dan062
Senior Member
- Messages
- 120
I've been exploring the idea of beginning an antiviral protocol this week (my efforts to work on the microbiome mainly seem to be convincing me that our knowledge of it is too rudimentary to provide clear enough guidance to us on what we need to do to improve it at this stage).
As my next specialist appointment isn't for another month, I'm looking to try out some natural antivirals in the meantime in the hope that they might make a difference.
I don't think going the natural route is a bad strategy at all. There seems to be far less of a differential in terms of efficacy between natural and pharmaceutics in the viral class than with bacteria and parasites -- probably because there are far fewer antivirals available as they are so difficult to make.
My preference would always be to find something that is relatively commonly available in its natural format and that I can prepare myself ie not something that I need to buy a supplement for -- mostly because if I am going to be committing to using a herb in the long term (from what I've read successful antiviral treatment can take years) this would be far more convenient, and probably cheaper, than having to rely on supplements.
The candidates
For this reason, I've been looking firstly at raw garlic and coconut oil. With raw garlic, the smell is too much of an issue for me. I want to dose high enough for this to be worth my while (3+ cloves/day ; apparently you can get up to 5-6/day long term without side effects), and at that level, the smell is both persistent and un-disguisable.
I don't doubt how good coconut oil is, but something doesn't seem right about the idea of repeatedly dosing with something with that high a sat. fat content in the long term. Potentially clog your arteries to rid yourself of a virus..
Green tea: would seem a suitable candidate if I lived near a tea plantation and had access to the fresh leaves.
Otherwise, I can't seen tea being strong enough - everything I've read indicates that the water extraction misses most of the compounds. Grinding it to a powder makes it nauseating (the tannins, I think), and I think at that stage a supp would probably be just as (in)convenient.
Oregano: The only other one I can think of which you find in your local supermarket. I've thought about dosing with the dried powder in water (shots, in other words). I guess the above criticism applies here too (at that stage, a supp is probably as convenient) and am not yet sure either of safety or whether the oil would still be concentrated enough in the dried spice preparation intended for culinary use to be an effective dose.
Indian cuisine: interestingly would seem to incorporate the most antiviral spices (ginger, cinnamon, turmeric). Perhaps consistently ingesting a wide variety of antiviral herbs, at low doses, would have sufficient effect in the long run.
Are there any others anyone can think of?
I'm aware of what the list broadly contains (echniacea, Shiitake, oregano oil, Una de Gato, Pau d'Arco, Elderberry, etc) but can't think of any options other than the above that are commonly available-- unless, for each, you live in the peculiar situation of living in the exactly right part of the world to have that herb growing fresh in your locality.
Perhaps supplements are the only way to go.
As my next specialist appointment isn't for another month, I'm looking to try out some natural antivirals in the meantime in the hope that they might make a difference.
I don't think going the natural route is a bad strategy at all. There seems to be far less of a differential in terms of efficacy between natural and pharmaceutics in the viral class than with bacteria and parasites -- probably because there are far fewer antivirals available as they are so difficult to make.
My preference would always be to find something that is relatively commonly available in its natural format and that I can prepare myself ie not something that I need to buy a supplement for -- mostly because if I am going to be committing to using a herb in the long term (from what I've read successful antiviral treatment can take years) this would be far more convenient, and probably cheaper, than having to rely on supplements.
The candidates
For this reason, I've been looking firstly at raw garlic and coconut oil. With raw garlic, the smell is too much of an issue for me. I want to dose high enough for this to be worth my while (3+ cloves/day ; apparently you can get up to 5-6/day long term without side effects), and at that level, the smell is both persistent and un-disguisable.
I don't doubt how good coconut oil is, but something doesn't seem right about the idea of repeatedly dosing with something with that high a sat. fat content in the long term. Potentially clog your arteries to rid yourself of a virus..
Green tea: would seem a suitable candidate if I lived near a tea plantation and had access to the fresh leaves.
Otherwise, I can't seen tea being strong enough - everything I've read indicates that the water extraction misses most of the compounds. Grinding it to a powder makes it nauseating (the tannins, I think), and I think at that stage a supp would probably be just as (in)convenient.
Oregano: The only other one I can think of which you find in your local supermarket. I've thought about dosing with the dried powder in water (shots, in other words). I guess the above criticism applies here too (at that stage, a supp is probably as convenient) and am not yet sure either of safety or whether the oil would still be concentrated enough in the dried spice preparation intended for culinary use to be an effective dose.
Indian cuisine: interestingly would seem to incorporate the most antiviral spices (ginger, cinnamon, turmeric). Perhaps consistently ingesting a wide variety of antiviral herbs, at low doses, would have sufficient effect in the long run.
Are there any others anyone can think of?
I'm aware of what the list broadly contains (echniacea, Shiitake, oregano oil, Una de Gato, Pau d'Arco, Elderberry, etc) but can't think of any options other than the above that are commonly available-- unless, for each, you live in the peculiar situation of living in the exactly right part of the world to have that herb growing fresh in your locality.
Perhaps supplements are the only way to go.
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