As COVID-19, colds and flus are still widely circulating, I wanted to check-in to share some basic reminders of how to prevent the spread of viruses. Luckily, we have learned SO much in the past few years and we also have many anti-viral treatments from plants; all the way from Chinese Herbal Formulas like Yin Qiao San, Gan Mao Ling or others containing Andrographis, Isatis, and Scute Root, to more local and Western remedies like Elderberry Syrup, Oil of Oregano, Thyme Tea, Olive Leaf, Lauricidin (extracted from coconut), as well as Vitamin C, D, and Zinc. You can also cook with more ginger, thyme, and garlic, yum! Above is a photo of some of the herbs I was using last cold and flu season and at the bottom of this page is a list of some things you should have on hand for whenever you or a loved one might need it. Feel free to text me anytime @510.717.WOOD to set up a telephonic herbal consult by donation, too 🙂
Here are some basic precautions that should be part of your daily routine, as with every cold and flu season:
● Avoid close contact with people who are sick. Recommit to stopping the spread of viruses.
● Avoid touching your eyes, nose, and mouth with unwashed hands.
● Wash your hands often with soap and warm water for at least 20 seconds. Use an alcohol-based hand sanitizer that contains 60%-90% alcohol if soap and water are not available. COVID-19 can transmit through both respiratory droplets and via stool, so careful hand-washing is critical. Here is a video to visually show the steps to make sure you get soap on all parts of your hands.
● Cover coughs and sneezes with a tissue, then throw it in the trash can and wash or sanitize your hands. Cough or sneeze into your elbow and not your hand if you do not have a tissue available. If you contaminate your hand and then touch other objects, you will spread the virus.
● Clean and disinfect frequently touched objects and surfaces.
● Get plenty of sleep and rest, both are crucial for immune function.
● Eat nutrient-rich foods, and prioritize a healthy diet. Your diet provides building blocks used by your immune system to fight illness.
● Stay hydrated. Water is at the foundation of our health.
● Stay calm. Surges can be scary. Prolonged, chronic stress inhibits immune function, so whether it is fear about the virus or excess stress at home or work, do what you can to give your system a break and restore. Exercise, acupuncture, nutritional and herbal supplements recommended by your healthcare practitioner, qigong, yoga, meditation, or whatever your “go-to” to unwind must take priority now. These are not luxuries! Take care of yourself.
Keep practicing spacious solidarity and take care of one another!
This season is the transition from summer to fall, the time of the spleen organ. The spleen prefers a dry, warm environment. Cold and damp climates and certain cold or raw foods can hinder its function and gunk it up. We can balance this dampness and support the spleen by sprinkling these additional herbs and spices into our food and drink:
Cardamom
Sichuan peppers
Ground white pepper
Tangerine peel, and other citrus like the Buddha’s hand
The category of herbs that most support the spleen is the Tonify the Qi group, which means to boost the available energy and vitality. Two of these Tonify Qi herbs are also adaptogens: Ginseng and Astragalus. An adaptogen is a natural substance considered to help the body adapt to stress and to have a normalizing effect overall. I prefer American Ginseng over Korean Ginseng, it is actually slightly cooling, thirst-quenching, helps with diabetes and doesn’t raise blood pressure. Astragalus is a sweet and warm herb that goes to the lung and spleen channels to boost the immune system. Red Chinese dates also Tonify the Qi, they are easy to digest. Dates are delicious in well-cooked rice with carrots and some ginseng slices, a super energy booster!
For a bit of self-acupressure, there is a point just below the knee, on the outside of the leg called Stomach 36 that helps increase white blood cells and supports the spleen. Stomach 36 counteracts indigestion, diarrhea, muscle weakness, parasites, gurgling in the stomach, and soothes sore knees. You can massage it anytime or tap on it in an afternoon slump to get some endurance. See a video here!
There is evidence that various deficiencies of zinc, selenium, iron, copper, folic acid, and vitamins A, B6, C, and E can alter immune responses in animals, so it is always a good idea to eat a variety of foods and consider a mineral supplement. You can order some here.
Along with zinc, here are a few more helpful supplements:
~Fiber, also known as roughage, bulk, or dietary fiber can help our health. Soluble fiber is found in plants such as nuts, beans, apples, carrots, psyllium, and blueberries and switches immune cells from pro-inflammatory to anti-inflammatory, which helps us to heal faster from infection.
~Resveratrol, found in red grapes, can help immune function.
~Probiotics or fermented foods like kefir, raw sauerkraut, and miso can help balance the gut flora and keep the immune system ready to respond to new infections.
~Fish oil is rich in DHA, an essential fatty acid, and has been found to enhance B cell activity, which could be promising for those with compromised immune systems.
~Vitamin D, especially in liquid form, can help immunity and mood. Vitamin D has also been shown to reduce respiratory infections.
I am a fan of keeping things simple, so stick with these basics if you get overwhelmed or don’t want to add herbs or supplements:
eat plenty of fruits & vegetables, all the colors of the rainbow!
exercise, gentle movement, deep breathing
quit smoking, acupuncture can help!
drink alcohol only in moderation
get enough sleep, at least 8 hours
avoid infection through regular hand washing and mask-wearing
reduce stress, find ways to decompress & get out of fight-flight-freeze
As we talk about the bigger picture in regards to health, it is important to remember that part of life is suffering. It is normal to not be well or what might be considered 100%. As health care practitioners, we are not trying to prevent any illness or death. Sometimes we need to be under the weather to build our immune systems or slow down. We are trying to find tools, foods, herbs, and habits that support us to feel less pain and more energy. We are human and life is fragile and fleeting. The ebbs and flows, the yin and yang aspects, are normal. It is helpful to remember that in a capitalist society, we are rewarded for being productive and able to work as much as possible. That just isn’t realistic. Try to rest and take it easy when you can 🙂
Sweetness is the flavor associated with Late Summer, and is a dominant flavor in much of the produce now in season. Sweetness softens and relaxes us, and naturally sweet foods are deeply nourishing to our systems and our spirits. Too much sugar with our sweetness can overload the system, and leave us craving more sweet without feeling satisfied. Sweetness helps us the transition from the long days of summer into fall.
The Color of the Season: Gold.
Yellow, gold and orange are the colors associated with the Earth element, and are found in many of the foods in farmers’ markets right now: squash, plums, peaches, pears, sweet potatoes, corn. In biomedicine terms, orange produce is rich is carotenoids (like beta-carotene) and B vitamins that are especially beneficial for the immune system, skin and eye health.
The Cuisine of the Season: Light and Warm
The Spleen is said to like warmth and hate dampness. Dumping cold, wet foods like ice cream, cold drinks and raw veggies is a good way to dampen our digestive hearth and find ourselves with kickback like bloating, belching, distention and gas, upset stomach and diarrhea. Well-cooked, high nutrient foods are like dry, fragrant wood that burns easily and doesn’t leave stinky ash.
In short, as the days shorten and table is covered with the sweet, golden fruits of the harvest, we shift our diet to eat what’s in season, simmered soup of butternut squash, roasted peaches, corn and bean salad. Here’s a few of my fave recipes for this season in-between.
This recipe from Practical Paleo is ready in a flash and the cakes are both super satisfying (pumpkin and egg) without being too heavy for warm late summer days. I like to eat them with freshly sliced peaches or a quick simmered compote. If you’ve been eating something cold for breakfast like cereal, yogurt or smoothies, give these pancakes a try.
This sheet pan roast vegetable dish from Yotam Ottolenghi stands up as a centerpiece, side or salad. Beta-carotene is fat soluble and significantly more available to the body when eaten with fat, like the tahini and pinenuts in this recipe. Try it with a roast chicken for a Sunday dinner knockout.
Fresh peaches become incredibly sweet when baked or grilled. This simple recipe uses a spoonful of maple syrup and buttery almond topping to fancy up roast peaches into something truly fantastic.
Here are some herbs and supplements I love for both boosting our immune systems and to work against viruses, including COVID-19 and any new variants. Ask me what might help you during this this year!
And here are some guidelines about how with work with different stages of the virus.
Are you feeling sneezy, sniffly, and rundown? Are you not sure if you have allergies, a regular cold, or COVID-19? Do you think you might have been exposed to COVID-19 recently?
I can help you sort out your symptoms virtually and get you herbs to alleviate your suffering!
Contact me at 510.717.WOOD or erinlisewood@gmail.com for an herbal and lifestyle wellness check-in.
$50 for 30 minutes over the phone or on zoom with follow-up support via email. Herbs are an additional cost and can be bought at your local apothecary, at my online dispensary, or can be mailed to you from my pharmacy in Boulder Creek. I am stocked up on anti-viral herbs for COVID-19 in case anyone needs support during this new wave of Omicron.
Omicron is spreading quickly and let me know if you want to get more prepped for what lies ahead of us. I am really loving the formulations from Griffo Botanicals in Petaluma, with two different combinations for either a hot or cold presentation of the virus, based on the formulas used in the Wu Han and Hu Bei hospitals. You can take a small dose of one of these formulas preventatively too, if you know you might have been exposed.
Keep wearing your mask, social distance, and get vaccinated AND boosted if you haven’t already. Make sure you know where you can get tested locally, too. I use this website to schedule a free test. Let’s keep caring for one another 🙂
As we move into springtime, let’s consider what we are shedding and releasing from the wintertime, and what we want to bring into fruition this year. For a larger perspective and a much deeper dive into the Yin Metal Ox Year that we just entered, read this from Tiger’s Play Astrology. Reach out with any questions or to make an appointment, either in person or a consultation over the phone or via zoom. And in the meantime, stretch, breathe, watch the buds budding, and listen for the birds chirping. I look forward to connecting!
I am continuing to work with SURJ Santa Cruz County and here are some resources to engage with, stay informed, and share with your community:
When SURJ was involved in the Abolition Fair last fall, the Abolitious organizers shared this study guide with us, and it is truly a gem. Check it out here and let us know if anyone might like to form an abolition study group this year. Email us at info@surjsantacruz.com with any thoughts or impressions. It is all good practice to be talking about the alternatives to policing and prisons. Another world is possible!
Let’s continue to deepen our learning during Black History Month by signing up to experience a virtual exhibition of 28 works that celebrate Black legacy in the US: 28 Days of Black History. They also offer an Anti-Racism Daily newsletter of daily actions to dismantle white supremacy. The more of us doing this work, in whatever form suits you, the more likely it is that we will have lasting change in our lifetimes.
Revolutionary Love is another path to the just world we all deserve. Learn more about Valarie Kaur’s learning hub here.
Check out this newsclip about a new mural in West Oakland to honor the women of the Black Panther Party and to follow the mural and related projects on their website.
And I will be part of this embodied workshop about Calling In instead of Calling Out:
March 6, 2021, 11:00am – 1:00pm SURJ SCC & SCCCCOR (Santa Cruz County Community Coalition on Overcoming Race) will be hosting a workshop: Calling People In: Having Difficult Conversations About Race. Register here.
Join us to learn and practice some tools for having difficult conversations around racism with family, friends, and even strangers. Calling People In is a term used to engage in these conversations with others while respecting that we all have beliefs that are derived from our own experiences. Calling people in vs. calling them out asks us to approach a challenging conversation with curiosity and an authentic desire to learn about another’s beliefs. Prof. Loretta J. Ross explains more here.
I would also like to wish you all a HAPPY LUNAR NEW YEAR OF THE YIN, METAL OX. Read about what to pay attention to in the coming year here.
Wishing you a calm and quiet 2021. I am sheltering-in-place again in the Santa Cruz Mountains, as our ICUs are at capacity and we are waiting to get vaccinated. I am still offering herbal and lifestyle consultations via phone and zoom. Let me know what is new with you and if you want to set up a consultation, even if it is to help brainstorm what you want to change or adjust in the New Year. I will be in touch about any upcoming appointments that we have on the books. I did renew my lease at my Opal Street office just a few weeks ago. I am playing it by ear each week, as I don’t want to endanger anyone by practicing acupuncture and moving between two counties.
A silver lining of this whole pandemic for me has been the time to get more involved with racial justice and activism in the local Santa Cruz County chapter of Showing Up for Racial Justice (SURJ). The Bay Area and San Francisco chapters of SURJ are amazing and offer so many ways to get involved each week. Below are some end-of-the-year resources, reminders, and actions we can all take and enjoy as we wait for this outbreak to pass.
As y’all know, we are in the final push for the Georgia Senate elections. These two runoffs are crucial for us to take back the Senate and get some real change to happen in the next few years! Donate to the New Georgia Project, Black Voters Matter, Fair Fight or directly to Rev. Warnock and Jon Ossoff. Or donate your time and communication skills with SURJ and Southern Crossroads bycalling voters in Georgia.
Last week, Joe Biden and Kamala Harris met with several Civil Rights leaders and groups. But Black Lives Matter (BLM) was not invited! As the largest civil rights movement of the 21st century and a leader in the protests against police murders of Black people, BLM deserves a seat at the table. Add your name to the 64,000 people who have already signed the petition, calling on the incoming administration to meet with BLM.
Below are some wise words from Arundhati Roy and Sonya Renee Taylor. As we reflect at the end of this unprecedented year, consider these questions: What do you want to bring with you into the New Year? What do you want to leave behind? What new version of the world is possible? What can we imagine and envision together?
During this wintertime of stillness, mourning, reflecting, and receiving, be sure to stay warm, hydrated, and practice self-acceptance. Winter is the season of the water element, the kidneys and bladder, and fear. Take time to recharge your battery, which includes your adrenals on top of your kidneys. Eat root veggies, soups, whole grains, and get enough protein. Ginger, nutmeg, and garlic can keep us warm internally, as can a chai tea. Stay as cozy as you can. Cheers!
Sending you all the very best as we continue to move into these uncharted winter waters together, Erin
I am starting to see a few patients and will have some September appointments available. Reach out for a tele-health consultation, too! Here are some basic herbal tips in the meantime:
Office Safety Precautions in Effect During the Pandemic
My office is taking the following precautions to protect our patients and help slow the spread of COVID-19.
We all wear masks.
We all maintain safe distancing, except for when the needles are placed.
Restroom soap dispensers are maintained and everyone is encouraged to wash their hands.
Hand sanitizer that contains at least 60% alcohol is available in the treatment room and at the reception counter.
We schedule appointments at specific intervals to minimize the number of people in the office.
We ask all patients to wait in their cars or outside until no earlier than 5 minutes before their appointment times.
Credit card pads, pens and other areas that are commonly touched are thoroughly sanitized after each use. No-touch payment is available.
Tissues and trash bins are easily accessed. Trash is disposed of on a frequent basis.
Common areas are thoroughly disinfected between patients and at the end of each day.
In regards to COVID-19, I wanted to check-in and share some basic reminders of how to prevent the spread of viruses. I also want to reassure you that we have many anti-viral treatments from plants; all the way from Chinese Herbal Formulas like Gan Mao Ling or others containing Andrographis, Isatis, and Scute Root, to more local and Western remedies like Elderberry Syrup, Oil of Oregano, Thyme Tea, Olive Leaf, Lauricidin (extracted from coconut), and also simple Vitamin C, D, and Zinc. You can also cook with more ginger, thyme, and garlic, yum!
Here are some basic precautions that can be calmly integrated into your daily routine, as we should do with every flu season:
● Avoid close contact with people who are sick, and you may already be sheltering in place. My physical clinic is currently closed and probably will remain closed until early June.
● Avoid touching your eyes, nose, and mouth with unwashed hands.
● Wash your hands often with soap and warm water for at least 20 seconds. Use an alcohol-based hand sanitizer that contains 60%-90% alcohol if soap and water are not available. COVID-19 can transmit through both respiratory droplets and via stool, so careful hand-washing is critical. Here is a video to visually show the steps to make sure you get soap on all parts of your hands.
● Cover coughs and sneezes with a tissue, then throw it in the trash can. Cough or sneeze into your elbow and not your hand if you do not have a tissue available. If you contaminate your hand and then touch other objects, you will spread the virus.
● Cover your cough or sneeze with a tissue, then throw the tissue in the trash.
● Clean and disinfect frequently touched objects and surfaces.
● Get good sleep, and prioritize your self-care. Sleep is crucial to optimize immune function.
● Eat nutrient-rich foods, and prioritize a healthy diet. Your diet provides building blocks used by your immune system to fight illness. Here is a link about food safety.
● Stay hydrated. Water is at the foundation of our health.
● Stay calm. An outbreak is scary, but most people will experience COVID-19 as a mild illness. Prolonged, toxic stress inhibits immune function, so whether it is fear about the virus or excess stress at home or work, do what you can to give your system a break and restore. Exercise, acupuncture, nutritional and herbal supplements recommended by your healthcare practitioner, qigong, yoga, meditation, or whatever your “go-to” to unwind must take priority now. These are not luxuries! Take care of yourself.
Chinese herbs are so powerful in treating colds and flus and have been used on the frontlines in China against COVID-19. Even though my physical clinic is closed at this time, I am offering donation-based 20-minute consultations about herbs, stress-management, and to discuss any symptoms you may be having. Pay whatever you want for the chat, and I can let you know how much additional herbs would cost. My Venmo account is Erin Wood @ErinLiseWood, or a check can be sent to me here in the mountains. If you are having any acute symptoms such as trouble breathing or a high fever, call your MD or advice nurse to see if you need to go to urgent care or the ER.
Keep practicing spacious solidarity and take care of one another!
Politics are personal. They have been immensely personal to me since I was 29. That was when, in the last year of acupuncture school, I found out I had a neurological autoimmune condition called myasthenia gravis and a tumor in my chest. I had a high-deductible Blue Shield plan at that time, since I really only went to the doctor once a year for a check-up and used herbs, food, and dance as my medicine. The surgery to remove the tumor cost me, in addition to my monthly premiums, copays, and lab or radiology fees, over $6000. Then, since the tumor was Stage II cancer, I needed 5 weeks of radiation, which also cost me over $6000 since that was in a different calendar year. And of course, I couldn’t work during this time, both recovering from chest surgery where they sawed through my sternum, and getting radiation in another city is like a full-time job. I lived rent-free that year, bouncing from my mom’s apartment, staying with my boyfriend, and finding house-sitting gigs. Since my overhead was relatively low, I could focus on studying for my board exam to become an acupuncturist. After going through all that, I felt like nothing could scare me, and certainly not the 5-hour acupuncture exam that felt like going through intense airport security into a massive room of jittery test-takers. I passed and started working that fall as an acupuncturist and herbalist.
As an acupuncturist who has taken insurance over the years, I can honestly say that with each passing year, it becomes more of a headache to bill and get reimbursed. This year, a middle-man organization called American Specialty Health came through Blue Shield. This organization makes billing such a hassle and reimbursement so poor, I can no longer treat most Blue Shield patients. I have a Blue Shield plan myself through Covered California and there are hardly any more acupuncture providers that will take my plan. I basically stopped taking my own plan! Talk about dissonance!!!! Acupuncture isn’t covered by Medicare and Medi-Cal reimburses so little, around here, only the acupuncture school takes it. The clients of the methadone clinic where my partner works mainly have Medi-Cal and instead of having ear acupuncture on-site, they go to the acupuncture school, and are mainly treated by students. Ear acupuncture is proven to help with detoxification and there is a protocol of 5 points in the ear that was designed in a hospital in New York to curb cravings and diminish stress. So much more benefit could be gained by making acupuncture available at more clinics and recovery centers, and have licensed professionals leading the ear acupuncture groups. Unfortunately and so obviously, the system is in a broken holding pattern. And people are still dying all the time, whether from lack of access to care, institutional racism, misogyny, suicide, or any combination of those forces. Care should be based on need, not some intermediary privately-owned company and their profits. Medicare for All would save billions of dollars a year, money that could be spent on the care itself.
Over the years, the recurring theme of stress for me has been my health. And it isn’t simply the fatigue, pain, and managing symptoms, medications, appointments, herbs, supplements, and anti-inflammatory foods. The root of the stress is wondering if my health issues will bankrupt me one day. As for student loans, I basically just pay the minimum amount each month, based on my income, and try to put those tens of thousands of dollars of debt out of my mind. What is worrisome is all the uncertainty that comes with increasing premiums with less coverage on top of having to add state disability insurance as a self-employed person, which is over $500 quarterly. It is so fortunate that I had state disability insurance a few years back, when a flare-up of the myasthenia gravis came back after almost 10 years. My muscles were so weak, I couldn’t pull my hair back in a ponytail, I couldn’t put my dishes away in the cupboard, my neck muscles strained to keep my head up while driving, and my eye muscles couldn’t prevent blurry vision, making it hard to drive at all for a time. I was off work for a few months, and then gradually started back part-time. What helped the most was rest and intravenous immunoglobulin (IVIG) infusions to tell my antibodies they didn’t need to go bonkers and gum up the synapses between my nerves and muscles. I did these infusions 5 days in a row for 3 months, and at the end of the 5 days, had blinding and debilitating headaches, a sort of meningitis as a side-effect of the medication. I still do infusions every 7 weeks, just 1 day at home, and my nurse is the absolute best. The first infusions were in a hospital, so that bill was disproportionately high and that was the third time I had to go on a monthly payment plan to pay the bill off over a few years. Luckily, these home infusions, are only $45 each. I imagine they can keep their overhead low by not needing a facility, just an incredible nurse and the medication delivered to my door.
All this to say, having health issue is damn expensive and takes a lot of my mental energy, mental energy that I could be using for work, activism, self-care, and enjoying life. It gets especially taxing when I need authorization from Blue Shield before treatments recommended by my neurologist are covered. Or the concern and not knowing if a brain MRI, and ultrasound, or another CT scan will be covered this time since the fine print of my plan changes from year to year. I just don’t believe this stress should be added onto the chronic illness. I fully acknowledge that I am one of the more privileged ones, I come from a white family that has financial resources and I know I will always have a place to live, somewhere. I have been given access to the best schools in California due to redlining and racist realty practices.
So when Kendrick Sampson spoke at a very recent rally in San Antonio and asked us to think of the most vulnerable people in our lives, and know that we are all working together to uplift one another in community, I knew that I was all in with Bernie. I think about my nephew and niece. I want a better world for them. I don’t want them experiencing wildfires multiple times a year. I don’t want them being scared at school after lock-downs and active shooter drills. I don’t want them saddled with student debt the way me and my peers are. I don’t want anyone to worry and struggle like I have when faced with health issues. I don’t want anyone else to die from lack of medical attention. And I want our elders to have the support they need. I don’t want my mom to worry about housing as she ages. And I want my beloved city of Oakland to be able to house all of our residents. Living in one of the wealthiest regions of the entire world, the disconnect and discrepancy of wealth is so heart-wrenching. I know that the system is working the way the 1% have planned and schemed for centuries, since way before Nixon. AND, we all deserve better.
Another movement doing incredible organizing on the ground is the Poor People’s Campaign. They are continuing the work of Reverend Martin Luther King Jr.
To get an idea of where I am gathering loads of inspiration and updates, check out both Vote Save America (from Pod Save America), The Daily podcast and Fair Fight with Stacey Abrams. I also highly highly recommend this Rumble Episode with Michael Moore. What are some of your favorite resources? And what are some of the issues closest to your heart? Feel free to share your experiences in the comments section.
Fall is associated with the metal element, the organs of the lungs + large intestine, along with the skin, pores, nose, grief, justice, boundaries + relationships. Fall is a time when we prepare to move into the water element of the wintertime, which is connected with fear, wisdom, the kidneys + bladder.
The alchemist is the archetype of Fall. They observe, study, discern, look for order, and “What is Right?” Autumn is a time when the energy of an ax or sword clearing out what is no longer needed is especially strong.
Self-Massage:
LU1 is a point on the pecs called “letting go” and letting go is a theme for the metal element. One can be constipated if not letting go. Try massaging LI4 in the web of the thumb and forefinger and also your abdomen when you are on the toilet to get things moving. If you are congested in the nose, press up into the sinuses at LI20 and ST3, right below the cheekbones. I can show you these points at your next session.
Foods:
*Fermented foods like kefir, kombucha, yogurt, sauerkraut, and miso help the gut flora. L-Glutamine powder or bone broth can help heal the gut.
*Pears are shaped like lungs and are white like the color of the fall. Poach some pears in hot water with chai spices and vanilla beans!
*Dark, leafy greens, cruciferous veggies, garlic, leeks, onions, shiitakes, ginger, turmeric, carrots, and green tea.
*Focus on organic, grass-fed animal products.
*Get more omega-3s by eating fish, such as sardines, salmon, mackerel, or flaxseeds + evening primrose oil.
*Dandelion root tea or bitter greens like arugula, mustard, or dandelion greens can help resolve skin issues, which can crop up in Fall.
*Decrease your intake of vegetable oils, sugar, refined carbs, alcohol, and caffeine.
Herbs + Supplements:
These can help boost your immune system and increase your resistance to colds and flus:
*Medicinal mushrooms like Reishi, Turkey Tail, Shiitake, Maitake, or Cordyceps
*Adaptogens like American Ginseng, Astragalus, or Eleuthero (Siberian Ginseng)
*Vitamins C + D + Zinc
*Elderberry (Sambuca) Syrup
*Yu Ping Feng San
*Airborne
What to do when you feel the first signs of a cold coming on:
Ginger and green onion tea
Eucalyptus and Tea Tree steam over the stove
Gua sha scraping on the back of the neck with a spoon or stone
Promote a sweat, bundle up and sleep it off
Get acupuncture/cupping to moves phlegm
Herbal remedies like gan mao ling, yin qiao san or herbal cough syrup with elderberry, wild cherry, osha root or loquat leaf
Erin Wood, Licensed Acupuncturist 