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Balance a Cold with Heat
My herbal health education started with the fact that I was sick of being sick. Colds were always a problem and I developed a way to get rid of them. I got so good at it that I could have a terrible cold in the morning when I started work, go home for three hours, and come back without it.
I could go into all the different colds there are, but there is really only one thing you have to know about colds. The word cold signifies an acidit pH of the body. Think of a swimming pool. If you've ever had to balance the water in a swimming pool, you would know that if your water pH is too acid you use an acid reducer such as baking soda or sodium bicarbonate. If your pool is too alkaline, you would use the required alkalinity reducer, which, for the body, would be vinegar.
Symptoms of a cold in the body range extreme. A body in a cold condition will have internal chills, diarrhea, a cold/wet cough, and fever as the body fights to maintain balance or homeostasis. The fastest way to warm a cold body or a body in a cold condition is with something that will balance the cold symptoms. That is not difficult to do. Simply take capsules of Cayenne Pepper (also known as Capsicum) which is known to be one of the highest forms of Vitamin C that is available.
Nature's Sunshine has African Cayenne Pepper, the hottest form of cayenne, which will add fire/heat to the cold condition and warm any internal chills while drying up the cold, wet condition of the body. It will also stop a cold/wet cough on a dime so you can sleep all night without those horrible coughing episodes.
Ginger is warming to the lungs and has a gentler effect on the bronchioles but without the heat of cayenne. Together they make a great combination in a formula called FV which stands for Flu/Virus formula. FV also includes some Golden Seal herb.
A whole chapter can be written on the benefits of Cayenne Pepper which Naturopaths know acts as a catalyst for other herbs, which means it makes other herbs more effective. Cayenne is something you want to keep around for any kind of internal bleeding. It has a cauterizing effect on external cuts and wounds and internal bleeding, also. The deeper the cut, the less the pain. Try it sometime! It will heal bleeding ulcers, as will Gastro-Health. Dr. John Christopher, a leader in herbal formulas and a great teacher about herbs, has written about how ¼ teaspoon of cayenne in a glass of warm water will stop a heart attack by balancing blood pressure.
I used to have to make up capsules of cayenne and ginger at home with the condiments from the grocery store until I learned about the FV formula. You can actually feel the action of the Cayenne on the lungs as the bronchioles relax and open, allowing for normal breathing. I would have bronchitis for six weeks, take the ginger and cayenne all day long, and never have a cough or symptoms of illness all day or all night. I could sleep all night also because my lungs were open and free of mucus so I always would get plenty of rest. This really works well. You may take as many as six capsules, depending on how severe the bronchitis is.
Another herb that helps to clear the lungs of congestion is Lobelia. Lobelia is known throughout the natural world as the thinking herb because when you take it, it goes to where it is needed most. It is an excellent herb for the lungs because the effect is to relax them. Take lobelia sparingly. It is an emetic in large doses. That means it makes you throw up. Lobelia is what you take if you think you may have food poisoning. Just ¼ to ½ teaspoon every ten minutes - three times should do it. If you throw up, you know for sure you had food poisoning.
Back to colds. If pneumonia is indicated, take one capsule of Cayenne every hour until you begin to cough up phlegm. Then just keep taking it along with Ginger which will also warm the lungs and help to settle the stomach, which is usually the cause of a cold condition in the first place.
Some colds require antibiotics. The best herbal antibiotics are Golden Seal, which has the distinction of being called nature's antibiotic and Olive Leaf Extract. Everyone should have these two herbs in their medicine cabinet. Golden seal is bright yellow in color and will not destroy the friendly flora of the intestine as will pharmaceutical antibiotics. It is safer, also, but don't take it for more than seven days. If you are hypoglycemic, you would fare better with Olive Leaf and something called VS-C.
I was around in the 1980s when a MetroHealth Center in Cleveland, Ohio brought in a Chinese doctor on a grant to develop a cure for the HIV virus. I met this man at a talk on his formula. It seems that he developed a formula consisting of herbs that would help Herpes I & II and anything viral by making the body inhospitable to viruses. The formula was tested for two years and found to work, so the researchers then asked that the active ingredients be extracted from the plant to be put into drug form. Dr. Wen Wei Shu said that some things don't work without the plant base. That did not go over well, so the powers that be rejected the work and the formula. The good doctor then found Nature's Sunshine and sold them the rights to the formula. That formula is known as VS-C, which stands for Virus-Chinese. To date, doctors don't have anything that works with viruses. VS-C works very well for any kind of viral condition which makes it very handy to have around for colds and flu.
The body normally doesn't catch a cold unless you have been exposed to something called an ill wind which can bring on an illness. These winds are real as many can attest to, including my husband. No, a cold comes from an imbalance in your system, usually starting in the stomach which gets out of balance by combining too many foods or eating the wrong combination of foods. Allergies to foods are also a cause of colds and will be discussed in another article.
Eating too much sugar will cause the pancreas to be stressed, which is related to the thymus gland, the king of the immune system. There is a theory that many people become ill around the holidays because of increased sugar intake. The holiday season is when many people get the flu!
Some colds are complicated, and for those you have to do more complicated things. Some colds are hot and dry. There is a difference in how a hot/dry cough feels. In that case, you have to fight them with cooling herbs. Something that would be good for that would be Red Clover or Red Raspberry, or Slippery Elm, and Marshmallow & Fenugreek. All of these herbs are cooling to the lungs. Another formula that works well for allergies which feel like cold symptoms is Seasonal Defense which is great for stopping the running nose and itchy eyes that seasonal changes bring on.
One of the best things for a cold is Liquid Chlorophyll because of its highly usable iron and natural sodium. I've brought many colds to a quick halt just by drinking lots of chlorophyll for its balancing and cleansing effect on the whole system. If your left nostril is plugged up then more of the natural sodiums are deficient. Drink plenty of chlorophyll or take the Chlorophyll Capsules and you'll feel better.
When you have a cold condition of the body, you may find it helpful to fast on clear broth and brown rice with seasonings such as parsley and garlic. I've made a wonderful dip for crackers that consisted of a whole garlic bulb and a tofu cake placed in the blender with Worcestershire sauce. It makes a great dip that clears out the sinuses.
If you want to go through cold season while never getting a cold, your best bet would be to lay off the sugar and take Elderberry Defense formula or Echinacea Purpurea. Echinacea is well known as a blood purifier, but most people aren't aware that it should be taken in large doses if you are already in a cold condition. Echinacea/Golden Seal is a combination that is used when extra strength is needed to clear the body of a cold already in progress. I have used all of these and they all work well.
When looking at herbs and trying to decide which would be best for your condition, get very still, then look at what is written about each one. The one that speaks the loudest and gives you that good feeling inside is the one you want to choose. There may even be more than one. I have taken as many as six herbs and combinations of herbs at one time. However, always use caution in taking anything that is new. Try taking only one thing at a time until you know how you are going to respond to it, and remember, the safest way to take herbs is to follow the instructions on the bottle.
E-mail me with any questions and I'll be glad to help you!
This information has not been evaluated by the FDA and is for information purposes only. When needed, consult a qualified health care professional.
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