Based upon personal experience, here is a short list for some of the herbs and alternative remedies that I can recommend to have on hand:
I have recently come to love the herb (lichen moss) Usnea! It cured my little one of a serious UTI infection rather quickly with no Dr visit or antibiotics- it IS an ANTIBIOTIC.
Astragalus. One of the most highly regarded herbs used in Chinese medicine, astragalus is an efficient immune-system booster. Do not take astragalus if you are already suffering from a fever. Many herbal immune system booster combinations, available at health food stores, are based around astragalus.
Colloidal/ionic silver. The medicines that hospitals use to fight skin infections on severe burn patients are typically based on the active component of silver. Colloidal/ionic silver is a broadband antibiotic solution that has been used against a myriad of harmful protozoa, bacteria, and viruses. It is available in health food stores or can be made for just pennies a day with a simple commercial or homemade colloidal/ionic silver generator. It appears that all colloidal silver solutions work to varying degrees. In my experience, the homemade stuff is not very stable and should be kept out of direct sunlight and used within a few days after it was made. American Biotech Labs has developed a patented process for multivalent nano-particle metallic silver solutions that have gone through extensive independent laboratory testing showing they are extremely effective, safe, and very stable for long term storage. This product is being used successfully in African clinics to rapidly and cost effectively heal malaria (even drug resistant varieties), and has been shown in clinical studies to be quite effective against most known pathogenic bacteria and viruses, including HIV and avian influenza. Testing at the National Institutes of Health (NIH) laboratory at the Utah State University has determined the proper prophylactic use of ABL’s ASAP silver solutions necessary to improve live animal survival rates by 100%, when these animals were injected with lethal doses, directly into the lungs, of the most powerful and lethal avian flu virus strain known to man (70% mortality rate versus 7% mortality with the current swine flu). NIH tests determined that two teaspoons taken orally, administered twice a day, should do the trick, but ABL’s Keith Moeller says he personally drinks more like 2 tablespoons 2-3 times a day to play it safe, and that he and his family never get any of the flus that are going around when they maintain this regimen.
Echinacea. A traditional Native American medicinal herb, echinacea has become a part of mainstream self-help medicine. It is now available at most drugstores, since its antiviral and antibacterial properties have been scientifically documented.
Elderberry. This herb has excellent anti-viral properties, and has been referred to as the “medicine chest” of the country people. Laboratory studies on Sambucol, an Israeli made elderberry extract, have shown the product to be effective against human, swine and avian flu strains. Unlike Tamiflu, the well known antiviral pharmaceutical, Sambucol has no negative side effects.
Garlic. A true “wonder herb,” garlic has powerful antibiotic and antibacterial properties as well as tremendous nutritional antioxidant value. Whereas the number of active ingredients in penicillin is one, at least 35 active ingredients have been identified in garlic, making it much more difficult for bacteria to grow resistant to garlic than to penicillin. Use raw, fresh cloves, since cooked or powdered garlic usually loses most of its potency.
Goldenseal. Goldenseal is one of the most popular herbs of all time. It has powerful antifungal and antibacterial properties against organisms such as Candida and E. coli. The powdered root has strong cauterizing properties and can be used directly on wounds to reduce or eliminate excessive bleeding.
Grapefruit seed extract (GSE). Like garlic, GSE is another true “wonder herb,” exhibiting powerful antibiotic, antiviral, and antibacterial properties. It has been used successfully to battle numerous diseases and ailments, including Lyme disease, Candida, Giardia, amoebic dysentery, many kinds of parasites, athlete’s foot, ringworm, gum disease, herpes, colds, flu, and some forms of arthritis.
Hyssop. Though little used in the West, hyssop is another powerful herb, exhibiting strong antiviral and antibacterial properties. One of the few herbs that has been proven effective against active tuberculosis, hyssop is often prescribed by Chinese herbalists for lung ailments. In today’s world, where there is a constant threat that antibiotic-resistant tuberculosis might blossom into a global pandemic, I like to keep at least a pound of hyssop on hand.
Oregano oil. Oil of oregano is another broad-band super-herb with powerful ant-oxidant, antiviral, antifungal, anti-parasite and antibacterial properties. Traditionally used for treatment of wounds, yeast/ candida, headaches, sinusitis, lung infections, colds, intestinal worms, athlete’s foot, and so on. I like to supplement my diet with two oregano capsules a day.
Tea tree oil. This powerful antifungal and disinfectant is used topically (do not take internally) for skin infections, itchy scalp, and fungal infections such as athlete’s foot. This oil is very penetrating and will penetrate through the skin to heal sealed-over infections, boils, and pimples. Tea tree oil is one of the few liquids that can seep through toenails. I sometimes combine tea tree oil with other oils and herbs to lend its more penetrating properties to the rest of the concoction.
Usnea. Another powerful herb with antibiotic, antiviral, and antibacterial properties, usnea is used internally or externally against bacterial, fungal, or viral infections. Usnea is often combined with spilanthes or echinacea (which are very effective, all combined against a UTI) . Usnea is also very effective against malaria and cleaning the blood of parasites.
This is by no means an exhaustive list, but just a sampling of a few of the alternative techniques, medicines and herbs that I have found most effective.
I am not suggesting you turn your back on regular medical diagnosis and treatments. A wise course of action is to become familiar with several of the alternative therapies and herbs that have proven themselves by helping thousands of people to heal, many times only after high tech western pharmaceutical based medicine had failed to heal. Since my primary concern is with getting and staying healthy, and not with performing scientific studies on myself or my loved ones, I tend to go for the “shotgun” approach (combining multiple alternatives). I suggest you have a variety of these materials on hand, in the event that western pharmaceutical medicines are either unavailable, or ineffective.
