Back To School Immunity

By: Charlie Baron

Whether you have a student in kindergarten or you are a student in college, you know that the start of school can mean instantly catching whatever bug is going around. Especially now that we’re dodging COVID in addition to the usual colds and flus, taking care of your immune system is more important than ever. Luckily, Una Biologicals has you covered!

In this blog post, we’re going to teach you about some ways herbs can help you stay healthy through the whole year. Medicinal herbs have lots of different “actions,” which tell you what herbs do in the body. Some of the most important immune-supporting herbal actions are: immune modulator, immune stimulant, and antimicrobial (which is the general term including antibacterial, antiviral, and antifungal). So what do all these mean? Let’s get into it!

Immune Modulator 

Immune modulating herbs (aka immunomodulants) have a balancing effect on the immune system. They can both boost immunity in response to infections and dial down overactive immune responses (such as autoimmunity and allergies). Immune modulators take time to work. They usually slowly shift the immune system, so people need to take these herbs for a couple months to build up their effects, and then on a regular basis, to get continued herbal immune support.

Some of the best immunomodulants are medicinal mushrooms, such as reishi, turkey tail, and shiitake. There are many other medicinal mushrooms that are excellent for the immune system, many of which are edible, but these are some of the mushrooms that are widely available and sustainable. 

Immune Stimulant

Immune stimulants are herbs that boost immune response. One of the best known immune-stimulating herbs is echinacea (aka purple coneflower). It’s common in gardens as a pollinator-friendly plant, and in health stores as a supplement, tea, or tincture. Echinacea is best for short-term immune boosts. It’s most effective when taken as soon as someone is exposed to a virus, or as soon as they feel the earliest symptoms of being sick.

Another immune-stimulating plant ally is astragalus. Astragalus root works on a different timeline than echinacea. While echinacea is best for short-term immune support, astragalus slowly builds up your system’s ability to fight off pathogens. By taking it before and during the months of the year when you usually get sick, you can help your dodge infections. If you do get sick, you should stop taking astragalus. Because it works on a deep level in the body, it can drive infections deeper, when we want them to stay on the surface where we can shake them off! 

Antimicrobial

Most of the bugs that spread during cold and flu season are viruses, so antivirals are excellent friends during this time of year. Antiviral herbs work by directly killing viruses. Other antimicrobial herbs work in the same way. For example, antibacterial herbs have plant chemicals that are deadly to bacteria. One of the reasons plants are excellent for killing infectious viruses and bacteria is that each plant will have a slightly different balance of natural chemicals in it because of the climate it grew in, how much water it got, whether animals or insects tried to eat it… Having to survive and defend itself from the elements is part of what encourages plants to develop their antimicrobial chemicals. The benefit of this variation between plants is that it fights infections from multiple different angles. Western science has started to recognize that plant medicine will be helpful in the fight against antibiotic-resistant bacteria, because the bacteria will not form resistance as easily to antibacterial plants.

There are many antimicrobial plants, but some of our favorites include: garlic, oregano, thyme, rosemary, lemon, clove, ginger, cinnamon, calendula, and eucalyptus.

How to Use Herbs for Immune Support

Now that you have a sense of the different ways herbs benefit your immune system, we can talk about how to actually work these herbs into your life! Una Biologicals has products made with some amazing herbal allies that can support you this season.

Immuni-tea

Immuni-tea is our organic herbal tea blend of ginger, lemon balm, holy basil, echinacea root, turmeric, dandelion leaf, lemon peel, astragalus, and lemongrass. This tea is best for avoiding getting sick, or when you feel the very first tickle of being sick. Because this tea blend contains astragalus, it’s best to stop drinking it if you actually develop a cold. 

Immuni-tea has herbs that support a number of different body systems, including your nervous system. Managing stress is an important part of staying healthy, so this anti-inflammatory, stress-reducing, immune-supporting tea covers a lot of bases!

Flu Fighter

Flu Fighter tea is designed for when you are first coming down with something and throughout your illness. This tea’s main immune-supporting herb is elderberry. Elderberry is a classic immune plant, used medicinally for thousands of years. It is both an immune stimulant and immune modulator, so it can help before you get sick and when you get sick. Some of the other immune-supporting plants in this tea are diaphoretics, which warms your system and helps you sweat off sicknesses. Flu Fighter also contains lots of vitamins and antioxidants, which can help keep you well and support a full and easy recovery.

While this tea is designed for the very early stage of sickness, you can drink it at any time. You could even use it to make an herbal syrup, and take a spoonful daily through cold and flu season.

Bandits Spray

We also have a special spray for external immune support– our Bandits Spray. Bandits comes in two versions: one with alcohol, and one without. Both versions contain the same essential oil blend, which contains antimicrobial essential oils of clove, cinnamon, eucalyptus, lemon, and rosemary. The version with alcohol also contains the CDC-recommended amount of isopropyl alcohol to kill microbes on contact, with the added benefit of a spicy, herbal aroma.

A lot of staying well during fall and winter is about preventing the microbes from getting into your system in the first place. So handwashing, wearing properly-fitted, effective face masks, and wiping down frequently-touched surfaces (phones, doorknobs, steering wheels, pens, etc.) are all good ways to avoid getting sick. You can also spray Bandits Spray on items or hands as an additional precaution.

Are there any other herbs that are your favorites for back to school season? Let us know in the comments! 

Written By: Charlie Baron