Elderberry for Flu Season

I find it interesting that this year there hasn’t been a big mention in the news about some impending flu that is going to kill people by the droves. The past few years with the Avian, Swine and H1N1 Flues the media has been overboard on getting people to run in and get a shot. Many years ago my husband and I got a flu shot and ended up with the flu. They had offered it at his work, and everyone employed there came down with the flu. This employer continued to give the shot following years and my husband never got the shot again, his coworkers did and they again got the flu. We haven’t had the flu in many years due to the fact that we have learned how to keep our immune system strong.

I happened to have the TV on the other day and the Dr. Oz show was on, he talking about the flu. What took me by surprise is that Dr. Oz said that if you think you have been exposed to the flu, then start taking 4 TB of elderberry extract immediately. You should take 4 TB a day for three days, and the Elderberry will actually help to reduce the duration of the flu as well as reduce your chances of getting the flu. Wow, I was impressed because this is an herbal remedy being recommended by a doctor, and one that I wasn’t all that familiar with in spite of the fact that we have it available at Herbs First. I read through a lot of information on Elderberry and it is a well known immune booster, flu and virus fighter, etc.

Nature’s Way Sambucus Syrup, available in 4 and 8 oz. Sambucus Syrup is the top selling Elderberry syrup on the market. Testing has shown it to be effective in fighting the flu.

Natural Sources Elderberry Concentrate, available in 8 oz and 16 oz. This is pure juice concentrate, no sugar added. Take straight or mix with water. A great immune builder and flu fighter.

Dr. Christopher’s Elderberry Extract, available in 2 oz. The dosage on the bottle says 3 to six drops, this extract is more concentrated than the syrup and very portable. It is an alcohol extract so does not need to be refridgerated.

Western Botanicals Elderberry bulk whole berries. Make your own extract!

Elderberry is certainly better tasting than Anti Plague, though I will always have a supply of Anti Plague (Super Garlic Immune Formula) on hand. I have talked to several people lately that have been using the Sambucus Syrup with their kids in the winter with great success. It certainly would be easier to get them to take! My poor kids got the Anti-Plague, but they lived. Reach for herbs as your first choice for any ailment.

This is a great month to stock up on your favorite Christopher formulas.

You can purchase these and other great healing products at Herbs First.

Do you need Gas-Eze or Soothing Digestion???

My answer to Do you need Gas-Eze or Soothing Digestion??? is that you need to have both formulas on hand. I bought the Gaz-Eze
or the first time a little over a year ago and it has just sat in my cupboard since then. A few weeks ago my son’s gut was suddenly quite painful and he said he thought it was gas. I got out the formula and said, here try some Gas-Eze. He said he would be fine and walked away, only to come back an hour later asking to try it. He took it, the problem settled down and he woke up fine in the morning. About the same time the next day my gut started hurting and after a few minutes of excruciating pain I took some Gas-Eze. It started to settle down after about fifteen minutes and I was fine within the hour. It must have been some weird bug. I can definitely say that Gas-Eze did what it was meant to do, eze the gas.

Both Gas-Eze and Soothing Digestion contain one herb in common, Slippery Elm. Slippery Elm has always been well known as a great herb for intestinal issues. I like to use it if I am acidic or have diarrhea or if my stomach is just upset. The Slippery Elm and Licorice are a great little duo of herbs for healing anything from leaky gut syndrome, repairing the ravages of Candida and even ulcers. I like to keep the bulk powder on hand and mix it with water, 2 parts of Slippery Elm to 1 part Licorice. The Licorice makes it quite tasty, though I do not mind Slippery Elm alone, and if that is all you have it does a wonderful job. The capsules are handy to have when traveling or when you just don’t feel like slurping down the powdered herbs. I have found that it will correct an uncomfortable situation pretty quickly, and for more intense problems, taken throughout the day, usually by the next morning things are back to normal. For more sever problems such as leaky gut, ulcers and candida it needs to be taken for a longer period of time, but well worth the investment to clear up those issues.

You could down a whole bottle of the “pink stuff” and not get anywhere near the results of these great herbal formulas.

Only ten days left on the 35% off Christopher’s sale.
Take advantage of the
FREE Ailments CD with a $100.00 herb order.

Put 101241 for the coupon code at checkout.

Reach for herbs as your first choice for any ailment.

This is a great month to stock up on your favorite Christopher formulas.

You can purchase these and other great healing products at Herbs First.

Do you need Memory Plus or MindTrac?

On quite a few occations people call saying “I think I need MindTrac, my memory is getting bad”. Some of the herbs in MindTrac are for memory, but with memory being the main concern I would suggest Memory Plus over MindTrac.

MindTrac is for stress, anxiety and depression. This formula contains two herbs that are stimulating to the brain - Gotu Kola and Gingko Biloba. They help to synergize the St. John's Wort which mimics the effects of antidepressant drugs. Gotu Kola and Gingko Biloba improves the blood flow and oxygen circulation to the head. These herbs have been used traditionally to improve memory, nerve response and mental alertness. It also contains Skullcap, Valerian, Oregon Grape root, Barley grass, Alfalfa, Kamut, St. John's wort, Mullein leaf, Lobelia, Sarsaparilla and Dandelion.
I have been using MindTrac off and on for the last twelve years. It is great for an occasional bad day, bad week or even bad year. It can be used for as long as a person needs it, the main point being that since it isn’t a drug you will know when no longer need it. There is no addiction and no bad side effects. Everyone goes through hard times and it is a great relief to be able to use MindTrac to help get through them. Two great formula to use along with MindTrac is the Adrenal Formula, because when people go through stressful times the adrenals have a hard time. Giving the Adrenals the food they need will give you the energy that you need to handle life’s problems. Take Relax-Eze along with MindTrac when the nerves are frayed and you feel you just can’t handle things anymore. It is also great for nerve damage, neuralgia, etc.

Memory Plus is for memory problems, and contains both Gotu Kola and Gingko Biloba, along with Blue Vervain, Brigham Tea, Blessed Thistle, Cayenne, Ginger Root and Lobelia. This great little formula has been used successfully on mentally handicapped children who showed much improvement in their thought processes. Memory Plus is a great choice for people with age related memory problems. It is best to start using Memory Plus when memory problems first occur, to keep the brain functioning.

Dr. Christopher believed that nutrient deficiencies could contribute to impaired mental function. Memory Plus has been successfully used for over 60 years and continues to be one of Dr Christopher’s top sellers. Memory Plus increases blood circulation to the brain to help the memory to function at a higher capacity. This formula can be used for any age person needing to enhance their memory including students. I really need this formula, but I keep forgetting to take it!!!

Reach for herbs as your first choice for any ailment.

This is a great month to stock up on your favorite Christopher formulas.

You can purchase these and other great healing products at Herbs First.

When do you need Immune System Formula vs Immucalm?

A few weeks ago in the Alopecia newsletter I mentioned that Immucalm is great for anyone with an autoimmune disease. A friend called me the next day asking if Immucalm would be helpful for his Fibromyalgia. I had no idea that he had Fibromyalgia and I certainly would have mentioned it to him had I known. He then said that he had been using the Immune System Formula and said that he thought they were about the same. This really rang a bell in my head wondering how many other people may be confused by these two wonderful formulas.

Immune System Formula is an immune boosting formula

Immucalm is an immune calming formula

Both of these formulas everyone should have on hand, so you have them when you need them. I take the Immune System Formula quite often during the winter months anytime I am exposed to sick people or feel something coming on. For people working or in school I would take it at least in the morning to keep my immune system high because so many people are walking around sick in the winter. For kids Western Botanicals has a syrup version called Immune Boost Syrup with cinnamon and Maple syrup that is very easy to get kids to take. We didn’t have this great formula around when my kids were young so they got Anti Plague, a big difference here in the taste! Even the pickiest of kids will easily take Immune Boost Syrup because tastes so good! So keep in mind, the Immune System Formula is to keep the immune system high to keep you healthy.

Once I understood what Immucalm was for it became a formula that I use often. It is great for those itchy allergy symptoms associated with hayfever and with hives that commonly happen with food allergies. The best thing about this formula is that it is for autoimmune disorders which involve an overactive immune system which attacks the body’s own tissues. Autoimmune diseases including rheumatoid arthritis, multiple sclerosis, lupus, Sjogren’s syndrome, fibromyalgia and many more can be greatly helped with Immucalm. Diet and other supporting formulas may be needed depending on the disease. My friend started taking Immucalm that very day and the next day he was amazed at how much better he felt and a week later still improving. With these diseases I would take a larger amount at first to get things under control, such as 3 - 4 capsules three to four times a day, or more if needed and then over time cut it down to a maintenance dosage. I take 2 capsules twice a day to help keep my system under control.

I hope this clarifies the use of these two formulas. I truly feel that these herbs were placed on the earth for our use and that we can heal ourselves of any disease. Education is the key that will open the door to learning the use of this great gift. The online Family Herbalist course is available for only $195.00, regularly $500.00.

You can purchase these and other great healing products at Herbs First.

Almost to my goal with HCG ezTrim

I have found that I really have to have a good sense of humor while on the HCG ezTrim diet. Clothes that fit one week don’t fit the next, and that has been happening to me over and over again for the past three months. I have now lost a total of 51 lbs with only four more pounds to my goal! I have lost an average 4.25 pounds per week! In the past I would diet for three to four months to lose 15 to 20 pounds only to gain them back by the following January. I am so happy to have found a “tool” that works for me.

In the book, The Weight Loss Cure They Don’t Want You To Know About, Kevin Trudeau talks about how HCG is a permanent weight loss cure. This diet was kept secret from the world and was only available to the rich and famous at a very high price. Originally and still today it is administered by a daily injection with weekly doctor supervision. The homeopathic version of HCG came out a little over a year ago, making it affordable for everyone.

When I found out that following the HCG diet protocol helps to raise your metabolism and reset your set point to the lower weight you have attained, I knew this diet was for me. I have battled weight issues all of my adult life when I had radioactive iodine that killed off my thyroid when I was twenty. I felt that I would never be thin again, because year after year I would lose and then regain weight over and over again.

When I started HCG ezTrim in mid-May I thought, this is an awful time to start a diet! Now I am just so grateful that I followed through, and still find it hard to believe that I have lost 51 lbs. in that short of time. If you are ready, now is a good time to get started. You could lose a good amount of weight by the end of October, go on to the stabilization phase for three weeks and be ready to eat a traditional Thanksgiving Dinner with your family. Then take time to enjoy the holidays, making good food choices and treating yourself every so often, and then get back on the weight loss phase in January, to work on the rest of the weight loss.

I had two days where I had dessert, those days I still ate on the plan the rest of the day. I gained on those days but went back to losing after a day or two. It is best not to deviate from the diet protocol, but sometimes we have to be human and enjoy a little treat. One of the days was my birthday, and for a special day enjoy a treat, but don’t blow the whole day. Likely I would have the 4 lbs off by now, but that is life and I made a choice. Overall I am amazed at how well I have been able to stick to the diet.

I am in my seventh week which is more than what the protocol says to do, but with the homeopathic HCG you can go a bit longer if you can handle it. The past two weeks on my day off the drops I was ready to quit, but come the next day when I had a good loss I decided to go on for another week. Likely in January I will go back on HCG to knock off another 10 - 15 lbs, but I’ll have to wait until then to make that decision. This has been an amazing summer for me to be able to achieve something that I thought would never happen.

I have lost 6 inches in both my waist and hips, 4 inches in my thighs, 1 inch in my calfs and a little over 2 inches in my upper arms. Wow, that’s crazy! I still can’t believe it. My next phase is clothes shopping!!!

Here is Hollie’s update:

I lost 40 lbs. without HCG between January and May. In June/July, I lost 38 lbs in 33 days using HCG EzTrim and then took a break for five weeks. Following the stabilization phase eating plan was simple and I did not feel deprived. It took about a week and a half for me to find the foods that did not work for my body, I had a couple of “steak days” to rectify small weight gains, but at the end of my break, my weight was right where I had ended with the drops. I just started the drops again recently. I gained a few pounds on my loading days, but lost that quickly the first 2 days back on the diet. I lost 9 lbs, plus the loading weight, the first week back on the HCG. I am so excited to continue losing weight using this product. I have a long way to go, and will probably have to do another 2 rounds of HCG ezTrim after I finish this one, but I feel like I have finally found the tools to help me successfully lose weight and keep it off forever! I have so much energy and feel fantastic!

It is so fun to hear from Hollie and from customers telling of their success. We now have some 2nd generation customers from original orders, it is great to have so many people losing weight and getting healthy. Please call 801-228-1901 to order.