I often hear my friends and patients ask, “How is it that you’re exposed to so many germs from your sick patients who cough all over you when you’re checking their lungs, but you never seem to get sick? What’s your secret?”

It’s true that I’ve never gotten the flu in spite of the many sick people I treat, and in spite of never having received the flu vaccine. My secret—besides leading a healthy lifestyle—is peppermint oil, sniffed deeply into both nostrils after each encounter with a sick patient.

The peppermint oil is an aromatic compound that disinfects the airways. Other oils in that category include sage, eucalyptus, pine, cloves, and cinnamon. These oils are both antibacterial and antiviral.

I never go anywhere without my vial of peppermint oil in my purse, especially with airplane travel where passengers are exposed to a virtual petri dish of airborne germs. From the time I arrive at the airport until I reach my destination, I sniff the peppermint oil every hour, with good results.

The essential oils need to be extracted by distillation or cold-pressed. The cheaper essential oils are solvent-extracted, which means you would be inhaling hexane, a known carcinogen.

Another essential oil I use is called “Thieves” which is a blend of herbs and spices that are powerful disinfectants. Grave robbers in the Middle Ages during the plague used a similar blend of cinnamon, cloves, and other spices. The thieves strapped onto their heads a contraption that looked like a long beak. When they robbed the dead bodies, the fleas carrying the pestilence were repelled by the herbs and spices stuffed into the beak and breathed into the thieves’ lungs.

Of course it takes more than peppermint oil and spices to prevent the flu. It takes a healthy lifestyle. There are many measures you can take to keep yourself healthy during the flu season. Here are a few recommendations to follow—whether you’ve gotten the flu vaccine or not:

• Eat an organic, GMO-free, high vegetable, whole foods diet without sugar, fruit juice, simple carbohydrates, alcohol or processed foods. Limit your dairy to cultured products like yogurt and kefir. The protein in dairy, called casein, causes fewer adverse immune reactions when cultured. If you tend toward chronic congestion and upper respiratory infections, eliminate dairy altogether.

• Be sure to include organic coconut oil in your diet since it contains lauric acid which has anti-viral properties, along with caprylic acid which has anti-fungal properties.

• Rinse your nose thoroughly with a pinch of salt in warm water twice a day to wash out the airborne microbes. For best results, flush your nose out daily throughout the year as part of your regular hygiene routine. You will not only be flushing out germs, you’ll be eliminating inhalants such as pollens, dust, and other particulate matter that can create low grade inflammation in the body when the immune cells react to the foreign substances.

• Get some sort of exercise everyday, including time spent outdoors in the sun.

• Take vitamin D and vitamin K daily, with a meal. Vitamin D has anti-viral properties, along with its many other attributes. Why the need for vitamin K with the vitamin D? Since vitamin D increases the uptake of calcium, the vitamin K helps prevent that calcium from being deposited in your joints and arteries and anywhere else where there is inflammation. It has a protein that escorts the calcium directly to your bones where you want it. Ask your doctor to check your vitamin D levels. You get the most anti-viral protection when levels are between 60-80 ng/ml. I take 5,000 IU daily.

• Take omega 3 fish oils, about 2,000 mg of total fish oils daily, with a meal. Fish oils have an anti-inflammatory effect.

• Take NAC 600 mg twice a day. NAC is a precursor to glutathione, an important antioxidant and a key nutrient in the detox pathway. NAC inhibits viral replication. When there is congestion, it helps thin the mucous.

• Take curcumin, derived from turmeric, which also has powerful anti-inflammatory properties. Make sure the supplement contains black pepper which helps us digest and absorb the curcumin.

• Take vitamin C, about 1000 mg daily. If vitamin C irritates your stomach can look online for liposomal vitamin C which is coated with fatty molecules that protect the vitamin C from being broken down, allowing the vitamin C molecules to absorb into the blood stream intact. With liposomal vitamin C, you can take very high doses without causing diarrhea and stomach pains. A popular brand among my patients is Dr. Mercola’s liposomal vitamin C.

• Take medicinal mushrooms. The mushrooms elevate the number and activity of the natural killer cells, a part of the immune system that plays a major role in destroying bacteria, viruses, as well as cancer cells. The best brand I’ve found is called Comprehensive Immune Support, formulated by a highly regarded mycologist, Paul Stamet.

• Take vitamin A 10,000 IUs daily to protect your mucous membranes.

• Take a probiotic and/or eat RAW sauerkraut on a regular basis. Try to avoid antibiotics unless absolutely essential. They are disruptive to the health of the gut. The beneficial organisms in our gut are vital for keeping us healthy.

If you have the misfortune of getting an upper-respiratory flu-like viral infection, in spite of all the preventive measures you have taken, below are a few of the many possible natural remedies you can take at the VERY first sign of infection—like a scratchy throat, cough, or sudden onset of chills and severe fatigue for no apparent reason. Don’t wait until you have a full-blown infection before starting these harmless supplements.

• Oil of oregano 1-2 capsules three times a day for five days. Other natural substances with anti-viral properties are olive leaf extract, propolis made by honeybees to disinfect their hives, and elderberry extract. They can all be taken together, if you want to get extra protection.

• Iodine drops. Before the advent of antibiotics, doctors frequently used iodine for bacterial and viral infections of the upper respiratory tract–bronchitis, pneumonia, pharyngitis, and sinusitis. Iodine also thins out the mucus in the lungs so that it can be easily expelled.                                                                                                                                                                              I use a brand called Bernard’s Solution which can be purchased online from Tahoma Dispensary at www. tahomadispensary.com or by calling 206-812-9977.  Each drop has 25 mg. of iodine. Use one drop three times a day in water for three days only, then stop. Too much iodine can interfere with thyroid function.

• Vitamin A (not beta carotene) 100,000 IUs once a day with a meal for three days only. Vitamin A in high doses has antiviral properties but cannot be taken at high doses long term.

• Increase your vitamin C to 2,000 mg three times a day. If it makes your stools loose, switch to liposomal vitamin C. The C molecule is surrounded by a fatty “envelope” that protects against irritating the gut lining. Liposomal C can be taken in very large doses, similar to the dose one would get with intravenous vitamin C infusion. If you are sick, try taking 5,000 mg of liposomal C 4 times a day.

• Take vitamin D 50,000 units once a day for three days, then drop down to your normal dose.

• Take quercetin 500 mg three times a day with your vitamin C.

• A clove of finely chopped raw garlic twice a day, if you tolerate it. If not, take the aged garlic in capsules.

• Take zinc piccolinate 30-60 mg once a day, on a full stomach. Zinc on an empty stomach can cause nausea. Zinc needs to be taken with quercetin because the quercetin makes a channel into the plasma of the cells. This channel allows the zinc to enter the cell where it can interfere with viral replication.

• Melatonin has multiple protective characteristics, including quelling inflammation and oxidation, decreases damage from over-active immune responses that result in cytokine storms, and has a synergistic effect when used with high doses of vitamin C and D. It also help recharge glutathione, one of the most important antioxidants in the body. Begin with 1 mg before bed and work up to 10 mg a day when sick. It’s most effective when taken in sublingual drops.

• Lysine is an amino acid that inhibits viral replication. Take 1,000 mg twice a day. Take each dose one hour before eating, with about 12 ounces of water.

• If you have a sore throat, gargle with salt water. The salt ruptures the cell membrane of the viruses. Let a small amount of Manuka honey drip down your throat. Use the honey strictly as a medicine.

• If you have a sore throat, suck on zinc acetate lozenges every 4 hours, available online from Life Extension.

• If you have a fever, do not lower it unless it makes you miserable and keeps you from sleeping, or it goes over 103 degrees. The fever invigorates the white blood cells and inhibits replication of the viruses.

• If you don’t have a fever but are clearly getting sick, create a fever by plying yourself with hot ginger tea, hot soups, hot baths with Epsom salts, and a hot water bottle on your chest. Boil water in a pan with a few drops of eucalyptus essential oil, then put a towel over your head and inhale the warm steam. Bundle up and avoid getting a chill. The viruses are opportunistic; they can multiply quickly even if your temperature drops for just a few seconds, like when getting out of a hot bath.

• Inhale steam. Virologists tell us that respiratory viruses linger in the nasal passages at least one to three days before migrating further into the body. Inhaling steam every 24 hours for prevention is an important measure to take if you think you might have been exposed virulent viruses. Bring a pan of water to a boil. You can add two drops of eucalyptus or peppermint essential oil, although it is not necessary. Put a towel over your head in inhale the steam for five minutes once a day.

• Virologists also tell us that the capsule of the virus is made out of fatty acids and  proteins. The fatty acids melt at temperatures greater than 150 degrees F. The hot steam destroys the capsule of the viruses that are lingering in your nose and sinus cavities. (A Los Alamos scientist and reader of my blog posts measured the temperature of the steam going up his nose. His infrared thermometer up one of his nostrils registered 175 degrees, enough to destroy the capsule of the virus.)

• Stay well hydrated with warm liquids. Avoid sugar, fruit juices, dairy, grains, and all processed foods. (refer to the graphic blog post about the significant effects of refined foods on the immune system https://www.musingsmemoirandmedicine.com/2015/07/sugar-and-the-immune-system/) Eat a high vegetable diet. Consider drinking freshly made veggie juice daily until well. Include a lemon and raw garlic in the veggie juice, unless you’re allergic to the garlic. If you’re not a vegetarian, include chicken broth and bone broth as part of your remedies.

• If the infection moves into your airways and lungs, you can get dramatic improvement by inhaling 3% food grade hydrogen peroxide. I use a desktop nebulizer from a company called Omron. There are ways to get it without a doctor’s prescription by checking out various sites. The nebulizer comes with a mouthpiece. Be sure to order a mask that will cover both the nose and mouth so that you can breathe in the mist up your nose. The 3% food-grade hydrogen peroxide needs to be diluted with saline. To make your own saline solution, begin by sterilizing a glass jar with a rinse with boiling water. Pour 16 oz of filtered water into the jar. Add one teaspoon of Himalayan sea salt and shake jar to mix the solution. When not using your homemade saline solution, keep in the refrigerator. Get an opaque dropper bottle for mixing the solution of hydrogen peroxide with the saline water. The ratio of the mixture is 1:30, one drop of hydrogen peroxide for every 30 drops of saline water to make a 0.1% solution. Make up about 1-2 teaspoons of solution at a time. Pour the diluted hydrogen peroxide solution into the container on the nebulizer. Put on your mask, turn on the machine, and breathe in the vapor through your nose. It will take about ten minutes until there is no more liquid in the container. Nebulize the diluted hydrogen peroxide 2-3 times a day. You will see results very quickly.

• Doctors in China successfully used intravenous vitamin C to help save the lives of their patients with COVID-19. I have been using 25,000 mg of intravenous vitamin C in my medical practice for almost 30 years to successfully treat viral infections, including a severe case of viral encephalitis.
• If you respond well to homeopathic remedies, consider taking Oscillococcinum, a homeopathic preparation made from an ingredient extracted from the heart and liver of a certain kind of duck. Homeopaths recommend this remedy for influenza and other upper respiratory viruses.

Here’s to your good health!

Addendum: This blog post was originally written in 2015, addressing prevention and treatment of influenza viruses. The information herein was updated and applies to the SARS-CoV-2 virus, as well as any upper respiratory virus.