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Herbs and Autoimmune diseases!

Posted , 13 users are following.

karen23320
karen23320

Hi All- I had to share the information I found today while researching echinecea. I had a friend , who uses it for everything, tell me today to stop all the supplements I am taking and just take echinecea instead to “ cure” my LS. I told her I would look into it. What I found was so surprising! 

 Herbs To Avoid With Autoimmune Disease :   With an autoimmune disease, the body is already under attack. By using an immune enhancing or immune stimulating herb, you are boosting the immune system. If one has an autoimmune disease, boosting the immune system can cause the disease to progress faster. 😬😬😬    

Herbs To Avoid-Immune Stimulants

Echinacea

Olive Leaf

Cat’s Claw

Elderberry

Goldenseal

What Are Adaptogenic Herbs?

What you want instead are immune supporting or immune balancing herbs. Herbs that support and balance the immune system. This is the important difference! You want to choose the tonic herbs that are adaptogens. An adaptogen herb helps the body to “adapt” and normalizes the autoimmune disease. Adaptogens help increase the bodies resistance to mental, physical and environmental stress. They are unique from immune stimulant herbs, as they balance the hormones in the endocrine system, but don’t boost the immune system. The adaptogen herbs help the body maintain optimal homeostasis.

 Herbs to help uour auto- immune disease:  

Adaptogenic Spices In Your Cupboard

Black Pepper

Turmeric

Cumin

Nutmeg

Ginger

Cinnamon

Modalities of Each Herb

Licorice Root- Ayurvedic

Reshi Mushrooms- TCM

Asian Ginseng- TCM

Ashwagandha- Ayurvedic

He Shou Wu (aka) Fo-Ti- TCM

Schisandra- TCM

American Ginseng- Western

Rhodiola-Western

Milk Thistle-Western

So, to make a long story short, do NOT use echinecea if You have an auto- immune disease!!! Regardless of what your well- meaning friends say! 

6 likes, 12 replies

12 Replies

  • pat0423
    pat0423 karen23320

    Posted

    Sooo interesting! I’ve always wondered about immune boosting herbs if immune system is attacking itself- this makes good sense! Thanks!
  • frances87895
    frances87895 karen23320

    Posted

    Yes, the 4 naturopaths I've consulted have said not to use the immune stimulating herbs.  A vegetable supposed to be adaptogenic is the Hawaiian or Okinawan sweet potato; it is purple when cooked.

  • christine97462
    christine97462 karen23320

    Posted

    This is extremely helpful information, thank you, Karen!  If I may add another adaptogen, astragalus root.  I use this herb a lot.
    • karen23320
      karen23320 christine97462

      Posted

      Christine- You are so right! Here is a list of other aptogenic herbs that you can look into ( I listed the pantry ones to make it easier for people to find)

      Astragalus Root

      Rhodiola

      Hoky Basil ( Tulsi)

      Ginseng

      Ashwaganda

  • christine97462
    christine97462 karen23320

    Posted

    I double-checked my herbal remedy books, and read that Elderberry is an immune modulator, not stimulant.  I hope this is true, because it is an excellent anti-viral, and I use it during the school year to ward off colds and flu.  It works exceptionally well.  I'll research this further, and if I find out otherwise, I will let you all know.

     

    • karen23320
      karen23320 christine97462

      Posted

      Christine- Thanks so much for bringing that up! It appears Elderberry may be one of put “ exceptions” as ut has more of a duo- purpose:

      Like all brightly colored berries, Elderberry is extremely rich is bioflavonoids- a specific category of constituents that have a distinct cooling antioxidant effect upon the tissues, protecting the entire body from the detrimental effects of inflammation. This lends it a much wider range of applications- from the treatment of gut inflammation, protecting the heart and cardiovascular system, ocular health, and also as a deep, restorative tonic for the immune system. 

      To clarify, by immune tonic, I do not mean an acute stimulation of the immune system like we see with Echinacea… I mean deep restoration, nourishment, and strengthening of the core immunity. We tend to use remedies like this not when you are acutely sick, but when you are not sick to keep you that way. This is one of the biggest mistakes people make with the most famous immune tonic Astragalus. One of the classic contraindications for that remedy in Chinese medicine is an acute cough, cold or flu. I consider Elderberry to be particularly unique in that it is equally stimulating and tonifying to the immune system.

      Oh the info we find when we research! Hope this helps ya’ll. 

    • Guppy007
      Guppy007 karen23320

      Posted

      Hi Karen, that's interesting.  I have been taking cats claw as I have Lupus arthritis, maybe devils claw might be an alternative...its mind boggling all this.  I do know that I was told not to take garlic as it stimulates the immune system and not good for someone with Lupus.

  • janie27576
    janie27576 karen23320

    Posted

    hi Karen, so this come in like vitimins or we should cook with them? i have really never taken vitamins till now..dont know mush about them, also i saw in the drugstore a vitamin that said for vaginal flora ,, do you know anything about that? janie
    • karen23320
      karen23320 janie27576

      Posted

      I am not an expert at this by any means, Nancy KB has alot of great information on supplements, etc. 

      I do know that in addition to my Woman’s Ultra Vitamin I added 2mg Boron, 4 Mg Selenium, 20,000 Vit A, a combo 2500 D3 and K2, 400 mg Tumeric, 1000mg Calcium, 400 mg Magnesium, and 1 pill Folate ( mg?). 

      I DO NOT think you should buy anything special for “ vaginal flora”, the vag is supposed to regulate its own PH and we should not douche or try to “ control” our vag balance. 

      Hope this helps! 

  • Nancy_K_B
    Nancy_K_B karen23320

    Posted

    OH! Happy Sunday All ~  Karen this is really Fabulous. - thanks. I"m add a couple of these to my routine. 

    I find it interesting that Milk Thistle is on this list and I've had that on my list for months, I only knew it for it's known parasite & LIver cleansing abilities.  Now, this is perfect to be able to feel confident about the immune system not being overloaded. 

    Great work and appreciated!    

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