Had just about enough of the annual flu ritual, with that stuffy nose, aching muscles and pounding head? Not to mention the days of misery and cartons of Kleenex. How nice would it be to tell the flu to bug off courtesy of some great remedies from herbal medicine?

Herbal medicines have long been known to bump up immunity—sometimes pretty spectacularly. And hardly a day goes by that we don’t see some new study verifying herbs and their immune boosting benefits.

Cold and influenza are viral diseases. Unfortunately, much as we’d like to, no has figured out a way to assassinate a virus, so the only way to vanquish these intruders is to encourage the body’s own immune system. And many herbs can be very encouraging, so don’t hold back—all is fair in bugs and war.