Nigella sativa
aka black seed, cumin seed, black cumin
Black seed oil has a very long history in traditional healing practices including Traditional Chinese Medicine and Ayurveda; it's even mentioned in the Bible and by the prophet Mohammed.
"Recent clinical studies have shown that seeds of nigella sativa and their major compounds including thymoquinone have strong immunomodulatory, anti-inflammatory, anti-oxidant, antiviral, antibacterial, antimalarial, antifungal, antihistaminic, anticancer, antidiabetic, anti-epileptic, anti-asthmatic, anti-allergic, antitussive, anticoagulant, analgesic, cardioprotective, hepatoprotective, gastroprotective and neuroprotective effects, among others". (1)
Black seed oil has been shown to treat and prevent influenza, especially if paired with vitamin D. If you start to feel symptoms of the flu coming on, or if you want to avoid getting influenza, I would recommend taking black seed oil and high-quality cod liver oil together. It would also be a good idea to spend 15 minutes in the sun each day to increase your vitamin D status naturally. Of course, you should be drinking plenty of fresh, non-chlorinated water and eating nourishing whole foods, including vitamin C-rich foods (fruits and 'vegetables' with internal seeds).
Another recommendation is to limit eating to a shorter period of the day - fasting. This will allow your 'gut' to do all the other jobs it needs to do outside of digesting food. It will also increase autophagy - a natural 'cleaning' process triggered by stress or deprivation of nutrients, eg fasting. When autophagy kicks-in your body removes the rubbish that has been building-up in your cells allowing them to work more efficiently. It also destroys pathogens in the cells.
My last suggestion is to rest. Give yourself time to heal if you do become sick - this is your body's way of telling you it needs to slow down.
http://orthomolecular.org/resources/omns/v19n27.shtml
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