JJ Pursell - Medicinal Herbs for Immune Defense

JJ PURSELL

Timber Press
Portland, Oregon

Hello and welcome to an exploration of herbal medicine. This book, which is an abridged version of Master Recipes for the Herbal Apothecary, is intended as a resource for these troubling times. With the introduction of COVID-19 and the rise of novel viruses, we have found ourselves in unknown territory. Even those of us who research day in and day out have been left perplexed and often with more questions. Our immune systems, novel viruses, and the way the two interact create an ever-changing playing field, and it will most likely be years before we have a solid base of accurate information from which to make educated decisions.

In the meantime, we do what we know. Throughout the initial spread of COVID-19, I used herbs to keep myself and my family healthy. Sometimes my children would run from the room when certain tincture bottles from the regimen emerged, but I stuck to the foundations of my knowledge and we blessedly came out unscathed.

Protecting ourselves on the outside is the baseline of defense. The techniques of true hand washing, masks that minimize respiratory droplet exchange, gloves, changing of clothes, and social distancing all have solid research behind them. While nature cures and herbs have their limitations, using them to support our immune systems can provide a level of protection.

We exercise to keep our physical bodies strong and flexible. We choose healthy foods to optimize physical performance and vitalize our daily actions. And we take herbs as a preventative measure to support our organs and ensure they are functioning at their best. You can choose which herbs to take based on desired effects and intention, but youll also want to ensure you are nourishing and considering the overall health of the individual.

This book is intended to provide general support to our innate immune systems. As research into new pathologies advances and new viruses are introduced into society, I encourage you to seek out accurate and reliable information. Some of my favorite resources are Kerry Bone, The Botanical Society of America, and Peter DAdamo.

I have been reflecting on my experience over the last 20 years with patient and customer needs. Immune health is always a topic of conversation during fall and winter months. As cooler weather ushers people back inside and leads to the closing of windows, I gear up for the seasons onslaught. Typically, I would know by December what type of year it was going to be. Some years were stomach flu years, others sinus colds or a rampant chest infection such as bronchitis. The trends were simple to follow and the information readily available. This allowed me to curate formulas and support my patients to the best of my ability.

In an age of antibiotic overuse and resistance, herbs offer our bodies support when faced with run-of-the-mill colds, flus, and foreign invasions. Antibiotics are best used to combat bacterial infections. Although they are ineffective in treating viruses, many people try to use them for this purpose anyway. In the past several decades, bacteria, viruses, and other organisms have advanced, figuring out new ways to overcome antibiotics and vaccines. If the host (your body) isnt providing the invader (a virus or bacteria) what it needs, the invader can mutate in an attempt to sneak around your defenses. More advanced invaders, such as the novel coronavirus, have learned to attack particular gateways on the cell to enable direct penetration of vital organs.

One of the best things we can do for these modern problems is to reacquaint ourselves with traditional herbal ways. Traditionally, yarrow is known to break fevers, boneset to ease the ache of flu, and sage to relieve a sore throat. Simple remedies of days long past offer an abundance of opportunities to care for ourselves and relieve suffering. Though Ive been an herbalist for more than twenty-five years, I dont waiver in my daily practice of preventative care and am extremely diligent at the first sign of illness. I encourage you to adopt a daily practice that is feasible and protective.

As a motivated, creative go-getter type, I dont have the patience to be sick and, truth be told, Im not a pleasant patient. Im so sensitive that when even the slightest disturbance hits my body I need to go into shutdown mode. Its not something I can ignore or do my best to just get through. Instead, I attack whatever is attacking me, and I suggest you do the same.

A quick word about dehydration. When youre sick, sometimes its hard enough just to lie in bed, let alone ensure youre drinking enough fluids. But upping your fluid intake is very important, especially if vomiting and/or diarrhea or thick congestion are present. Dehydration can sneak up on you, and before you know it, your decline is complicated by lack of hydration. When it sets in, you often feel extreme fatigue accompanied by any of the following: headache, dizziness, fever and chills, nausea, muscle cramps, or increased heart rate. Besides keeping you hydrated, upping your fluid intake breaks up excessive mucus, prevents constipation, reduces headaches, flushes the body of toxins, and keeps blood pressure normalized. If youve been vomiting and cant keep fluids down, taking sips of Replenish Herbal Tea every 15 minutes will help calm the stomach and open up the digestive process once again. And when I say sips, thats exactly what I mean. One tiny sip and then wait for a full 15 minutes. Any more than that can trigger the stomach to convulse and repel the healing fluids, especially if youve been in a vomiting spell.

One powerful reason for turning to herbal medicine is that it provides access to healing medicine on the spot, hours or days before you could even get a doctors appointment. It gives the body a chance to hold steady through or potentially overcome an illness before we are able to access help from our practitioner.

How and why herbs work is something of an esoteric conversation. I could provide endless citations of scientific papers on the effects of specific plant constituents, but the total healing effect of an herb on the body is more than the sum of its parts. Lets take echinacea as an example. Echinacea is one of the most researched herbs, with most researchers isolating individual components of the root to identify what actions it produces in the body. This is the most common way for researchers to study an herb, by taking it apart and looking at each part (constituent) individually. The most prominent constituents of Echinacea purpurea are caffeic acid derivatives (phenolic compounds), alkamides, and polysaccharides. Research shows that caffeic acid derivatives are potent antioxidants that have important anti-inflammatory effects. Alkamides have stimulatory effects on phagocytosis (they destroy foreign cell types) and trigger effects on the pro-inflammatory cytokines. Cytokines are cell-signaling molecules that aid cell-to-cell communication in immune responses and stimulate the movement of cells toward sites of inflammation, infection, and trauma.

My point here is that research is a great way to identify the individual components of an herb and their actions. This serves an educational purpose and adds to the body of scientific knowledge about plants looked to by those who prefer to rely on science as they consider how to incorporate herbs into their lives. But, and Im guessing you were feeling the