Holistic Ways To Fight The Common Cold

It finally happened. I played with fire–I bragged about how great my immune system was. I tested the fates. And now I’m sick. With the common cold.

Okay, there’s a chance I’m being dramatic. After all, the average healthy person catches a cold twice a year, so really, I’m right on track. But sometimes getting sick is more of an ego thing than anything else, you know? I’d like to think I’m invincible. I’m healthful. So shouldn’t I be healthy 100% of the time, without so much as a sniffle? I wish.

Nevertheless, this is a perfect chance to talk about taking care of your body in a more holistic way, including healthy foods to help you heal (say that ten times fast. Just do it.)

Common Cold Hard Facts

1. Cold weather doesn’t actually cause colds, but rather the cold viruses survive better in the cold.

2. Colds usually pop up 18-24 hrs after the virus has entered the body. From there, it takes about 7-10 days for it to go away. Colds themselves are pretty harmless, if unpleasant, but they can lead to more serious illnesses such as bronchitis and ear or sinus infections.

3. Symptoms include: head and nasal congestion, sore throat, coughing, watery eyes, headaches and sneezing.

Up Your Antioxidants

Take an Immune Boosting supplement that includes vitamins A, C, E, + Selenium. Antioxidants can lower your risk of a respiratory tract infection, vitamin A helps to heal inflamed mucous membranes and vitamin C helps fight off cold viruses.

Take zinc lozenges at the first sign of a cold.

Often, this is enough to completely prevent the cold from ever appearing, as zinc boosts your immune system. Also, make sure that your total daily zinc intake does not exceed 100mg from all supplements. (I pop these bad boys like crazy–as per box directions–anytime I feel even a hint of a cough)

Try Echinacea

An alcohol-free echinacea tincture can help stop the virus from multiplying and boost the immune system. Alternatively, an echinacea tea can be beneficial and the hot drink feels nice when your sick (as opposed to a dropper in your mouth!). Caution: avoid echinacea if you have an allergy to ragweed, as the two are from the same family!

Ginger Tea

Ginger tea, made with either a few slices of fresh ginger or a teabag is great because it’s anti-inflammatory (so it can relieve headaches and aches in the body), and helps to relieve the chills and congestion of a cold. If you don’t like the taste of ginger, you can add a pinch of cinnamon, some fresh lemon or raw honey to add flavour!

A Healing Bowl of Chicken Noodle Soup

Follow your grandmother’s advice and have a hot bowl of chicken soup! I talked about the benefits of bone broth + collagen here. If you have access to homemade broth, that’s great! But in a pinch (like when you’re sick), choose an organic bone broth and add simple ingredients like carrots, leeks, ginger root and noodles.

Raw Honey

It has antibacterial properties that can help boost your immune system, and goes perfectly with your ginger tea.

Most importantly, make sure to get lots of rest and fluids. Take it easy, and remember that stress suppresses the immune system and opens the gates for you to get sick. Do you ever notice that everyone seems to get ill around exam time? There’s a connection! Also, whenever something feels wrong to you, always check with your doctor.

OTHER POSTS YOU MIGHT LIKE

Health Benefits of Collagen ( + What Exactly Is It)

5 Foods That Will Boost Your Energy

20 Self-Care Rituals To Practice This Winter

ONE FINAL NOTE (cause I’m never done talking)

I just want to briefly talk about why you should hold off on taking analgesics (like aspirin and ibuprofen) and antihistamines when you have a common cold. Over-the-counter drugs can actually inhibit your body from doing its job. For example, while aspirin can reduce your fever, a low-grade fever is actually your body’s natural defence against infection. And while antihistamines reduce nasal secretions, that also means the virus contained in those secretions remain in the body. So it may be better to just let your body do its thing and give it some help with the above natural remedies. Of course, if your symptoms are really uncomfortable, by all means take an over-the-counter product to help you out. If you do take something, chose a single ingredient product for the appropriate symptom, instead of one that fights multiple symptoms, as some experts think that the ingredients may work against each other.

OKAY,

I promise in the future these posts will get shorter! As always I hope this information helps! (And you would help me by commenting below and letting me know what topics you’d like me to discuss 🙂 If you haven’t already, be sure to sign up for my weekly newsletter!

With love,