More tips on how to reduce severity of a cold
Following on from last weeks blog article on the benefits of garlic in fighting colds and flu, I wanted to share more tips on how to reduce the severity of a cold.
- Take a zinc supplement: Take zinc lozenges or syrup within 24 hours of the start of a cold, as this may reduce the duration of the cold. The important thing is to take the zinc within 24 hours.
- Rest. You body needs rest to heal.
- Soothe a sore throat. I personally like to gargle with sea salt water – 1/2 tea spoon of sea salt dissolved in a large glass of room temperature water.
Note: This is in appropriate for children as they may not be able to gargle properly. - Sip warm liquids. This could be chicken soup, team or warm apple juice. Personally I like a wedge of lemon in hot water with a little chunk of ginger sweetened with manuka honey.
- Vitamin C. The scientific jutry is still out on Vitamin C. Personally I dose up with 1000mg of vitamin C throughout my cold. Taking vitamin C before the onset of cold symptoms may shorten the duration of the symptoms. Vitamin C may provide benefit for people at high risk of colds due the the frequency of exposure.
- Echineacea. Study results on whether echinacea prevents or shortens colds are mixed. Some studies show no benefit. Others show some reduction in the severity and duration of cold symptoms when taken in the early stages of a cold. Different types of echinacea used in different studies may have contributed to the differing results.Echinacea seems to be most effective if you take it when you notice cold symptoms and continue it for seven to 10 days. It appears to be safe for healthy adults, but it can interact with many drugs. Check with your doctor before taking echinacea or any other supplement.
Remember that antibiotics attack bacteria but they are no help against cold viruses.
References
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Do self hypnosis CD’s really boost resilience?
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Action plan for a healthy small intestine
The small intestine is as wide as your thumb and around 5.5m long. It is both a food blender and assimilator as it digests more of your food than your stomach. Food stays in the small intestine for 1 - 4 hours before moving on to the large intestine for further processing. Maintaing a healthy small intestine is all about controlling your bacteria levels and mucus build-up on your intestinal walls which can cause havoc and deplete your energy levels. If you have bloating, gas and loose bowel movements you may have a small intestine issues such as:
- Candida
- IBS
- SIBO (small intestinal bacterial overgrowth
- Cut out imflammatory drugs e.g. asprin, paracetamol and avoid alchol.
- Take L-glutamine and butyric acid both of these can help heal the gut, but check with a nutritionalist first as dosage is important.
- Drink slippery elm tea which calms inflamation of the small intestine and helps relieve IBS.
- Up your intake of vitamins A and D - liver is an excellent sourch of these vitamins which protect the mucus membrane of the gut.
- Eat more antibacterial foods such as garlic, honey and sauerkraut which preven the growth of Candida, fungus and yeast infections.
- Take oregano oil (Oregnano Vulgaris) which has been shown to stop Candidan in its tracks.
- Take probiotics daily - look for a count of 50 billion or more in each dose.
- Take prebiotics daily - to feed the probiotics. Or eat food prebiotic foods such as sauerkraut or kimchi.
- Go gluten free. Cut out gluten for an entire week and keep a food diary to check if your symptoms improve.
- Mimosa pudica an ayurvedic herb is brilliant at wiping out parasites.
- Eat more ant-parasitics such as garlic, thyme, chilli, tumeric and ginger.
