Posted on 12/17/2002 3:38:05 PM PST by yankeedame
does it work? can't remember... but i think i have fun with this technique...
I've mixed results with it. Helped me a couple of years, so it seemed, and then .... no effect noted. Used in conjunction with golden seal. Nowdays I stick to zinc tablets with bilberry, lots of clear warm liquids.
Two months back started taking cod liver oil and vitamin B complex for carpal tunnel. Helped *greatly* in conjunction with hand exercises and learning to use mouse southpaw -- use either hand now. Side effect seems to have been that I missed two or three of the colds and flus that have occurred around me. Had been pretty susceptible prior. Believe it was the cod liver oil.
As far as it working on a cold, I would think you'd have to use the tea made from the root, to be the most effective. I've been told that you aren't to take it more than 10 days at a time, so your body doesn't build a resistance to it. I haven't had a cold in several years... but it does seems to help me shorten a bout of flu to about 2 days.
I have to give as much credibility to this study as I would the one about second-hand smoke. *chuckle*
Sorry, I seem to have edited out a sentence in my post. Olive leaf extract.
Go for the highest oleuropein content for the money. My usual dose is one 300mg (18% oleuropein) capsule at any first symptom for one to three days. If I get caught without any on hand or in a situation where is none available for a day or two (camping, etc.) and the symptoms develop into an actual cold or flu, I take two capsules the first day then one a day for the next three or four. The result is usually almost immediate, with almost all symptoms gone within 6 to 12 hours (overnight). For that sudden severe sore throat stuff ( the kind that leaves you unable to talk, swallow or even bend your head sharply downward within an hour or so of the first symptom) I usually take 2 capsules two or three times a day for a week or so. This usually clears it up to a point of tolerabillity within a day or so and completely in a few days ( last time this caught me, 5 or 6 years ago, I hadn't discovered the olive leaf and was acutely affected by it for over a month. it was awfull). If you're a herbal purist and avoid extracts, I suppose that the powdered leaf would also work, but a word of warning: The extract powder (and I assume the leaf powder) is the most horrible tasting stuff immaginable. It tastes so bad that it is unusable except in capsule form. I think the leaf powder would require a large volume of capsules to equal the oleuropein content of an extract capslue.
I would be interested in hearing form others who try this remedy. I know that everyones system is different and varying results would be expected (true of antibiotics as well) and wonder how many perople this works for as well as it does for me.
Valid comment. I should have considered my wording more carefully.
Have you tried MSM for your hand? It seems to work wonders for connective tissue or arthritic problems. Good for overall health too. Maybe carpal tunnel as well (or maybe not, but there is no risk in any dosage). The powder tastes bad, but the pills are expensive and several gram or larger doses daily are needed.
Cool, it is something I am going to look into though I don't get colds very often.
I've used natural medicine for many years. Over the years I've always paid close attention to any mention of herbal medicine or nutrition. I heard someone talking about the olive tree on a religious program once. I don't think he was promoting it as a healing agent, just something about it being mentioned frequently in the Bible and all of the uses the Olive tree has. He mentioned the leaf as a herbal remedy for colds and such among other uses for the fruit and the tree. If I remember right, he was more involved with the value of the oil for cooking and it's alleged health benefits if used instead of shortening. It didn't pay that much attention, but the mention of the leaf stuck in my mind. I saw some olive leaf extract powder advertised on a website a few years ago while I was ordering some other bulk dietary supplemenhts I use and decided to order a small quantity as it was reasonably priced. Then one night I woke up in the middle of my night with a wheezing cough and sore throat starting. This is the symptoms that usually signals a cold for me (I have a really strong constitution and colds are mostly a major nusiance for me, I never get laid up by one, just fatigued and a bit achy). I didn't want to put up with a cold at that time since my work load was extrememlly heavy and I decided to try the Olive leaf. I took about a teaspoon full and mixed it with a small amount of water to swallow and chase with a full glass of water, my usual way of taking powdered herbs and nutirtionals. This is a mistake with olive leaf ... you cannot believe how vile the powder tastes. After recovering, I threw the rest of it out (taste was really bad. I mean really, really bad). About mid day, I realized that I had woken up with no symptoms and that I was feeling more energetic than I had been for a few days. I wasn't sure that the Olive leaf was responsible, but I bought some capsules and tried it again the next time I had a cold symptom and it worked again. It's worked every single time I have used it over the past few years, for almost anything. Over the past six or eight months I've heard some people on talk shows talking about it and I think it is gaining in popularity.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.