When world-renowned herbalist Rosemary Gladstar was growing up, she loved to roam the Vermont hills with her grandmother gathering wild herbs. It was flu season when we spoke to her at her Sage Mountain Retreat Center in Barre, Vermont, and she told us how her granny survived the terrible Spanish Flu epidemic of 1918–with herbal remedies that boosted her immune system. Gladstar shared her granny’s favorite natural formula for staying healthy:

“My granny was a real medicine woman, and she recognized every plant that grew in our area. ‘Look,’ she’d say, showing me a flower with yellow petals, ‘that’s coltsfoot. Your dad had a bad cough when he was your age and I made him a syrup with this. It stopped the cough in its tracks.’ It was my grandmother who inspired my passionate interest in herbs–I just never stopped wanting to learn more about them. Granny was a young girl when the Spanish flu hit this country; thousands and thousands of people died. She told me it was her herbal formulas that kept her and her family alive.”

Here is Rosemary’s Granny’s favorite recipe for a detoxifying, immune-boosting tea that will help to keep you in the pink of health.

Granny Gladstar’s Healing, Immune-Boosting Formula

INGREDIENTS

1 part dried Echinacea flowers
1 part dried astragalus
1/2 part crushed ginger
1/2 part grated horseradish

Combine ingredients in a lidded jar and fill jar with organic apple cider vinegar. Allow to steep in the fridge, shaking it daily, for 2 weeks. Strain out solid ingredients and give a dropperful of the liquid in tomato juice or tea, 3 times a day.