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Protect Yourself from SARS - Part 3

by Susun Weed

Worried about SARS? The final part in how to keep your lungs healthy the Wise Woman Way!

It is always wise to cultivate health and support your immune system. And now, with the threat of SARS, and who knows what else, it is more important than ever. The first two parts of this series looked at strengthening the lungs and fending off infection. The third component of maintaining and regaining health is to nourish the immune system.

A vital immune system is my first defense against the constant barrage of disease-causing bacteria, viruses and other pathogens created by Mother Nature. A vital immune system is my first defense again the ever-present possibility of cancerous cells. A vital immune system is everyone's first defense against SARS too.

I keep my immune system supple and strong the easy, effective Wise Woman Way: with nourishing herbal infusions and immune-strengthening soups.

Nourishing herbal infusions are the basis of great nourishment - for the immune system, the hormonal system, and the nervous system too.

To make a nourishing herbal infusion:

* Choose one herb: nettle, oatstraw, red clover, comfrey leaf, linden flowers, violet leaf, or mullein leaf. You may add a little mint or other seasoning herb, but use only one of the main ones at a time.
* Place one full ounce, by weight, of any one herb in a quart jar. A canning jar is best.
* Fill the jar to the top with boiling water. Stir the herb into the water and add more water until the jar is really full.
* Screw on a tight lid and let it steep for four hours or overnight.
* Strain the liquid out and refrigerate what you don't drink.

I drink nourishing herbal infusions over ice, heated up with honey and milk, mixed with other beverages. Enjoy.
Nourishing herbal infusions are full of antioxidant vitamins, minerals, proteins, phytoestrogens, and hundreds of protective phytochemicals. I drink two to four cups of infusion daily, rotating through the different herbs, but mostly nettle, oatstraw, red clover, and comfrey. One of my apprentices - who has been drinking nourishing infusions for several years now - was told by her doctor that she had the healthiest blood he'd ever seen.

For more information on infusions, please visit http://www.susunweed.com.

Immune strengthening soups rely on a long steeping time to extract minerals and active phytochemicals. Recent nutrition research has revealed that, contrary to common claims, antioxidant vitamins are increased by cooking. In fact many vegetables have twice as many nutrients cooked as raw.

To make an immune strengthening soup:

* Chop at least half an onion per person and sauté in lots of olive oil until translucent.
* Add at least two cloves of garlic, sliced or chopped, per person and sauté.
* Add chopped vegetables of the season, a lot of seaweed, some mushrooms, tonic roots, seasoning herbs, sea salt and vegetable broth.
* Bring it all to a boil and simmer for an hour.
* Let the immune strengthening soup mellow in a cool place overnight.
* Serve it the next day, heated up, with freshly-baked bread and organic raw milk cheese.

Seaweeds help remove radiation from body tissues (heavy metals too). I like heavy seaweeds like kombu and wakame in soups. But sea palm fronds, nereocystis kelp, hijiki, and alaria are food too; they all taste different.

All mushrooms strengthen the immune system and counter cancer. I frequently use dried shitake as they are available and inexpensive at Chinese grocery stores. Reishii, maitake, and other medicinal mushrooms are delicious additions to immune strengthening soups, as are the more common dried porcinni, and fresh portobellos.

Tonic roots help our livers, lymph, and kidneys work well, protecting us from infection. I use one or more, fresh or dried, depending on what I have available: Siberian ginseng, astragalus, burdock, dandelion, chicory, yellow dock, American ginseng. I often put these tough roots into a jelly bag and drop that into the soup for I can fish it out before serving. About one ounce per gallon of broth used for your soup is a nice amount.

Seasoning herbs from the mint family - rosemary, thyme, oregano, basil, marjoram, and sage - are loaded with antioxidants. I don't just season the soup with them; I add them by the handful.

There are recipes for several immune strengthening soups in my book Breast Cancer? Breast Health! The Wise Woman Way.

Prevention doesn't always work, of course. That's why part two of this article discussed herbs that counter infection. Maintaining health the Wise Woman Way includes being prepared to deal with infection as well as staying healthy on a daily basis. With nourishing herbal infusions, immune strengthening soups, and the help of some strong roots, that's simple and fun.

Green Blessings to you.


Susun Weed

PO Box 64

Woodstock, NY 12498

Fax: 1-845-246-8081

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