Natural Flu Remedies and Immune Boosters

So these are just my thoughts and suggestions and in no way replace a medical professional's advice.

I am pretty sure that my family has already had the swine flu. This is what we did to deal with it.

1. Increase Vitamin D consumption: a recommended daily does is 2000-5000iu depending on the time of year but if you are sick you can increase that to 10,000iu per day. You can check out the Vitamin D councils website for more info. I gave my 8mo old 800iu/day and M 1200iu/day. You can get it in a liquid in the D3 form and this is supposed to be the most bioavailable plus you don't have to swallow 10 pills.

2. Ingest raw garlic: If you've got kids who won't take it you can steep it in olive oil for an hour and rub it into the soles of their feet. We took 2 crushed cloves per day. Garlic is a natural antiviral. FYI you will smell like garlic bread. This is probably the easiest and most effective method.

3. Essential oil rub: 2 drops eucalyptus, 3drops lavender, 3 drops tea tree, 2 drops bergamot (I used marjoram), 10 drops caulophylllum inophyllum (I didn't have this so left it out), mixed in 1oz carrier oil (I used almond). Rub this into the chest, back and soles of feet before bed. H said it caused him to have night sweats but this is a good thing and means his body was shedding the virus. I also used a diffuser for the leftovers. It helped H breathe easier and it kills germs in the air.

3. Vitamin C: I gave my 3.5yr old 1.5G per day when he was sick and dropped it to 500mg when he stopped showing symptoms. H took 4G per day. FYI a large dose of Vit C can give you intestinal upset. Ester-C is easier on the stomach if you are sensitive.

4. Elderberry tincture: This tastes awful by the way but we took 2ml a day. It has been shown to be a better antiviral than Tamiflu. It has been used for centuries around the world.

5. Green Tea: Drink this all day it is also a natural antiviral filled with lots of antioxidants.

6. Tea tree oil bath: 10 drops in epsom salts in the hot bath and then straight to bed. This helps your body absorb the tea tree and loosen up the mucus.

7. Colloidal silver: This is antiviral and antibacterial. I gave M 2 doses of this over 2 days and his symptoms all went away except the night cough. I also gave it to H when he said his chest was feeling tight as he gets bronchitis easily. The feeling was gone the next day.

I am going to keep us all on a maintenance dose of Vit. C & D this winter and see if it helps keep us healthier.

Some other ideas that I didn't try:

Tulsi tea or paste
Zinc lozenges
Vit. E
Homeopathic oscillococcinum
Fresh unpasteurized apple juice
Apple cider vinegar

Hope this helps someone it certainly helped us.