Wealden Times | WT180 | February 2017 | Wedding supplement inside

Beat the bugs
Wealden Times wards off the sniffles this season,
with advice from experts on a more natural
approach to immunity
The Natural Healer
Anna Parkinson explains the natural
use and versatility of herbal medicines...
What are the benefits of using a herbal product over
pharmaceutical drugs? Pharmaceutical drugs are crisis
medicine, while herbal remedies and tinctures tend to be
slower acting but far more effective in the long run. When
you take an aspirin or paracetamol for headache, cold or
pain, you are not boosting your immune system to fight
off the cause of the problem naturally, but suppressing the
symptoms. So it’s always more effective in the long run
(and cheaper!) to consider using herbal remedies regularly
for a few days to a week until the symptoms have cleared.
Are there any particular herbs or tinctures that are
specifically beneficial for boosting the immune system?
Herbs that boost the immune system include well known
remedies like echinacea and garlic. Garlic, in the form of
an extract of its essential ingredient, allicin, has even been
successfully used on diseased trees! Botanists achieved 95%
success with diseased horse chestnut trees by injecting them
with the extract. Generally it is best to use herbs as near to
their fresh state as possible, and there are many other useful
herbs easily available to Weald dwellers. Bitter herbs like
thyme, rosemary and sage are antibacterial and antiviral
and these stay green all through the year in the garden.
You can replace your normal cuppa with tea made from
a sprig of rosemary steeped in hot water for 10 minutes.
It helps clear the sinuses and relieves headache. Ginger
tea first thing in the morning, made from fresh ginger,
with lemon if you like it, will clear your digestion and
boost your immune system so it’s a good thing to drink
through the winter. Dark green vegetables, like cabbage
and kale, as part of your daily diet, have the same effect.
Do you have a suggestion for soothing sore throats?
The most effective remedy I know for sore throat and
chesty cough is sage tea. Take a fresh sprig and steep it in
a cup for ten minutes, covered, and add honey if you like.
Drink a cup of this three times a day for two or three days.
If you feel the cold is very deep in your chest, do the same
thing with thyme and drink that for a day or two before
moving on to the sage. The rule is “Thyme for the chest,
sage for the throat, rosemary for the head.” These are all
powerful naturalised antibacterial and antiviral herbs that
we don’t make enough use of. I’ve known sage tea to work
for everyone who has a cold or a cough that won’t shift,
with the notable exception of my husband, of course, who
swore I was trying to poison him when I gave him sage tea!
Anna Parkinson is a writer and healer whose books include
Nature’s Alchemist, John Parkinson, herbalist to Charles
I, and Change Your Mind, Heal Your Body. She can be
contacted through annaparkinson.com or 07818 061605.
The Homeopath
Dr. Christine gives us an
insight into immunity...
Conventional medicine deals with treating the symptoms
of illness. How does homeopathy treatment differ from
this? Conventional medicine mostly suppresses symptoms,
while natural therapies, in particular homeopathy, strengthens
the body’s own immune system enabling it to fight infections
and illnesses better. Repeated antibiotic treatment will harm
the bowel flora, which is now recognised as a very important
part of the body’s immune system. Regular treatment with
homeopathy of both acute and chronic illnesses will improve
the body’s ability to deal with infections more successfully.
Special remedies are available to treat and to prevent coughs,
colds and flu. Remedies like Kali bich, Hydrastis and Sticta
pulm are frequently used to relieve sinus pressure, congestion
and headaches. Many cough remedies are available and Ant
tart, Ipecac, Bryonia, Pulsatilla and Spongia are used frequently.
How can we improve our immune system long-term with
homeopathy or natural methods? The immune system
is of crucial importance to our well-being and survival. It
continually fights invaders like bacteria and viruses, as well
as our own mutated cells. Proper nutrition is very important
for a well-functioning and healthy immune system. Plenty of
fresh fruit and vegetables will provide vitamins, minerals and
antioxidants. It is also important to stay away from refined
sugar, which competes with Vitamin C in our white blood
cells, one of our main immune system cells.
Any top tips for relieving congestion and headache? Cold
and flu remedies include Aconite, Gelsemium, Belladonna,
Eupatorium perf and Ars iodatum, to mention a few.
Homeopathy is always chosen for the individual patient
taking his/her particular symptoms into account, so a
dry barking cough, which is better outdoors and worse at
night will respond to a different remedy than a wet cough
which worsens at changes in temperature and lying down.
This way the patient’s symptoms are ideally matched to
the remedy, which will be most beneficial to him/her.
General relief for coughs, colds and flu can be achieved
with Echinacea, Vitamin C and Zinc supplements as well
as saline irrigation and steam inhalation. Rest is nowadays
an often forgotten, but very important, ‘medicine’ as your
body needs time and energy to overcome an infection.
Dr. Christine Suppelt is a Homeopathic Physician
and medical acupuncturist based in Maidstone, Kent.
To find out more or book an appointment visit
homeopathykent.co.uk or phone 01622 741086.
121 wealdentimes.co.uk