Lately I’ve been hearing from people who have runny noses, stuffed noses and sinuses or other common symptoms of allergies and colds. Obviously, they would like relief from the symptoms but don’t want the side-effects that almost all anti-histamines and other pharmaceutical cold products cause. They all seem to have them, whether over-the-counter or prescription. Further, long-term use of them is risky in terms of overall health.
So what to do? Buy shares in Kleenex? Endure the discomfort of a stuffed up nose and sinus headaches and pressure?
Not necessarily. There’s a safe and effective remedy I have used for decades. It works at least as well as any commercial cold product I have ever tried. It is inexpensive. There are no known side-effects. In fact, it actually enhances overall health in a number of ways, including helping to cleanse the liver.
What’s this magic remedy? It’s nettle leaf. For centuries indigenous people have brewed teas from nettle leaf, prepared it in various other ways, and used it for overall health and as a remedy for specific ailments.
The actual name is: “stinging nettle”, or “urtica dioica”. But don’t worry, you won’t be stung by it. It is one of the safest herbal remedies that I know of.
It is easy to use and is effective for most people. There are many manufacturers of various nettle leaf preparations, including teas and the like. Over the years I have tried a great number of them. And my clients have tried still more.
We keep coming back to the one that seems to work the best. That is the fresh freeze-dried nettle leaf capsules made by Eclectic Institute. This seems to be the clear winner for effectiveness. It is generally available in most health food stores and should be very easy to find. It is also quite inexpensive.
Be aware, there are other brands and other preparations, and some may be effective, but most that I have tried do not come close to the consistent effectiveness of Eclectic Institute’s Nettle Leaf.
The directions say to take 1 to 3 capsules a day. That may be fine for overall health.
When I have a cold or allergies and want to dry up the excess mucus quickly, I take 3 capsules with a glass of good drinking water. I wait about 2 hours and repeat. I do this up to 3 or 4 times a day for up to several days. That is a lot to take, but I have never had any problem with it, nor do I know of anyone else who has. And it sure gets the job done.
Of course, if you have a cold or are starting to get one, there are other things to do, in addition to taking the nettle leaf, in order to more quickly get rid of the cold. These include increasing vitamin C, making sure your vitamin D level is optimum, and numerous other things. (You can find posts on this site that explain many of these other measures.)
And if you are dealing with excess mucus due to allergies, then finding ways to lesson the exposure to the allergen makes sense.
But while you are taking steps to resolve the cause of the excess mucus or stuffiness, using Nettle Leaf to greatly reduce the symptoms can really help.
To your health!
Jeff Bell