STORY AND PHOTO BY KAREN BOSSICK
Learn how to boost your immune system with foods and herbs during two Prevention & Treatment classes being held Thursday and Sunday.
The classes will be taught from 5:30 to 7 p.m. Thursday, March 12, at NourishMe in Ketchum and from 4 to 5:30 p.m. Sunday, March 15, at the Hailey Grange, 609 S. 3rd Ave., in Hailey.
The workshops will examine the unique biology of viruses, as well as what to do if you get sick to reduce complications.
Participants will take home a list of anti-viral herbs and formulas, an herbal anti-viral decoction, instructions for making home and hand disinfectants and herbal tinctures locally formulated for currently circulating viruses. There will also be the chance to purchase elderberry elixir, which helps stop viruses from entering cells and replicating, at a discounted price.
The workshops are being presented by Sylvie Dore of Redwood Fairy Herbs & Ferments and Erin Sweeney of Wood River HomeBirth. Cost is $20, which can be pre-payed at www.Eventbrite.com (search for “Virus Idaho”) or by emailing redwoodfairy@hotmail.com.
Dore said Wood River Valley residents can boost their immunity by sleeping, deep breathing, meditating and using a humidifier. It goes without saying you shouldn’t be smoking as that compromises your lungs.
Eat fresh green vegetables, along with kiwi and other citrus fruits. Eat foods high in immune boosting vitamins like Shitake mushrooms.
Use essential oils with anti-viral/lung opening properties, such as the mints and Italian spices like thyme, along with tea tree, eucalyptus, clove and cinnamon. And minimize alcohol, preservatives and junk food--sugar is a major immune depressant. Green tea has some anti-viral properties, as well, she said.
PHOTO
Sylvie Dore collects elderberries for her elderberry elixir in the Wood River Valley.