Shot-gun Smoothie

2 cups organic tomato or vegetable juice

1-2 cloves garlic

1 teaspoon horseradish, fresh-grated (or 1/2 teaspoon powder)

1 gram powdered vitamin C

50,000 units vitamin A (from beta carotene)

A dash of ground ginger

A dash of Worcestershire sauce

A dash of cayenne powder

A little lemon juice and honey

Blend all ingredients in a blender. This tastes like a very spicy Bloody Mary (without the alcohol) and is great for relieving cold symptoms and winter maladies. This wonderfully warming drink has relieved many a head cold and soothed many sore throats.

The following tonic soup recipe is rather like a bouillon. It is beneficial as part of a holistic treatment for deep immune disorders.

Fu Zheng Tang Bouillon

6 astragalus root slices

8 to 10 codonopsis root slices

1 handful atractylodes rhizome pieces

24 ounces reishi mushroom chopped

12 ounces Siberian ginseng pieces

1 handful shiitake mushrooms

Organic turkey bones (or miso)

12 cups each, organic carrots and celery

Cook all dried herbs, mushrooms and turkey bones in 10 cups of water for 72 hours on a slow simmer. (If you are vegetarian, omit turkey bones and add miso to taste after the soup is fully cooked.) In the last hour of cooking, add carrots and celery. Let soup cool. Strain, and freeze in ice-cube trays. One serving is one cube, melted, once a day.

Super Immune Tune Seasoning

2 parts kelp powder

1 part nettle seeds

2 parts toasted sesame seeds

1/4 part nettle leaf

2 parts milk thistle seeds

1 part thyme

1/2 part garlic granules

1/2 part oregano

1/2 part marjoram

2 parts basil

1 pinch cayenne powder (optional)

1 part alfalfa

Grind the sesame seeds and milk thistle seeds in a spice mill or coffee grinder. Add the rest of the ingredients and mix well. Put into a spice shaker and use liberally, as a super-food supplement on cooked vegetable dishes, salads, grains and pasta dishes.

Three Ways to Build Immunity

According to most clinically trained herbalists, there are three ways to build immunity. These three protocols help to fine-tune herbal therapy to the needs of the individual.

1. Simple immune imbalances such as colds, flu, mild infections and those conditions that are not deep-seated, but come and go fairly quickly, are treated with surface immune herbs or secretory herbs, such as echinacea, garlic, pau d’arco and milk thistle. These herbs increase the protective ability of the mucous membranes and stimulate the production of white blood cells. By working with the macrophages, these plants strengthen the secretory immune system. When there is lowered resistance rather than long-term immune depression, this class of herbs works quickly and effectively.

2. When there is long-term stress on the immune system and its deeper reserves become depleted, many people develop immune deficiency. This is usually caused by a combination of many factors operating over a long period of time rather than one specific thing; it does not happen suddenly or overnight. For example, an individual who must perform at maximum potential during the day but gets less than an adequate amount of sleep, eats a nutrient-depleted fast-food diet, suffers from indigestion and is not happy at work is a prime candidate for deep immune deficiency.

Although there may be no specific physical complaint,the underlying immune system is affected and the person may lack energy and joie de vivre. In this case, deep immune-system tonic herbs or those herbs that build the bone marrow reserve would be used. Nourishing foods or superfoods such as garlic, blue-green algae and sea vegetables would be good choices. Some of the herbs that fall into the category of deep immune system tonics are astragalus, shiitake mushrooms, Siberian ginseng and milk thistle.

Because herbs have a multitude of constituents, it is not uncommon for an herb such as milk thistle or echinacea to be useful as both a surface immune-system herb as well as a deep immune-system tonic or even as an adaptogen, which brings us to the third category of immune system herbs.

3. The third way to build immunity focuses on herbs classified as adaptogens. An adaptogen strengthens and normalizes the hormonal function of the body. This term was coined by the renowned Russian scientist, I. I. Brekhman, who researched Siberian ginseng (Eleutherococcus senticosus) extensively for 30 years and developed the three criteria for adaptogens described below.

First, an adaptogenic herb must cause no harm and put no additional stress on the body. The second criterion is that the herb should help the body to cope with a wide variety of environmental, physical and psychological stresses. And thirdly, it must have a nonspecific action on the body. This means that it must address many issues rather than a specific symptom. An adaptogen works by helping the body to conserve energy and to cope with stress. Some common adaptogens are Siberian ginseng, Panax ginseng, reishi mushroom, milk thistle and licorice. An individual experiencing high levels of stress because of a new job, a divorce, or moving will have lowered resistance and be more susceptible to illness. In these situations, adaptogenic herbs are of great benefit.system and hormonal system are linked to the immune system and that these three systems strongly affect each other.Adaptogenic herbs help the body to cope with a wide variety of biological and environmental stresses.

Recent immune system study shows that the nervous system and hormonal system are linked to the immune system and that these three systems strongly affect each other. It’s no wonder then, that many women experience mood swings and lowered resistance around their menstrual cycle. Clearly, stress creates many changes in the hormonal system. High stress levels cause an increase in the production of the hormones cortisol and adrenaline, both of which lower immune function.