• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer

Steelsmith Natural Health Center

Creating Great Health Through Natural Medicine

(808) 943-0330  |  Patient Portal
x
  • Home
  • Meet Our Doctors
  • Services
  • Conditions Treated
  • Forms
  • Press Room
  • Contact Us
  • Order Pharmacy
    • Fullscript™
    • WholeScripts™
  • Search

 

Elderberry Inhibits H1N1 and Other Viruses

Q: Are there any natural products that I can use to prevent the flu? And if I get flu symptoms, what can I do to get over it quickly?

There are many natural products that can help keep your immune system healthy and strong during flu season. Two of the most important herbs to have in your medicine cabinet are elderberry and Pelargonium. Both can usually be found at health food stores and pharmacies.

Elderberry (Sambucus nigra) has been used to treat colds and flus for centuries in Europe. A January 2009 study published in Phytochemistry reported that the flavonoids found in elderberry can bind to the H1N1 virus and block its ability to infect host cells. The authors concluded that the flavonoids in elderberry are comparable to the anti-viral activities of the medication Tamiflu. Another study, published in the Journal of Alternative and Complementary Medicine in 1995, found that elderberry inhibits several strains of influenza virus, including types A, B and H1N1; those who were exposed to the flu viruses and took elderberry showed significant improvement in symptoms, and earlier recovery, than those who did not take it.

Elderberry tastes good and can easily be taken as a tablet, syrup, or chewable pill. The recommended dose is 100 milligrams three times daily. Pregnant and lactating women should refrain from using the herb until further safety studies have been done.

If you contract the flu, Pelargonium, also known as Pelargonium sidoides, Umcka, or Viraclear EPs 7630, is one of the most helpful over-the-counter natural remedies. A member of the geranium family found primarily in South Africa, the herb has been studied extensively in Germany and found to contain polyphenols that act as non-specific immune stimulants. Its active compounds also prevent bacterial adhesion, which could prevent secondary bacterial infections. According to a 2009 study published in the journal Rhinology, people with acute sinusitis treated with Pelargonium recovered more quickly than those who did not take it. Other studies have found the herb effective at treating acute bronchitis and non-strep tonsillitis in pediatric patients. Pelargonium has been found to be very safe for children and adults; in Germany, where approximately 304 million daily doses of the herb were sold between 1994 and 2006, the number of side effects reported was extremely low. The recommended dose of the herb, which is usually taken in liquid form, is 1.5 milliliters three times daily for adults and children 12 or older, 1.0 milliliters three times daily for children 6-12, and 0.5 milliliters three times daily for children 2-6.

Primary Sidebar

SCHEDULE A VISIT
with one of our doctors

MAKE AN APPOINTMENT NOW

VISIT
DR. LAURIE
STEELSMITH
WEBSITE

VISIT NOW

VISIT
DR. KRISTEN
COLES
WEBSITE

VISIT NOW

SCHEDULE A VISIT WITH ONE OF OUR DOCTORS
  • Home
  • Meet Our Doctors
  • Services
  • Conditions Treated
  • Forms
  • Press Room
  • Contact Us
  • Order Pharmacy
    • Fullscript™
    • WholeScripts™
  • Search
  • © Steelsmith Health. All rights reserved. |
  • Terms & Conditions |
  • Privacy Policy
  • Home
  • Meet Our Doctors
  • Services
  • Conditions Treated
  • Forms
  • Press Room
  • Contact Us
  • Order Pharmacy
    ▼
    • Fullscript™
    • WholeScripts™
  • Search

Privacy Policy

This following document sets forth the Privacy Policy for this website. We are bound by the Privacy Act 1988 (Crh), which sets out a number of principles concerning the privacy of individuals using this website.

Collection of your personal information

We collect Non-Personally Identifiable Information from visitors to this Website. Non-Personally Identifiable Information is information that cannot by itself be used to identify a particular person or entity, and may include your IP host address, pages viewed, browser type, Internet browsing and usage habits, advertisements that you click on, Internet Service Provider, domain name, the time/date of your visit to this Website, the referring URL and your computer’s operating system.

Free offers & opt-ins

Participation in providing your email address in return for an offer from this site is completely voluntary and the user therefore has a choice whether or not to disclose your information. You may unsubscribe at any time so that you will not receive future emails.

Sharing of your personal information

Your personal information that we collect as a result of you purchasing our products & services, will NOT be shared with any third party, nor will it be used for unsolicited email marketing or spam. We may send you occasional marketing material in relation to our design services.

What Information Do We Collect?

If you choose to correspond with us through email, we may retain the content of your email messages together with your email address and our responses.

Cookie Based Marketing

Some of our advertising campaigns may track users across different websites for the purpose of displaying advertising. We do not know which specific website are used in these campaigns, but you should assume tracking occurs, and if this is an issue you should turn-off third party cookies in your web browser.

How Do We Use Information We Collect from Cookies?

As you visit and browse Our Website, the Our Website uses cookies to differentiate you from other users. In some cases, we also use cookies to prevent you from having to log in more than is necessary for security. Cookies, in conjunction with our web server log files or pixels, allow us to calculate the aggregate number of people visiting Our Website and which parts of the site are most popular.

This helps us gather feedback to constantly improve Our Website and better serve our clients. Cookies and pixels do not allow us to gather any personal information about you and we do not intentionally store any personal information that your browser provided to us in your cookies.

IP Addresses

P addresses are used by your computer every time you are connected to the Internet. Your IP address is a number that is used by computers on the network to identify your computer. IP addresses are automatically collected by our web server as part of demographic and profile data known as traffic data so that data (such as the Web pages you request) can be sent to you.

Sharing and Selling Information

We do not share, sell, lend or lease any of the information that uniquely identify a subscriber (such as email addresses or personal details) with anyone except to the extent it is necessary to process transactions or provide Services that you have requested.

How Can You Access and Correct Your Information?

You may request access to all your personally identifiable information that we collect online and maintain in our database by using our contact page form.

Changes to this Privacy Policy

We reserve the right to make amendments to this Privacy Policy at any time. If you have objections to the Privacy Policy, you should not access or use this website. You may contact us at any time with regards to this privacy policy.

SCHEDULE A CALL FOR
CONSULTATION