A few weeks ago, three days before embarking on a period of whirlwind work and travel, I awoke with that telltale “under the weather” feeling. After a brief moment of oh no, not now dread, I wrote down as many ‘good’ things to do for myself as I could recall. (I always find the worst symptom of any manageable ailment is the temporary amnesia on the subject of self-care). Of the to-dos: I drank pots of lemon cayenne tea, ate a shocking amount of garlic, took both Vitamin C and B  I took Epsom baths, and gargled with salt water. I ate kale, drank broth, mainlined water. 48 hours later, I awoke to a throat tickle. Not good.

As I began to plan for contingencies around getting sick, I was fortunate enough to receive a call from a colleague of mine.

“What do you do,” I asked this most-knowledgeable gent, “when you’re not feeling well but absolutely cannot afford to get sick?” The answer? “Oregano Oil. “ This rang bells, distantly. “Yeah, just take an Oregano Oil shot, and I’m telling you, you’ll feel fine.”

The bells got louder; hasn’t my mother mentioned this a few times? By the time he finished extolling the virtues, I had motivated to the juice bar a block away (One of the particularities of California-there are four juice bars under a mile away from my door, but it’s miles and miles to get to a good bagel). Here, the woman behind the counter mixed me, with no shortage of showmanship and a degree of kindness my bleary head was grateful for, a shot containing ginger and oregano oil. It knocked me back on my heels, the combined heat burning through my cold-fogged cranium. Ahhhh, I get it..

Oregano, and popularly oregano oil, is well used and well loved for relief from a host of ills. These include sinus congestion, respiratory infections, earaches, headaches, toothaches, sore throats, parasites, allergies, arthritis, cold and flu. Along with oral and vascular diseases, heart conditions, cramps of all kinds, it is used to treat skin conditions and has proven effective against the hardy bug MRSA. It has demonstrated itself to be antibacterial, antimicrobial, antifungal and anti-inflammatory. The list goes on. If my experience is anything to go off of, it will allow you to make a comeback.

Along the way, it may clear your brain fog quickly and enduring enough for you to remember that you do, in fact, have Oil of Oregano in your medicine cabinet, left behind by your mother on her last visit. If you take it dutifully for a few days, you may find yourself skipping that cold or flu altogether… or at least for a couple weeks on the road.