Hey everyone,

This is just a list of herbs with evidence to support strong anti-viral activity. Some of these are termed "adaptogens" by herbalists, and many of them carry a serious kick. Eleutherococcus, for example, was shown to increase overall endurance by over 20% in one study on athletes. That's a SERIOUS kick.

I only included one study for each herb, as in some cases there are many studies - and too many to include here. Also, consult your doctor before adding any supplement to your regimen.

If you don't trust your doctor, fire him and get a new one. Be careful when combining any supplements or medications, especially in large doses, as you can cause adverse effects this way.

Adaptogens are seriously powerful stuff. Not to be underestimated.

So, anyway, here's the info dump:

Eleutherococcus senticosus (Siberian Ginseng)"

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/11397509/

"The results of the study demonstrate that the Eleutherococcus extract inhibited the replication of all RNA viruses studied so far. This antiviral activity remained stable under the conditions used for drug preparation and storage."

Astragalus membranaceus (Astragalus Root)

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/31975996/

"Recently, more and more studies have been conducted on the antiviral activity of Astragalus membranaceus, but the specific antiviral mechanism of this traditional Chinese medicine is not clear. In this study, the results proved that the Astragalus membranaceus injection showed obvious anti-influenza virus activity. It could improve the survival rate of Raw264.7 cells which were infected with influenza virus, while it improved the blocking effect of influenza virus on cell cycle after infection..."

Cordyceps militaris / sinensis

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/25037880/

"We also found that Cordyceps extract had an anti-influenza effect that was associated with stable body weight and reduced mortality."

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/24063008/

"Cordyceps sinensis increases hypoxia tolerance by inducing heme oxygenase-1 and metallothionein via Nrf2 activation in human lung epithelial cells"

Ocimum tenuiflorum (Holy Basil) and Acacia Arabicum

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/29866088/

"All the extracts of O. sanctum (crude extract, terpenoid and polyphenol) and A. arabica (crude extract, flavonoid and polyphenol) showed significant virucidal activity, however, crude extract ocimum and terpenoid ocimum showed highly significant to significant (p < 0.001-0.01) decrease in virus genome copy numbers with lowest dose tested. "

Reishi Mushroom (Ganoderma lingzhi / lucidum)

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4549708/

"Neuraminidase (NA) inhibitors are the dominant antiviral drugs for treating influenza in the clinic. Increasing prevalence of drug resistance makes the discovery of new NA inhibitors a high priority. "

"Through an in vitro NA inhibition assay and in silico analysis, this study resulted in the discovery of ganoderic acid T-Q and TR as two potential broad-spectrum inhibitors against influenza NAs, particularly H5N1 and H1N1 NAs, from the most widely known medicinal mushroom in Asia."

Never stop digging pedes! There is so much more! Nature truly has given us a bounty.