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Help me shift my cough

6/ 8/2008

Q I have developed a chesty cough that has been hanging around for two weeks. Antibiotics are not shifting it. Can you recommend anything more effective and natural?

A If the antibiotics are not working it is probably because the infection is a virus and not a bacteria.

To fight a viral infection I would recommend olive leaf extract.

Olive leaf is an ancient remedy whose first recorded use was in 1000 BC. Olive leaf has been called a miracle and is directly cited in the Bible as a healer. Olive leaf and extracts lower cholesterol and blood pressure, boost immune system and energy as well as fighting cold, flu and other virus.

According to some research, olive leaf also appears to be the most aggressive free radical scavenger known - almost twice as effective as vitamin C, green tea and grape seed extract. For a viral infection I know nothing better.

Your infection should start to resolve within about 12 hours of taking the olive leaf. Another thing you can try is a castor oil pack on your chest.

Place some castor oil on a flannel and place it on your chest and over your liver.

Place a towel over it and chill out in front of a film for an hour. It may not feel like it is doing anything, but it is, and in combination with olive leaf you will see your chest infection clear up very rapidly.

Why? Because you are stimulating your body's own healing potential.

And that is more powerful than anything. Trust and believe in your body's ability to heal. Give it the environment it needs to recover, and it will. PS: Get some sleep and stop stressing so much - that way you might not get an infection in the first place.

Soothe Clinic, 49 King Street 0161 8346118, sootheclinic.com