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Can You Eat Your Way to Preventing the Flu
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(11/21/09) Onions, garlic, echinacea and elderberries may help to prevent the flu. Even the Moldova Army is dolling out garlic and onions to fight swine flu.
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November 21, 2009 -- Much of the news this Fall has been about the availability, the non-availability, and then the availability again of inoculations for both seasonal flu and swine flu.
But the most bizarre story this week has been that of the Moldova Army dolling out garlic and onions to fight swine flu. The army is adding the equivalent of a small onion and a few cloves of garlic to the daily diets of its soldiers.
So, it begs the question…yeah, yeah, yeah, sneeze into your elbow, wash your hands…and all that, but can you possibly eat certain foods that may help fend off the flu or, at least, reduce its duration? The Moldova Army certainly thinks so. |
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Sambucol, an extract of the Elderberry (above), has been found to shorten the duration of the flu by half.
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Even Dr. Weil, a proponent of alternative as well as Western medicine, believes that daily doses of vitamin C, garlic, echinacea and astragalus can help boost your immunity to fight the flu.
Garlic along with echinacea is commonly used in China as traditional Chinese medicine to prevent and cure colds and flu.
Garlic has long been heralded as boosting the human immune system against heart disease and cancer. It also has both antiviral and antibacterial properties It contains a chemical, allicin, which is released when the garlic is crushed, which is believed to increase immunity to the flu. |
Elderberry extract is also believed to be a strong flu fighting natural remedy. In 1995 Israel scientists treated both children and adults who developed flu while living on a kibbutz. The double-blind study concluded that Sambucol, an extract of the Elderberry which contains flavonoids with antiviral properties. did indeed shorten the duration of the flu by half.
Garlic is readily available in your grocery store, you may have to procure the elderberry extract (Sambucus nigra) at a health food store. Or, you can pick and process your own. Elderberries do grow wild in many areas of the U.S. and the UK. But it's a pain to separate those little stems from each berry. Jelly anyone?
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