BY SUZY COHEN

Some of you take several antibiotics each and every day while some of you avoid them like the plague. The pros of a traditional antibiotic is that you can keep your infection from achieving full-blown status, or as some experts suggest, you chase the bugs into biofilms where they can’t be killed but your symptoms go away. Organisms that go into biofilm are going into ‘submission’ for lack of a better word and they’ll do that sometimes in the presence of an antibiotic. Traditional antibiotics can cure pneumonia, or life-threatening infections from the deadly “kissing bug,” or hair ties. Yes hair ties. Google Audree Kopp, she almost died from sepsis from from her hair tie. Point is, drugs are sometimes handy. But I’m not convinced of their safety for long-term or less serious infection. They change who you are. When you take an antibiotic, you destroy your gut flora which has an impact on your personality. That’s why you need probiotics. Plus probiotics impact your digestion, your mood and ability to fight cancer and infection. A disadvantage of antibiotics is that you become resistant to them quickly. What will you do when they stop working? Think this out with me, penicillin is just penicillin. It’s easy for a germ to outsmart one ingredient. With something like garlic, there are at least 35 known active constituents making it super hard for a bug to get around and become a “superbug.” Capiche? I’m a pharmacist, trust me on this. My antibiotics are simple substances. Pathogenic organisms have been around the Earth for eons, and they are much smarter. They can outsmart the drugs because unlike herbs, pharmaceuticals don’t have hundreds of biologically active constituents. Scientific research is never going to agree with me or other natural healers like the scantily dressed “medicine” man, licensed naturopaths/chiropractors or even grandmothers so don’t wait for an FDA stamp, but to me it’s almost like “Duh?!” Today’s article is to offer some herbal alternatives in case you need to kill ‘something’ in you without killing yourself 😉 Please discuss all changes to your health regimen with your doctor, since I am not one: Brazilian Propolis-With the help of bees, this popular tree resin packs a punch. It can be taken by mouth, or directly applied to wounds. It may help with colds, flu or sore throats. This is an all-around immunity aid, and a brand new study found that it could help with organisms found in dental biofilms (S. mutans) which contribute to cracked teeth. Cat’s Claw-A strong antimicrobial and antiviral which is often used in Lyme, and sometimes HIV as an adjunctive remedy. Anyone could use it for a general infection. It has some anti-cancer affect, and it reduces TNF alpha (an inflammatory cytokine). Useful for Crohn’s as well. Colloidal Silver- Everyone’s favorite, this may be useful for staph in the nose. Studies have shown that topical colloidal silver solution has effective antibiofilm activity against Staphylococcus aureus, and tons of other organisms. Oregano- It’s a strong anti fungal and may be useful for Candida, as well as parasites. Some people dilute it with a little coconut oil and apply it to the skin (not on broken skin though), where there is signs of fungal infection. The carvacrol component of wild oregano oil has activity against MRSA and C. difficile. Teasel Root- May inhibit growth of Borrelia burgdorferi (Lyme). It can extract bacteria from muscle tissue where antibiotics have a hard time penetrating.