Herbal Antibiotics – 15 Natural Infection Fighters

Antibiotic resistance is a genetic trait, like brown hair or green eyes. Unlike human traits, antibiotic resistance transfers very quickly between one bacteria and another.

Bacteria communicate with each other extremely rapidly, and through this communication they are able to transfer survival traits.

The TED talk below by Bonnie Bassler gives examples of some of the rapid communication abilities of bacteria.

Back in the 1970s, Dr. Stuart Levy and his team tested adding antibiotics to chicken feed. They found that antibiotic resistant bacteria quickly showed up in the chickens’ intestinal tracts. Those bacteria also spread to the intestinal tracts of the people working with the chickens.

The chickens’ guts changed within a week, the farm workers in 3-6 months. Further, the bacteria were not only resistant to tetracycline (the antibiotic used), but several other commercial antibiotics. They had learned and adapted.

After they stopped using the antibiotic laced feed for six months, the problem corrected itself. No detectable levels of tectracycline resistant bacteria were found in the farm workers or chickens.

How are herbal antibiotics different from pharmaceutical antibiotics?

Many pharmaceutical antibiotics are isolated chemical constituents. They are one compound/one chemical – penicillin is penicillin, tetracycline is tetracycline and so on. This makes them easier for bacteria to adapt to and counteract.

In contrast, herbs are much more complicated. Garlic has over 33 sulfur compounds, 17 amino acids and a dozen other compounds. Yarrow has over 120 identified compounds. (This makes me look at my herbs with a new appreciation.)

In plants, the whole appears to be more than the sum of its parts. The different compounds work together to combat bacterial infections, often to produce better than expected results.

Herbal antibiotics may be one of our best options for fighting methicillin resistant staphylococcus aureus (MRSA).

Top 15 Antibiotic Herbs

Stephen lists the following as his top 15 antibiotic herbs.

• Acacia
• Aloe
• Cryptolepsis
• Echinacea
• Eucalyptus
• Garlic
• Ginger
• Goldenseal
• Grapefruit Seed Extract
• Honey
• Juniper
• Licorice
• Sage
• Usnea
• Wormwood

The use of each of these is detailed in the book. I’ll share a few that I use regularly.

Note: 80% or more of urinary tract infections are caused by E coli bacteria. Herbal antibiotics that fight E coli are likely to help with UTIs.

Aloe – Herbal Antibiotic Long Used for Burns and Other Skin Trauma