Is There a Herbal Cure for Swine Flu?

Natural Antiviral Remedies

Jul 12, 2009 Sarah Tomley

Herbal medicine works on flu in two ways: by building the immune system, and using antiviral herbs. This article looks at the most important antiviral herbs.

Many pharmaceutical drugs are chemical “copies” of compounds that were originally extracted from plants, but herbalists believe that constituents within the whole plant make the herbs more effective than the use of one compound alone. Several herbs used in traditional herbal medicine have scientifically documented antiviral effects.

There are three key antiviral herbal remedies: elderberry, licorice, and garlic.

Elderberry (Sambucus nigra)

The plant with the strongest antiviral action is believed to be elderberry. This is because black elderberry proteins contain an element called antivirin, which has been shown to disarm the flu virus by preventing it from invading healthy cells’ membranes. Researchers formulated an elderberry extract which was tested against eight different strains of the flu virus (both Type A and Type B) in the lab and found to be effective against all of them. In one study, 60 flu victims took either 15 mL of elderberry extract or a placebo, four times a day for five days. The elderberry relieved symptoms four days earlier than did the placebo (1)

During a flu epidemic in the 1990s scientists in Israel carried out clinical trials on the elderberry. Patients displaying full-blown flu symptoms were given elderberry extract, and 75 per cent of patients reported a clear improvement within 48 hours. Within 72 hours 90 per cent of patients were symptom-free. Subsequent research seems to show that black elderberry extract is effective against the Bird Flu virus. (2)

Many elderberry preparations are available from herbalists worldwide.

Licorice

Licorice (from the root of Glycyrrhiza glabra) is a powerful antiviral. The licorice root contains numerous compounds, including glycyrrhizic acid (GA). GA inhibits the replication of several viruses in vitro including herpes viruses, HIV, and the SARS coronavirus (3). But note that when taken orally, GA is mostly hydrolyzed to glycyrrhetic acid by bacteria in the gastrointestinal tract before GA can be absorbed, and scientists therefore administer it intravenously in therapeutic situations.

Licorice is also useful for treating symptoms of flu, including sore throat, bronchitis, cough, and arthritis, and is known boost adrenal function.

Licorice is widely available – but limit your intake. Low quantities of glycyrrhizin can build up over days or weeks (it’s not all converted to glycyrrhetic acid) and cause elevations in blood pressure, fluid retention, and alteration in potassium levels. Don’t take licorice if you are pregnant – it has been associated with premature births.

Garlic (Allium sativum)

Garlic is antiviral and antibacterial, and several of the sulfur compounds in garlic are active against the flu virus. (4) Fresh garlic has been proven to destroy viral infections on contact such as measles, mumps, chicken pox, herpes simplex and zoster, viral hepatitis, and scarlet fever.

Most herbalists and naturopaths recommend eating garlic itself, not capsules, for the most potent result, and suggest that you need around 4 cloves a day as a preventative measure, and around 16 cloves a day once you have flu, in order to be effective. (Eat some parsley and cardomon seeds afterwards to keep your breath fresh.)

Lemon balm (Melissa officinalis).

This is one of the most traditional herbal cures for flu, and has been used for centuries. It is such a powerful antiviral that the active ingredient has been isolated by scientists, and it is currently sold in Germany as “Lomaherpan” to cure herpes. Lemon balm also relieves many of the symptoms of flu, bringing relaxing sleep, relieving cramps and gas, stopping spasms, and relieving pain. Use fresh or freeze-dried leaves in a tea.

Juniper (Juniperus, various species)

Juniper contains a potent antiviral compound (deoxypodophyllotoxin) that seems to inhibit many different viruses. Many herbalists recommend it as a cure for flu. During the 1918 Spanish Flu epidemic, which killed around 20 million people worldwide, a number of hospitals tried to stop airborne infection spreading by spraying vapourized essential oils into the atmosphere of flu wards – juniper was one of the oils which was found to be particularly effective.

Shiitake (Lentinus edodes)

This mushroom has antiviral and immune-stimulating properties. It contains a compound called lentinan that has been found to protect against viral encephalitis in mice (5), and has been an important medicinal weapon in China, Korea and Japan for thousands of years.

Ginger (Zingiber officinale)

Ginger contains ten antiviral compounds. It reduces pain and fever, acts as a cough suppressant and is “warming” – it can help heat the body up, helping you to ’sweat it out’. Herbalist Michael Tierra recommends drinking hot ginger tea (ginger root infused for at least ten minutes) after a hot bath and then getting into bed with lots of duvets or blankets. Viral replication can’t happen once the body reaches high temperatures, and viruses will die in body temperatures that exceed 101ºF.

Honeysuckle and Forsythia

This is a herbalists’ favourite cure for flu, especially if garlic alone has not been strong enough. Honeysuckle contains several virus-destroying compounds. This combination works well as a tea, to be drunk several times a day.

For information on immune-boosting herbs, read more here.

NOTES

J Int Med Res, 2004; 32: 132-40
Randomized study of the efficacy and safety of oral elderberry extract in the treatment of influevnza A and B virus infections (pub med)
“Licking latency with licorice”; Published in Volume 115, Issue 3 (March 1,2005) J. Clin. Invest. 115(3): 591-593 (2005). doi:10.1172/JCI24507; Jeffrey I. Cohen, Medical Virology Section, Laboratory of Clinical Infectious Diseases, NIH, Bethesda, Maryland, USA.
“Garlic: The Science and Therapeutic Application of Allium Sativum and Related Species.”; Heinrich P. Koch, Ph.D., professor of pharmaceutical chemistry and biopharmaceutics at the University of Vienna, and Larry D. Lawson, Ph.D. Chang KSS, Int J Immunopharm . 1982;4:267.

The copyright of the article Is There a Herbal Cure for Swine Flu? in General Medicine is owned by Sarah Tomley. Permission to republish Is There a Herbal Cure for Swine Flu? in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.

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Comments

Jul 27, 2009 7:38 AM

Guest :

I am worried that elderberry extracts, though powerful antivirals, might create a cytokine storm in cases of 'swine' flu by their ability to strengthen the immune system.

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