Pneumonia - foods & herb recommendations?

Sorry to hear about the pneumonia. My husband and I got bacterial pneumonia two years ago right about this time. I've studied and practiced Western and Chinese herbalism for several decades, but we both went to Dr. and got the antibiotics because I have asthma and like to live. We both lost our appetites due to the antibiotics and being sick and lost a fair amount of weight. Alas, mine came back.

I also had my Dr. wondering when I went to the clinic and told her that there was fluid in my lower right lung. She checked and sure enough it was there. I don't know why they think some people don't know their own bodies. Seemed pretty obvious to me when I could feel air bubbling in and out as I took a breath.

You've already received a lot of good suggestions for herbs and food and I definitely agree with the garlic but I'd like to add a preparation method that I learned from my Chinese herbalism teacher. Take a bulb of garlic (not clove, a bulb or as much as you think you can stand). Peel and slice thinly. Steam in a small amount of water for 30 seconds. Test a piece to see if it's lost it's "bite" and keep cooking for 15 seconds until the bite is gone but generally not more than a minute total. Raw garlic can be a touch hard on the stomach but this mellows it without killing the active ingredient. Eat the steamed garlic on what ever food you can manage. I usually steam/cook mine in a little butter and pile it on a piece of bread. I crave this combination when I'm sick and it really helps and has never upset my stomach. This can be done daily until you're better or you're sick of garlic

I found that when I was getting over the pneumonia I was so tired like someone drained out my energy and I couldn't seem to get it back. And ironically I had herbs on hand that could have helped but I couldn't think straight enough to prepare some. That's when I discovered chaga mushroom extract. OMG after the first few doses I could feel my energy coming back and the next day was noticeably more human. I now extract my own chaga and keep several bottles in the freezer. My husband and I take some daily, and I give some to our aging dogs and cats. It's helped them a lot too.

Take care and keep us posted on your recovery.

I just recovered from a particularly nasty bout of Pneumonia.

Food wise I went with "Russian Bear's cure-all chicken soup", recipe below, and fresh garlic, fresh Serrano peppers.

I also did the colloidal silver in nebulizer, which made me feel noticeably better immediately.

Herbal hot teas also helped, and since this was a rather bad case, I saw an alternative practitioner for an ozone IV as soon as I was well enough to drive to town.

Nicolai Volkoff, the Russian Bear's "Cure-All" Chicken Soup:

1 small organic chicken
1 medium onion
1 bag of organic spinach
1/2 cup of freshly shredded ginger
1/2 cup of freshly shredded organic carrots
At least 1 clove of freshly minced garlic

Place the whole chicken (with the skin on) in a pot and cover it with water. Bring the water to a low boil and let it simmer for an hour. Turn off the heat. When the chicken cools to the touch, remove the cooked meat. Leave the carcass, neck, and skin in the broth.

Bring the broth-carcass mixture back to a very soft boil, under low heat. Add the garlic, ginger, onion, and carrots. Keep at a soft boil for about an hour. Just make sure you don't overheat or overcook the vegetables. Overcooking breaks down vital nutrients. And you want to preserve all their potency.

While hot, strain out the carcass, remaining parts of chicken, and the vegetable pieces. This leaves just the broth with all the nutrients.

Again, over a low heat, add the spinach and the chicken meat you saved to the broth. (Or you can keep the meat out to use in some other way.) Keep the pot covered, simmering at a soft boil under low heat for just 30 minutes. Last, add salt and pepper/ seasoning to taste.

(I add back chicken, veggies & extra veggies)

Nicolai Volkoff, a world-class professional wrestler. Today, at 68 years old, Nicolai is in great shape. He still wrestles. He's never broken a bone. And he's almost never sick. His secret? He only eats whole foods. Including the skins--of wild game and vegetables alike. He insists these "secrets" help him stay strong and fit.

When he does get sick, the Russian Bear makes a "cure-all" chicken soup. He believes so strongly in this soup, he claims it can cure the common cold--and even cancer.

Now, you know I'm a scientist who only believes the facts. But, as you know by now, I do love a good story. And here's one from the Russian Bear about his sister's dog...

Apparently, this dog had a large tumor growing out of his hind leg up by the tail. The vet was ready to put the dog down, but Nicolai brought the dog home and gave him this chicken soup.

It was a "last resort" in every sense. But to everyone's amazement, the tumor slowly shrunk. And the dog lived an extra couple of years.

My friend Mr. Jonathan, who interviewed Nikolai, also shared his own story about getting sick. About a month ago, he worked four 16-hour days in a row. And he got more than a little run down. On Monday, he found himself in the throes of a full-blown cold. Thinking back to his interview with Nikolai, Mr. Jonathan whipped up a batch of the Russian Bear's "cure-all" chicken soup.

He figured, worst case scenario, the cold would run its typical 7-day course. And he would have had some hot, homemade soup in the meantime. But by Tuesday morning, Mr. Jonathan was 80 percent back to health. His head was clear, with only a little sniffle. And almost no coughing. By Wednesday, he showed no signs of having been sick.

Well, of course, I had to try it myself.

Recently, a member of my family had a lingering respiratory infection. And she had a real relapse one Friday night after finishing the work week. On Sunday, I made the soup and she sipped on the broth throughout that afternoon and into the evening. She probably drank what amounted to about three to four bowls of broth.

On Monday morning, she was 80 percent improved and back at work. I also had a cup of the soup. It was delicious and soothing. And the next day, I felt a burst of mental and physical energy. And I felt my own upper respiratory congestion improve.

These fun "experiments" aside, there's a very good reason why this type of nutrient-rich chicken soup works.

Prepared properly, chicken soup features a rich, dense liquid that contains virtually every nutrient known (and unknown) in the animal and plant kingdoms.

By using the whole, organic chicken (and not just the "white meat"), you get all the important and potent fat-soluble nutrients carried into the broth. And you also get the water-soluble nutrients. Plus, all the nutrients are carried in natural bio-matrix for good bioavailability. This means your body can easily digest all the nutrients. And absorb them too! After all, it's all of what the chicken lived on.

But it's absolutely essential to use a whole chicken!

When you cook the whole chicken, you get the nutrients in the meat, the skin, the tissues, the bones, the marrow and the gizzard and organs. The whole nutrient complement.

Mr. Jonathan says that Nicolai's recipe worked like a magic potion. And I agree.

This man, who made his living in a land of fakes, found some very real truths about the human diet and nutrition.

So, this cold and flu season the sensible suggestions to avoid getting sick. But if you come down with a cold, try this chicken soup recipe. After all, "it couldn't hurt."

R Ranson wrote:

Rachel Hart wrote:Hi R,

You might just have to bite the bullet and see an MD.
My Mom had pheumonia and they had her breath in, this disgusting smelling thing to combat full blown pneumonia.
You have got a lot of suggestions to use in the future, to protect yourself from getting sick but please consider, seeing an MD
and get yourself taken care of.
Then use the above suggestions to stay healthy etc.

Wishing you the best,

Rachel

Thank you Rachel
Always good advise to see a doctor for any health concerns.

I am working with my family doctor to get better, including a rather strong antibiotic treatment. I'm also a firm believer in the power of food to heal.

I figure the best way to get better is to use all the tools available to me: food and modern medicine.

It's been very helpful and I've learned a lot about the natural side of healing pneumonia from the suggestions on this thread. Thank you all for joining the conversation.

Hi R,

Glad you are seeing an MD also.
I cooked for a woman who had cancer and she couldn't keep her food down.
Within 3 days of eating the food, I prepared for her, she stopped throwing up.

Cancer is very different from pneumonia but eating soups, when your digestion is off, is very helpful.
Here is a simple miso soup, you might want to try.
I use 3 year old Barley Miso from South River but even a mellow miso, would be beneficial.
(Note: everything is organic)
2 cups of purified water
1/2 onion, chopped or diced
about 1/2 cup of broccoli florets
shiitake mushrooms: 1 or 2, if dried, just throw in and let them softened, after 5 minutes or when they are soften, take out: remove the stem and chop the rest up and throw back in the pot
If you have some other veggies in the refrig, add 1/2 cup of chopped veggies
If you have some cooked short grain rice or cook some rice pasta up and add to the soup.
Usually, as I prepare the veggies, I just toss them in the pot and in about 5 to 10 minutes after it comes to a boil, it is done. Just about the time, the rice pasta is finished.
Now, is the time to add the miso. Just take some of the liquid from the pot and take about 1/2 to a level TBSN of miso and dissolve it, in the warm soupy liquid and then after 1-3 minutes, add it to the soup.
If you want some fat? You can add some tahini to the miso, and then add it to the soup.
The tahini, will be a little harder to digest, so it is your call, if you feel you want it.

If this is too much or hard on your digestion, here is another soup to try:
Steam some green veggies: Zucchini, Broccoli, celery, whatever green veggies you have. Steam these for about 5 minutes.
If you have some leafy veggies: add them the last minute, to the steaming veggies.
Now blend the veggies, with some of the broth at the bottom of the steaming pot.
Add some seasoning: miso or organic soy sauce to taste.
You will have a thick green mush which will be easy to digest. If you want it to be a bit more substantial, add some cooked rice to the blender.
You might want to squeeze half of lemon, to this mush, for added taste.

You can also, make some simple veggie broth, which will help you take in the nutrition and build your digestion:
Sweet Veggie Drink:
1/4 cup each of: onions, carrots, cabbage, butternut squash (chopped)
5 cups of purified water
bring to boil, then reduce flame to simmer for 20 minutes.
Strain and save the veggies, to add to a soup
and drink 1/2 cup of this, twice a day, (in between meals) until you start to feel better.

Here is another great soup, that is easy on the digestion:
Millet with sweet veggies:
1 cup of millet (that has been rinsed twice at least) and has soaked over night or for 8 hours.
4 cups of purified water
1 cup of butternut squash, diced
3/4 cup of cabbage, thinly sliced and chopped
3/4 cup of onions, chopped
pinch of salt or just add miso, to your bowl, a minute or two before you eat it. Dissolve the miso, in the liquid of the soup and then add to your bowl.
It is easy on the digestion and good for you.

Just a note: the lungs deal with the emotion: grief.
You might want to look into getting an Emotional Freedom Technique book from Amazon.
They refer to it as EFT.
You are basically, tapping merdian points in a certain sequence as you repeat an affirmation.
Watch and listen to your emotions or mental thoughts, that come up, while you are doing EFT.
Up could come: fear, anger, grief etc.
Then do the EFT for the emotion, that surfaced: fear, anger or grief?
Until, you do not have any emotional trigger with that affirmation.
It took me a week, to learn the EFT tapping sequence, to the point, I was able to concentrate on listen to the emotions that came up.
I have used EFT to help heal me of a basal cell carcinoma (took 2.5 days of doing EFT like a bunny raddit, which lead me down the rabbit hole. It can be emotionally draining, doing EFT etc. but I finally got to the emotional situation, which brought on the cancer and when I no longer had an emotional response or the thought came, it was just part of my past and it was just a memory, that no longer triggered an emotional response, then all the basal cell's just died, in about 30 days) and other physical aliments, like dealing with the loss of my Mom passing away.
The idea is: some emotional event happens and our immune system is weakened and then the health problem starts to manifest. The emotional trauma, stays in our body as a memory, which acts like a hiccup, in the natural meridian flow of our energy. As you tap the meridian points, you are stimulating that meridian, that relates to an organ in the body and the emotional memory, can surface during EFT and you can reprogram it out of your body. This is a very quick way of emotionally healing yourself within minutes to days. I saw a man, get rid of his fear of water, within 25 minutes. You can use EFT for about anything.

One more thing, make sure you are taking some acidophilus, to replenish your natural flora in your gut.
When you get better, make sure you add to your diet, some homemade fermented foods, like sauerkraut (raw) etc.
You just need about 1-2 TBSN of Fermented foods a day, to keep your intestinal track healthy.

Wishing you the best,

Rachel

I'm officially on the mend. The lunge has gone from feeling like someone punched me everytime I breath, to a little ice cream headache in the chest.

Yesterday I made this amazing soup. When I was making the broth, I found this packet of sticks and stuff in the cupboard that I bought a few months back. It's in Korean, but it had a picture of a chicken, and since I was making chicken broth I decided to try it. It was fantastic. I soaked the twigs for about half an hour in warm water before adding the twigs and soaking liquid to the chicken and made the broth. It made a very earthy, but delightfully ... I don't know the word to describe this, the taste is round and warm, with a bit of the smell from a fresh pile of maple leaves after a warm rain. I strained the broth and added garlic, leek, chestnuts and turnips, all from the garden. It was exactly what I needed, but I'm sad because I ate it all.

I put the picture here in case anyone reads Korean:



I'm not certain what the soup mix is, but the English translation of ingredients goes like this: Antler, Milk Vetch, Toasted Garlic, Jujube (which is like a red date), Angelica Gigas, Sessilifloral Acanthopanax, Japanese Raisin Tree.

It reminds me a lot of the stuff the Chinese herbalists gives out. All I know is that I feel really good from having it.

Today is my last dose of antibiotics. I think I'll like to start a new thread to help brainstorm foods and herbs that help get the gut back on track.

My Korean buddy says: Chicken stew including ginseng and deer horn.

For anybody with pneumonia, I would like to know what temperature your water heater is set at.

And then I would like you to turn it up to 140.

It is my understanding that about 85% of pneumonia comes from legionella bacteria. The optimal breeding temp is 115 degrees F. And somebody once pointed out that if you turn your water heater down to 110 degrees F that you will save energy - which is true! Although you don't save a whole lot, you do save some. Of course, they leave out the part about the tradeoff of how it can make you sick.

Spent a good chunk of this morning with a warm wool blanket, a hot toddy and rereading this thread. Caught a cold this week, and I can just feel the cough starting to settle into the same spot where my pneumonia was. Not bad enough to go to the doctor yet, but keeping a close eye on things.

I really appreciate these suggestions. This thread is an excellent resource.

Made some chicken ginseng soup and am guzzling down the broth.

Checked my hot water heater as per Paul's suggestion. It runs between 150 and 220 F (depending if it's just electric or if the geothermal heat pump is going). So I'm feeling pretty good there... except when I forget to mix it with cold water and burn myself.


I think part of the reason I caught this is that my body hasn't recovered from the stress of four months ago. Major life changing events have ripples. Now I'm eating properly again, so that should help. But we have other stressors creeping up as a result of the first. Now a family member has to have to rather unpleasant surgeries, which means he's had lots of doctors visits, which means lots of waiting around in waiting rooms full of sick people... which means now I have a rotten cold just as my ewes are about to pop out their lambs ... which means, I have some potential long nights, outside, with the sheep, in the rain, not sleeping.... which means, I need to get my immune system stronger or else I'm going to be flat on my arse again with pneumonia.

I like astragalus membranaceus as a immune system booster. I've been taking a small amount (200mg-500mg) daily for three years now, originally while trying to recover from tick fever. From what I've read, it's OK to take indefinitely unlike other herbs.
I double up my dose if I find I've been exposed to something or under stress.
I'm growing it but don't have enough to harvest yet so I buy the prepared tincture or capsuled herb.

Andrographis (andrographis paniculata) is another you might want to check out.
"in Scandinavia this is the main herb used to fight the common cold, flu, and upper respiratory infections. Clinical trials have shown that this herb really works. Like echinacea, it works by boosting the immune system. It has adaptogen-like properties, it has anticancer activity, it is a bitter tonic, and it is an antioxidant that has been shown to protect the liver." from Richter's catalog.
It's easy to grow but seems to need a long season as it's an annual. I grew it last year and want to try again...beautiful tiny flowers, but again growing enough to harvest is difficult.

My favorite for a cough is hyssop Hyssopus officinalis (not anise hyssop) ...and it is easy to grow enough to harvest a years worth or so over a season.

...hope you get well soon

This might be a good place for me to tout the benefits of oregano, Mother Nature's antibiotic of choice. The chemistry of this is well-known, oil of oregano (that small percentage of the plant matter that is lipid) contains large amounts of thymol and carvacrol, two monoterpenes that bacteria have a really hard time dealing with. As a permaculturalist, you may have oregano or thyme (another good source of these) growing in your herb garden. Have they ever been hit by a plant disease? Well, now you know why. Any plant pathogen first has to overcome the carvacrol and thymol before it can attack the plant.

How about the matter of dosage? Oregano and thyme leaves, like most plants, are mostly water with a good bit of cellulose for structure and the lipid content is down in the single digits. One reference I have gives the weight percent of the oil as 2.5% of the dry weight. Considering that plants are 90% water, this means that to take in 1 gram of oregano oil, you might have to eat a pound of fresh oregano. While I do like it in my spaghetti sauce, I usually only put in a couple teaspoons.

I have used oregano to take care of tooth abscesses. The dentist told me that I was going to have to get a root canal, but I wasn't about to surrender. I took up oregano as chaw, and munched on it three times a day. The first day I noticed immediate improvement, as the bacteria that were trying to deep six my tooth were getting deep sixed themselves. Now, close to a year later, I still have the tooth, and no problems.

There are many antibiotics that are typically given in gram per day quantities (250mg pills, 4 times a day), and when oregano oil has been compared to them, it turns out to be more effective in many cases. In fact, oregano oil has been shown to be effective against methampicillin resistant staphlococcus (MRSA). So the next time someone tries to scare you with a horror story of how we are all going to die from superbugs that are antibiotic resistant, do what I do, spit some oregano juice on their shoe.

Is manuka honey worth trying? Someone mentioned it earlier in the thread, and I realized I have a jar of it stashed somewhere in the pantry. A guy gave it to me from when he was tending hives somewhere in far off lands... What do I do with it (assuming I can remember where I stashed it)? Hot toddy with lemon and brandy? Or am I supposed to apply it topically? The fella said lots of words in an accent I'm not experienced with, so I'm not sure what he was talking about. I trust you guys more than google, so tell me... is manuka honey something to help to keep the pneumonia at bay?

So very many suggestions on how to treat Pneumonia and I'm adding to this equation...

I live in the rainy, Pacific NW and seem to acquire pneumonia every single winter. Always comes on after surviving a cold. Several years I was impatient and too busy working to stay on a natural regimen, which is normally how I deal with any problem, and went for the antibiotic pharmaceutical treatment. I hate doing that because I always have repercussions for the following year by doing destroying the good flora and fauna. But the last 3 years I dealt with it differently...I left town. I went to Mexico twice and Denver the third time. Also took along Oil of Oregano - Mediterranean P73. Three drops under the tongue 3 x day. Plus garlic, Vit. C and lots of it! Gone in 2 days but I stay on the regimen for 30 days. Last year I contracted a foot fungus which I endured for 7 months. When I did my usual pneumonia treatment it took that away as well. I know the foot fungus was viral. So the Oil of Oregano tackled not only the bacterial cold but the viral fungus.

When kids are sick, I take 1/2 onion and cook it in 2 cups of water, low heat and slowly til soft-onion tea for a bit of honey to kill germs. But if they don't want it, I make hot lemonade, that is, one cup hot water, half a lemon and honey to taste, and as much ginger powder as can be enjoyed by taste: ginger can kill typhus, so it's good to add to one's stores.

Also,I got sick long periods of time with colds and flu until I checked my vitamin D levels. It was low. I now take D regularly. During the winter, I take 5,000 units of D, and summer 1.000. Every time I check, I'm lower than average D levels.So start with a doctor's blood test, then you work by taking D to get it back to normal.

I'm really hoping this weed I found is Mullein.

raven ranson wrote:I'm really hoping this weed I found is Mullein.

You named it right.  Looks like it is about to bloom, meaning it is in its second year.  

Faye

Is it ready to harvest for health giving tea?

raven ranson wrote:Is it ready to harvest for health giving tea?

Yes, just pull off leaves that are clean.  I don't harvest the bottom leaves as they usually have dirt splashed on them.  Chop fresh leaves, about 1/4 cup loose herb to a quart of water, simmer about 15 minutes, strain, sweeten with honey if you like that and use hot or cold.  One cup per day is recommended for asthma or emphysema.  You can easily dry the whole leaves as they are already a low moisture content.  Crumble when dry and store in an airtight container.  When using dried leaves use about 1/2 as much as fresh herb.  

Faye

I harvest from plants as small as this one, about 9" across. (The picture would not copy, see link below.) I will take as much as half the leaves. More if I have a desperate need. There is something to be said for responsible harvesting, but this plant is not going to vanish from my region if I kill one plant. I do make sure to leave the center of the rosette so it can recover. If this is your only plant, try not to take more than 1/3 of it. More leaves will grow, a cup of tea a day would take a long time to exhast such a robust plant.


https://forageporage.files.wordpress.com/2012/03/mullein.jpg?w=300&h=183