you to have your vitamin D level monitored to confirm your levels are therapeutic at 50-70 ng. ml and done by a reliable vitamin D lab like Lab Corp.

For readers who are in the U.S., we [original writers of the article] hope to launch a vitamin D testing service through Lab Corp that allows you to have your vitamin D levels checked at your local blood drawing facility, and relatively inexpensively. We hope to offer this service by June 2009.

If you are coming down with flu like symptoms and have not been on vitamin D you can take doses of 50,000 units a day for three days to treat the acute infection. Some researchers like Dr. Cannell, believe the dose could even be as high as 1000 units per pound of body weight for three days.

However, most of Dr. Cannell’s work was with seasonal and not pandemic flu. If your body has never been exposed to the antigens there is chance that the vitamin D might not work. However the best bet is to maintain healthy levels of vitamin D around 60 ng/ml.

BUT to keep this in perspective the regular flu, not the swine flu, has killed 13,000 in the US since January. But there is strong support that these types of figures are grossly exaggerated to increase vaccine sales. However, the fact remains that the regular flu at this point in time is FAR more dangerous than the swine flu and were you worried about the regular flu before the media started talking this up?

Avoid Sugar and Processed Foods. Sugar decreases the function of your immune system almost immediately, and as you likely know, a strong immune system is key to fighting off viruses and other illness. Be aware that sugar is present in foods you may not suspect, like ketchup and fruit juice.

Get Enough Rest. Just like it becomes harder for you to get your daily tasks done if you’re tired, if your body is overly fatigued it will be harder for it to fight the flu. Be sure to check out my article Guide to a Good Night’s Sleep for some great tips to help you get quality rest.

Have Effective Tools to Address Stress . We all face some stress every day, but if stress becomes overwhelming then your body will be less able to fight off the flu and other illness.

(…)

Exercise. When you exercise, you increase your circulation and your blood flow throughout your body. The components of your immune system are also better circulated, which means your immune system has a better chance of finding an illness before it spreads. You can review my exercise guidelines for some great tips on how to get started.

Take a good source of animal based omega-3 fats like Krill Oil. Increase your intake of healthy and essential fats like the omega-3 found in krill oil, which is crucial for maintaining health. It is also vitally important to avoid damaged omega-6 oils that are trans fats and in processed foods as it will seriously damage your immune response.

– Wash Your Hands. Washing your hands will decrease your likelihood of spreading a virus to your nose, mouth or other people. Be sure you don’t use antibacterial soap for this — antibacterial soaps are completely unnecessary, and they cause far more harm than good. Instead, identify a simple chemical-free soap that you can switch your family to.

– Eat Garlic Regularly. Garlic works like a broad-spectrum antibiotic against bacteria, virus, and protozoa in the body. And unlike with antibiotics, no resistance can be built up so it is an absolutely safe product to use. However, if you are allergic or don’t enjoy garlic it would be best to avoid as it will likely cause more harm than good.

– Avoid Hospitals and Vaccines. In this particular case, I’d also recommend you stay away from hospitals unless you’re having an emergency, as hospitals are prime breeding grounds for infections of all kinds, and could be one of the likeliest places you could be exposed to this new bug. Vaccines will not be available for six months at the minimum but when available they will be ineffective and can lead to crippling paralysis like Guillain-Barré Syndrome just as it did in the 70s.

I blogged about this before, and am thinking that it doesn;t hurt to have this too on here.  Honey and cinnamon are indeed a good combination.

Via: Gather

I don’t know if this is true or not, but it sounds reasonable.

Cinnamon and Honey ~ Bet the drug companies won’t like this one getting around. ~

Facts on Honey and Cinnamon: It is found that a mixture of honey and cinnamon cures most diseases.Honey is produced in most of the countries of the world. Scientists of today also accept honey as a “Ram Ban” (very effective) medicine or all kinds of diseases.

Honey can be used without any side effects for any kind of diseases.

Today’s science says that even though honey is sweet, if taken in the right dosage as a medicine, it does not harm diabetic patients.Weekly World News, a magazine in Canada, in its issue dated 17 January,1995 has given the following list of diseases that can be cured by honey and cinnamon as researched by western scientists:

HEART DISEASES
ARTHRITIS
BLADDER INFECTIONS
CHOLESTEROL
COLDS
UPSET STOMACH
GAS
IMMUNE SYSTEM
INDIGESTION
INFLUENZA
LONGEVITY
PIMPLES
SKIN INFECTIONS
WEIGHT LOSS
CANCER
FATIGUE
BAD BREATH
HEARING LOSS

Read the different recipes and applications here

The whole article Winter naturally is interesting, so have a look.  I am just blogging the end of it here where the author mentions uses for honey and cinnamon.

Via: cadillacnews.com

HONEY & CINNAMON

• A mixture of honey and cinnamon can be a great remedy. Honey can be used to treat diseases, and it doesn’t have side effects.

• Heart disease: Make a paste of honey and cinnamon powder and spread it on bread; eat it regularly for breakfast. It reduces the cholesterol in the arteries. Eating this daily can relieve loss of breath and strengthen the heart beat. Honey and cinnamon revitalize the arteries and veins.

• Arthritis: Twice a day, drink one cup of hot water with two spoons of honey and one teaspoon of cinnamon powder. In a study conducted at the Cophenhagen University, scientists found that when doctors treated their patients with a mixture of one tablespoon honey and half teaspoon cinnamon powder before breakfast, within a week about 35 percent of the people treated felt vast pain relief; within one month, most patients who could not walk or move prior to the honey and cinnamon treatment could now walk with no or minimal pain.

• Bladder infections: Take two tablespoons of cinnamon powder and one teaspoon of honey in a glass of lukewarm water and drink it. The mixture destroys the germs in the bladder.

• Toothache: Make a paste of one teaspoon cinnamon powder and five teaspoons honey and apply on the aching tooth three times a day until the tooth stops aching.

• Cholesterol: Two tablespoons of honey and three teaspoons of cinnamon powder mixed in 16 ounces of tea water and given to a cholesterol patient was found to reduce the level of cholesterol in the blood by 10 percent within two hours.

• Colds: Those suffering from common or severe colds can try one tablespoon of lukewarm honey with 1/4 teaspoon of cinnamon powder daily for three days. This process can cure most chronic coughs and colds and helps clean the sinuses.

• Upset stomach: Honey taken with cinnamon powder cures stomach aches and also clears stomach ulcers from the root causes.

• Gas: According to studies in India and Japan, a person may be relieved of gas if honey is taken with cinnamon powder.

• Immune system: Daily use of honey and cinnamon powder can strengthen the immune system and protect the body from bacteria and viral attacks. Scientists found that honey has various vitamins and iron in large amounts. Honey strengthens the white blood corpuscles to fight bacteria and viral diseases.

• Influenza: A scientist in Spain has proven that honey contains a natural ingredient which can kill influenza germs and save a person from getting the flu.

• Longevity: Honey and cinnamon, when made like a tea and taken regularly, can arrest the ravages of old age. Take four spoons of honey, one spoon of cinnamon powder and three cups of water; boil to make a concoction that is similar to tea. Drink 1/2 cup three to four times per day. It keeps the skin fresh and soft.

• Pimples: Three tablespoons of honey and one teaspoon of cinnamon powder paste. Apply this paste on the pimples before sleeping and rinse off the paste the next morning using warm water. Try this process daily for two weeks.

• Skin infections: Applying honey and cinnamon powder in equal parts on the affected areas can treat eczema, ringworm and all types of skin infections.

• Fatigue: Recent studies show that the sugar content of honey is helpful in terms of strengthening the body.

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