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When it comes to wellness, one thing always worth keeping strong is your immune system. But since our digestive system is the gateway to our immune system in that it can make the difference between absorbing nutrients or toxins, it is in your best interest to optimize digestion to benefit your immune system.
For overall immune system support, these herbs are very effective:
ASTRAGALUS provides antiviral, antibacterial, and anti-inflammatory benefits to the immune system. Astragalus' potency has even shown to decrease the inflammation seen in cancer patients (1).
ECHINACEA IS a very popular herb that helps fight colds and respiratory infections (2). Be sure not to take echinacea all the time because the repeated use over a long period of time lessens its effectiveness.
ELDERBERRY contains anti-viral properties that are believed to prevent the flu virus from penetrating the body. For people with underactive immune systems, elderberry has been shown to activate the healthy immune system by increasing inflammatory cytokine production (3).
When it comes to digestion, these herbs that can normalize your digestive system:
CHAMOMILE has gained popularity for its relief of mild tension and stress, exhibiting calmative and sedative properties to relieve insomnia. Animal research suggests chamomile can relax gastrointestinal spasms and reduce inflammation in the stomach and intestines, easing stomach pain and cramps along with relief of menstrual cramps (5).
GINGER has been used by the Chinese as a stomach aid for thousands of years. 6-Gingerol, one of the major components of fresh ginger, has been shown to also have tremendous antioxidant effects (6).
References:
1. Wei H. Traditional Chinese medicine Astragalus reverses predominance of Th2 cytokines and their up-stream transcript factors in lung cancer patients. Oncology Reports 2003; 10(5): 1507-12
2. Goel V. Efficacy of a standardized echinacea preparation (EchinilinTM) for the treatment of the common cold: a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial. Journal of Clinical Pharmacy and Therapeutics 2004 Feb; 29(1): 75-83
3. Barak V. The effect of Sambucol, a black elderberry-based, natural product, on the production of human cytokines: I. Inflammatory cytokines. European Cytokine Network 2001; 12(2): 290-6
4. Rycroft RJ. Recurrent facial dermatitis from chamomile tea. Contact Dermatitis 2003; 48(4): 229
5. www.numitea.com
6. Wang CC. Effects of 6-gingerol, an antioxidant from ginger, on inducing apoptosis in human leukemic HL-60 cells. In Vivo 2003; 17(6): 641-5
Submitted by Greg Arnold, February 11, 2004, Abstracted from "A Cup of Wellness", Taste for Life Magazine, November, 2003
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