I’ve decided to take a break from my remedy series to talk about another important topic that I think is especially relevant this time of year—especially this year. Lately, I’ve heard a lot of disturbing rumors, and I’ve also witnessed a lot of disturbing things regarding tick-borne diseases. First, I’ve been hearing about farmers, ranchers, etc., finding entire boxes left on their property full of ticks. There has been some speculation about this because Pfizer has just released a vaccination for Lyme disease, which we all know is a tick-borne disease. 

Then, I’ve been going to homeschool conferences for years now, where people open up to me about their health challenges. It began last season, but this season in particular, I’ve started hearing more and more about people having Alpha-gal syndrome, which is another tick-borne disease. With Alpha-gal, you are not able to eat or consume mammalian products such as beef or milk (they can still have fish, poultry, and eggs). Several of my homeopath friends have corroborated this interesting increase. 

This is all coming at the same time that Bill Gates and other “oligarchs” are trying to reduce our dependency on beef and other mammalian meat. I find all of this to be concerning. As these things often go—sometimes the rumor proves not to be true, but sometimes it is absolutely true.

So the big question, as I’ve been piecing these things together, is, “What can I do for my family?”

Bovine Colostrum

This spring is likely to be very tick-heavy. At least in Idaho, for example, we did not have a hard winter like we usually do, so it is very possible we will have a lot more ticks. This might be true for your area as well, but regardless, it seems like the incidence of tick-borne diseases is just increasing across the board.

So I’m going to give you a few tips on how I would fortify myself to prevent disease—and even if you already have a tick-borne disease, you can do this. Number one is to consume bovine colostrum. And the brand you use absolutely matters. The brand I use is raw, beyond organic, and I’ve used it for over a decade. 

I have a great relationship with the company, and the CEO has even reformulated products based on my feedback because I didn’t like an ingredient here or there. I love the products and am so proud to be associated with this company. 

The benefits of bovine colostrum involve the antibodies and the growth factors. The growth factors speed up your gut healing and your ability to rejuvenate. When it comes to tick-borne diseases, though, it’s the antibodies, or immunity factor, that I find really interesting.

You want your colostrum to have a high IGG, which is basically your immune system boost. Essentially, the antibodies that are in the colostrum get donated to you when you consume it. Cows are one of the few animals where you can drink their colostrum, and the antibodies are donated to you. This is not true for goat colostrum, for example—you might get a yummy drink, but you are not getting antibodies donated. And so the idea is, if you are concerned about tick-borne diseases, you want to consume a colostrum that has those antibodies naturally in it. 

Some companies will force vaccinate their cows like crazy to force some immunity and force those antibodies to show up in the colostrum. Personally, I don’t want to consume vaccine-induced antibodies. 

On the other hand, there is the method that my company uses. The company I vetted and work with will actually take colostrum from cows all over the country and mix it all together. That means that some herds will have been exposed to Lyme disease, while others will have been exposed to other tick-borne diseases like Rocky Mountain Fever, etc.

From doing this, there is a high chance that the colostrum you consume will actually have antibodies to various tick-borne diseases. While they cannot guarantee it, every time they have tested a batch (not every batch is tested), they have found a high number of antibodies, including tick-borne antibodies. The goal is to consume a colostrum that has the antibodies against the diseases you are worried about or want to fortify yourself against. This is why the brand you use is so important. 

Another important factor is that they take the colostrum from the cow within six hours of birth—this is why it is called Colostrum6. This means it is actually a true concentrate of actual colostrum. Many “colostrum” products out there are just powdered milk with a little bit of colostrum mixed in because they are collecting the colostrum within maybe the first 24-48 hours after birth, and the transient milk has already started coming in. Due to this, I really think the brand I use is a huge step forward.

Some of the best and most consistent testimonials people have told me come from those who struggle with tick-borne diseases who have consumed colostrum. This is certainly not a cure claim (I am not a doctor, nor do I like to play one online), but this is simply a pattern I have noticed.

My one caveat is for those of you with Alpha-gal, because you can’t have mammalian products. I don’t know if you can consume colostrum or not. I was talking to a mother with Alpha-gal who also has a son with Alpha-gal, but he is not very reactive to animal products. She was going to decide if she wanted to give him very small amounts of colostrum to see if he could tolerate it, hoping it could help his gut. But she told me that because she was really reactive, she was probably not going to try it for herself. You might want to discuss with your doctor and sort that out if you have Alpha-gal.

Outside of that, I definitely think we should all be taking colostrum. Even if you don’t have a tick-borne disease, it will help to fortify yourself and be resilient.

Tick Management

The second thing you can do is to make sure the area where you live does not have a lot of ticks. There are different ways of addressing this, but I think a great one is having guinea hens. Guinea hens are a kind of wild, feral chicken. Yes, you can consume their eggs, and they are notorious for cleaning out tick-infested areas.

So if you live on some acreage, you might look into getting some guineas. It does take a bit of know-how to raise them, but it’s not too complicated. When I’ve raised them in the past, they were a bit of a pain because they liked to wander, similar to other wild game like turkeys. However, I was able to successfully raise guineas in an area of Texas where there were a lot of ticks, and we never saw any ticks. 

More recently, I even thought about getting guineas just for a year, letting them spread out to get the tick population under control on my property, and then selling them or harvesting them since they are a bit of a pain to manage and keep on your property. But it might be worth the investment and effort if you live in an area with ticks that you are concerned about—the predatory pressure on ticks is worth it.

There are also other natural predators, such as beneficial nematodes, namely Heterorhabditis bacteriophora (Hb) and Steinernema carpocapsae (Sc). These are the most efficient strains for ticks, and they are often used together in a combo pack for maximum efficacy. Keep in mind nematodes are like microscopic bugs, so they have to be sprayed early in the season because they can only keep ticks under control when they are still very young and small.

Early spring is also the best time to spray them because it is nice and wet, and nematodes need the moisture. It’s a little harder for the nematodes to take in dry states like Idaho, so I don’t plan to spray them in my open pasture, but I will around the edges of my property where there are lots of trees and moisture. 

Of course, there are also chickens and ducks. While they are not as good as guineas, they are still an excellent option. Ducks are slightly better for ticks than chickens, but if you can get either and rotate them throughout your property to give them access to all of the different areas, they are a huge help.

Proper Tick Removal

There is also the step of actually removing a tick correctly if you find it on your body. Proper removal will help prevent yourself from contracting a tick-borne disease. In my curriculum, Teach Me Health and Homeopathy: Evie and the Golden Homestead, I have a whole protocol that I teach to everyone on how to remove ticks from their bodies. 

Essentially, Ledum is the top remedy for puncture wounds, and since a tick creates a small puncture wound in the body, Ledum is the remedy to take. However, I’ve seen people who really take way too much Ledum after a tick bite. To avoid that, let me teach you what I’ve been taught from my friend, Dr. Ronald Whitmont,, a medical doctor Homeopath.

First, after properly removing the tick (there are loads of good instructional videos online on how to do this), simply squeeze some of that clear serum out. This helps wash out any infection that could have been deposited.
Then, take Ledum 200c—just one dose after tick removal. If 200c isn’t available, use 30c—one dose immediately, another 12 hours later, and a final dose 12 hours after that (total: 3 doses max). Finally, cover with raw honey and a Band-Aid. Switch the Band-Aid out and add more fresh honey several times a day for the next few days.

This is a very well-tested protocol. My friend, Dr. Ronald Whitmont, who’s a homeopath out of New York and lives in a very tick-heavy area, says he has never had someone who did this protocol properly and then gotten Lyme disease.

Gut Health

Finally, our gut health is so important to being resilient to any disease. And this brings me right back to colostrum! Colostrum is so beneficial to our gut health and supports our immune system.

Along with colostrum, other important factors for gut health are avoiding antibiotics, steroids, and NSAIDs (nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs). These drugs harm our gut health.

All of this is so important to maintaining our gut health and keeping our gut permeability strong and intact. The stronger your gut health is, the less vulnerable and susceptible you’ll be to these tick-borne diseases.

I hope this information has helped you to address any fear you might have had around tick-borne diseases and replace it with confidence instead!

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