Last updated on July 22nd, 2022 at 05:42 pm

We hope you enjoy this excerpt from “The Doctor’s Book of Natural Health Remedies: Unlock the Power of Alternative Healing and Find Your Path Back to Health,” one of the most comprehensive handbooks ever published about vitamins, herbs, supplements and holistic healing, written by Peg Moline and the editors of Natural Health Magazine.

Homeopathy: Essential Concepts

Two laws govern most homeopathic remedies: The law of similars, or “like cures like,” means that a patient’s symptoms are seen as a clue to the appropriate remedy; remedies are derived from substances that induce symptoms similar to those of the illness. For example, a remedy made from highly diluted coffee may cure your insomnia; barely perceptible traces of onion can ease allergic, watery eyes.

A 2010 review in Alternative Medicine Review, for instance, suggests using conventional allergy testing to determine a patient’s most significant allergen, and then administering a 30C dose of this substance (available at homeopathic pharmacies). The law of potentization calls for a dilution of a remedy so that its side effects are limited.

“Giving a person a remedy that matches her symptoms slightly magnifies the existing disease process and encourages the body to react to this stimulus by activating its own power to heal,” explains Kathy Thorpe, M.A., a certified homeopath in Boulder, Colo.

Colds

Thorpe suggests taking one of the following every hour for three doses, then once every three hours.

– Aconitum napellus: For the first 24 hours of a cold that appears suddenly after exposure to cold or wind; you feel hot and dry, anxious and may be very thirsty.

– Allium cepa: For the early stages of a cold when there is a lot of sneezing; clear, watery nasal discharge; and profuse tearing; you feel worse in warm rooms and better in the open air.

– Pulsatilla: For the later stages of a cold when there is thick yellow-green mucus, a lack of thirst and changeable symptoms.

– Oscillococcinum is one of the most popular homeopathic remedies and is marketed to relieve flu-like symptoms (Boiron Oscillococcinum $23, vitaminshoppe.com)

About Peg Moline: Peg Moline has been involved in health and fitness journalism for almost 30 years. Holding a dual role at Weider/AMI Publications for eight years, Moline serves as editor-in-chief of Fit Pregnancy and Natural Health Magazines. Prior to joining Weider/AMI, Moline was the fitness editor of Self Magazine. She co-wrote “ExTension: The 20-Minute-a-Day, Yoga-Based Program to Relax, Release & Rejuvenate the Average Stressed-Out Over-35-Year-Old-Body” with Sam Dworkis (Poseidon Press, 1994).