Next week I’ll be on a flight from Kuala Lumpur back to Bali.
I’ve been asked to return to Kuala Lumpur to be the featured speaker at this year’s International Congress on Anti-Aging in Malaysia based on the speech I gave there last year.
The night before this year’s speech, at the gala reception, Dr. Raj Subramaniam, the leader of the Royal Anti-Aging Society of Malaysia, is going to give me the President’s achievement award.
I’ve lectured all over the world, but I hope I don’t get self-conscious during my speech after an honor like that.
Right after, I’m flying back to Bali to finish up the new book I’m working on, Natural Health from Paradise: Rediscovering Health Secrets from Bali. I’ll meet my friends Lelir and Westi, and they’re introducing me to two other traditional herbalists. So I have a lot of work to do in Bali before I come back.
Still, with all these plane rides, I’ll probably see quite a few people with white masks on because of the latest bird flu scare from China.
If I were flying China air I’d probably see a lot more people freaking out over the newest bird flu. But I told my assistant S.D. never to book me on that airline again. Last trip to Bali, China Air lost all my luggage. I had to buy new clothes at a flea market in Ubud. So I went to my meetings in t-shirts, shorts and sandals.
But my plane will make a stop in Taiwan on the way, so I’m sure I’ll see people in white masks.
Even in the US, reports on the newest strain of bird flu virus fill the media. Except that in the States, when they warn of an epidemic, they suggest that a vaccine is your only protection.
That’s why today I’m going to show you why your own immune system is better than any drug. I’ll give you a list of herbs and supplements that if taken together, can help your immune system protect you from most viruses. And I’ll show you a unique root from Bali that can help, too.
So far, the only deaths from bird flu have occurred in China. Your current chances of getting the H7N9 bird flu are exceedingly remote. You have a better chance of being struck by lightning or winning the lottery.
In order for there to be an epidemic, the virus would have to mutate before it could go from person to person. No one can say if that has or will ever happen.
During the last bird flu scare, government officials compared the threat to the 1918 flu epidemic, and claimed that the bird flu could kill up to 2 million Americans. Their special report concluded that even in a “best case” scenario, 200,000 would die. A strange way to word it.
One thing is certain: The big drug makers stand to make huge profits. Part of the government’s plan includes stockpiling doses of the two drugs they use to vaccinate people, Tamiflu and Relenza. Except tests on the new strain of bird flu shows it may be resistant to those drugs.
That means the government stockpile of 20 million doses, with a value of $2 billion, would be worthless and they’d have to buy whatever new drug the pharmaceutical companies come up with.
This is not the first time an outbreak scare has produced big profits for drug makers. In 1976, President Ford was so worried about a “killer” outbreak of swine flu he spent hundreds of millions of dollars on vaccinations that turned out to have terrible side effects.
Over five hundred people came down with Guillain-Barre Syndrome, a condition that causes a crippling paralysis of your legs. Twenty-five people died. The lawsuits started to fly and at the end of the day, the government paid out over 90 million dollars to the victims of the inappropriate and dangerous vaccine program.
You may think that thirty years later, Tamiflu must be better. But an FDA advisory panel conducted a review of Tamiflu after five children died after taking the flu medicine, and reports of abnormal behavior and other brain effects in more than 1,800 other children. Cases involved convulsions, delirium or delusions.
The only thing the FDA did was recommend that stronger warnings about possible psychiatric side effects be added to the Tamiflu label.
But the simple truth is your own immune system is more powerful than any drug. Combined with a few immune-boosting herbs, you have everything you need to fight infection and stay healthy.
Below, you’ll find a list of twelve of my favorite anti-viral herbs. You can use them separately, but they have their greatest impact when used together. Look for a formula at your local health food store with combinations of the following.
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Echinacea |
Olive Leaves |
Garlic |
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Astragalus |
Licorice |
Shiitake Mushrooms |
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Cat’s Claw |
Ginger |
Onion |
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St. John’s Wort |
Lemon Balm |
Green Tea |
One of the herbs Westi and Lelir grow in their huge garden is a relative of ginger called galangal. Westi dug up some of the fresh root for me when I was there and it smells wonderful. But where ginger is a bit yellow-orange, galangal is white on the inside.
Galangal root is related to ginger… but it’s white on the inside, not yellowish-orange. |
In Bali they use galangal to boost the immune system, and treat the flu and colds and reduce fever.
The components are anti-cancer, anti-bacterial, anti-inflammatory, and anti-viral.1,2
Asian specialty stores around the world offer fresh galangal root. Fresh galangal will keep in your refrigerator for three or four days, but after that it starts to break down. That’s why I recommend the dried root.
Crush the dried root and use it as a spice, or cut up the dried root and add it to fish. It tastes great and will help reduce any “fishy” taste.
Galangal is available as an immune-boosting supplement, too. You can get capsules and the root powder, and you can often find it in tinctures mixed with ginger.
You can also combine 55 micrograms of selenium (it’s involved in making immune cells) and about 2000 mg of Vitamin C with the above herbs.
1. Middleton, E, Kandaswami, C. "The impact of plant flavonoids on mammalian biology: Implication for immunity, inflammation and cancer. In: Harborne J. “The flavonoids: Advances in Research since 1986.” London. Chapman and Hall. 1993. pp.619-652.
2. Chudiwal A, Jain D, Somani R. "Alpinia galanga Willd.– An overview on phyto-pharmacological properties." Indian Journal of Natural Products and Resources. 2010;Vol. 1(2), pp. 143-149.