Coronaviruses are miserable critters. They can affect a number of body systems. In the good old days, the vast majority of human coronavirus infections merely resulted in a head cold or a little diarrhea. These days we have a new and improved coronavirus. It was found in some wonderful bat poop in a bat cave and brought out into laboratories by virologists so they could study it and experiment with it for their research. Batman was really mad. If only Alfred had locked the Bat Cave when he went home for the evening the danged scientists never would have gotten in and stolen the stuff!
But I digress…
In the veterinary profession, we’ve been fighting a global coronavirus pandemic for as long as I’ve been in practice. The coronaviruses that prefer doggies and kitties typically cause much more serious diseases than the ones that like to infect humans and don’t even get me started on the pig and calf versions! As a result, I’ve seen some very serious cases and a number of deaths over the years in my veterinary practice from these bugs.
The vaccines for the dog strains are pretty effective. The vaccines they developed for the cat version (feline infectious peritonitis) proved fairly useless. Time will tell how safe and effective the Covid-19 vaccine will be. In the meantime, if you do get vaccinated, I recommend you bark rather than meow…but don’t growl or bite the nurse. Nurses are nice people and don’t deserve to be bitten. Only social media websites have good muzzles for naughty humans. :0)
As I mentioned before, the new coronavirus, Covid-19, is a much more serious problem than our vintage coronas. While many folks don’t even know they had it and others have cases so mild that they can blow it off like a cold or a mild flu, for some, it is a devastating and even life-threatening disease. Many have a really difficult bout with the bug and can take a long time to get over the consequences of the infection. These long haulers are really beaten up and need some intervention to rebuild their health. I’ve also seen a number of cases where folks have had a mild case but later end up with serious health problems that were caused by the virus damaging other organs.
The vaccine (like all vaccines) can also knock some people for a loop and have some effects they don’t like.
So, what can we do to rebuild and compensate for these issues? What magic elixir of life can help us pull us out of our post-corona funk and help us to heal and restore?
Well, sadly, I’m fresh out of magic elixirs of life but I do know of some wonderful weeds you can eat that’ll help a lot.
Let’s get into it.
Feeding The Need
The first thing I do in any case of recovery from a serious or chronic illness is to give the body some deep nutritives full of vitamins and minerals. You see, if we give the body the materials it needs it can rebuild itself. Sadly, very few of the tasty products available at your local grocery store or restaurant have much real food in them these days. Even the beautiful, fresh produce doesn’t typically begin to contain the vitamins and nutrients it did in years past. Too much concern about shelf life, appearance, and uniformity of color, size, and flavor has resulted in serious selective breeding (not to mention genetic alteration) which has decreased nutrient content substantially.
But don’t despair. There’s good news! Food scientists and industrial agriculture haven’t yet noticed burdock, dandelions, and other weeds. As a result, those rascals are still chock full of all the nutritional goodies God poked into them when he first planted them in His own lovely garden. Yeah, yeah, I’m sure the Garden of Eden had tastier things in it too, but I’d bet money there were dandelions there. Deep-rooted plants like Burdock and Red Clover can pull up micro minerals that are difficult to find in field-grown crops. Brigham Tea is full of minerals and also gives a nice energy boost. Nettles has a lot of wonderful vitamins and nutrients too. Yellow Dock Root is full of iron and other goodies. And I hardly dare to mention Chaga because it just makes almost every other herb pale with embarrassment when you compare vitamin and anti-oxidant levels.
As long as you’re feeding your own body, it’s also a really good idea to feed all the cute little rascals that are living in there to help you. A healthy digestive system is a host to countless billions of beneficial microorganisms. These little fellows outnumber our own body cells by about ten to one. They perform countless critical tasks from aiding digestion to supporting immunity and mental health. Maybe they’d like some lunch too. One of their favorite foods is the insoluble fiber inulin which is found in plants like Elecampane, Burdock, and Dandelion Root (All three of these roots are also found in our Prebiotic Formula). When feeding gut bacteria, it’s essential to use the powdered form of the herb. Tinctures contain vitamins and minerals, but they don’t contain any of the fiber the good guy bacteria like.
Here are some good resources for feeding the need:
Boosting Energy
One of my favorite plants for making the miserable malaise of illness go away is Rehmannia. It isn’t a tonic stimulant like some of the other great plants we’ll talk about here. It just makes you feel better. IT takes away that droopy, dragging feeling of wanting to lay around and be sick and makes you feel like a normal person again. While it’s at it, it help to rebuild blood cells and modulates the immune system.
There are a number of other plants that can really increase energy levels. One of the best ones for weakened folks following (or during) a tough illness is Brigham Tea . As mentioned above, Brigham Tea is a great nutritive but it also increases energy levels in a smooth and delightful way. It’s much less jarring than caffeine but has a similar effect without the negative crash afterward. It also contains antihistamine constituents which can decrease the immune-stimulated aggravation of the tissues.
Siberian ginseng is another wonder for rehabilitating folks. It is energizing and stimulating to about every organ and system in the body from immunity to cognitive function to liver function to libido and fertility. Let’s see…did I leave anyone out? Anyway, it’s good for about anything that ails you and gives you energy to boot, all without taxing your body’s resources. Don’t take it before bed or you’ll be counting sheep all night. But, interestingly, whenever I put someone on Siberian ginseng they almost always report that their sleep is significantly improved. So, how does an herb that stimulates the brain and wakes you up make you sleep better? Because it stimulates your brain to do what it’s supposed to do and one of those jobs is to make enough melatonin during the day so that you can get to sleep at night. :0)
Improving Circulation
The circulatory system is critical to removing waste from the body. After infections of any kind, the body is full of the death and debris of a hard-fought battle. Improving circulation can accelerate the removal of these toxic leftovers. Decreased or sluggish circulation is like a garbage collectors strike in the body. If it doesn’t get resolved effectively, things can get ugly. There are some wonderful plants to help with the circulation of both the circulatory and the lymphatic vessels to get things moving and clean things up. Hawthorn is wonderful for improving circulation. Ginkgo is incredible as well. It dilates the blood vessels and improves oxygenation of tissues and unblocks the roads so the garbage trucks can get into those plugged-up back alleys. Cayenne is great for circulation as well. It markedly improves vascular elasticity and health and its warming nature really helps to get things moving. All of these kids are in the Circulatory Support Formula
The lymphatic system can benefit from a cleaning as well. Cleavers is an astoundingly good herb for flushing out congested lymph nodes and lymphatic vessels.
Decreasing Inflammation
Many folks just ache during or after an illness and Covid-19 is particularly notorious for causing this sort of thing. But fear not, the herbs can help with that as well. Though usually thought of as aids for arthritis and such, herbs like turmeric, Boswellia, Devil’s Claw, Ginger, and Yucca can decrease inflammation anywhere in the body. When I had Covid, the Joint Support Formula was one of my favorite tools. It ain’t tasty but man it sure works!
Clearing The Fog
A common report from folks that have mostly recovered from an illness in other ways is the presence of persistent brain fog. For this problem, I use the Memory & Alertness Formula. It contains Panax Ginseng and Ashwagandha which both improve memory and enhance cognitive function. They both help to heal a recent brain injury as well. It also has Ginkgo which improves brain circulation. The Sage in that formula is good for stuffing turkeys on Thanksgiving and there was one other thing….oh yeah, it’s great for improving memory!
Decreasing Stress
Stress decreases our ability to heal. The sympathetic “fight or flight” condition stimulated by the adrenal glands during times of difficulty actually counteract the parasympathetic heal and restore mode our bodies so desperately need in order to rebuild and recuperate. In other words, if we’re stressed out, it’s lots harder to get better. Here again, Siberian Ginseng comes to the rescue. It’s a wonderful adaptogen that helps the mind-body to overcome stress and rebuild. Oat straw is another favorite of mine for decreasing stress. It is an amazing nutritive tonic to the nervous system and has a remarkable power to unfrazzle frazzled nerves without being sedating. Great stuff! Both of those herbs (plus some Ginkgo to dilate the vessels and get them up to your brain) are in our General Stress Formula.
Getting Some Rest
Rest is surpassingly important to healing. Most of the guys that do repairs and restoration work in our bodies work the night shift. So getting to bed and getting some sleep while you’re there is really important. As I mentioned above, Siberian Ginseng really tends to improve sleep generally…as long as you don’t take it after 5 pm. But there are some other great plants that can really help us to get the rest we need. Some of my favorites are Valerian, Chamomile, and Skullcap. Those three are in the Rest Easy Formula. Lemon balm, Passionflower, and several others are also quite good. Staying away from screens and electronics for an hour or so before bed is also really important. Social media sites and games are especially bad right before bed. Those rascals are designed to be very stimulating to the brain so you’ll keep playing with them.
Cleaning House & Healing Organs
A good cleanse of all body systems can also have really beneficial effects. During difficult or prolonged illnesses, your liver, kidneys, and digestive system have all been working overtime to eliminate toxins and are just pooped out…I mean the organs are pooped out, not the toxins…actually a lot of the toxins get pooped out too but that’s another blog article. Anyway, as I was saying, cleansing the body can have wonderful restorative effects. In fact, actually restoring the organs is possible with herbs as well. Some herbs like Oregon grape, burdock, or dandelion root clean out the liver. But there are also herbs that heal and restore it like milk thistle and cleavers. In like fashion, there are herbs like parsley, dandelion leaf, and corn silk that clean out the kidneys but there are also plants like nettle seed, astragalus chamomile, and Rehmannia that can help to heal and restore them. As a result, I’ve developed two types of formulas for the liver and kidneys. Liver Support and Kidney MoPP flush, clean and stimulate the function of the organs while Liver Builder and Kidney Builder focus on healing and restoring them. A good herbal cleanse protocol does both the cleansing and the restoring of all systems. Here’s a good one I happen to know of… The Herbal Cleanse Kit.
Final Thoughts
So there you have it. Getting through Covid-19 or any other serious illness is only half the battle. The final and often most important step is to rebuild your body afterward. As always, The Good Lord has provided us with some wonderful tools. I hope they’ll be as much a blessing to you as they have been to countless others.
We’ve put together some bundles that will cover the bases. Have a look at the offerings below & See Which Tools Might be Helpful To You.
Doc Jones
HomeGrown Herbalist School of Botanical Medicine
New Bundles From Doc Jones To Help Out The Long Haulers
Boosting Energy
Restoration Bundle
Feed The Need
Restoration Bundle
Doc You are HILARIOUS and super well informed. Thank you for sharing! I like that you created the energy bundle because i’ve been so exhausted all the time since i had covid. im excited to try it out
Yeah, I think being exhausted for months is a really common consequence
your cytokine balance helped my daughter come out of congested lungs fast !Thanks Jones
How can we keep the jokers from playing with Crispr.
Glad she’s feeling better Kenneth.
Are you referring to the virus playing with crspr or the scientists?
I don’t see any mention of Artemisia annua here, although you do carry the product. It is apparently being studied as a possible treatment for Covid.
[link]
Reading about that brings up a question for me. Artemisia vulgaris, more commonly known as mugwort, grows wild in my garden, and some people use it to make tea. Since it is from the same family, I am curious whether that might work to more quickly get over this new and improved virus.
I wrote an article on Artemisia annua here:
https://homegrownherbalist.net/2020/08/herbs-to-the-rescue-again/
Mugwort is quite different from some its cousins. I don’t know that it would behave identically. I’d have to look into the artimesinin levels it contains.
Thanks for the link. I must have missed that article. My property is mostly virgin forest, and I also have access to open areas left to grow wild. I am always discovering new and interesting plants, and believe that many would be useful, if only I could positively identify them. I recently found a place where I can learn about them in person an hour’s drive from here, and am looking forward to doing that in the spring.
You should have a look at the school. I’d love to help you learn who all those little green rascals on your property are and how they could help you. :0)
https://www.homegrownherbalist.net/about-the-school
Enjoyed this post very much! Great advice for strengthening the body after the current virus, or any illness. God bless you!
Glad you enjoyed it Michele.
What do you recommend to restore one’s sense of smell and taste after Covid?
I haven’t done any experimenting with that.
Doc Jones knows what he is talking about. The first of September we got covid. I thought it was just a cold with no fever. Before we knew it, we were into the side effects. First thing my husband did was find a doctor that would help us without going to the hospital. It is interesting how the meds she gave us, paralleled with what Doc Jones’ formulas are doing for our bodies. I had his flu and respiratory kit on hand. Did I use it? No. Why? 1. I put it away and promptly forgot it. 2. Where you are into the side effect, you are not thinking clearly. So, this is what I suggest: 1. Get the supplies. 2. Put them in a place you will remember and easy to get to. 3. Think through what you are going to take and have written instructions as to when and how much. 4. Don’t wait to take the herbs. If you have any sign of a cold, start taking them.
A friend of ours had covid the same time we did. He followed the doctor’s protocol, ended up in the hospital for 2 1/2 weeks and is still on oxygen and struggling with several health issues. We were fortunate and got the help we needed. After we started recovering, we took some of Doc. Jones’ formulas and found our energy returned faster, and we seem to be back to normal. Thank you Doc. Jones for your advice.
Hi Kathy, glad you’re feeling better. Having stuff on hand is really important. If you’re waiting for help in the mail for three or four days, you’re just giving the bugs a head start.
Thank you Doc! I have a question- I have burdock and lots of other herbs growing at my place. Could I add burdock leaf to a salad to get the nutrition my gut likes best? Or is there a need to dry it for digestion?
Fresh burdock is dandy, but the root will be much better than the leaf. The Japanese consider it a delicacy and call it gobo.
Thanks Dr. Jones for this helpful article. Karen Perkins
You bet Karen. Thanks for stopping by. :0)