Winter is coming…

You’re going to get sick with a cold, flu or stomach bug. It’s inevitable. Getting sick is a healthy part of being human. It’s just that our entire culture is fucked up about it. We get sick and think that something is wrong, that we have failed and we focus on how inconvenient it is. We run to the “good doctor” to get drugs and lower fevers when the body should be left to handle it on its own with the help of the right foods, herbs and lifestyle interventions.

Plus, money makes the world go round and when you’re sick, you can’t work. I don’t want to minimize anyone’s financial stress with acute illness. But that we have an economic system that doesn’t allow space for being sick beyond pisses me off. Until we stop valuing productivity more than healthy immune function, then we can continue to enjoy our dysfunctional bodies in the form of chronic inflammation, including allergies, autoimmune disease and cancer.

Look, many cultural shifts often happen when enough individuals change. So let me ask you this…

Are you up for celebrating your mucus membranes this fall and winter?

When you get sick, can you set your ego aside and really lean into it? Effectively saying, “I’m not a goddamn machine! I am a human being!”

Can you engage in one of the most holy acts of resistance against capitalism and the patriarchy by staying in bed and caring for yourself? This isn’t weakness; this is great feminine strength!

If you’re a parent, can you let your child have a fever or cough or whatever…can you tolerate your child being miserable or do you just want to make it all go away?

Can you embrace the reality that when you get sick and do it right, you and your child are really getting stronger and that you haven’t failed?

Well managed acute infections in childhood can set the stage for a healthy a immune system in adulthood. If you fuck this early stage up, you may not be able to fix it later.

So I don’t want to talk about prevention right now. We know how to prevent illness: good clean air and water, nutrient dense foods, less carbohydrates and sugar, minimal alcohol, the right amount of movement, avoidance of food allergies, stress management (whatever the fuck that means), rest, and appropriate nutritional and herbal supplements (please note the absence of vaccines). Yep, we know what prevention looks like…until our healthy habits get compromised and the body becomes hospitable to a bug. Then what? That’s what I want to talk about: how to be sick like a motherfucking rock star.

Ok. Are you ready? Are your mucus membranes all pumped up about getting exercised? Good.

Here’s how we ensure that we make the best of acute illness:

Stay hydrated. I know – boring! But this is a necessary reminder that the best part of your immune system resides in the mucus membranes which are moist. Your mucus membranes are performing a barrier function AND sending important messages to the rest of your body. If you’re dehydrated, then they can’t do their jobs properly. We want that mucus to flow! So drink plenty of room temperature water and hot herbal teas. My favorites include organic peppermint, Equal Exchange Vanilla Rooibos, Rishi’s Turmeric Ginger and Organic India’s Holy Basil.

Calcium Lactate powder. Calcium lactate comes from beets and is dairy-free. This form of calcium is highly absorbable and supports the 1% of calcium flowing through your bloodstream that performs an immune function. Calcium lactate is able to call the white blood cells into action and many people are deficient in it. When trying to understand this product, you can also think of the role that calcium plays in nature: it provides a protective shell and it’s going to do the same for you. I like adding a teaspoon or two to my electrolytes, which plays right back into my first suggestion: consume more fluids.

Andrographis Complex. This tablet is a combination of andrographis herb, echinacea root, and holy basil herb and essential oil. This formula is designed for acute infections and clears heat. Wherever there is heat in the body, there is the opportunity for stagnation, particularly in the liver which has to clear all the immune complexes formed in the blood. This formula is not only boosting immune function, it’s helping with detoxification. It helps the body manage its inflammation without interrupting the process, ultimately helping you feel better than you would without it. 6-8 per day is recommended and if you take too much, your stomach might get upset. No problem just reduce the dosage and carry on with your mission.

Broncafect Phytosynergist. This is a liquid herbal blend of echinacea root, licorice root, pleurisy root, thyme leaf, ginger rhizome, and white horehound herb. You can use this to manage fevers and move the fuck out of mucus. It’s primarily for wet coughs, but you can also use it for the sinuses. It will warm you UP and empower the body to move the pathogens OUT. I always have at least two bottles in my stash because all of these things are useless if you don’t have them when the bug hits! I like to turn Broncafect into a tea, putting 5-10 mLs in a glass of room temperature water and drinking it slowly. 5 mLs is a metric teaspoon and during an acute situation, I might push the dose up to 6-9 teaspoons per day.

And while I sip on my Broncafect tea, I bathe my sick ass in Dr Singha’s Mustard Bath. This gem of a creation contains: baking soda, mustard seed powder, and essential oils of wintergreen, eucalyptus, rosemary, thyme and gum benzoin. Again, you are warming your body up and relaxing! Have you watched Stranger Things? When the shadow monster from the upside down invades Will’s body, it likes it cold. So it goes with an infection. Heat makes you inhospitable to the virus. Burn that shit out.

Essential oil steams. This looks like filling your sink with boiling hot water, placing 2-3 drops of your favorite essential oil in it, covering your head with a towel, and breathing deeply for 5-10 minutes. It’s awkward as well, but worth it. My favorite essential oil is tea tree oil because it is highly antimicrobial and not irritating…to me. Because that’s the thing with essential oils, what you like can be very personal. So go with what you like! They all have antimicrobial properties and this steam inhalation allows you to reach the most affected mucus membranes: the sinus cavity and the lungs.

If you are hungry, eat. If you are not hungry, don’t eat. Pretty fucking simple, heh? Your body is smart; it will tell you what to do if you let it.

A commitment to doing nothing. Both literally and figuratively, not doing is probably the most important of all. The Western medical model prides itself on interventions. The entire system is built upon the idea that man can do it better than Mother Nature. I call bullshit. The most crucial thing you can do when you’re sick is NOTHING and let your body do the work. It will hurt. You will be uncomfortable. It will be hard. But I have faith that you can handle it and come out of the other side that much stronger. Learn to do this well in your body, and you can pass the gift on to your children.

Be sick like a motherfucking rock star in peace, my friends!

Love,

Charlotte

PS – If this conversation about fevers scares the shit out of you, please find a health professional who can walk you through the process and be there to support you. There are medical doctors who understand the value of a good fever – find them!

Just a reminder that the Standard Process and MediHerb products listed above are available through licensed health professionals who have been trained in how to use them.

Last but not least, I am excited to be attending the first Electromagnetic Fields Conference 2019 Diagnosis and Treatment: Effects of EMF Exposure and The Impact of Today’s Wireless Technologies next weekend. I just finished another book on the subject matter titled Would You Put Your Head in a Microwave Oven? by Dr Gerald Goldberg. Compelling:

“In terms of the point of this book, one should ask oneself, how could everyone across different regions of the country be getting sick at the same time? Also how is it that the number of ill people seems to be increasing in numbers! Focus on the common link. There are not many things in nature that can affect individuals across broad geographic areas. Microwave radiation exposure is the singular unifying link till proven otherwise. There should be no debate. Apart from all the other environmental toxins and pollutants that we are exposed to microwave radiation will act as an accelerant of illness” (p35).

From his perspective, we are all cooking. So think about this next time you put your cell phone anywhere near your body.

Sorry to end on such a depressing note. Thanks for reading!