With Master Herbalist Paul Schulick
Andrea:
I am excited to continue the conversation today, since you’re such a wealth of knowledge. And we’re going to be talking about common misconceptions when it comes to immune supplements. And these days the market is flooded with immune supplements. In your opinion, what are the best immune supplements that we should be taking to boost immunity?
Paul:
A good walk with your beloved friends or partners. That’s probably the most important supplement that we could take.
Andrea:
I agree.
Paul:
However, I don’t think that’s really answering the question that you’re asking me. It does address that the most important thing that we need to work on is what’s going on up here. So let me talk about up here first. When people think about an immune supplement, they may think, “Oh, let me talk about elderberry. Let me talk about vitamin C or zinc, selenium, or whatever.” But in reality, we must first address the mind. And with that, there is a linkage that we need to address, which is our linkage with nature. And I look out here because out there is a forest. And studies show that people who are in hospitals who have even a tree outside their window, that they can gaze upon…
And I noticed that the window behind you, which is not a window, but a drawing, that can have a similar effect on your nervous system as reminding you of the grandeur of the creation. And so as far as a supplement is concerned, we must first get nature. And we must then address what happens when we get into nature. Which is that we feel part of something much bigger than just our limited selves. Right? So in terms of consciousness, then we have some of the simplest of herbs or supplements that can address the mind. And if I were to ask… First, the diet is of course, extremely important. If we’re eating processed food, 90% in the United States of our food dollars. And I’ll repeat that: 90% of our food dollars in the United States are spent on processed food. And what is processed food? It’s fractionated food, it’s food that no longer holds together all of the integral and important parts of the food.
And this is going to be a key part of our discussions because when we’re looking at an immune supplement, like what most people would think of, like vitamin C. Vitamin C doesn’t really exist as we think it does. When we take a vitamin C tablet, which says vitamin C on it, it’s actually, for most part, pure, isolated chemical called ascorbic acid. And ascorbic acid is not vitamin C. Vitamin C is this group of factors. Factors, P and J and K and rutin and bioflavonoids that exist as part of a whole being. That’s nature. So when we take a walk in nature, it’s very, very different. And that’s how we are connecting with something bigger and reminding our bodies that we are part of something much bigger. One of the first things I think about when it comes to the mind, is getting outside and being in nature and then feeling connected with a loved one.
And then also addressing the mind from a more acute level in the realm of food. Within the vast field of food choices, there’s a select group of foods that are the richest in compounds that will protect us, and heal us, and restore us. And those are our herbs. Those are the elements that take care of us. So, Andrea, if I were to ask 95 out of a 100 people, even on the streets here, if you were to drink a cup of chamomile tea, how is it going to make you feel? At least nine out of 10, people would say, “It’s going to calm me down.” That’s why it’s the number two or three most popular herb in the world next to green tea. Because green tea is going to uplift you. Is going to energize you. Chamomile is going to soothe you. So in an era that we’re living in of a pandemic and of insanity. And these things which are in danger of ruling our lives, an herb like chamomile is one of the most critical agents to support immunity.
But the key, like the whole field and food for that matter, just like food is fractionated and food is reduced, our herbs are often not what we think they are. So, for example, we’re talking about chamomile okay. So it wasn’t necessarily what people were thinking. I would say. Because they were thinking, “Oh, he didn’t say things like elderberry or echinacea, or astragalus or andrographis, or any one of these others or immune herbs.” But what we’re talking about here with regard to the mind and an herb like chamomile, is we’re talking about an herb, which is going to soothe and ease the body. And that’s the most… Once you’re in fight or flight, Andrea, you know this. If you’re in fight or flight, your immune system is going to be compromised. Because you’re thinking about how do I get away from the tiger.
