WellWire · inspiring your health r/evolution » swine flu

A Recipe for Flu Fighting Tea

Dr. Nishant Rao — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 15:00:52 +0000

Photo by Ruta & Zinas.

I was recently on business in Bangkok when I awoke with the type of bone aching pain I thought could only happen in cheap Halloween movies.

I felt as though I had some form of the plague, avian flu or swine flu. With no idea where to go or who to see in Bangkok I made this simple -yet extremely powerful- antiviral, immune enhancing, microbe-crushing tea. I drank about a liter a day and was on my feet in 48 hours. Here’s how to make some of your own:

Juice a bunch of citrus for some serious vitamin C. Grapefruit, orange, limes or lemons work (I had to use pomelo in Thailand). Find your own proportions depending on what tastes good
3 inches of ginger peeled and finely chopped
2 cloves of garlic finely chopped
3 tablespoons honey
Pinch of cayenne powder if you’ve started running a fever

Add ginger, garlic, to a saucepan and bring to a boil, then cover and simmer for 5 minutes. Strain and add the fresh juice, cayenne and honey. Sip until you feel human again!

For some more tips read Dr. Gibran Ramos’ awesome tips to maximize your immunity and Christine Dionese’s Chinese medicine immune boosting tips and Treating kids this flu season.

Dr. Nishant Rao is a co-founder of WellWire.com. He is a well-traveled naturopathic doctor and new father, practicing an integrative approach to create wellness in and around Los Angeles. Become a patient or discover his practice.

Vaccinations 101

Dr. Gibran Ramos — Thu, 08 Oct 2009 12:00:26 +0000

Photo by Andres Rueda.

The H1N1 virus has led to the death of 28 pregnant women and 60 children in the U.S. so it’s no wonder the topic of vaccination is on everyone’s mind. This year’s influenza is virulent and should be considered a serious threat.

How the vaccine works

The influenza vaccine, which includes the H1N1 vaccine is made on an annual basis. Because the influenza virus changes every year, research immunologists and physicians must stay one step ahead of these mutations. The vaccine only works when the strains of the vaccine match the circulating infective strains, which isn’t always the case.

Hidden ingredients: mercury

Some preparations of vaccines contain thimerosal, a vaccine preservative that contains mercury. This mercury compound inhibits the growth of bacteria and fungi in multi-dose vaccine vials.

The Center for Disease Control (CDC) and Food and Drug Adminstration (FDA) both recommend that children and pregnant women avoid neurotoxic mercury from the environment and from food. In 2001, the FDA has eliminated or reduced to trace amounts the thimerosal found in vaccines for children under 6 years old. There will be a limited number of special thimerosal-free influenza vaccine doses available for children and pregnant women. Ask your doctor for the thimerosal-free vaccines.

Intra-nasal vaccines

There is also a thimerosal-free H1N1 influenza vaccine that is intra-nasally applied (FluMist). This form of the vaccine is a live attenuated virus. The H1N1 virus is genetically weakened which reduces the chances of causing an illness. Since this form of vaccines contains a live attenuated virus, it cannot be administered to children under 2 years old, asthmatic children under 5 years old, and immunocompromised people, and people over 49 years old. This form of the H1N1 vaccine has not been tested on pregnant women and the manufacturer recommends to use it, “only if clearly needed.”

Pregnant women and caregivers

After we are born, the immune system takes over a year to fully develop. Before this time, infants are somewhat protected by passive immunity’s immunoglobulins from the mother via the placenta and breast milk. Breast milk is therefore critical to the health of a newborn. The CDC recommends that since children under 6 months of age cannot get the H1N1 vaccine, caregivers and pregnant women should get the H1N1 vaccination.

More secret ingredients

Adjuvants are additives in some types of vaccines that help make it more likely that the vaccine will stimulate the immune system. Common adjuvants are aluminum salts and squalene. The aluminum salt adjuvant is approved for use by the CDC and found in the following vaccines: hepatitis A, hepatitis B, diphtheria-tetanus-pertussis (DTaP, Tdap), Haemopilus influenzae type b (Hib), human papillomavirus (HPV) and pneumococcus infection. No seasonal influenza (including the H1N1) contain adjuvants.

Talk to your doctor

According the the U.S. government, “The decision to get vaccinated is up to each individual.” When making an informed decision about vaccination it is always necessary to include your family’s physician in the conversation. And hopefully this post will help you ask your physician more questions!

Further reading

The Center for Disease Control’s website has information for

My fellow WellWire contributor Christine Dionese has a great post on her Integrative Approach to Healing Blog about the Swine Flu Vaccine.

Beyond vaccination, here are some preventative tips to stay healthy this flu season. Be well!

Dr. Gibran Ramos completed his six year training and internship in Naturopathic and Chinese Medicine at National College of Natural Medicine. Dr. Ramos helps patients transform their lives and optimize their well-being at a private practice in Portland, Oregon.

The Swine Flu & Anti-H1N1 Soup

Dr. Nishant Rao — Tue, 28 Apr 2009 06:54:34 +0000

Photo by jpcolasso.

If you turn on your TV it would appear that there is an apocalyptic event starting with swine in Mexico. Swine flu itself is not an uncommon occurrence, people with direct contact to pigs often have antibodies to H1N1 (the specific strain of this swine influenza virus).

The big questions: Why have there been deaths in Mexico and not the U.S.?Why did the strain kill young adults (as a pose to the more susceptible young and elderly). This is what has the CDC on a code red along with the fact that they do not have a vaccine, and 2 out of the 4 commonly used anti viral drugs are not effective against this strain.

Cause for concern or not, here are some simple precautions which will only do you a lot of good anyway.

1. Wash your hands frequently, don’t rub your eyes and have children especially avoid putting their hands in their mouths. If you are accustomed to greeting with an exchange of kisses, and extensive handshaking – don’t. CDC has recently confirmed human to human spread.

2. Pack, and I mean seriously pack your diet with these easy to get anti viral foods; Garlic, thyme, shiitake mushrooms and ginger. Not a sprinkle of thyme from a year old dried up jar. Try a bushel of the stuff in a stew, don’t be shy. Start now to give your immune system time to ramp up.

3. Don’t panic. There is no reason to at this time, and doing so will only lower your immune system, and stress you out – which will then really crash your immune system. Remember, everyone in the U.S. who contracted this has recovered and only 1 person has been hospitalized. Deep breath.

4. Find a Naturopath near you , or acupuncturist and book an appointment to work on specific preventative medicine for your body using botanical herbs, homeopathy and a number of immune boosting treatments. Anti-viral medicine is a realm where alternative medicine really shines as there are millions of complex biochemicals which when working synergistically with each other can knock influenza out cold (pun intended).

5. Don’t fly to Mexico…

Here are a couple of recipe ideas for those anti-viral nutrients.

Anti H1N1 Soup for 2

1 handful dry shiitake mushrooms, 1 tablespoon olive oil, 4 cloves garlic thinly sliced, 1 onion thinly sliced, 1 small piece ginger thinly sliced, 3 cups pork stock (lol kidding, this is hard to find – any stock will do), 4 glugs of sake, 2 spring onions.

Soak the mushrooms in boiling water until tender. Remove the soaking liquid. Saute the mushrooms, onions and garlic in a tablespoon of oil until tender but not browned. Add the stock and the ginger and simmer on low heat for about ten minutes. Season to taste and just before serving add the sake and spring onions.

Anti-H1N1 Raw Thyme Pasta

1 packet spaghetti, 4 tablespoons olive oil, 2 tablespoons bread crumbs, 2 cloves garlic sliced, half a bunch thyme washed and picked, 1 tablespoon Parmigiano

Boil the pasta (or gluten free variety) in salted water. Meanwhile heat the oil in a pan and toast the breadcrumbs until golden brown. Turn off the heat and add the garlic, thyme, salt and Parmigiano. When the pasta is ready, toss with the mixture, saving a little extra mixture for the top. You could easily add in shiitake mushrooms in this – loads and loads of them.

Happy immunity