Compiled by Armonia Health LLC practitioners

Disclaimer:  The following information is based on what Armonia Health LLC practitioners do for themselves, their spouse, and their children, it is based on their professional Chinese medicine training, recommendations from trained herbalists, naturopaths, homeopaths; their own research, and their personal experience of using remedies and supplements for themselves and their family.  Please consult a licensed acupuncturist with training in Chinese herbs, a trained herbalist, naturopath, homeopath, or a medical physician trained in use of supplements for your particular presentation and constitution and for optimum dosaging, and do your own research. Always read product labels. No part of this article constitutes personal recommendations nor treatment.

The intention of this article is to provide an idea of the wealth of options that can be used to protect the body from suffering from a common cold, virus, or flu; to diminish the severity of symptoms, shorten the duration of the progression, and help with the emotional dis-ease (we may remember how awful it felt to have a fever when young and staying home from school).  We hope this article sparks your curiosity, inspires you, and helps you connect to other practitioners that can give you specific recommendations. Since we are several practitioners, this is a compilation, it is not all to be done at once nor for one person, and some of these practices take time to incorporate or see if they work for you and your family. We hope this article also works as a reminder that your health is in your hands and you can come back to these practices time and again.   Best wishes!

Here is what we compiled to protect ourselves and for prevention, based on our personal understanding of our bodies:

• Get enough rest and sleep when tired, limit stressful social activities at night when feeling run down, relax
• Get exercise and movement, walk between 8,000-10,000 steps per day
• Get at least 10 minutes of sun daily
• Eat whole foods. Don’t give your body more to do when you are trying to heal (or stay healthy). The more processed the food the harder the body has to work to break it down and digest it.
• Drink/cook with bone broth made from beef marrow bones, adding garlic, onion, leeks, cinnamon, star anise, herbs, veggies.  Drink miso soup made with onion, ginger, scallions, mushrooms, and veggies. Fire Cider (herbal remedy made from apple cider vinegar steeped with, garlic, onion, cayenne, horseradish, various herbs) may be taken as a diluted spoonful like cough syrup or used in food like as a dressing or marinade.  
• Stay hydrated with enough filtered/reverse osmosis water evenly spaced out throughout the day (The current recommendation is: Divide your body weight in pounds by 2, and drink that much water in ounces per day)
• Avoid sugar, it decreases your body’s immune response for several hours
• Keep feet warm at all times and a scarf around the neck whenever there is a chill or windy outside
• Warm up with a hot shower and a cup of ginger tea if one has gotten chilled or rained on being outside
• Various immune-supportive herbal remedies, example is Jade Windscreen (Chinese classical herbal formula)
• Elderberry syrup daily (particularly tasty, so easy for children to take)
• Hand sanitizer and essential oils for travelling

This is what we do or take during the early stages of feeling run down and “coming down with something”, with symptoms like sore throat, sinus congestion, slight cough, sinus headache, fatigue with body ache, chills:

• Various herbal remedies that may have bitter qualities, help the body sweat, and/or have anti-viral and anti-bacterial properties:  examples include diluted Fire Cider sweetened with honey, Jackass Bitters from the rainforests of Belize, berberine herbs commonly called Three Bitters in Chinese medicine, Isatis (ban lan gen) a mild tasting herb, Gan Mao Ling herbal formula (translated from the Chinese as Cold Remedy), Lomatium Dissectum
• Diluted therapeutic essential oils such eucalyptus, peppermint, and or tea tree or rubbing VicksVaporub on the chest, back and feet at night.  Example: Eucalyptus Steam for congestion- Pour steaming hot water into a bowl, put 1-2 drops of eucalyptus essential oil in water. Cover head with blanket/towel, lean over bowl, keep eyes closed and inhale through nose for several minutes. This should aid in clearing sinuses and loosen mucus in nose and lungs to be  more easily expectorated.
• Ways to sweat and lower a mild fever:  1) Rubbing alcohol on the body when there is a mild fever (common Hispanic home remedy) helps cool the body. 2) Taking a bath at night in a strong scallion/ginger tea while drinking the broth, getting under the covers and waiting for the body to sweat (do not sleep in wet/damp clothes).
• Alternate Vitamin C and Zinc throughout the day, or increase vitamin C intake.
• Increase dosages of the herbal remedies that were taken for prevention (consult your practitioner for specific dosages).
• Honey and various herbal cough syrups that are great tasting and non-drowsy.
• For children, Gentle Warriors is a line of Chinese herbal formulas made in the USA for common pediatric presentations.
• Homeopathic remedies for flu and its associated symptoms