Fighting Swine Flu the Natural Way

(MYFOX NATIONAL) - Many agree that washing your hands and covering your nose and mouth when you cough and sneeze are the best methods to fighting swine flu. But others are also supplementing those practices with natural remedies to try to boost their immunity ahead of the swine flu season.

In addition to stress management, which many doctors say leaves the body succeptible to illness, Dr. Milton Hammerly, who practices integrative medicine, shared with the Denver Post several supplements people can take to fight the flu.

• 1,000 to 2,000 mg of vitamin D in the fall and winter months. With less sunlight during those seasons, people's immune function dips.

• For those without dairy allergies, a daily dose of the bovine antibody colostrum .

If you happen to catch the flu, there are also supplements you can take to lessen the severity:

• Umcka is a supplement derived from a South African geranium plant. If taken at the onset of the flu, it can help reduce the symptoms. It comes in lozenge, tincture and powder form and is safe for children.

• Oscillococcinum is made from a weak dilution of duck livers. Taken at the first sign of flu-like symptoms, it can lessen the severity.

• Canadians drink swamp tea , made of the Labrador tea plant , which is rich in vitamin C, to fight illness.

• Scientists at a Taiwanese university say that they have discovered that the roots of a plant used to fight the Spanish flu of 1918 are effective against the H1N1 virus, according to LiveScience.com . Ferula asafetida, commonly known as Dung of the Devil because of its bad-smelling sap, contains a compound that is more potent than other antiviral drugs and successfully killed the H1N1 virus, according to researchers at Kaohsiung Medical University.

There is still plenty of skepticism when it comes to natural and homepathic methods, though. In Britain, a pharmaceutical company is being investigated for pills that it marketed as its "swine flu formula." As Dr. Hamish Meldrum said in the Telegraph , "Homeopathic medicine has not been shown to have any benefits at all and should not be used as an alternative to conventional treatment."