Amy Nett: Gavin asks, “Are there protocols you use when someone has a cold or maybe even gastroenteritis? I recently had a bad episode of nausea and vomiting, and did not know what would be beneficial for that.”
I’m really sorry to hear that. Yes, there are definitely supplements that I use when people have colds, flus, and acute gastroenteritis. I’m reluctant to say that I have set protocols. One of the reasons I’m reluctant to say I have a set protocol is because if somebody has a cold or flu, honestly, one of the first things I’m going to think about is whether or not they have an autoimmune condition, also, because honestly, I’m a lot more, I would say I’m a lot more careful about stimulating the immune system in somebody who has an autoimmune condition. I’m going to be a little bit more cautious with some of those botanical formulas because you don’t want to rev up the immune system too much. There tends to be a balance in terms of when someone has the early stages of a cold or flu and once they’re coming through that, because you don’t want to suppress the inflammatory response too much initially with things like curcumin, etc., but you might do that later on. I would say I don’t have anything set, but certainly, your two questions here are colds and gastroenteritis.
For a cold or a sore throat, so certainly flu season, I might think about echinacea, elderberry syrup, or astragalus. At CCFM [California Center for Functional Medicine], we commonly use a formula from Woodland Essence called C.S.A Formula. That’s a combination of, I’m trying to remember—we have Sida acuta as the S, alchornea is the A, and for some reason, I’m forgetting what the C is right now [cryptolepis], but it’s a formula that we commonly use, C.S.A Formula through Woodland Essence, that’s a good one. Also, Gaia Herbs has some really nice immune support formulas. That would be something you could take a look at. Some of the companies have already put together really nice formulas. Again, for people that you’re not as concerned about in terms of the immune balance, something a little bit safer you don’t have to think as much about immune activation might be Lauricidin. You’re going to see Lauricidin when we get into the antimicrobial protocols we use for the gut, but Lauricidin is a nice sort of gentle but broad-spectrum antimicrobial and that’s something I’ve commonly used when people start feeling colds or flus, even urinary tract infections. You could use it for the gastroenteritis that you’ve mentioned. It’s one that you could just keep around the house for your home pharmacy.
I think Chris also really likes the bee propolis sprays that he sent out a few emails and newsletters about, the bee sprays that he likes for colds and flus, so that’s something else you could consider. In general, there are a lot of different botanicals out there, so it might be worth choosing a few, really learning about those, and getting comfortable with those because, again, there’s such a wide array, you probably don’t want to start with too many, but if herbal medicine is new to you, just choose a few.
Your question about gastroenteritis, I put that in a slightly different category because that’s often more of, like, a food trigger; there was something that triggered that gastroenteritis. From that perspective, I’m going to be doing a little bit less in terms of the immune stimulating and immune support. For that, you might want to do something like bone broth or chicken broth. If that’s well tolerated, that can feel really healing for the gut. Sometimes, I suggest activated charcoal, so, especially if you really suspect this was a food-borne gastroenteritis or something like that, then I would suggest maybe activated charcoal because that’s a non-specific adsorbent, so you’re going to be removing some of the potential triggers for gastroenteritis. Activated charcoal on an empty stomach because you want to adsorb whatever is triggering those symptoms, [and] the chicken broth, which can be really healing to the gut. You could even do something like MegaMucosa from, I think, it’s Microbiome Labs, the makers of MegaSporeBiotic. MegaMucosa has some healing properties for the gut, [it’s] a little bit more supportive, and again, you could do something like Lauricidin, which is a more gentle antimicrobial, and probably double up on your probiotics. Think about getting Saccharomyces boulardii. I really like Seed Daily Synbiotic and probiotic. The maintenance or kind of recommended dose is two capsules daily, but you might do something like two capsules twice daily when you have acute gastroenteritis, so really think about probiotics support. Maybe an activated charcoal or something to help remove toxins, and that’s something healing for the gut, maybe chicken broth or something like MegaMucosa and be easy on your gut during that time, so no salads, raw vegetables, nothing like that. Think about pureed soups, foods that are really warm and relatively easy to digest. Hopefully, that gives you some ideas in terms of where to start.