Influenza

🌿 Overview

Influenza is caused by one of three main virus types (A, B, or C) which continually mutate. Vaccines are therefore often ineffective. Flu spreads rapidly by sneezing and coughing. It is especially dangerous for children, the elderly, and those with respiratory or immune conditions. Serious complications — pneumonia, ear and sinus infections — can develop. Natural treatments focus on rapid immune activation, fever management, and supporting the body's own defenses.

Common signs

• Sudden onset of prostration, fever, and chills
• Sore throat, hoarseness, and cough
• Headache and aching behind the eyes (sensitivity to light)
• Severe aching of the back, arms, and legs
• Abdominal pain, frequent vomiting, and diarrhea
• Enlarged lymph nodes
• Person feels cold and shaky while sweating
• Extreme weariness — distinguishes flu from common cold
• Serious complications: pneumonia, sinus infection, ear infection

🔎 Why it happens

Common causes and triggers — spotting yours is often the first step to relief.

• Influenza viruses A, B, or C — highly contagious
• Spread by sneezing and coughing (airborne droplets)
• Individual strains continually change (hence vaccines are often ineffective)
• Increased risk: poor nutrition, inadequate rest, respiratory conditions, immune weakness

✅ What to do

Gentle, practical steps you can take at home — start at the top.

1. Drink at least 10 glasses of water a day to keep lung secretions thin and replace losses
2. Zinc (15 mg three times daily) and B complex
3. Echinacea and goldenseal — prevents secondary bacterial pneumonia; at first cough, hold 1 dropperful in mouth 5–10 minutes; repeat every hour for 3–4 hours
4. Raw garlic — during the 1918 flu epidemic, 20 people who ate raw garlic daily with meals contracted no flu
5. Peppermint and elder flower teaA warm drink made by steeping herbs in hot water. How to make a tea →: 1 oz. each, ½ pint boiling water, steep 15 minutes; 1 teacup every 30–45 minutes until perspiration begins; then 2 Tbsp. every 1–2 hours
6. Fresh ginger decoctionA stronger tea made by simmering tough roots or bark. How to make a decoction →: 5-inch piece boiled in 2 cups water for 5–10 min; drink 1 cup every 2–3 hours until flu is gone
7. GargleSwishing a warm liquid at the back of the throat, then spitting. How to make a gargle → with salt water (1 tsp. salt in 1 pint warm water) for sore throat
8. Hot foot soakResting a body part (or the whole body) in warm, treated water. How to make a soak → to ease headache and nasal congestion
9. Humidify room air; keep room warm but aerated
10. Water therapy: 5-minute hot shower, dry off, wrap body in cold wet towel from armpits to groin, cover with plastic, wrap in wool blanket for 20 minutes; repeat 1–2 times daily

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🍽️ Eating to help

Food is one of the gentlest medicines — small, steady changes help most.

Favor these

• Fruit juices and vegetable soups — liquids only during acute phase
• Hot lemon juice (diaphoretic)
• Carrot juice, green and yellow vegetables (vitamin A)
• Slippery elm bark tea with honey for cough
• When transitioning back to food: bland starchy foods — dry toast, bananas, applesauce, boiled rice, cooked cereal

Go easy on

• No antibiotics — useless against viruses
• No smoking, alcohol, coffee, or junk food
• No flu vaccine (the encyclopedia's position)
• No heavy proteins or sweets initially

Do NOT take antibiotics — they are completely useless against flu virus. Do NOT suppress fever too aggressively — it is the body's weapon against the virus. Avoid the flu vaccine. Alert: If voice becomes hoarse, chest pains develop, breathing becomes difficult, or yellow-green phlegm appears — seek further care.

💬 Ask Remy about Influenza