Free Republic

Tamiflu comes from an herb To live in a world that's saturated with natural anti-viral medicine and then not even acknowledge it in the media is beyond bizarre. It's Twilight Zone-like. It's like we've been teleported to an alternate universe where anti-viral plants have disappeared... or at least everyone is pretending they have. Where do you think Tamiflu comes from, by the way? It's extracted from the Traditional Chinese Medicine herb called Star Anise. It's one of hundreds of different anti-viral herbs found in Chinese Medicine, not to even mention anti-viral herbs from South America, North America, Australia, Africa and...

The bags aren’t flying off store shelves just yet, but a Chinese herb sold throughout Boston’s Chinatown is the biggest defense against the deadly bird flu experts fear could turn into a worldwide outbreak. Chinatown shop owners who sell star anise - a star-shaped dried fruit that smells like licorice - say it’s a household Asian spice used to add flavor when cooking. Star anise is a household Asian spice. (Staff photo by Stuart Cahill) But more important, the fruit’s seeds contain shikimic acid - the key ingredient in Tamiflu, the only known drug to fight off the lethal avian...